• Calendar
• Aerobics
• Aikido
• Aquatics
• Fitness Facts
• Massage
• Membership
  
• Social
• New Members and Referrals
  
• President's Message
• Swim Stats
• Tennis

Calendar

1	Labor Day
3	Bridge Night - 7 pm
6	Labor Day Twilight
10	Ladies' Night - 7 pm
17	Men's Night - 7 pm
22-23	Singles Championship Semis & Finals

Every Thursday Morning is Ladies Day
Every Tuesday night is Men's League

Welcome New Members
Jesse Goldhammer & Ariel Trust; Molly Morelock; David & Ann Yungert.

President's Message
August 25th most of the kids will have returned to school which, if history is any yardstick, will trigger the beginning of Indian Summer. The lap swimmers will be able to take over the pool for the most part but, if temperatures rise, we can expect large crowds for at least another month.
Oh well, that's what it is all about, isn't it? Pleas for responsible parking (between the lines) have been heard but there is still room for improvement. Your cooperation and courtesy would be appreciated. Along those lines, I often receive complaints that regular size cars are parking in the compact spaces. This is true, but when I inspect the lot it is not unusual to find the compact cars taking up regular parking spaces, too. Once I counted 5 prius's in regular spaces when there were many compact spaces available.
I acknowledge that parking spaces can fill rapidly, often for short periods of time, leaving a false impression of availability. All I can ask is your cooperating and respect for fellow members.
USTANORCAL has so many leagues going that it is almost redundant to ask for sign-ups but, here we are again: The fall season sign-ups are ready. If you would like to play but don't know who to contact, leave a message for Rosina Cortesi and she will point you in the right direction.
September 6 is our luau social. If you haven't signed up there might still be room for you. Again, check with Rosina. If you're not on the list you are missing a great program. It's not too early to start thinking about our wine tasting event on November 1. This is a very popular program and a great opportunity to obtain fine wines at very agreeable prices. The November tasting features red wines from around the world. Attendance is limited to 90 members and guests; it has been sold out for the past three years, so I suggest you sign up early.
Finally, oil prices are dropping - some $30.00 per barrel at this writing, down from a high of $145.00 to $115.00. If only we saw comparable relief at the pumps! A 20% drop in the spot market should relate to a 20% drop at the pump, shouldn't it? Prices went up on a daily basis based on the spot price; why don't they go down correspondingly? Oh well, at least we have the club within a short commute! Enjoy today. Tomorrow, too. Cordially, Oakland Hills Tennis Club, Inc. Jim Thompson, President

Social
Rosina Cortesi, Director
THE LUAU featuring the TAMALI'I POLYNESIAN dancers is on Saturday, September 6th at 6:30pm. Cocktails and appetizers start at 6:30pm. During cocktails, our Polynesian dance troupe will entertain you with dances of the Pacific islands including Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand. The dance troupe will also include an audience participation portion. At 7:30pm a buffet dinner will be served. While enjoying dinner, the dancers will perform once more. The cost is $28.00 per person which includes all beer, wine and soft drinks. Guests are welcome. Babysitting is available. Hurry, the sign-up sheet in the lobby is filling up fast. Call me at 531-3300, x24 or email me at rtcortesi@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in attending. Please, no cancellations after September 1st.
TENNIS PLAYERS: The opening rounds of the 2008 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES & DOUBLES TOURNAMENTS is September 12-14, with the final rounds the weekend of September 20 & 21. The sign-up sheets are in the lobby. Hurry! Friday, September 5th is the last day to sign-up. Food and drinks will be served on the finals weekend for all participants and cheering sections.
THE USTA SENIOR season starts this month. Call me if you need help in finding the right team to join.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Our very popular annual WINE TASTING RECEPTION is Saturday, November 1st from 5-7pm.
Look for all 2008 social events elsewhere in this newsletter so you can mark your calendar accordingly. You don't want to miss out on the OHTC social events that interest you.

Bridge Night
Rose Ann Kase
Join us on September 3rd at 7 pm and enjoy a beautiful view, a good game of bridge and tasty snacks.

Ladies' Night
Kelly Kiang & Cynthia Lambiel
Enjoy some mid-week tennis on Wednesday evening, September 10th at 7 pm with scrumptious refreshments following.

Men's Night
Ron Iriyama
Prior to wonderful snacks and beer in the lounge, enjoy some organized doubles on Wednesday, Sept. 17th at 7 pm.

Swim Stats
Fall is approaching quickly and many people are getting busy. Congratulations to the following: Renee Reynolds, 580; Rich Edwards, 350; Mark Seleznow, 325; Leila Shunick, 210; Ramon Terrazas, 193; Bob Lichtenstein, 161; Merideth Forristal, 160.

