posters who you want to see hit.

[dozu]

now we are talking.

I don't play tournaments, and 70% of the time I spend on the court, I don't play sets either, just casual hitting or playing points... that is really not much different from what sennoc tries to do.

sennoc, if you didn't call everybody an idiot, maybe people could have been more open minded, and grasp what you were trying to get across.

[LeeD]

Heck, I"m still searching for the post that Sennoc accused me of calling HIM a 3.0.

[arche3]

Originally Posted by dozu

now we are talking.

I don't play tournaments, and 70% of the time I spend on the court, I don't play sets either, just casual hitting or playing points... that is really not much different from what sennoc tries to do.

sennoc, if you didn't call everybody an idiot, maybe people could have been more open minded, and grasp what you were trying to get across.

I play at least one competitive match a week of singles. and usually one match of doubles for fun. I enjoy the competition. I win 8 out of 10 matches. against good players. I have become very crafty. I will do whatever I can to take the opponent out of his rythm. I see it like a chess or strategy against good players. Against lower level guys I just blast them and overpower them. I am playing on a usta team this season for the first time. the club the team is based out of gave me a free membership to play on their team. (free indoor tennis baby!) So I will have 1 usta match and 1 singles league match a week for the next few months. I enjoy playing any level of opponent. I don't like just hitting. I do like practicing though with a goal.

(Dozu...They are borg... you are assimilated)

[accidental]

Originally Posted by sennoc

OK, I do not see your irony.

My main partner is 5.5-6.0. We play very agressive balls at full speed. We use the best balls and play on a good court, at good conditions. Strong topspins and slices, deep balls, angles etc.

Now imagine that I want to play a recreational tournament. I use quite advanced kinetic chains, many muscles involved. I'm not the youngest one, so I need a long warmup to play with good dynamics. There are no warmups at tournaments here. So, you know one reason - I do not want to risk injuries, my dynamics is wrong.

Second reason - the court. Clay courts here in Poland are very different. I play on a very fast surface, hard clay. I can adapt to a new surface, but I need time, an hour or so. At our friendly tournaments journalists hear: "5 mins on the court and please start the match, we do not have time". Every tournament is played at another centre, on a different surface. So, you know second reason of problems.

Bad lighting is another reason. I'm a journalist, work a lot of time at computers, my eyes hate high contrasts. Polish tennis reality: a few strong lamps just above your head and a quite dark interior. I serve and when I see the ball again, it's close to me. Huge problem.

Fourth reason: technique. If you use an advanced technique, you need perfect timing. You need to know the kick of the ball and you need to see the ball perfectly. So, my technique works against me. Sad but true. If you work on really good technique, better ask yourself about your tennis goals.

Fifth reason: poor combination of balls/racquet/strings. I use the heaviest racquet on the market, k6.1 Tour and Luxilon BBAPR at 24 kG. Prince Tour are dedicated for club players. If a stroke is hit at huge dynamics, the ball doesn't transfer rotation, everything goes into velocity. During the last tournament I saw a former top10 Polish player, he had the same problems. He was able to correct them by huge speed of racquet's head. Unfortunately for me, it's not possible with my racquet without killing my wrist. He was able to make corrections because he is younger and his racquet was lighter and balanced differently. I need a new setup just for these tournaments. I can't decide, do I really want to buy a different racquet to play better at a recreational tournament...

Add very serious wrist problems and you know the answers. I can adapt to new conditions, but I need time. Also, I can adapt to one or two changes, not to five, not in five minutes.

Now you know why I play these tournaments for fun.

Yes, you can say that the conditions are the same for me and my rival. But that's not true. My rivals are ~20 years younger, their eyes too. Their muscles do not need long warmup. They do not need to adapt to new balls because they use them before. Also, their technique is not so extremal as mine. They use power to modify the depth of the ball. I, usually, use rotations. To be competitive at these conditions, I should change my whole style of playing. I do not want to do that.

