The Backcourt

Ok, so I took a long break. But I'm back on the court and back in the Backcourt, strumming my racket guitar. Rock on, my friends.

Phoenix USTA League Registration is open!

Captains, get your fall team numbers now!
Email Kelly at [email protected] with your USTA #, home courts, and age/division.

Calling all 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0+ players! Get your game on with Sets In the City Elite!! STARTING SOON!
Contact Jackie Marx at [email protected] for more information.

Dear Members of the WITL Board,

You have asked us to nominate people for "Captain of the Year", but what makes a “great” captain? This is something I ponder every free moment of every day. Is it a sparkling personality? I’m going to say unequivocally - yes. Is it the desire to make sure you play with who you want but not in a too obvious way to finally prove that you would win if only you could play with someone whose game complimented yours? Absolutely. A “great” captain will recognize this as one of the very few perks of the job and run with it.

Is it the captain’s job to play with the sub or the team mate recently coming back from an injury, who, frankly, kind of sucks right now? No it’s not. Nope, that is actually for the person who has flaked (after agreeing to be in the line up) just enough times that she has now earned a tour through court three with a rusty player. And a “great” captain will recognize this. But “great” captaining is so much more than putting together line-ups that flatter you and passively aggressively punish those who have cropped up as “problem children” on your team. Nay, being a great captain, also means recapping each and every match with a witty play by play and making sure someone has volunteered to host team parties ( Captains don’t have to host the parties. It’s a rule, Google it. ).

Bearing ALL this in mind, I can only nominate one person and that is me. I nominate myself. Am I captain? No I’m not. But I was a captain and as far as I can tell— I was indeed “Great.” There doesn’t appear to be a rule excluding past captains. Did I miss the deadline? Yes I did. Honestly, do you want the submissions on time, or do you want to bestow this award on the right person (me.) I’m attaching a team photo from one of our clinics. We pass out ci******es after hitting as kind of a “You did it!” Prize. Although I’m not “captain” I organized this. Yeah, that’s right— still captaining from the sidelines. Now THAT is a sign of greatness.

Sincerely,
Carol Rose

Have you ordered Champagne for the holidays yet? http://bit.ly/2zEW7Hv

Can't blame a girl for trying.

I don't want to call this the "duh" report, but apparently, I will live to be 150 years old.

I would never have picked Emma Stone to play BJK, but, I don't know... it may just work. Can't wait to see this.

Billie Jean King and Emma Stone on 'Battle of the Sexes' and the enduring fight for equality 44 years after the "battle of the sexes," Emma Stone brings the fateful tennis match to the big screen.

Fall leagues are starting. Here's some help understanding the difference between what your teammates say, and what they actually MEAN. Good luck!

Okay peeps, your knees are taking a beating. Try these exercises and stay in the game. You know what happens when you stop playing... flu-like symptoms!

7 Exercises You Can Do Now to Save Your Knees Later Get a move on joint health by taking a preventive approach.

When a tennis addict goes to the doctor...

My head is at work, but my heart is at the U.S. Open. The struggle is real.

If you're going to wear knee socks, you better win. Otherwise, you lost in your knee socks.

Clap along if you feel Pharrrell's Adidas line is for you. It makes me happy...(happy, happy, happy)

Top 10 Reasons to be excited about the U.S. Open (IMHO)

The answer is actually, "HELL no."

And by love, I mean, the kicking butt kind.

A moment of tennis truth.

Tennis fun fact! Okay, maybe not fun, but still a good conversation starter: In 1498, Charles VIII of France hit his head on the door of a primitive tennis court and died.

The good news is school starts soon. The bad news? Kids get sick and try to interfere with scheduled tennis.

Backcourt Captains ep.1 Desperate Tennis Moms You play tennis every day, and it's still not enough? You need to think about it and talk about it when you're not playing? The Backcourt is the place for yo...

ANYTHING it takes.

I'm not saying I would buy every pair of these tennis shoes if I could--- no actually, that is exactly what I'm saying.

I am the tennis version of a Tesla.

Roger this...

The Tennis Podcast: The Roger Federer story Nineteen Grand Slam singles titles, 302 weeks at World No.

Definitely NOT a dry heat today.

Tennis is very dangerous.

TENNIS AT WHAT COST?????

