Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[GeoffWilliams]

I've never seen anyone polish a turd. You'd have to dry it out first. Then coat it with varethane, and then it would be solid enough to polish it. "Here, honey, a present for you. Your very own polished turd." Ha, ha. My wife would see the humor in it anyway. (Not.)

[klacr]

But Kyle, the youngsters growing up with tennis today, usually know nothing about the past. They just know what is played today, and so the new generation is unaware of the old days. Hardly any know Laver, et al. I met on the courts a kid who did not know who Sampras was. Today's players are uninterested in the past, so how could they miss it?

That is why I say, move on. The past had its style and champions, and watching the old videos is fun, but we are now playing today's tennis. Maybe there are less colorful personalities, but I actually like today's tennis.

I guess it is just an example of the "good old days" syndrome...

Excellent points Phil. Always love your comments. I know I could learn so much more from you. And that is the reason why tennis coaches, USPTA, USPTR, ITF, USTA, LTA and any other alphabet soup combo you can mention can come into play. It is the tennis fan and tennis coaches job to educate and inspire with stories of yesteryear. "Move on"? Ok, but to where? Move on with the rest of the masses? When you follow the herd, you get led to slaughter. Moving on is inevitable and essential. Everyone does in due time, but to remember and respect the past is not being unwilling to "move on", it's simply respecting, understanding and gaining knowledge to help us for the future.
When I met and bonded with Roy Emerson two years ago at a tennis conference in Michigan, he spoke to a group of college kids 18-23 years old. They had little idea of just who this old, bow legged, bad hip Australian guy with thick glasses was. Until he spoke. The demeanor and respect he had for his audience was reciprocated immediately as students jaws dropped as he made college level players look silly with his control and volley skills. His slice backhand almost made one player of the men's team nearly soil himself after he couldn't handle a "hack" player in his mid 70's. At the end of his presentation, every single audience member, nearly 100, got up and shook his hand and had questions. Young kids! With questions! For a tennis legend! About History!

The younger generation is very interested in the past, if we expose it to them. I'm not saying kids need to know who Major Walter Clopton Wingfield is and his influence on tennis, but I do say when it comes to tennis styles, tennis technique and the evolution (or de-evolution as don_budge likes to say) they will find it incredibly interesting and incredibly beneficial for them as they learn, grow and develop their own unique playing style and philosophy.

Funny, recently you posted a match at Wimbledon between Agassi and Rafter. There will be some students in the next few years, maybe even today that have no clue who they are. Does that make your interest in them irrelevant or wrong? Does it make those players sad examples of how bad tennis was in those days. Of course not. But to some future generations it could. And that's awful for you and I both

Fact is, younger generations have a thirst for knowledge. They don't get nearly enough credit for what they are capable of and what they have the current ability to do. Ever seen a 6 year old completely break down an iphone by pushing every button only to have it fixed and operating again like new in no time? I could never do that.

I'm in a tough boat. I'm a young 32, I'm in a generation that your generation has complained about. I'm also in a generation that has a generation under me that I can complain about. But they are also our future. I work with under 30 coaches all the time and as much as they think I have all my "shit" figured out, I look at them and say that they have more of their "shit" figured out at that age than I ever did. Technology is their advantage.

By providing them stories and videos and archival data of how far tennis has come, that will make them appreciate the sport more. The thirst for knowledge is out there. We as older players, teachers, coaches, mentors can bridge that gap and extoll the virtues of the history of tennis as well as where we believe it's headed. Not just from a moral perspective but also from a technical and tactical perspective. Sure, kids may want to hit the ball like Nadal, but can they start off that way or are their fundamentals that go back decades to a different era. It's good for me to see that. The old tennis days aren't so old when we think about. Fact is, you gotta know some basics before you jump off the high platform into the deep end of the tennis pool. Look and act as fancy as players want to, but they won't get far with little knowledge of how to hit a ball.

What happens when you polish a turd? You get a shiny turd. That's it. Tough to reach the next level of play and professionalism and joy for the game when your foundation for all of it is turd-like. Not the most eloquent way to finish a post but I'll stand by it.

