Laver quote from The Sunday Times....

[chess9]

"I'd love Roger to play with a wooden racket. It brings the skill out."

Ah, the Rocket thinks wood is good....

Is Laver too full of himself?
Delusional if he thinks Roger will play with wood?
A bloody genius?
Dead wrong?

Don't be shy, but please be nice.

-Robert

[Nick Irons]

I think his point is simply that the modern game is mostly about power.

(The tour needs to restrict the racquet technology similiar to the way the PGA does.)

Another thread.

[chess9]

Originally Posted by Nick Irons

I think his point is simply that the modern game is mostly about power.

(The tour needs to restrict the racquet technology similiar to the way the PGA does.)

Another thread.

Oh, I agree, Nick.

-Robert

[mwitiiram]

i was reading another tw thread about this power thing yesterday. yes its about power, but the skill is also needed. Anyone can swing to the moon but to be able to swing to the moon AND create angles, consistency, etc that takes a pro.

[slice bh compliment]

If Roger played with wood, yeah, it would bring the skill out. But he would lose a lot of matches.
If everyone else played with wood, too, Roger would have already won Roland Garros twice, I think. Two calendar Grand Slams. And counting.

[chess9]

Originally Posted by slice bh compliment

If Roger played with wood, yeah, it would bring the skill out. But he would lose a lot of matches.
If everyone else played with wood, too, Roger would have already won Roland Garros twice, I think. Two calendar Grand Slams. And counting.

Roger could play with a coffee can lid and "bring the skill out." His win over Gonzales has me dazzled....

-Robert

[bluegrasser]

Originally Posted by Nick Irons

I think his point is simply that the modern game is mostly about power.

(The tour needs to restrict the racquet technology similiar to the way the PGA does.)

Another thread.

I agree, but the racquet industry has too many $'s invested, and they won't let that happen. Q: Where would you draw the line - wood, 85" max, I mean Federer is # uno and he's hitting with a mid & has as much power as the next guy. If you look at most of the players using those 100" stiff frames, they're heavy on the spin.

I think you have to look at the athlete, who is much faster and stronger than a few decades ago, more than the racquet being the problem. Maybe go to one serve, or use a slower ball, have let serves be legit. Pat Mac was saying that he was looking at some old clips of matches and felt the points were longer today than back in the seventies. Just look at that point that Fed and Hewitt played at the USO, that was longer than a Borg/Vilas point at the French Open.

[Moose Malloy]

I've seen the entire Borg-Vilas '78 FO final recently, the length of rallies in todays game isn't remotely near the same length. Ditto Wilander vs Lendl circa 1987 with small graphite racquets.

here are some clips of Borg-Vilas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOqAx...elated&search=

As far as rallies on grass, of course today rallies are longer since everyone S&Ved on grass in the wood racquet era & no one S&V today.

As far as hardcourt, I'm not sure about average length of rallies. I saw the 1982 Vilas-Connors US Open SF recently & it featured some very extended rallies.

Todays athletes are overall faster & stronger, but that doesn't account for the drastic change in the game over the years. Its not like the best athletes are playing tennis more than they were 30 years ago(when participation in the sport was at an alltime high in the US) Its not like I see any Lebron James/Allen Iverson type athete playing tennis. I doubt Federer is anywhere near as fast as Borg or Gerulaitis. Or that anyone on tour today is as strong as Vilas. Yet he couldn't hit the ball that hard with all that natural strength. Its all about the racquet(& the techniques/grips that became common once graphite emerged)

I saw nalbandian/gaudio play a doubles exo vs vilas/clerc with wood racquets recently, it wasn't pretty, they looked clueless. its in the best interest of the atp to never allow wood(or racquets that small, regardless of material) to return, the quality of play would drastically drop & the public will realize that pros are not the gods that we think they are.

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

...I saw nalbandian/gaudio play a doubles exo vs vilas/clerc with wood racquets recently, it wasn't pretty....

Tell us about this match, Moose.
Did Vilas and Clerc finesse those two to death?
Did Gaudio's backhand drop like five levels?
Was Nalbandian's return no longer a weapon?
Did Clerc's serve and volley and touch game throw those guys?
How does Vilas move now? He stikes me as stiff and slow. Not bad for a 54 year-old dude, though. Bet Clerc is fit as can be.

