Florida Sports

A good volley game can turn a match on it’s head. If your a serve and volleyer your volleys need to be rock solid. Even if you’re not a server and volleyer your more than likely going to have to hit a few volleys from time to time to finish a point off. So how do we hit an effective volley?The best part of a volley is being able to knock off the shot quickly, taking time away from your opponent because of your position in the court. The best thing you can do is open the court up by serving wide and following it in, volleying into the open court. Your opponent will usually be on the stretch giving you an easy put away volley.To get the most power out of your volley, you must leverage the power of your big muscles groups. These are your legs, hips and chest. Your arm swing should be as minimal as possible, all the power comes from your stance and movement into the ball. Always bend your legs as low as possible or else you will end up having to hit down on the volley which will throw off your accuracy. The swing should be a straight punch through the ball.For a backhand volley your right foot should be in front of your left foot and vice versa for a forehand volley, this side stance gets the big muscles in your back involved. When approaching the net you should always do a move called the split step. The split step should occur right as your opponent is about to hit the ball. It is basically where you stop running forward and enter a stance where you are facing front on to the net, with your knees bent and ready to jump to either side. The split step stops you from running through the volley and getting out of position and gives you the opportunity to easily change direction depending on where your opponent hits the ball.

It can also acts as a great gift or corporate souvenir for their guests. Moreover, with the availability of company’s polo shirt it would enable their employees to wear these shirts freely or at a certain day of the week during working hours. As it would be more casual than the ordinary working attire, it can create a more lenient environment at the workplace, thus making work more fun and relaxing.

A very clever way to get a company to be noticed by public is by embroidering the company logo on polo shirts. With wide varieties of designs, colors and styles to choose from at a very reasonable price, it has been a quite a popular choice for a lot of the companies. One rather new style of embroidered polo shirt is the inside pocket method. It’s a favorite among companies because of the inside pockets gives an extra security and invisibility to the shirt. This feature is great to conceal money and other valuables items. Not only that, the nature of the design makes the shirt neater and unique. One other way to personalized the polo shirt is to custom-made the buttons, on each shirts with the company’s logo. The cuffs and collars can also be stripped in company corporate color to show the significance. Some of the designs are embroidered with simple text only while other prefers to include image and elaborated fonts. Nowadays, there are also manufacturers who not only produce the shirts but also assist in designing it.

Corporate apparel polo shirts come in different types and styles for different causes and uses. The casual look and the comfort that they often have make them ideal work uniforms for golf club employees or waiters and waitresses at fast food outlets. The design and the overall color then depend on the type of establishment they are being created for. For companies 100% cotton polo shirts woven by pique knit are better because they allow for free flow of air and they keep the employee cool and they are very durable and will last for a long time. This limits the amount of money spent on new uniforms. Sizes cater for all body frames and they are available is a very wide range of colors that include plain white, pink, blue and green.

Embroidering is a method that can actually be applied to polo shirts in order to customize and make them unique. The employees can have a custom polo shirt with their name or initials threaded on it. This makes it less difficult for others to “accidentally” take shirts that aren’t theirs. Not only that by having the names personalized on the shirts, employees would be more encouraged to take good care of their own shirts. To accommodate the need to place mobile phones and other small items, additional pockets are placed at strategic locations on the polo shirts. Buttons and different color lining can be used to enhance the company’s identity on polo shirts.

To make the best out of polo shirts in terms of marketing aspects, company should be looking into sponsoring a sport team. It is a major advertising tool that is less expensive than media promotion as the sports team sponsored will be wearing the company name on their polo shirt such as lady golf apparels. Not only it can attract crowds and fan of the sport team, if the sport team is popular, chances are the fans will be wearing the polo shirts at matches too. When this happens, the company brand and name, literally will market by itself. Because of this, sponsoring a sport team is really beneficial for a company.