As you can see, at amateur tournaments good technique can work against you. But ask yourself, what do you prefer: to win against a player like dozu or to loose against Roger Federer? I work to be able to loose against very good players. Playing against them gives me motivation and satisfaction. A win over dozu? Come on...



I write on Polish tennis forum http://forum.slajs.pl - in Polish, of course. Most of my posts are about tennis science. That's all I can say now, sorry.

onehandbh, dennis10is - what do you know about real tennis...

Ask any tennis player, any real tennis player. It doesn't matter if you win by an bagel or a tiebreak; winning's winning.

[dozu]

^^^ this is a moot point now.

I think we already established, that in the WWF form of tennis, winning is irrelevant.

[dozu]

The more I think about this, the more I feel sennoc is onto something here.

Say your goal is to play high level tennis, do you have to learn how to handle junk balls from rec players?

conventional wisdom says you should, because winning is winning, and if the junk baller beats you, he is the better player.

But from a long term standpoint, there are no rec type junk balls in high level tennis, so why should you bother to learn how to handle them.

I think people do need to open their mind a little.

arche3, you may beat sennoc 0 and 0, but that doesn't mean you can do better than him in high level tennis, say hitting against a 5.5-6.0 type.

[Power Player]

Serious question: Was that last long epic post by Sennoc the greatest TW post of all time?

[dozu]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Serious question: Was that last long epic post by Sennoc the greatest TW post of all time?

greatest or not, that's debatable..

in recent years I haven't been losing a lot, in tennis, ping pong, or golf...... but in case I do lose, now I've got FIVE legit reasons to pick from, and my opponent will sure understand.

[jmnk]

[I know, it's repost, but since Poland, polish, etc is being mentioned here more and more]
The views and statements expressed on this forum by poster known as sennoc do not reflect the views of other polish speaking posters and any other person of polish ancestry involved in the athletic activity also known as tennis. Other posters affiliated with polish culture do not warrant the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of those views or statements expressed by sennoc and do not accept any legal liability whatsoever arising from any reliance on the views and statements of the said poster.

[jmnk]

Originally Posted by sennoc

Usually I do not play at amateur tournaments, I hate the rules here in Poland. Come on, no warmups? Just one set? [...]

A few years ago I started at a tournament where the matches were played as best of three. Great, I thought. Reality? Three matches in a day (9 sets...), all won, [...].

I'm confused. Is he playing one set per match? Or three? Or I can't add properly......

[jmnk]

Originally Posted by sennoc

[...]
As you can see, at amateur tournaments good technique can work against you. But ask yourself, what do you prefer: to win against a player like dozu or to loose against Roger Federer? I work to be able to loose against very good players. Playing against them gives me motivation and satisfaction. A win over dozu? Come on... [...]
..

Hmmm, that's a tough one. But I would still prefer a win over dozu. You know, to lose you do not really have to work at all.

[maggmaster]

So what this boils down to is, Sennoc is the greatest volleyer in the world, who loses recreational tournaments because he is old and the surface is different and his racket is to heavy. Interesting...


WINNING....EPIC WINNING.... I AM ON A QUEST

[arche3]

Originally Posted by dozu

The more I think about this, the more I feel sennoc is onto something here.

Say your goal is to play high level tennis, do you have to learn how to handle junk balls from rec players?

conventional wisdom says you should, because winning is winning, and if the junk baller beats you, he is the better player.

But from a long term standpoint, there are no rec type junk balls in high level tennis, so why should you bother to learn how to handle them.

I think people do need to open their mind a little.

arche3, you may beat sennoc 0 and 0, but that doesn't mean you can do better than him in high level tennis, say hitting against a 5.5-6.0 type.

higher level players do not use junk against each other because it does not work. Junk does not work against me and I am not a 6.0. If I can beat a player using lazy topspin shots I will use it to conserve energy. If I cant then I need to go more aggressive and expend more energy.

So yes I think competitive players need to learn to play every type of player. Or else open tourneys will be won by 3.0's testing the waters of open tourneys. WWF tennis is not the same.

