Breakfast at Wimbledon

July 4, 2014 by

2012_Olympic_Tennis_Men's_singles

2012 Olympics Men’s Tennis medalists. In 2014 Wimbledon, only Federer remains.

The 4th of July here in the States, where I live, has for me always gone hand in glove with something so very British….

I do not refer to the Revolution, to Washington and King George, to Yorktown……No, it’s Wimbledon that is on my mind!!!

Growing up in the late 70’s there were many, many “Fourths’ which I spent in front of the television, with a bowl of cereal, watching some tennis greats in either the semi-finals or finals of the tournament:  Borg, McEnroe, Evert, Navratilova, Connors, Vilas…..and later Becker, Graff, Seles, Wilander, Edberg…..When my friends and I would later go to the public courts to play in those holiday afternoons, we’d imitate the serve and volley style we had just watched, using the contemporary technology of wood or aluminum rackets!  What great memories!

On this holiday, with the men’s first semi-final already begun, I will be brief.  It’s time to get out those Froot Loops and find out if Djokovic and Federer will book their ticket to an epic men’s final; to see if youth will be served:  might Dmitrov or Raonic win it all?  For that matter, will Eugenie Bouchard or Milos Raonic bring home a Wimbledon trophy to Canada?

During the bathroom breaks on court, you may want to hone your own sports medicine tennis knowledge.  I’d encourage you to take a look at the excellent epidemiologic study on tennis injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments, written by a group including the senior author, a frequent contributor to CJSM, and my colleague at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Dr. Gary A. Smith.  Or you may want to catch up on our most recent podcast, a conversation with Dr. William Meehan on the relative safety of Chiari malformations in athletes.  And by all means, take a peek at the July 2014 issue of the journal, with the headlining article on cardiovascular screening practices of U.S. team physicians.

If you reside in the USA:  happy Independence Day.  And for all our other friends and colleagues around the globe, may you have a safe, active, and happy weekend.  Enjoy Wimbledon, enjoy the World Cup, and enjoy your own sporting activity!

Filed under Elite sport, Epidemiology Tagged with , , ,

Novak Djokovic: Gluten-free and Gumbyesque

July 6, 2013 by 2 Comments

djokovic aussie open

Novak Djokovic at the Aussie Open

The Wimbledon Championships end tomorrow, with the Gentleman’s Singles Final pairing now set:  either Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray will raise the Championship Silver Cup by day’s end, barring rain delay or marathon tennis match…..

It has been another great fortnight of tennis, highlighted by Djokovic’s historic semi-final win over Juan Martin del Portro yesterday.  Djokovic seems to get involved in these epic five-set Grand Slam matches, having just been on the losing end of such a match at the French Open.  His opponent that day, Rafael Nadal, was quoted as saying:  “‘I learnt during all my career to enjoy suffering, and these kind of matches are very special….I really enjoy suffering.” This statement was given, mind you, by the victor!

I remain impressed with Djokovic’s supreme athleticism and his ability to inflict suffering on others on the tennis court!  It got me to thinking yesterday:  what are the sources of his talents?

There have been interesting discussions of at least two of his singular attributes:   his flexibility and his devotion to his gluten-free diet. Read more of this post

Filed under Clinical Examination, General Interest, Injury Prevention, Nutrition and Supplements Tagged with , , ,