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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2019 13:12:24 GMT -5
I took up tennis recently after a thirty year hiatus. In my youth, I always admired Rod Laver, even got to speak to him once in Chicago, at the Kemper Open. It was so great. He is a truly nice and generous individual.
I tried to emulate Rod's game including hitting a topspin backhand while holding the racket with a continental grip. Topspin is forward spin and in tennis it's advantageous to hit topspin from either side. But the continental grip on the backhand side requires quite a bit of grip and forearm strength as well as timing to produce topspin, much easier to hit flat or backspin on the backhand side with the continental grip.
Still, I wanted to be Rod Laver and would force that topspin when flat or backspin would have sufficed. It cost me some important matches to try to be Rod Laver.
When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to let my body do what it needs to do given the circumstances of the game, rather than forcing an outcome when circumstances made such an outcome quite difficult. For example, in my youth a high deep corner shot to my backhand with a charge to the net by an opponent demanded a topspin passing shot. Rod Laver could produce such a shot because of his incredible forearm strength. I could occasionally pull it off, but more often than not, I'd hit the ball out.
Nowadays, I just let my body react with what it can give which is a nice down the line slice, usually at the opponents lower body. It doesn't typically win the point, too slow, but it isn't an outright miss and if I get it low enough which the height of the ball allows, it still keeps me in the point.
This taking what the game gives has improved my outlook and is valuable beyond the court.
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Post by lopezcabellero on Oct 17, 2019 13:42:58 GMT -5
I took up tennis recently after a thirty year hiatus. In my youth, I always admired Rod Laver, even got to speak to him once in Chicago, at the Kemper Open. It was so great. He is a truly nice and generous individual. I tried to emulate Rod's game including hitting a topspin backhand while holding the racket with a continental grip. Topspin is forward spin and in tennis it's advantageous to hit topspin from either side. But the continental grip on the backhand side requires quite a bit of grip and forearm strength as well as timing to produce topspin, much easier to hit flat or backspin on the backhand side with the continental grip. Still, I wanted to be Rod Laver and would force that topspin when flat or backspin would have sufficed. It cost me some important matches to try to be Rod Laver. When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to let my body do what it needs to do given the circumstances of the game, rather than forcing an outcome when circumstances made such an outcome quite difficult. For example, in my youth a high deep corner shot to my backhand with a charge to the net by an opponent demanded a topspin passing shot. Rod Laver could produce such a shot because of his incredible forearm strength. I could occasionally pull it off, but more often than not, I'd hit the ball out. Nowadays, I just let my body react with what it can give which is a nice down the line slice, usually at the opponents lower body. It doesn't typically win the point, too slow, but it isn't an outright miss and if I get it low enough which the height of the ball allows, it still keeps me in the point. This taking what the game gives has improved my outlook and is valuable beyond the court. I heard of Rod Laver. Isn't there Rod Laver arena somewhere? I used to watch tennis religiously, but have only been able to passively watch over the last 4-5 years. I'm particularly fond of the Samprass Aggassi Courier years, and let's not forget Michael Chang, whether because of US dominance or just that age in life when a sport grows on you, it's actually one of the few sports I'll still watch these days. I haven't gotten to play in quite a few years, but I am planning on teaching my son and maybe my daughter if they're up for the challenge. We'll see I guess. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2019 15:07:42 GMT -5
I took up tennis recently after a thirty year hiatus. In my youth, I always admired Rod Laver, even got to speak to him once in Chicago, at the Kemper Open. It was so great. He is a truly nice and generous individual. I tried to emulate Rod's game including hitting a topspin backhand while holding the racket with a continental grip. Topspin is forward spin and in tennis it's advantageous to hit topspin from either side. But the continental grip on the backhand side requires quite a bit of grip and forearm strength as well as timing to produce topspin, much easier to hit flat or backspin on the backhand side with the continental grip. Still, I wanted to be Rod Laver and would force that topspin when flat or backspin would have sufficed. It cost me some important matches to try to be Rod Laver. When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to let my body do what it needs to do given the circumstances of the game, rather than forcing an outcome when circumstances made such an outcome quite difficult. For example, in my youth a high deep corner shot to my backhand with a charge to the net by an opponent demanded a topspin passing shot. Rod Laver could produce such a shot because of his incredible forearm strength. I could occasionally pull it off, but more often than not, I'd hit the ball out. Nowadays, I just let my body react with what it can give which is a nice down the line slice, usually at the opponents lower body. It doesn't typically win the point, too slow, but it isn't an outright miss and if I get it low enough which the height of the ball allows, it still keeps me in the point. This taking what the game gives has improved my outlook and is valuable beyond the court. I heard of Rod Laver. Isn't there Rod Laver arena somewhere? I used to watch tennis religiously, but have only been able to passively watch over the last 4-5 years. I'm particularly fond of the Samprass Aggassi Courier years, and let's not forget Michael Chang, whether because of US dominance or just that age in life when a sport grows on you, it's actually one of the few sports I'll still watch these days. I haven't gotten to play in quite a few years, but I am planning on teaching my son and maybe my daughter if they're up for the challenge. We'll see I guess. Probably in Australia, I'm sure. He's the only player to win the grand slam of tennis twice, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, Aussie Open and French. He was great. Definitely a great sport for little ones. You'll enjoy it. Get a ball basket and lots of balls. Otherwise, you'll be running a lot. |