Snowboarding is basically surfing but on snow rather than on water. Snowboarding started around the 1960′s but really made itself known with its debut at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Japan. Since then it has become one of the fastest growing sports with over 7 million people participating in the United States alone.
Snowboarding is a winter sport and is therefore difficult to participate in at any other time due to lack of snow. There are many ski resorts that now have slopes that are for snowboarding only so for those interested in trying out snowboarding ski resorts are a good place to start.
The main equipment that you will need for snowboarding is the board itself, snowboard boots and snowboard bindings. Of course you should also wear a good quality helmet and gloves. You can rent this equipment at ski resorts if you want to try out the sport before purchasing any equipment. It is actually a good idea to rent the equipment first anyway to find out which brand and size is best suited for you. Look for my latest article about snowboard sizing.
The main styles of snowboarding are ‘freeride’ and ‘freestyle’ with ‘freecarve’ also being quite popular.
Freeride
This is the most common style of snowboard riding and probably the easiest. It is the style that you want to be doing if you are a beginner as it is simply just riding down a mountain. Whether it is the mildest of slopes or the steepest of slopes if you are just doing a straight ride down the slope then it is a freeride.
A rider however can use some tricks while riding freeride if he chooses by using any natural terrain that may be on the slope he is riding on.
When riding freeride riders will usually have a soft boot and the snowboard itself will often be longer with stiffer flex, this is to ride effectively on any type of snow condition you may encounter.
Freestyle
The freestyle style is when the rider uses man made obstacles such as boxes, jumps, half pipes, quarter pipes, rails and more. They will use these objects to perform tricks such as aerial or jib tricks.
The usual stance used in freestyle is the ‘duck foot’ stance which is when the back foot is facing the back end of the board. Freestyle riders usually use a shorter board that has additional flex.
Freecarve
Freecarve or race is the style of snowboarding is used mainly for racing and carving. There is very little jumping if any with freecarve style as it generally focuses on carving.
Whatever style you prefer to use many resorts will be offer the appropriate slopes for you. Many resorts now have parks with rails and halfpipes for those wishing to performs some tricks.
Snowboarding is becoming a very popular sport among men and women of any age so be careful if you are trying it out you may soon be hooked.
Let’s Move On To Tips In Taking Care Of Snowboarding Equipments
Frequent snowboarding can take its toll on your boards as well as other gears. In order to make them last and save you from further costs, it’s best that you take care of them well. Maintenance is always the key when you own valuable items.
Snowboards need regular tuning to enjoy them for many seasons and maximize your experience in this ultimate winter sport. You have to take care of your gear especially when the winter season comes to an end. Not being able to maintain it well may only result in poor performance or early deterioration of your board.
But before you try to do anything yourself, we share some tips that will give you helpful information on what parts of your board require special care and whether it’s time you should bring them to the shop and be professionally maintained. Of course, doing the basic maintenance yourself can save you money and you can do it without the use of many specialized tools. However, if you want to smoothen the snowboard’s base, never attempt to do it alone as a specialized grinder is the only tool that can do the work.
Clean is in
Cleaning the board is the first important step any snowboarder should take. Grime and dirt are most likely to build up on your board so make sure that you get rid of them at the end of the winter season. The best product to use is a citrus cleaner because it not only takes away dirt but also removes any dead wax from the base. All you have to do is just apply the cleaner and use a clean cloth or rag to get rid of dirt or any residue.
Check the edge
After cleaning, check your board to find out if there are certain portions that need fixing. Look carefully at the edges and the base. If the edges appear to be dull or burred, they need to be filed to keep them in good shape.
As for the base, if you see any minor damage, you can easily fix it with a tune-up kit that should include a p-tex candle. However, if you’re not certain about this, better bring your equipment to a snowboard shop and have it tuned up.
Wax to the max
Once you’ve seen that your board in is in good condition, it’s time to apply a new coat of wax. The things you will need at this stage are a scraper, iron and wax, preferably an all-temperature wax. Any iron will do but there are irons specially made for waxing a snowboard.
Now, while using the iron, apply a thick coat of wax on the base and make sure that it covers not only the base but the edges as well. Then scrape the wax from the base and the edges. The wax here serves to prevent the board from drying out and the edges from getting rusty while it is being stored.
Proper storing
Your snowboard together with your gear should be kept in a cool dry place during the hot summer months. As much as possible, don’t store them in the basement. Boots that are the soft type should be properly cleaned and should be applied with foot oil to maintain its softness.
Following these tips is a sure way to have durable and long lasting snow boards. So, keep them in mind and have a great experience with snowboarding.