I'm in a rush and in the weeds for work so I hope this post made sense. If not, my apologies.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

But Kyle, the youngsters growing up with tennis today, usually know nothing about the past. They just know what is played today, and so the new generation is unaware of the old days. Hardly any know Laver, et al. I met on the courts a kid who did not know who Sampras was. Today's players are uninterested in the past, so how could they miss it?

Phil this may be you talking and not the actual reality. Many of the old clips surpass more modern clips with the number of views they get on YouTube. Laver and Newcombe have way more views than the Berdych/Nadal Wimbledon final (sorry Klacr). Laver and Newcombe may be a grainy clip but many have taken the trouble to sit through it. Many more yet have sat though the Nastase/Ashe US Open clip.

In my neck of the woods most kids who play to any kind of level have heard of Laver, Sampras, Borg and McEnroe

The average YouTube viewer is 27 years old...so young...and ranges mostly from children to adults aged 34. People would seem curious to view tennis they haven't witnessed as opposed to what they have.

Be careful in your haste to consign the old fogey club as a bunch of illusionists that you don't fall into an illusionary trap of your own.

[gzhpcu]

But Kyle, the youngsters growing up with tennis today, usually know nothing about the past. They just know what is played today, and so the new generation is unaware of the old days. Hardly any know Laver, et al. I met on the courts a kid who did not know who Sampras was. Today's players are uninterested in the past, so how could they miss it?

That is why I say, move on. The past had its style and champions, and watching the old videos is fun, but we are now playing today's tennis. Maybe there are less colorful personalities, but I actually like today's tennis.

I guess it is just an example of the "good old days" syndrome...

[klacr]

What's old will become new again. Maybe not how we initially remembered it though. What's current will become better with a return to how it all began. All this talk of old school tennis and classic fundamentals is nice but it really won't happen until tennis' reaches it's darkest point and people have very little alternative but to remember what made them fall in love with the sport in the first place. Love brings us back, technology shoves us forward. Fundamentals and respect of them gives us hope.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Nice quote on wooden rackets and baseball bats. Much more intelligent than any ritual (and very tired) John McEnroe bashing.

Yes, bottle, but this endless reference to the "great John McEnroe" in practically every post is tedious.

[bottle]

Nice quote on wooden rackets and baseball bats. Much more intelligent than any ritual (and very tired) John McEnroe bashing.

With every invention comes a curse.

Yeah, but my shots before were inventions, too. So if there are curses everywhere one ought to do exactly as one wants by navigating as best one can through all of them.

[don_budge]

John McEnroe...Ten Recommendations

From John McEnroe's most excellent autobiography..."Serious"...his top ten recommendations for improving tennis in the 21st Century:

"A return to wooden racquets would be a huge improvement for professional tennis. The biggest change in the game in the last twenty five years...the replacement of wood by graphite...has been a bad one. I happen to think that wooden racquets are beautiful aesthetically and purer for the game.

Look at baseball. Kids start with aluminum bats in little league, then move on to Kevlar or whatever in college and then...and only then...if they make it to the majors do they get to use those beautiful wooden bats that require greater expertise for success.

Why not do the same thing in tennis? I think that it looks great to have a little wand in your hand, instead of some ultra thick club big enough to kill somebody with. Wood...to me...has glamour. You need strategy and technique. Tennis, these days, is sadly lacking in all these things.

It's all (as David Bowie says) wham, bam, thank you ma'am." ...the great John McEnroe.

Seconded by the not so great...don_budge.

[gzhpcu]

A couple weeks later in England at the pre-Wimbledon Queen’s Club tournament, he won handily but made it a field day for the tabloids when during the final he called the chair umpire an “idiot” and yelled out, “Over 1,000 officials to choose from and I get a moron like you.” When Mac saw his opponent, the relatively unknown Leif Shiras looking amused during his outburst, he pointed his finger at him during the changeover and warned, “I’ve been around a long time and I don’t want to take that crap from you.”