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Post by Reefs on Oct 19, 2019 7:58:56 GMT -5
When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to let my body do what it needs to do given the circumstances of the game, rather than forcing an outcome when circumstances made such an outcome quite difficult. Seems you've learned your lesson after all. Just be yourself and let it rip!  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 9:13:41 GMT -5
When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to let my body do what it needs to do given the circumstances of the game, rather than forcing an outcome when circumstances made such an outcome quite difficult. Seems you've learned your lesson after all. Just be yourself and let it rip! That's what having fun is all about and why children are better at it than adults. No head in the game. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 11:22:05 GMT -5
When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to ... I've noticed a similar thing with sports as I've aged. I did some competitive sports in high school and college years, and I've gone back and messed around with them a decade later, two decades later. (Swimming, tennis, strength training in general). There is less ego and desire to "look cool", or like you said, imitate some famous person or obsess on some idea, so I immediately notice better ways to do things. There is less blind following of authority (often very un-helpful authority). Some basic body awareness rather than living in head seems to help a lot. Some of it really aligns with the whole theme here of less thinking, simple awareness. Then I'll think, gee, I could have been a lot better at certain sports, which I seemed to care a lot about at the time. It's no great tragedy, but it's interesting that the ego sort of crippled itself. On tennis specifically, that's an interesting grip. Yeah, if you wanted topspin, then turning it 45-90° would have helped a lot! I was one of the only kids in the league trying to use a one-handed backhand. I used the eastern grip and could hit topspin. Years later trying to play again my forehand was wild as hell but the one-hand backhand motion was simpler and I could still keep it in the court. I've also wondered if someone might learn to quickly switch hands and play symmetrically. I've always preferred symmetry in sports. I noticed that practicing a left handed serve (even when slow and awkward) seemed to help the main right hand motion. |
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Post by laughter on Oct 19, 2019 13:06:02 GMT -5
When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to ... I've noticed a similar thing with sports as I've aged. I did some competitive sports in high school and college years, and I've gone back and messed around with them a decade later, two decades later. (Swimming, tennis, strength training in general). There is less ego and desire to "look cool", or like you said, imitate some famous person or obsess on some idea, so I immediately notice better ways to do things. There is less blind following of authority (often very un-helpful authority). Some basic body awareness rather than living in head seems to help a lot. Some of it really aligns with the whole theme here of less thinking, simple awareness. Then I'll think, gee, I could have been a lot better at certain sports, which I seemed to care a lot about at the time. It's no great tragedy, but it's interesting that the ego sort of crippled itself. On tennis specifically, that's an interesting grip. Yeah, if you wanted topspin, then turning it 45-90° would have helped a lot! I was one of the only kids in the league trying to use a one-handed backhand. I used the eastern grip and could hit topspin. Years later trying to play again my forehand was wild as hell but the one-hand backhand motion was simpler and I could still keep it in the court. I've also wondered if someone might learn to quickly switch hands and play symmetrically. I've always preferred symmetry in sports. I noticed that practicing a left handed serve (even when slow and awkward) seemed to help the main right hand motion. Just loosen and rotate, instead.  Good enough on an amateur court but even then, when we were young enough, Sue could start getting it across fast enough that the tactic had to be abandoned.  |
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Post by zendancer on Oct 19, 2019 14:00:10 GMT -5
Seems you've learned your lesson after all. Just be yourself and let it rip! That's what having fun is all about and why children are better at it than adults. No head in the game. So true! Reading this thread brings back so many memories. I loved playing tennis, had a mean topspin, and loved rushing the net, but the sudden stop and go nature of power tennis causes norepinephrine levels to spike super high, and I decided that hiking and mountain climbing would probably lead to a longer life than long-distance running and tennis. Haha. I used to run long distances after work (to stay in shape for 5K and 10K races), but I eventually began having a strange chest sensation after ten miles or so --sort of like a vacuum cleaner. Turned out it was ventricular tachycardia! A cardiologist did some tests and said that it was probably benign, but I decided not to tempt fate and left the long-distance running and tennis behind. Bummer! My absolute best game of tennis occurred one night on an indoor court when I got "into the zone" and began to know where the ball was going to go even before my opponent hit my return. Time, space, and reflective thinking disappeared for about ten minutes, and only many years later did I realize that that was my first mystical experience in which "I" disappeared. Non-thinking tennis is the best! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 14:35:44 GMT -5
