Caroline Haynes: One Remarkable Lady!

Caroline Haynes won another tennis championship recently.  This one was the Southern Sectionals.  She won both the singles and doubles championships. 

No one will be surprised:  Caroline makes a habit of winning tennis championships.   She is our most accomplished tennis player.  She has been nationally ranked for many years and competes in singles and doubles all across the country.

She has been THE driving force for tennis in this community for a long time.  Only the late Jack Murphy has had near the influence on tennis here that Caroline has.

But here's the thing...this is one she hadn't won.  In the singles finals, she beat the person that beat her last year.  And Caroline beat her soundly, 6-2, 6-1.   And along the way, she beat others easily that she has had trouble with in previous years. 

I did a column on Caroline several years ago, describing her as being 65, looking 45, and playing like she was 25.   Nothing has changed.   She still looks younger and plays better than most people around here at any age.

At an age (74) when most people see retirement as the chance to slow down, take life easy, Caroline is turning it up a notch or three. 

And in that Southern Sectionals singles championship?  Her opponent was 69. 

This was a really big tournament.   It bodes well for Caroline's chance for a national championship.    She has since also competed in an international doubles tournament in Vancouver and lost a tough finals match.

So what is different?   Why at 74 is Caroline still getting better?

Several months ago, Caroline came to me and asked me to recommend what she could do to improve her game.   She and I have had a professional relationship for many years.  It has been my job to keep her healthy and competing. 

Most of the time, I was treating a variety of injuries.  This time it was to help her with her game.

What I found was that Caroline needed better core strength.   My recommendation was CrossFit.  She soon started working with CrossFit instructor Steve Bright.

I've written about CrossFit here a couple of times.  CrossFit is a program of exercise that falls under the classification of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).   It focuses on exercises that involve multiple joints, is short in duration, and (obviously) high in intensity. 

It isn't easy and it isn't for everyone.   There are other forms of HIIT, most notably P90X.   There is solid evidence that HIIT is very effective in developing much better overall fitness.   And it is very effective in developing core strength.

Too often, athletes mistakenly believe that the key to success is to just work harder at their sport.  In other words, to get better at tennis you simply need to play more tennis.

Not so.   You need flexibility, skills, fitness, and, yes, core strength.   Ask Caroline.  As my daddy used to say, the proof is in the puddin'.