Snowboarding is an adventure sport, much younger than surfing, skateboarding and skiing. Its history runs back to the 1960s, when this sport was developed in the United States, after conceiving inspiration from the predecessors of this sport. It is an item in the Winter Olympics too. Just like skiing, surfing and skateboarding, snowboarding also involves moving at good speed. The surface is snow and the movement is downward from a snow covered hill or mountain top. The rider can balance himself/herself on a snowboard, jumping over the hillocks and performing amazing stunts while in the air.

It requires special skills and courage to take up snowboarding. The rider has to wear protective cloth to ensure protection against the ice cold weather. If you choose the location right, snowboarding is not a risky sport. It is an adventure sport, but not riskier than similar forms of sport, which have ocean waves and solid ground as surface. The technique has to be right, so is the selection of snowboards.

Snowboarding has been served by quite a few companies that designed strong, reliable snowboards, which guarantee better stability and pace for snowboarding. The main equipment is the snowboard, which is attached to the boots. The early history of snowboarding goes back to 1965, when Sherman Poppen designed Snurfer, which was essentially a skateboard without wheels. Then in the 1970s and 80s, much innovation was brought into the designing of snowboards. Slowly, ski resorts became open to the idea of opening their space for snowboarders and there began the history of snowboarding.

Free ride, freestyle and free carve are the main styles of snowboarding. They all are adopted at varying pace by snowboarding enthusiasts. In freestyle, you can find manmade obstacles placed in the path and the snowboarders manoeuvring over the obstacles with much agility and flexibility. Seeing the action is quite an interesting thing, with the riders going past at a good speed and performing gravity defying stunts.

Snowboarding enthusiasts also should observe the safety precautions to be safe. Protective gear are designed in good numbers. Goggles are a must to ensure protection to eyes and to prevent temporary blindness from happening, especially in a bright day. Essential protection needs to be given to the wrists, knees, head, shoulders, etc. The key thing is to be able to identify the origin of an avalanche. Also be alert enough not to trigger an avalanche. Emergency response at time of an avalanche about to happen is also a key skill required by snowboarders.

Snowboarding as an adventure sport has got the attention of several publications and now there are several magazine available out there, solely for the purpose of telling you about snowboards, safety gear and snowboarding holidays.

Nobody knows why snowboarding was invented so late. It doesn’t matter, once people get used to snowboarding, it is one smooth ride. All the beholders enjoy a snowboarding competition event, where the riders pace down the terrains, go up in the air and perform various tricks, while ensuring a safe, comfortable landing.