Tell us all about it, man.

[Rabbit]

Originally Posted by slice bh compliment

Tell us about this match, Moose.
Did Vilas and Clerc finesse those two to death?
Did Gaudio's backhand drop like five levels?
Was Nalbandian's return no longer a weapon?
Did Clerc's serve and volley and touch game throw those guys?
How does Vilas move now? He stikes me as stiff and slow. Not bad for a 54 year-old dude, though. Bet Clerc is fit as can be.

Tell us all about it, man.

While I didn't see it, I did hear about it. Yes, Nalbandian & Gaudio lost if I remember correctly. And it wasn't that close.

On another note, it is good to hear the Clerc and Vilas are on good enough terms to play together.

[chess9]

What was Serena's racquet John, and how was it weighted? Any idea?
You certainly are thinking out of the box. I'm going to have to read that several times to understand your point of view.

-Robert

[jorel]

its always possible for Roger to play with a wooden racquet in some type of exhibition. if he wants to or not is another question, i heard a while back that courier and sampras played a throwback match where both of them used wood racquet spec;d out to their current frame and both of them were still destroying their groundstrokes

[Ronaldo]

John are you adding weight to the handle just above your grip? Added 2-2.5 oz to a pr of PK racquets, amazed by the improvement.

[alwaysatnet]

They will be made from the hull of the UFO craft that crashed at Roswell. Frames infused with Unobtainium will be only given to certain players though.Sculley and Mulder could probably tell you why.If suddenly Vince Spadea starts winning majors you'll know the fix is in.

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by alwaysatnet

They will be made from the hull of the UFO craft that crashed at Roswell. Frames infused with Unobtainium will be only given to certain players though.Sculley and Mulder could probably tell you why.If suddenly Vince Spadea starts winning majors you'll know the fix is in.

Yeah, man. Finally, someone I can talk to about unobtanium! That technology is amazing. It's been around since Roswell, circa 1947, uh huh. But only know do they finally have the weighting right so it is responsive enough for world-class tennis on the modern tip. John Cauthen, you know what that's about, man.

Spadea had his chances ten years ago in the parking lot of the Kennedy Center, on a post-Puccini walk over to the Watergate hotel. That fateful night, Vincenzo's opera singing dad ran afoul of the cigarette smoking man. Cigarette smoking man HATES opera. He only uses it as a meeting place. But no, Spadea's dad had two martinis in him and had to show off his pipes. That was the night the Spadeas kissed unobtanium g'bye foreva. A lost endeavor. Never say neva. Well, never.

[Jet Rink]

Originally Posted by alwaysatnet

They will be made from the hull of the UFO craft that crashed at Roswell. Frames infused with Unobtainium will be only given to certain players though.Sculley and Mulder could probably tell you why.If suddenly Vince Spadea starts winning majors you'll know the fix is in.

I'm with you AlwaysAtNet - I am completely and totally lost reading through the above post (Tour organizers are behind stealing and replacing racquets...?) and the other re: "proper" set up and miraculous, intuitive tennis.

I'm all for a super-inter-galactic alloy though. Wilson should get a jump on this. Maybe it'll play just like ... wood.

Jet

[alwaysatnet]

Since it is so difficult to put the ball away with wood you can assume there would be more rallies. Hard court tennis would become more like clay and clay would become a sort of Bataan Death March in tennis shoes. There would be no winners,only survivors who move on to the next round through attrition.

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by alwaysatnet

Since it is so difficult to put the ball away with wood you can assume there would be more rallies. Hard court tennis would become more like clay and clay would become a sort of Bataan Death March in tennis shoes. There would be no winners,only survivors who move on to the next round through attrition.

Sounds like someone who remembers tennis on clay in the seventies.

[stormholloway]

I don't know if I buy the 2% thing, but even so, you can't swing as fast and expect to hit the sweet spot, so power is reduced much more from this manner. I would say the Pure Drive is at least 10% more powerful than a Kramer.

I've hit extensively with both.

[35ft6]

Roger is playing with about the most low tech and oldest rackets on tour. Maybe only the Prince Graphite is as old as his pro staff.