Aquatics
Ann Cavalli

Congratulations to the OHTC Sharks swim team for winning the City Champioships. Colby Haarz, Chris Ardoin and Jessica Cumming, all former sharks, did a fantastic job putting together a summer of coaching, productive workout teaching sportsmanship and being very generous with their time. They are fantastic models. The coaches relay also won first with Jeremy Schmit, former coach, participating. After school swim lessons begin Sept. 9 to Oct. 9, T & Th. The session is 5 weeks, 10 ½ lessons, $100. Classes begin at 1:00 and continue to 5:30. If enough interest is shown some mid-morning classes will be added. Please call Ann at 339-1313. Swimmers interested in the fall program, Sept. 10 (Wed.) continues thru Nov. 21 M-W-F waterpolo. The goal being a timed ile swim. Gold medal for 1 mile, silver for ¾ mile, bronze for ½. This is individually timed, not competitive. This is also an excellent opportunity for high school students interested in swimming for their team. Perfecting all strokes, times and dives is included. Ann Cavalli, 339-1313; Colby Haarz and Jeremy Schmit.
Lifeguards will be on duty until the middle of September. Please continue to adbide by the rules.

Tennis
Jerry Conrad Head Pro
The junior summer tennis camp was a great success. I hope your child had as much fun as I did and will continue to work on their game this coming year. I want to thank the club for allowing the kids an opportunity to develop the skills that will give them a head start to a better tennis game.
Juniors interested in continuing with tennis can join are after school tennis program. We have a Tuesday clinic which meets for ten weeks from 4-5:30. This class starts on September 9th and is for the junior who is just picking up the game and wants to learn how to serve, rally and hit with good form. The cost for the ten weeks is $170. Please pick up an application at the front desk or call me and I will get one to you. Juniors who are more advanced and who want to learn how to play competitively can participate in our Wednesday/Friday class. We meet for ten weeks starting on September 10th and have matches with other clubs on Friday afternoons. This is a great way to prepare for high school tennis as well as just improve your game. The cost for the ten weeks session is $190. Again, please pick up an application at the desk or give me a call.
Congratulations go to our 3.5 women's tennis team that nearly made it to the regionals. They played their hearts out and I look forward to next year. Each member of the team can feel good about the fine season they had. I will be on vacation until Monday, September 8th.

Fitness Facts
David Blaschka, Director
Thank you for your understanding and patience for the problems with the new AMT's. All the constant problems are industry wide, not just our bad luck. The AMT's have been upgraded by Precor. Hopefully this will solve the problems in the future.
As the summer draws to a close, new stressors and challenges await us for the fall. Children returning to school, an increase in work, and/or the transition from one season to the next can create an uneven balance in our lives. Exercise might take us from the great outdoors to the indoor environment. A great way to help facilitate this transition is with a new exercise program complimented with a relaxing and rejuvenating massage. We offer our 5-session PEP program with ONE 60 Minute Massage for $360 during the month of September. This package is normally $420. A savings of $60. Limit one per member. Enjoy a new workout program, relax, and slide into the fall.
Target Muscle Group; The Core. Core conditioning has enjoyed tremendous popularity over the past few years and continues to be a mainstay in programming due to its identified benefits which include:
§ Protecting the spine from potential injury
§ Improving balance, coordination, dynamic postural strength and control
§ Optimizing force production and load transfer through the trunk to the extremities
§ Improving one's ability to better tolerate loading forces
So work the core. If you have any questions on core exercises or creating a new exercise program, please call David or Ilene at 531-3300 ext 12 § Biggi Fralley, Personal Trainer is no longer with us. We wish her luck in her endeavors

Membership
Carol Anderson, Membership Coordinator
All Right Tennis Players! It's time to put all those hours spent on the practice court on the line! Quick…get those competitive juices flowing and sign up for our Club Ladies and Men's Singles and Doubles tournament with opening rounds September 12, 13 & 14 and semis & finals on September 20 & 21. If you're not playing, come out and watch! A guaranteed good time for all! Contact Rosina details.
Never made it to The Islands this Year? We're here to help! The trade winds are blowing the Aloha Spirit directly to OHTC on Saturday, September 6 at 6:30pm for our Fall Luau. Get in the mood with Polynesian Dancing, food & drink. See Rosina's column for details!
HELPFUL LOCKER FACTS: Family Shared, Under 18 Boys and Under 18 Girls lockers are located near the massage area. Adult Men and Ladies lockers are located near the cardio room. Wait lists are at the check-in desk. Please sign up for the area or areas you are interested in. You have questions? I have answers! Important Reminder to all members: Whether you are splashing in the pool, kicking that fitness program into high gear or polishing up those serves and volleys, you may have questions or comments that will make your visits to Oakland Hills more enjoyable. Call Carol's Helpline: 510-220-2463…email: membership@oaklandhills.com or put it in writing in our Member Comment Log, always available at the front desk! See you around!