When I restarted my tennis practice at the age of sixty-four, the desire to be Rod Laver no longer seems to hold sway and consequently, I think in some ways I'm a better player. Not trying to be Rod seems to free me up to ... I've noticed a similar thing with sports as I've aged. I did some competitive sports in high school and college years, and I've gone back and messed around with them a decade later, two decades later. (Swimming, tennis, strength training in general). There is less ego and desire to "look cool", or like you said, imitate some famous person or obsess on some idea, so I immediately notice better ways to do things. There is less blind following of authority (often very un-helpful authority). Some basic body awareness rather than living in head seems to help a lot. Some of it really aligns with the whole theme here of less thinking, simple awareness. Then I'll think, gee, I could have been a lot better at certain sports, which I seemed to care a lot about at the time. It's no great tragedy, but it's interesting that the ego sort of crippled itself. On tennis specifically, that's an interesting grip. Yeah, if you wanted topspin, then turning it 45-90° would have helped a lot! I was one of the only kids in the league trying to use a one-handed backhand. I used the eastern grip and could hit topspin. Years later trying to play again my forehand was wild as hell but the one-hand backhand motion was simpler and I could still keep it in the court. I've also wondered if someone might learn to quickly switch hands and play symmetrically. I've always preferred symmetry in sports. I noticed that practicing a left handed serve (even when slow and awkward) seemed to help the main right hand motion. Yes. Eastern grip backhand is the ticket for topspin, but the Aussies all used continental. Most, like Rosewall, hit flat or a little backspin. I think Rosewall had the best backhand ever. But Laver was my guy. I can hit topspin on the backhand side, but it's not the most reliable shot. When I played, only Connors and Evert used two hands, Borg kind of. I played on high school and college teams. I saw a switching ambidextrous player in high school in a tournament, but he wasn't that good. Hard to switch at the net. Yeah the game is lighter and much more fun when the ego isn't so active. That's what one of the guys I started playing tennis with said the other day. "Life would have been so much fun and easier when I was younger if I'd had half the wisdom I do now." |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 14:42:14 GMT -5
That's what having fun is all about and why children are better at it than adults. No head in the game. So true! Reading this thread brings back so many memories. I loved playing tennis, had a mean topspin, and loved rushing the net, but the sudden stop and go nature of power tennis causes norepinephrine levels to spike super high, and I decided that hiking and mountain climbing would probably lead to a longer life than long-distance running and tennis. Haha. I used to run long distances after work (to stay in shape for 5K and 10K races), but I eventually began having a strange chest sensation after ten miles or so --sort of like a vacuum cleaner. Turned out it was ventricular tachycardia! A cardiologist did some tests and said that it was probably benign, but I decided not to tempt fate and left the long-distance running and tennis behind. Bummer! My absolute best game of tennis occurred one night on an indoor court when I got "into the zone" and began to know where the ball was going to go even before my opponent hit my return. Time, space, and reflective thinking disappeared for about ten minutes, and only many years later did I realize that that was my first mystical experience in which "I" disappeared. Non-thinking tennis is the best! Yeah. Some nights I WAS Rod Laver. I imagine the same is true with dancing. If you're relaxed, it's a better experience. For me no alcohol=no dancing. Otherwise, I feel like Shaq in a tutu. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 15:25:23 GMT -5
... but the sudden stop and go nature of power tennis causes norepinephrine levels to spike super high, and I decided that hiking and mountain climbing would probably lead to a longer life ... My recent interest in watching UFC fights is probably taking years of my life. If I "care" about the fighters in some way, my heart starts pounding out of my chest while watching on a screen. |
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Post by lopezcabellero on Oct 30, 2019 17:10:06 GMT -5
I heard of Rod Laver. Isn't there Rod Laver arena somewhere? I used to watch tennis religiously, but have only been able to passively watch over the last 4-5 years. I'm particularly fond of the Samprass Aggassi Courier years, and let's not forget Michael Chang, whether because of US dominance or just that age in life when a sport grows on you, it's actually one of the few sports I'll still watch these days. I haven't gotten to play in quite a few years, but I am planning on teaching my son and maybe my daughter if they're up for the challenge. We'll see I guess. Probably in Australia, I'm sure. He's the only player to win the grand slam of tennis twice, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, Aussie Open and French. He was great. Definitely a great sport for little ones. You'll enjoy it. Get a ball basket and lots of balls. Otherwise, you'll be running a lot. Right right, Rod Laver. Yes, tennis is a good bonding activity. |
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