In Tennis, a chop stroke is a shot where the angle towards the player and behind the racquet, made by the line of flight of the ball, and the racquet traveling down across it, is greater than 45 degrees and may be 90 degrees. The racquet face passes slightly outside the ball and down the side, chopping it, as a man chops wood. The spin and curve is from right to left. It is made with a stiff wrist.  The slice shot merely reduced the angle mentioned from 45 degrees down to a very small one. The racquet face passes either inside or outside the ball, according to direction desired, while the stroke is mainly a wrist twist or slap. This slap imparts a decided skidding break to the ball, while a chop “drags” the ball off the ground without break.  The rules of footwork for both these shots should be the same as the drive, but because both are made with a short swing and more wrist play, without the need of weight, the rules of footwork may be more safely discarded and body position not so carefully considered. Both these shots are essentially defensive, and are labour-saving devices when your opponent is on the baseline. A chop or slice is very hard to drive, and will break up any driving game. It is not a shot to use against a volley, as it is too slow to pass and too high to cause any worry. It should be used to drop short, soft shots at the feet of the net man as he comes in. Do not strive to pass a net man with a chop or slice, except through a big opening. The drop-shot is a very soft, sharply-angled chop stroke, played wholly with the wrist. It should drop within 3 to 5 feet of the net to be of any use. The racquet face passes around the outside of the ball and under it with a distinct “wrist turn.” Do not swing the racquet from the shoulder in making a drop shot. The drop shot has no relation to a stop-volley. The drop shot is all wrist. The stop-volley has no wrist at all. Use all your wrist shots, chop, slice, and drop, merely as an auxilliary to your orthodox game. They are intended to upset your opponent’s game through the varied spin on the ball.    This shot requires more perfect timing, eyesight, and racquet work than any other, since its margin of safety is smallest and its manifold chances of mishaps numberless. It is a pick-up. The ball meets the ground and racquet face at nearly the same moment, the ball bouncing off the ground, on the strings. This shot is a stiff-wrist, short swing, like a volley with no follow through. The racquet face travels along the ground with a slight tilt over the ball and towards the net, thus holding the ball low; the shot, like all others in tennis, should travel across the racquet face, along the short strings. The racquet face should always be slightly outside the ball. The half volley is essentially a defensive stroke, since it should only be made as a last resort, when caught out of position by your opponent’s shot. It is a desperate attempt to extricate yourself from a dangerous position without retreating. never deliberately half volley. A tennis court is 39 feet long from baseline to net. There are only two places in a tennis court that a tennis player should be to await the ball. 1. About 3 feet behind the baseline near the middle of the court, or 2. About 6 to 8 feet back from the net and almost opposite the ball. The first is the place for all baseline players. The second is the net position. If you are drawn out of these positions by a shot which you must return, do not remain at the point where you struck the ball, but attain one of the two positions mentioned as rapidly as possible. The distance from the baseline to about 10, feet from the net may be considered as “no-man’s-land” or “the blank.” Never linger there, since a deep shot will catch you at your feet. After making your shot from the blank, as you must often do, retreat behind the baseline to await the return, so you may again come forward to meet the ball. If you are drawn in short and cannot retreat safely, continue all the way to the net position. Never stand and watch your shot, for to do so simply means you are out of position for your next stroke. Strive to attain a position so that you always arrive at the spot the ball is going to before it actually arrives. Do your hard running while the ball is in the air, so you will not be hurried in your stroke after it bounces. It is in learning to do this that natural anticipation plays a big role. Some players instinctively know where the next return is going and take position accordingly, while others will never sense it. It is to the latter class that I urge court position, and recommend always coming in from behind the baseline to meet the ball, since it is much easier to run forward than back. Should you be caught at the net, with a short shot to your opponent, do not stand still and let him pass you at will, as he can easily do. Pick out the side where you think he will hit, and jump to, it suddenly as he swings. If you guess right, you win the point. If you are wrong, you are no worse off, since he would have beaten you anyway with his shot. Your position should always strive to be such that you can cover the greatest possible area of court without sacrificing safety, since the straight shot is the surest, most dangerous, and must be covered. It is merely a question of how much more court than that immediately in front of the ball may be guarded. A well-grounded knowledge of court position saves many points, to say nothing of much breath expended in long runs after hopeless shots.