Massage
David Blaschka, Director
As you may or may not know, we have a new Massage Therapist with us. Kerry Graham-Walker. You might have seen him offering chair massages in the hallway during his shift. If you don't know him, I highly recommend you seek him out. His modalities include: deep tissue, shiatsu, neuromuscular therapy, cranio-sacral therapy, pregnancy massage, and hot stone. Kerry writes,'A versatile style, capable of being gentle or deep.' And 'you can choose a particular modality or the session can be a fluid combination of styles, depending on the wish of the client.'
We are offering a "Get-To-Know Kerry" special for the month of September. $60 for a 60-minute massage. His hours have changed slightly:Wed 6-9pm; Thurs 10-1; Alt Sunday 10-1. A Glossary of Massage Terms: § Massage Therapy - a profession in which the practicioner applies manual techniques with the intention of positively affecting the health and well-being of the client § Deep Tissue - a technique that releases chronic patterns of tension in the body through slow strokes and deep finger pressure on contracted areas, either following or going across the grains of the muscles, tendons, and fascia § Shiatsu -(also called acupressure) - A Japanese system of applying finger pressure to specific points that lie along specific meridians § Sports Massage - A focus on the muscle systems relevant to a particular sport. It involves different massage approaches while an athlete is in training, during a sports activity, and after a sports event More Massage Terms next month To schedule a massage with Kerry or any of our other wonderful therapists please call 531-3300

Aerobics
Luciana Farr, Director

Summer is almost over. School is starting back, and we go back to a new routine feeling refreshed and reinvigorated after a well deserved vacation. Perhaps this is also a good time to revaluate our exercise routine and try a different class. Part of a complete fitness program is to incorporate cardiovascular training, strength training, agility, flexibility and balance.
We might wonder why balance is not talked about in fitness circles as often as strength, aerobics and stretching. Balance is defined as " the ability of your body to maintain equilibrium when you stand, walk or perform other daily activity" like putting on pants, walking on uneven ground or reaching for something on a shelf. Our overall sense of balance comes from communication among the eyes, ears, and brain. The ears and eyes communicate changes of head position to the brain. According to Scott McCredie , a health and science writer, the sense of balance begins to degrade in one's 20's, and that it is downhill - literally and figuratively- from there unless steps are taken to preserve or restore this delicate and critically important ability to maintain equilibrium.
One normal consequence of aging is a steady decline in the three main sensory contributors to good balance- vision, proprioceptors on the bottom of the feet that communicate position information to the brain, and the tiny hairs in the semicircular canals of the inner that relay gravity and motion information to the brain. Add to that the loss of muscle strength and flexibility that typically accompany aging, and you have a fall waiting to happen. But while certain declines with age are unavoidable, physical therapists, physiatrists and fitness experts have repeatedly proved that much of the sense of balance can be preserved and even restored through exercises that require no special equipment or training. Two main routes improve balance: exercises that increase the strength of the ankle, knee and hip muscles and exercises that improve the function of the vestibular system (which constitutes the labyrinth of the inner ear). Try this exercise: stand straight with arms folded across your chest. Raise one leg, bending the knee about 45 degrees, close your eyes. Repeat with the other leg.The norm for 20 to 49 years old is 24-28 seconds, 50 to 59 years is 21 seconds, 60 to 69 years is 10 seconds. How did you do? The slow continuous movements of tai-chi have been shown in scientific studies to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls.
I would like to introduce our new Pilates instructor, Bonnie Machuca, who just recently started teaching the Saturday morning class at 8:15AM. Some of you will be pleased with her instruction. Bonnie has extensive training in mat Pilates and reformer. As she states: after 14 years of dance, 3 major knee surgeries and one child, Bonnie had many excuses to practice Pilates. The benefits she received from this fantastic form of exercise were like no other, She was sold, and thus made a career change to become a Pilates instructor focusing on athletic training, rehabilitation, and pre and post natal. Dedicating her life to teaching and practicing Pilates has been rewarding and anything but simple. If you have been skipping the Sat. Pilates class, now is the time to come back! Keep Fit and Healthy!