The Starting Line

On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, children kick a ball fashioned of trash and tape, playing their very own World Cup; across the world, kids spin a wooden Ferris wheel in the slums they call home, momentarily transforming the streets of Delhi into Disneyland.

I have traveled all over the world, and always find the faces of children filling my field of vision. Invariably, these are my favorite memories. I observe the stark images of illness, hunger and poverty in all parts of the globe, and the children are never exempted; they’re always there in the thick of it. Yet somehow they remain children in spite of it all. Their spirit lifts them — and me — beyond the turmoil that surrounds us. Though they suffer, they look with eager eyes at the world from which they always expect the best.

They play. And they are not defeated.

Somewhere along the path of ‘growing up’, however, the essence of play becomes more and more elusive, like a dream’s receding memory. Many of us give in and allow the sheer fun of life to be discredited, forced to cower behind a wall of ‘reasonable expectations’.

But once in awhile, something rekindles that spark, awakens that child (if only briefly) to come out and play.

It is that moment that gives us all hope.

Visionary Tennis is all about that moment, and about bringing it back to you again and again and again. We want you to play. We want to remind you that ‘playing tennis’ really is just that. It’s not a job, it’s not a discipline — it’s a game.

And we want to you to play it hard wherever you live — because a tennis match feels the same whether you’re playing in the streets of Harlem or a country clubs in the Hamptons. Whatever gaps might exist between different communities, playing sports isn’t one of them. We’ve all seen examples of poor children growing up to become world-class athletes. If the love of sports can take somebody that far, surely it can enrich all of our lives!

Visionary Tennis aims to bridge those gaps, to connect you with people who share your love of the game. How you connect — emotionally, intellectually, spiritually — depends on you, but we believe that it all begins and ends with a simple handshake — with a lot of play in between. And what happens next? For you, this handshake might start over a net in your home town and end at the Visionary National Cup in Las Vegas. The friends and connections you will make will last a lifetime. Perhaps you will find yourself next shaking hands across the net in Paris, Rome, or India! Perhaps with you playing tennis, we can create foundations and charities that give people in other parts of the world a chance to PLAY!

Recently, some of the Visionary Tennis Staff went to New Orleans to assist in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina. Amidst the rubble and despair, I met a young boy who was constructing a ramp from some of the very debris that used to be a home. Now ... it’s become a BIKE JUMP! Hurricane or no, he hadn’t forgotten how to play.

That boy might one day play Visionary Tennis. He’ll tell someone on a changeover what he and his family went through, and how they survived. He’ll shake that person's hand and remind him of what we really live for. He will connect on the common ground we share.

He will play. And he will not be defeated.

Michael S. Flint
CEO, Visionary Tennis, Inc.

P.S. As the holiday season approaches, let's all make an effort to help children everywhere to celebrate, play, and smile — and don't forget the child inside you!

Lifestyle & Leisure

Chef of the Month — Marc Noll — Executive Chef, Racquet Club of the South

There must be something in the water at RCS. First, they have a Tennis Director and Head Teaching Pro from South Africa, and now their new head chef also has South African roots. Marc Noll was born in the R.S.A and enjoyed life on the farm until the age of eight. His family traveled across the big pond to New Jersey where he spent his high school and college years learning the game of tennis and his love for the kitchen. Cooking was always an essential in the Noll family; Marc’s dad was a cook in the South African Army, so it was a natural that his son follow in his footsteps.

While attending Rider University (near Princeton, NJ), Marc earned respect as a chef by working weekends and summers at many Jersey restaurants. After his family relocated to Marietta in early 2000, Marc decided that he, too, was ready for warmer weather, and he soon ventured south as well, where he became a member of Olde Towne Athletic Club. There, Marc joined forces with another Chef of the Month, Michael Strimban; their combined culinary talents and love of tennis made them a perfect fit as they created dishes for a clientele of tennis enthusiasts.

As of November 1st, 2005, Marc moved across town to become executive chef at RCS. With the cold months approaching, Marc would like to share one of his favorite recipes that is sure to warm us all. Bon appetit!

Recipe of the Month: Marc’s Meatloaf

This fantastic comfort food reheats wonderfully (we think it tastes better the second day!), so it makes a perfect welcome home after a day at the office, your latest match, or (expect a lot of these this month) another round of hitting the shopping malls!

Ever wonder what it would be like to be pampered, for just one day, with not a care in the world? Jet off to an island where the morning sun glistens and the horizon reveals miles of private, pristine oceanfront shoreline … and the best part: you get to play tennis at the number-one-ranked U.S. tennis resort, coached by the number-five-ranked Best Teaching Staff and Best Tennis Program.