Advertisements for Polo Ralph Lauren show a world populated by beautiful trust-fund families on their leafy estates. But how far should a company go to propel that image into the public consciousness? A few current and former employees say Polo crossed the line. Two onetime sales associates joined a class-action lawsuit this week alleging that image was, in part, crafted illegally, by forcing salespeople to spend thousands of dollars a year on the company’s latest outfits to project a “lifestyle image.” The hired help, in other words, struggled to keep the shirt on their backs, even with the in-house 65% discount. Accusations against the posh clothing company ring true for many salespeople, but few have taken their case to court, said Dean Friar, spokesman for California’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. The law says employers who require workers to wear uniforms must provide that wardrobe at no cost. “But we see, instead, discounts given out,” Friar said. “That’s very common.” Industry experts, including representatives of the National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade organization in the world, have never heard of a lawsuit similar to the one filed against Polo. They say salespeople are traditionally expected to look presentable and sport some of the designer’s product, but no one reached by The Times had heard of an employer forcing its staff to invest heavily in wardrobe. “This strikes me as a unique lawsuit,” said Peter Arnold, executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The complaint against Polo was initially filed in federal court last month in San Francisco by Toni Young, a 31-year-old sales associate. Attorneys for Polo have until Nov. 4 to respond to the complaint. When contacted for this story, Polo spokeswoman Ellen Maguire said that the company does not comment on pending litigation. Plaintiff attorney Patrick R. Kitchin says Young, who earned $22,000 last year, has receipts that show she was required to spend more than $6,000 a year on Polo purchases since she began working at the store in 1997. “It’s a ton of money,” he said by phone from his office near the Polo store where Young still works. Young’s lawsuit also alleges that Polo managers conducted “strip searches to ensure that all of their clothing is from the defendants’ product lines.” “They would ask Ms. Young to take off her sweaters – she had a shirt on underneath – or take off her shoes, so they could check the labels,” Kitchin said. “In late August, all employees in the San Francisco store were told they needed five new outfits from the fall collection. They had to come in wearing the outfits so they could be photographed and those photographs could be kept in a file sent on to headquarters in New York.” Kitchin has posted the Web to attract additional plaintiffs. One of the newest plaintiffs is 26-year-old Janika Goff, who worked at the same store as Young, where both Ralph Lauren Designer Clothes and Polo clothes are sold. Over five years, she sold shoes and clothes full time and made about $24,000 a year. Each season, she was entitled to an 80% discount off two pairs of shoes and a 65% discount off everything else, including the Polo clothes she was expected to wear every day. “They wanted you to be in current season and wanted the shoes to look nice and not scuffed, but I was running up and down stairs, doing stock work sometimes, so I would buy comfortable shoes,” said Goff, who now works at a bank in San Diego. Goff estimates that after five years at Polo, she had accumulated 65 pairs of shoes, most of which she considers in great condition but that were too scuffed for store’s management to consider acceptable. When Goff showed up in sandals one day, a manager made her choose a pair of loafers to wear. “The price of $50 was deducted from my paycheck,” Goff said. For Young, the store’s expectations were clearly out of line with what she knew about retail. She had previously worked at the mid-range clothing chain Bebe while she worked toward a court stenographer’s degree. “I did have to buy Bebe clothes, but they were a lot more lax about how current you had to be,” she said. “You could actually go to a secondhand store and buy a Bebe outfit for work and not be questioned.” Another former employee who confirmed he has joined Young’s class-action lawsuit is Troy Greene, a former sales associate for eight years at Polo on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Greene was earning $87,000 by the time he resigned last month over a dispute about new payment structures. He was immediately hired by Prada, also on Rodeo Drive, which provides its employees with uniforms – at no charge – that must be returned at the end of each season. “We get two pairs of trousers, four dress shirts, four knit tops, two pairs of shoes and a belt. All paid for,” said Greene, 40. “Gucci does the same thing.” According to Young, Polo management received commissions on the “sales” they made to their staffs. Young, who is black, also filed a racial discrimination suit against Polo in San Francisco Superior Court last month. Kitchin says that in addition to being subject to cruel racial remarks by superiors, Young has not been promoted during her five-year career at the store, despite glowing reviews from managers. “She was told her hair was too nappy, and she needed to straighten her hair,” Kitchin said. “Managers call out to her with an exaggerated African American urban accent. They call her ‘Ms. Thang.’ ” This is not the first tussle Polo has had with its staff. In February, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Polo Ralph Lauren Clothing Corp. denied minorities the same pay and opportunities as whites even as it promoted a “blond hair and blue eyes” image. The commission’s conclusion was related to another lawsuit pending in federal court by two former Polo employees.