Tennis is truly dangerous. It’s amazing the health issues that can develop and then overtake you during a tennis match. I watched a person go blind in one eye. I guess it’s called spontaneous, tennis-induced blindness. We played a USTA 4.5 doubles match the other night. After three shanked returns, I, of course had to blame the bad lighting. ( What? Am I supposed to blame myself? Right.) But I was naive to think my paltry vision problems would not be dwarfed by the looming medical crisis on the tennis horizon.

At some point all four of us joined the shank club as our eyes gradually adjusted to lights. The problem was, my partner and I were really going for VIP status of the shank club, and we lost that first set 4-6. On one of the changeovers, our opponent mentioned she was wearing prescription sport glasses. They made seeing distances better. My partner chimed in that she was wearing similar eye wear in the form of contact lenses. I just had my normal eyes and frankly, they weren’t helping me so much.

By the start of the second set, I was over the pink-hued lights and my shanking issue. Turns out, watching the ball very carefully, really helps with that shank/lighting problem. Also, getting your first serve in, makes it so much easier to win one’s service game. We were gratified that these new and crazy ideas worked to help us take the second set 6-4. But the moment was shadowed by our opponent’s disintegrating health.

During the second set, she mentioned she could not see the ball directly in front of her, despite her night vision glasses. Apparently, her near sightedness had devolved to a blurry cloud of darkness six feet out from her racquet and she was not playing as well as earlier. How could she? She was practically blind!!!! Was it a mini stroke? Things continued to downgrade. By the time we won the tie break to take the match, she mentioned she actually couldn’t see out of one eye. “Nice match,” she said, “I was playing you with one eye.” What courage. Would I stay on the court and finish my match despite going blind? I’m not sure I would. I’m just not sure I could dig that deep. But she did. The good news is, her vision came back to that one eye after the match. Thank goodness.

Dear Family,
I'm afraid this is going to be the weekday forecast as well. You have been warned.
Love,
Mom

WEEKEND FORECAST TENNIS WITH NO CHANCE OF HOUSE CLEANING OR COOKING

Get your here:**https://goo.gl/aDbvuC**

Tennis vs. Cable

I am now paying 180 dollars a month for internet and cable. Here is what I’ve learned. The Tennis Channel and one of the ESPN’s is costing me 180 dollars a month. That’s right, I am paying for some huge sports package just so I can watch The Australian, French and US Open, along with Wimbledon for good measure. What doesn’t cost extra are the endless shows about people who want to live in tiny houses or trees, people with weird addictions, people who get bad plastic surgery, people who are really short, people who are really fat, people who get married to strangers, people who used to be famous and really want to be famous again, etcetera. I really want to invite the tiny house people to spend a couple days in my 2000 square foot abode, with the three of my five children who still live at home and my three (snoring) dogs. That tiny house idea will seem incredibly bad, incredibly fast.

Rob and Chyna is free. I don’t have to pay extra for that. I do believe that is some kind of cosmic joke being played on society. I picture a bunch of producers sitting around a table pitching the worst ideas possible for a reality television show; daring each other to vomit out one horrible idea after another. The winner of the worst idea gets the best parking spot. I’m pretty sure the genius behind Rob and Chyna won. What you have is 60 minutes devoted to two of the most miserable, ill-mannered and ultimately boring people you could ever hope to imagine. By the way, I’m ashamed to say this because in doing so, I demonstrate that I actually watched a whole episode, but those two HATE each other.

That brings me to another program about some of the offspring of the Duggars. They are famous because their parents had 30 children or something. Okay, I can see where watching a ginormous family could be interesting. I’m not seeing what is intriguing or watchable about the two daughters who have married and now live with their own young families. The latest tease I saw for the show hinted at the drama resulting from not being able to fit all their furniture into their new house. “We cannot fit all our books AND our furniture,” says one of the Duggar daughters. Wow. Please give me a moment to clear my calendar to see how that problem gets resolved!

I know I have fast-tracked myself to dementia for watching The Real Housewives of Orange County. Timberlake Lodge? Well, that just made me hate myself for watching that. Vanderpump Rules makes me believe the end of the world is right at the door knocking. If only there were grand slam tennis events every two weeks and then I’d never have to be aware of what I’m actually paying to be piped into my house. If only Cox would make an exception and just give me my two measly sports channels for an extra ten dollars a month. Believe me, I’ve asked. Sigh.