Your dreams are about to come true!

Welcome to Jet Tennis, where we design, coordinate and staff your custom tennis excursions by private jet to create the ultimate VIP experience, whether it's for use as a business incentive event, client entertainment, a charity auction or raffle, or any special personal event.

As a special 50th-birthday gift, a group of ladies from Country Club of the South surprised their good friend Chris with a gift no one could surpass — a Jet Tennis all-inclusive package customized just for them! Private jet to Kiawah Island, tennis, lunch poolside, more tennis, dinner at Jasmine's Porch overlooking the sea with spectacular ocean views, and finally, the private jet ride home, accompanied by birthday cake and champagne. Limo service delivered all back home with memories they wouldn't soon forget.

(Hint — if you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the person who has everything, THIS IS IT!)

For further information, contact Melisa Morrow, 678-475-5100, or www.jetgolf.com.

Hello again!

With the winter season rapidly approaching, many of us in the northern part of this great country begin to head indoors to play the greatest (in my humble opinion) game ever invented. The drawbacks? Well, unless you're the owner of a club or have 'connections', the courts can be hard to reserve at the time you want ... and it can get expensive. The reality is that most of us have to cut back on our court time in the winter. I truly believe however, that with every missed opportunity in life there springs a new opportunity for the alert person. This is the perfect time to get in the training room and work on your physical conditioning!

I promised you that this time we would take a look at what science has to say about conditioning for tennis players. What I am going to do is boil it down to layman's terms and share those principles that are used by the trainers who train the actual pros.

Is there one set of training methods or principles used by almost every pro? Yes!

Periodization is the key. Almost every pro uses some form of it. Periodization is a form of training that breaks your training regime into blocks of time in an effort to take you to your peak performance right at tournament time. These training blocks are usually three periods of four to six weeks in duration. Research has shown that doing the same exercises all year long will cause your body to begin to show the effects of overtraining — and can actually increase your chance of injury rather than prevent it. Even if you do allow the proper amount of rest (usually 48 hours) between workouts, you can cause an imbalance by doing the same set of exercises for more than eight weeks.

The first period or block of time is used to build strength and endurance, giving you a good foundation on which to build the rest of your program. In the second period, most of the emphasis is on strength alone. Some endurance types of exercises are used, but the main emphasis here is on strength movements and weight. In the final four-to-six-week stage the emphasis is on power.

It would take a whole book to correctly lay out the details of a professional periodization program — in fact, several good ones have been written on the subject. The one that stands out in my mind as being one of the most complete and yet easy to comprehend and adapt, is Power Tennis Training by Donald A Chu. Available through Human Kinetics, it breaks down each training block with a detailed year-round plan. Covering every aspect of on-court and off-court drills, Mr. Chu has written a training guide every serious tennis player should own.

Want to know which exercise to do on every day of the week, every month of the year? The book covers it. You will learn what plyometric exercises are, as well as which ones to use and when. You will learn why free weights are better than machine weights for most exercises, and why tennis players should usually stick with higher reps and lower weights. It even has lists and diagrams of special exercises to use during each block. Those are only a few of the nuggets of training wisdom to be found within its pages. Put the principles of this book into practice, and you will never lose again because of poor conditioning!

Mr. Chu's book is written with the professional tennis player in mind. If you can find the time and dedication to devote yourself to such an intense training program that Mr. Chu endorses, then by all means knock yourself out. Go for it! It will only make you better.

But what about us, the average Joe tennis player, aspiring to raise our game a level or two?

While I hope you can find time to get serious about your training this winter, I realize that most of us tennis mortals simply don't have the time or dedication necessary to pull off Mr. Chu's program. Fortunately, most of us do not need to! I have come up with a program that has served me very well. I play about a dozen tournaments a year from March to August, and have only lost once because I was out of shape — and that was because I hadn't been following my program.

So what is this program, then? Look for it in January's VISIONS newsletter ... right about the time you're looking back on all those extra pounds you put on over the holidays. :)

Till then, I'll see you On Court!

Jay Jordan

Critical Dates

WE LOVE TECHNOLOGY. It’s new and it’s shiny and it inspires a certain awe, like the Great Pyramids or a tiny new human being. Technology is good at the heavy lifting. People are good at the heavy thinking. Bits and bytes and ones and zeroes fly around the planet, but only at our discretion. The computer has a role model, and it is us. Computers are plastic and metal and sand. People are brilliance and discernment and VISION. Admire machines. Worship their inventors.

HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT.