Cold weather clothing

[awsskater]

Yeah varsity tennis has started last tuesday and we play outside everyday, even if it is in the 30-40 degrees. This is a problem for me since I have renodes (sorry i don't know how to spell it). Even with a sweatshirt and jeans my hands are freezing. Any suggestions are welcome (besides gloves of any kind)

[Verbal_Kint]

You CAN use a glove on your left hand without much trouble. If you're really that cold, you can cut of part of a sock off, put it on your hand, and then on the racket.

And I think a warm-up is a lot warmer than jeans and sweatshirt..

Marnix

[PistolPete]

under armour

[awsskater]

what about a microfleece? I actually have one of those

you practice in jeans ?

[awsskater]

Yeah I practice in jeans when it is too cold to change but i usually practice in shorts.

[@wright]

I usually wear just a long sleeved t-shirt and still wear shorts even when it's near 40F. I just cannot wear long pants and still move like I need to, and I usually end up playing in a short sleeve shirt, I take the long sleeve shirt off after I get warmed up. Some guys on my USTA team play with leather gloves when it's really cold, and I don't see how they do it, it's not like we're playing baseball. My hands are fine after we start playing.

[Hey, Moe!]

Maybe you have overlooked one of the best ways of retaining body heat. Here in the wintery Northeast, friends of mine who are avid hunters tell me that a third of your body heat is lost through an uncovered head. If you wear a hat, it will help you feel warmer.

I've tried it, and it works. If it is in the just-above-freezing range, and I am coaching my HS team, I'll wear a ski hat. It helps a lot.

If I'm playing in 40-ish weather, I'll wear a ski hat to warm up, and maybe go to a baseball hat.

I know that it is good to dress in layers, and having a layer next to your skin that doesn't absorb water is a good thing, because you will sweat eventually. You don't want to get cold from sweating into something that just holds it there.

But the end-all, be-all for me is a hat. Nothing else helps as much in cold weather.

[Ronaldo]

skater, microfleece is great but you warm-up fast. Totally forgot about Mr.Socko. Trouble is keeping the balls warm, 30 minutes and no bounce at all.

[Hey, Moe!]

I have a weird solution to the cold-ball problem, but it works. If the parking lot is close to the courts, then my practice partner and I will open two cans of balls (we often do so anyway in the summer--you get so much more tennis in). We use one can at a time; the other can goes under the hood of one of our cars, in a warm spot, being careful not to set the can on anything that would melt it.

Every 20 minutes or so, or however many changeovers, we rotate the balls. It does work. I imagine that if you got your hands on one of those heat packs that you can heat up in the microwave, you could do the same with a small cooler.

[marc]

ok here is what you do. i am from southern california but i played college tennis in a cold climate and some schools did not have indoor courts on campus so one time we had to start a match while there were flurries...snow was coming down but it wasnt sticking. so needless to say i had to figure out ways to play when the weather wasnt as warm as what i was used to.
so you need to obviously start out in sweats or a warmup suit. you need to start jumping rope or running or something to get your blood going before you start hitting. once you start hitting move your feet a lot to keep the blood pumping. then as you get warmer strip your layers. i would suggest wearing a nike long sleeve dri fit shirt or under armour long sleeve Cold Gear shirt under whatever t shirt or uniform your team wears. you want your bottom layer to be tight against your skin because that way it will act like a second skin and it won't get caught while you swing. playing in a normal long sleeve t shirt is a second option but not as great of an option since they are usually looser fitting and can get in the way when you swing. plus it gets heavy when you sweat. the dri fit and under armour products dont get water logged. if its pretty cold keep your sweat pants or warm up pants on while you play. again, dont wear them too baggy and for gods sake don't sag them. you might not look as cool but its hard to run when your pants are falling down. you probably want to wear some compression shorts underneath your tennis shorts. this keeps your leg muscles warm and will prevent muscle pulls. again, under armour and nike make good versions of this stuff.
and the user who mentioned a hat is absolutely right. you might get hot pretty quickly but start our wearing a beanie. (in california we call them beanies, i guess the rest of the country might know them as knit caps or knit hats). i couldnt imagine playing in gloves, no feel for the racquet, just keep blowing on your hands and rubbing them together to get them warm.
i hope this helps

[awsskater]

alright thanks for all the advice but it is starting to warm up so I don't need any extra layers anymore.

[tennislover]

lol

[awsskater]

yeah i know it's pretty funny. I have reinodes so i just figured out that nothing will work. But thanks for all your help guys.