 

An extreme winter sport, snowboarding can cause injuries to the rider that could be as small as innocent and minor slips or as harsh as crashes that have a high impact and the consequences could be rather dire. The newcomer to snowboarding is often the most vulnerable and gets injured even while undertaking less risky maneuvers. All this implies that the snowboarder requires protective snowboarding gear and this is more relevant to snowboarders that have not yet learned how to keep a stable stance on a snowboard and so face more threat of being injured.
In fact, it is believed that as many as 25% of injuries take place during the first experience a snowboarder has with snowboarding and nearly 50% take place during the first season.
First Time Snowboarders
First time snowboarders as well as regular snowboarders need protective gear and some of these are snowboard wrist guards, snowboard knee pads, snowboard hip pads, snowboard helmets, and a safety leash. The most common of all injuries that can be sustained by snowboarders is the wrist injury, which may be caused when one slips backwards or lands on the hands and the hard impact may cause sprains or fractures.
Protective gear such as Snowboard Specific Wrist Guards are ideal in preventing injuries as it can ease the force of the fall on the joints of the upper body. When hard collisions, such as hitting a tree or impacting from unexpected angles or turning motions occurs, the knees may get injured and so one needs protective snowboarding gear such as knee pads to help prevent contusions.
Another protective snowboarding gear that is used by snowboarders to cushion the fall as well as keep the seat warm and dry is the hip pad which is stretchable and can be pulled on like biked shorts. The extra padding in the backside of the Snowboard Hip Pads prevents tailbone bruises and the beginning snowboarder who does not wish to purchase such protective snowboarding gear may even rent out snowboard hip pads for the first few days of riding on the slopes.
It should be kept in mind that even professional riders use protective snowboarding gear such as hip pads, especially when trying out new moves in the halfpipe and terrain parks.
Sometimes the snowboarder may crash with natural objects such as hard snow or ice surface conditions or rocks and trees and this may result in serious injuries. This means that one should use protective snowboarding gear such as a helmet, even if one is very able and has high level of expertise.
Finally, one may need another protective snowboarding gear called the safety leash, which is a safety must and is essentially a non-releasing strap that can be wrapped around the leg to prevent the snowboard from getting away accidentally.

THE VOLLEY AND OVERHEAD SMASH.

The net attack is the heavy artillery of tennis. It is supposed to crush all defence. As such it must be regarded as a point-winning stroke at all times, no matter whether the shot is volley or smash.

Once at the net hit from the point at the first opportunity given to get the racquet squarely on the ball. All the laws of footwork explained for the drive are theoretically the same in volleying. In practice you seldom have time to change your feet to a set position, so you obviate trouble by throwing the weight on the foot nearest to the ball and pushing it in the shot.

Volleys are of two classes: (1) the low volley, made from below the waist; and (2) the high volley, from the waist to the head. In contradistinction to the hitting plane classification are the two styles known as (1) the deep volley and (2) the stop volley.

All low volleys are blocked. High volleys may be either blocked or hit. Volleys should never be stroked. There is no follow through on a low volley and very little on a high one.

You will hear much talk of “chop” volleys. A chop stroke is one where the racquet travels from above the line of flight of the ball, down and through it, and the angle made behind the racquet is greater than 45 degrees, and many approach 90 degrees. Therefore I say that no volleys should be chopped, for the tendency is to pop the ball up in the air off any chop. Slice volleys if you want to, or hit them flat, for both these shots are made at a very small angle to the flight-line of the ball, the racquet face travelling almost along its plane.

In all volleys, high or low, the wrist should be locked and absolutely stiff. It should always be below the racquet head, thus bracing the racquet against the impact of the ball. Allow the force of the incoming shot, plus your own weight, to return the ball, and do not strive to “wrist” it over. The tilted racquet face will give any required angle to the return by glancing the ball off the strings, so no wrist turn is needed.

Low volleys can never be hit hard, and owing to the height of the net should usually be sharply angled, to allow distance for the rise. Any ball met at a higher plane than the top of the net may be hit hard. The stroke should be crisp, snappy, and decisive, but it should stop as it meets the ball. The follow through should be very small. Most low volleys should be soft and short. Most high volleys require speed and length.

The “stop” volley is nothing more than a shot blocked short. There is no force used. The racquet simply meets the oncoming ball and stops it. The ball rebounds and falls of its own weight. There is little bounce to such a shot, and that may be reduced by allowing the racquet to slide slightly under the ball at the moment of impact, thus imparting back spin to the ball.

Volleying is a science based on the old geometric axiom that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. I mean that a volleyer must always cover the straight passing shot since it is the shortest shot with which to pass him, and he must volley straight to his opening and not waste time trying freakish curving volleys that give the base-liner time to recover. It is Johnston’s great straight volley that makes him such a dangerous net man. He is always “punching” his volley straight and hard to the opening in his opponent’s court.

A net player must have ground strokes in order to attain the net position. Do not think that a service and volley will suffice against first-class tennis.

Strive to kill your volleys at once, but should your shot not win, follow the ball ‘cross and again cover the straight shot. Always force the man striving to pass you to play the hardest possible shot.

Attack with your volleys. Never defend the ball when at the net. The only defensive volley is one at your feet as you come in. It is a mid-court shot. Volleys should win with placement more than speed, although speed may be used on a high volley.

Closely related to the volley, yet in no way a volley stroke, is the overhead smash. It is the Big Bertha of tennis. It is the long range terror that should always score. The rules of footwork, position, and direction that govern the volley will suffice for the overhead. The swing alone is different. The swing should be closely allied to the slice service, the racquet and arm swinging freely from the shoulder, the wrist flexible and the racquet imparting a slight twist to the ball to hold it in court. The overhead is mainly a point winner through speed, since its bounce is so high that a slow placement often allows time for a recovery.

Do not leap in the air unnecessarily to hit overhead balls. Keep at least one foot, and when possible both feet, on the ground in smashing, as it aids in regulating the weight, and gives better balance. Hit flat and decisively to the point if desired.

Most missed overhead shots are due to the eye leaving the ball; but a second class of errors are due to lack of confidence that gives a cramped, half-hearted swing. Follow through your overhead shot to the limit of your swing.

The overhead is essentially a doubles shot, because in singles the chances of passing the net man are greater than lobbing over his head, while in doubles two men cover the net so easily that the best way to open the court is to lob one man back.

In smashing, the longest distance is the safest shot since it allows a greater margin of error. Therefore smash ‘cross court when pressed, but pull your short lobs either side as determined by the man you are playing.

Never drop a lob you can hit overhead, as it forces you back and gives the attacking position to your opponent. Never smash with a reverse twist, always hit with a straight racquet face and direct to the opening.

Closely connected to the overhead since it is the usual defence to any hard smash, is the lob.

A lob is a high toss of the ball landing between the service-line and the baseline. An excellent lob should be within 6 feet of the baseline.

Lobs are essentially defensive. The ideas in lobbing are: (1) to give yourself time to recover position when pulled out of court by your opponent’s shot; (2) to drive back the net man and break up his attack; (3) to tire your opponent; (4) occasionally to, win cleanly by placement. This is usually a lob volley from a close net rally, and is a slightly different stroke.

There is (1) the chop lob, a heavily under-cut spin that hangs in the air. This, is the best defensive lob, as it goes high and gives plenty of time to recover position. (2) The stroke lob or flat lob, hit with a slight top spin. This is the point-winning lob since it gives no time to, the player to run around it, as it is lower and faster than the chop. In making this lob, start your swing like a drive, but allow the racquet to slow up and the face to tilt upward just as you meet the ball. This, shot should seldom go above 10 feet in the air, since it tends to go out with the float of the ball.

The chop lob, which is a decided under cut, should rise from 20 to 30 feet, or more, high and must go deep. It is better to lob out and run your opponent back, thus tiring him, than to lob short and give him confidence by an easy kill. The value of a lob is mainly one of upsetting your opponent, and its effects are very apparent if you unexpectedly bring off one at the crucial period of a match.

 

The Volkswagen Polo is one of the elder statesmen of the Supermini market; remaining stoic in its refusal to disappear from forecourts across the land. After over 30 years on our roads, the Polo is still seen on every high street the length and breadth of the country. It’s available in hatchback, coupé and estate variants so everyone is catered for. However, as Bob Dylan once perceptively announced, the times they are a’ changing. With so many young pretenders snapping at Polo’s well-trodden heels, how is it going to remain a petrol head favourite?
No longer the baby of the Volkswagen fleet (following the introduction of the Lupo in 1998 and then the Fox in 2004), the Polo now sits in a slightly odd position in between the entry level model and the higher spec Golf. New drivers will opt for the lower end models, whilst the more adventurous will jump straight to the Golf. It would appear to the untrained eye that Volkswagen are putting the squeeze on their own product. Are VW struggling to find a suitable niche for the Polo?
Let’s take a look at the competition. The sporty-looking Seat Ibiza skips into view like a Spanish waiter with itchy under-garments, the Vauxhall Corsa stalks nearby like a Huntsman Spider and the ever-present Ford Fiesta reinvents itself more than Madonna does. That goes without mentioning the Fiats, the Toyotas and the Hondas, all of which are turning heads and gaining notoriety within the Supermini circles. To stay afloat the Polo will have to keep well ahead of the curve.
In a purely aesthetic sense, the Polo doesn’t disappoint. The evolved looks cannot hide the treasured Volkswagen lineage, the curvy body updated to keep up with the Joneses whilst remaining distinctly ‘VW’. In relative terms the Polo is akin to an aging aunty with a keen desire to look 17 again; perhaps a nip here and tuck there and she’ll nearly be there… nearly. But would you want to be seen with her? Well, as a matter of fact, yes you would…if she was a Polo…which she’s not…but you understand what I mean…sort of. The point is that the Polo has retained the understated good looks and style that have maintained its popularity since its 1975 inception. The favourite chunky, boxy body has been smoothed out for modern taste, but is still unmistakably the ‘Volkswagen Look’.
Performance-wise the Polo is never going to reinvent the wheel, but no present or prospective Polo owners would expect it to. The whole Volkswagen shtick is reliability, sturdiness and a bit of oomph occasionally. The Polo E’s punchy engine is extremely responsive for a base model and is backed by excellent handling and an intuitive suspension system that will iron out the bumpiest of city streets or pot-hole ridden country roads.
The tired old cliché of efficient German engineering will be trotted out here, but there isn’t a single nuance of frivolity to be found on the whole car; everything is functional, because if it wasn’t it wouldn’t be on the car. A simple/basic concept has been applied to the designing of the Polo, ensuring that quality takes a huge precedent over quantity. Apply this logic to German beers if you will; never the tastiest of beverages and often more expensive than the other beers, but you always seem to get drunker quicker if you choose the Bavarian way. That, my friends, is efficiency.
The real feather in the Polo’s cap is the way it has effortlessly straddled and conquered the most pressing social issues of the day. The Polo’s extremely low running costs combat the current economic burial pit we find ourselves in, whilst remaining kind to the environment with impressively low Co2 emissions. So whether you’re a financially doomed merchant banker or a earth-loving hippy, you’re unlikely to be annoyed by seeing this car on the road.
The future looks uncertain for the VW Polo; the competition is mounting like a hungry pack of wolves, but for the time being it remains near the top of the supermini pyramid in both popularity and performance stakes. Whether it stays there for much longer is another matter.

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