If I can beat player B 0,0 I will do better against a much higher level player C than player B. Because it means my strokes are better and more consistent than player B.

All this assuming winning is the goal. If there is no reason to win then it does not matter. hit with whomever and however. But if you want to win against higher level players you need to develope as full a game as you can.

[TonLars]

Hi Sennoc,

Ive just casually read this thread recently. I know you have been arguing with some for a while, but hopefully you wont mind my honest question. I just find it interesting that you say your volleys are better technically than Nadal. I was hoping to know exactly what you mean by this, for clarification.

When you say this, do you mean that if you and Nadal had a volley target competition, you would be more accurate? Or if you and Nadal took turns and played volley against groundstroke against the same opponent, you would perform better than Nadal and win more points at the net? Or do you feel that your volleys just look better subjectively? Any one of these things or all of them?

If you believe your volleys are better looking than Nadal's, how do you arrive at that conclusion? That seems to be a rather subjective conclusion which probably would be different from coach to coach. Or have you discovered something in physics and biomechanically as fact that Nadal is not following? How did you do this, and are sure you are correct? Finally, what specifically in Nadal's volley is not as technically proficient as your volley?

Thanks for the time. I think the answers to these questions may help clarify yourself and people on here may better understand you.

[LeeD]

I'm an example of someone who skipped the B's, or 4.5's to play exclusively in the A/Opens.
I wanted to avoid the junkballer/pusher slicer dicer lob dudes who predominated in the B's of the late 70's.
Yes, I know I would be a better player today if I took the time to learn how to beat the pusherB's of my generation.
Yes, I'm glad I skipped that boring and WORK part of tennis.

[dozu]

Originally Posted by LeeD

I'm an example of someone who skipped the B's, or 4.5's to play exclusively in the A/Opens.
I wanted to avoid the junkballer/pusher slicer dicer lob dudes who predominated in the B's of the late 70's.
Yes, I know I would be a better player today if I took the time to learn how to beat the pusherB's of my generation.
Yes, I'm glad I skipped that boring and WORK part of tennis.

and I know some juniors who avoided USTA tournaments, and go straight to ITF tournaments, basically for the same reason.

[accidental]

Originally Posted by dozu

The more I think about this, the more I feel sennoc is onto something here.

Say your goal is to play high level tennis, do you have to learn how to handle junk balls from rec players?

conventional wisdom says you should, because winning is winning, and if the junk baller beats you, he is the better player.

But from a long term standpoint, there are no rec type junk balls in high level tennis, so why should you bother to learn how to handle them.

I think people do need to open their mind a little.

arche3, you may beat sennoc 0 and 0, but that doesn't mean you can do better than him in high level tennis, say hitting against a 5.5-6.0 type.

I know you may or may not be serious here, but if you do that then you would fail to develop the actual skill of winning. The ability to raise your level when you're in a tight situation, to act and think rationally when there is pressure, the ability to focus etc. Probably the most important skill of all.

Like John Isner, who says his ability to raise his game under pressure comes from playing and winning so many matches at college level.

[dozu]

no I was not serious lol.

a 'pretty stroke' that breaks down against junk balls, must have some flaws in it, so it is actually an ugly stroke.

real pretty strokes produce more punishing shots against junk balls. all good players do that.

the fact that sennoc doesnt even understand this, indicates that Lee's 3.0 rating is dead on.

[arche3]

Originally Posted by dozu

no I was not serious lol.

a 'pretty stroke' that breaks down against junk balls, must have some flaws in it, so it is actually an ugly stroke.

real pretty strokes produce more punishing shots against junk balls. all good players do that.

the fact that sennoc doesnt even understand this, indicates that Lee's 3.0 rating is dead on.

Sennoc is going to burn you for that comment dozu...

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by dozu

the fact that sennoc doesnt even understand this, indicates that Lee's 3.0 rating is dead on.

Impossible. He uses a K90 racquet.