Silence Him Now! screamed the Daily Mail. Even the staid Guardian opined, “No one should be permitted to voice such contempt for a fellow human being and get away with it.” Despite the furor, McEnroe managed to get through Wimbledon relatively unscathed and dusted Connors in that nearly flawless final. After winning the U.S. Open in what would turn out to be his last Grand Slam victory, he wrapped up his incredible 79-3 season at a tournament in Stockholm by memorably smashing a courtside tray of drinks with his racket during a match after not getting a response from the chair umpire when he screamed out, “Answer the question, jerk!” That incident put him over the $7,500-fine limit that had been instituted almost singularly because of him, and he was suspended from the tour for 21 days.

source: http://julianrubinstein.com/articles/mcenroe/

And much more on the "great John McEnroe"...

[gzhpcu]

After many years, I have gone back to wearing all white when I play tennis. Makes me feel more in a tennis mood, and I like it...

[don_budge]

bottle...

With every invention comes a curse.

[don_budge]

The Patriot...Mark Twain 1904

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ...Mark Twain

In a time of universal deceit...telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ...George Orwell

[don_budge]

Modern Love...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzirnAoda4

From...
Modern Love...David Bowie (1983 what a coincidence)

To...
Love and Sex with Robots...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_and_Sex_with_Robots

Is this better? Is it too big of a stretch for you...just calm down and think a bit. Try not to get so indignant...just think. Imagine. All that you know...all that you have seen. What does it all mean? What is the meaning of life? What does tennis have to do with it?

But in the end you are right...we have gone too far. There is no heading back. Unless we are forced to...to square one. It isn't quite living in the past as you would like to make it out to be...afterall I moved to the other side of the world at the age of 50 and started over from scratch...with worn out tools. Still going strong...knock on wood. Trust me...I am in the moment. I know the score.

[don_budge]

Tennis Etiquette...1982 Style

Here...take a look at this short clip. The great John McEnroe and his long time doubles partner Peter Fleming losing in the finals to an Australian pair Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oq47lcPh2I

Watch carefully as the four players approach the net after match point. Strange that the great volleyers McEnroe and Fleming were not able to put the ball away with a couple of chances. But look...both McNamara and McNamee are playing with Prince 110 model racquets while McEnroe and Fleming must be feeling somewhat foolish "bringing a knife to a gun fight" as they are holding on to their standard size wooden racquets.

The whole basis of tennis etiquette was actually violated by the "prim and proper" tennis establishment. I don't know if tennis etiquette was actually ever spelled out anywhere...maybe they don't even use this term anymore when discussing "modern tennis". But to me...tennis etiquette covered a whole range of issues. Basically it meant that "one should never seek unfair advantage against your opponent". Or something to that effect.

My question is...what did the majority of professional tennis players think about the change of equipment at the time it was happening.

Here is the men's single final too. It is none other than John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors who are unknowingly playing the last "all standard sized" Wimbledon final in history. Connors won in a five set epic...3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YjomkT5E4A

Jimmy Connors had a Prince Racquet encounter all of his own in this tournament. Gene Mayer as a tennis player who went from 140 something in the world and shot up to #4 very quickly when he changed early on in the equipment fiasco years. Connors took him out in the quarterfinals. No wonder Connors hates Andre Agassi.

I was trying to find out when Mayer first switched. Some of my college competition was switching in 1979 or so.

It's in Spanish...sorry about that Chief. But check out the wear pattern on the grass courts.

[gzhpcu]

John McEnroe took advantage of the timidity and infamous blindness of tennis umpires and line judges. He epitomized the tennis tantrum, rocking a sport known for its polite spectators. Umpires didn’t stand a chance against his scathing tongue. Neither did his first wife.

“It was on the line. Answer my question! The question, jerk!”

“I wasn’t talking to you, umpire. I was talking to myself. What did I say, umpire, tell me. Please tell me! You are pathetic, do you know that? You are the worst umpire that I’ve ever seen in my life. You’re never going to work another match.”

“You cannot be serious! Everyone in this whole stadium knows it was in, and you call it out. Explain this to me. You’re the pits of the world.”

from the article "John McEnroe made me quit tennis"...
http://www.flipcollective.com/2010/0...-tara-goedjen/

Is this tennis tradition?

Now, now, temper, temper OP...