Ladies Event Merchandise Show

Fit to Hit Hip-flexors Triangles - Solve Your Problems

By Suzanna McGee

Excerpt from Tennis Business Solutions

Iam going to ask you two questions. Take your time, think a little bit and try to answer before your continue to read. 1) Do you think that your hip-flexors are tight and shortened? (think… answer…) The majority of people answer “yes”. Most of us sit too much and the hip-flexor get shortened. We feel the tightness. 2) Do you think that your hip-flexors are weak? (think… answer…) This is a little bit harder to answer. Maybe they are? Most probably not? We run, walk stairs, play tennis, exercise… we use our hipflexors in each of these steps.

They must be pretty strong, right? WRONG. I haven’t seen yet one person who has strong hip-flexors. Maybe they have them “not horribly weak”, but nobody is strong, or “too strong”. They are actually never strong enough. But is it really important how strong the hip-flexors are? We don’t see any fancy videos or read much about them much after all. Until now… keep reading and you will learn a life changing (and performance improving) exercise.

The short hip-flexors (and quadriceps) start pulling on the pelvis and creating an anterior pelvic tilt (too much arch in your back) and you get constant discomfort in your lower back. It can become pain and overtime chronic pain. Because of this anterior pelvic tilt, the hamstrings need to get the pelvis back to the correct position and work overtime, and get overused… and tight.

You see the problem, right? Now everything is tight and fighting to get the pelvis back in the balance. And you go to the tennis court or the gym after all day of sitting, and start abusing these tight and shortened structures, and it just gets progressively worse. Also, you cannot expect an optimal performance if your muscles don’t work in full range of motion. There is a way out of this vicious spiral: strengthen your hip-flexors

Hip-flexors Triangles

• sit comfortably on the floor, your hands behind you • don’t use your upper body to do the work, keep it fully relaxed • don’t “jerk” the movement • keep your knees completely straight the entire time • lift one leg off the ground one inch, move it as far as you can to the outside, hold for half second (side of the triangle) • lift the leg above the other leg, as high s you can and hold it for a half second (top of the triangle) • then move it down to the other leg, 1 inch off the ground and hold for a half second (bottom of the triangle) • hold each “corner” of the triangle for a moment, that’s when you are working and strengthening the HFs • go as high as your body lets you, keep your knee straight at all times • repeat 20 times, then switch legs • do 2 sets of 20 • as you can stronger, lift higher, or add ankle weights on your legs • watch the video https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=L-FM2E2y15E&feature=youtu.be

Here is a simple yet extremely effective exercise to strengthen your hip-flexors really fast. Within weeks-if you do the work-you will feel how everything is relaxing, your quads and hamstrings, and your stretching routines become more effective too. You will run faster, jump further, squat stronger and deeper. Your lower back pain will disappear.

The Social List

By Tom Parkes, USPTA Elite Professional

Ladies Merchandise Show Luncheon

Ladies are the buyers for apparel, and we all have local stores that our members go to even when we have our own shops. Here is an event to give members and guests an opportunity to socialize and have fun. Once or twice a year, set up a lady’s luncheon where you put on a tennis apparel and merchandise show for your members and outside guests. This works whether or not you have a pro shop.

Teams sign up and sit together. Each team creates a centerpiece for their table. Have a contest for the best centerpiece and award prizes for the best center piece. Be creative on the award. Offer a complimentary beverage bar during the first half of the luncheon. Invite local apparel shops to display during the event.

Each team chooses a team member to model the clothing from the shops. Give those participants that model a larger discount than those that are just there to buy. Give each shop an opportunity to add commentary (MC) to their shop›s apparel or displays.

An option is to have guest speakers from the local community address the ladies, and make sure they have interesting topics. This is a great way to have a non-tennis playing event and drive sales!