UK TT racquetaholics and tennis bums

[origmarm]

Originally Posted by Dags

^^ It was my first time there, and I was quite surprised at the lack of food options. Plenty of restaurants, but hardly any outlets selling food on the go. The elderly couple in front of me who pulled out a packed lunch half way through the doubles clearly knew what they were doing.

Yeah agreed. There's not a lot once you're inside the arena. That and the quality is poor.

Originally Posted by Dave M

If there was a smiley thta had fainted i'd of used that, I hope they taste good.
Have you looked at ankle braces?The OT at our hospital said aircast are one of the best.

Unfortunately poor quality ... I think I ate about half in the end

I haven't tried the aircast ones, I was using the ASO for a while but now I'm trying to do everything without one. I think when I play a match again I'll likely wear it for the first couple at least though. Starting to get a good range of motion and comfort back slowly

Originally Posted by Ross K

Shaped VS smooth polys?... discuss!... who likes which more and why?

Personally I think the effect is marginal at best. It's all about the feel and how it interacts with the cross/main as opposed to any real effect on the ball. The only shaped poly I've liked is BHBR which I think was pretty good all round. Alu Rough felt just like Alu to me. Tour Bite I thought was ok but not much more than ok. Initially I liked it but then I went off it, can't really explain it, just feel.

I still think SPPP is my favourite, possibly Polystar Energy. Haven't played with poly for a while though. Think I'm falling apart

[Ross K]

Originally Posted by origmarm

Personally I think the effect is marginal at best. It's all about the feel and how it interacts with the cross/main as opposed to any real effect on the ball. The only shaped poly I've liked is BHBR which I think was pretty good all round. Alu Rough felt just like Alu to me. Tour Bite I thought was ok but not much more than ok. Initially I liked it but then I went off it, can't really explain it, just feel.

I still think SPPP is my favourite, possibly Polystar Energy. Haven't played with poly for a while though. Think I'm falling apart

Interesting... Yes, I think it was you who pointed me in the direction of SPPP some years back... +2 here on the falling apart comment.

[crosscourt]

There is a Volkl shaped poly that definitely makes a difference. I can't remember the name. But because I don't really struggle to produce spin I find the straight stuff fine. Two setups I have enjoyed have been Signum Pro Hyperion in a full bed - though this is very racket sensitive - and a hybrid of Big Banger Original and Mantis Comfort synthetic. The latter is a superb hybrid and not at all racket sensitive.

[Dags]

Another low today: beaten with my own racquet. That hurt.

[Ross K]

Seems like the weather has really nose-dived. Quite why I'm opting for a gut string-job, I do not know.

[Dags]

Knee-jerk reaction complete: pallets changed on a TGK to take it from a 5 to a 4, and strung up with gut/poly all ready for a hit tomorrow. I've been with the EXO3 since February. Really would like to get my serve back.

[origmarm]

Originally Posted by Ross K

Seems like the weather has really nose-dived. Quite why I'm opting for a gut string-job, I do not know.

Uuughh tell me about it. I only recently started to play again and put in some Klip. Ended up hitting while quite wet (as I'm not really moving much anyhow at the moment...). Broke it in just under 2hrs! Expensive!

[Dags]

Never had so much fun serving. Now what to do with the rest of my game...

[Ross K]

Originally Posted by origmarm

Uuughh tell me about it. I only recently started to play again and put in some Klip. Ended up hitting while quite wet (as I'm not really moving much anyhow at the moment...). Broke it in just under 2hrs! Expensive!

Rob,

As I'm pretty new to gut and given our weather, can you tell me what are the rules re playing in the wet. I'm presuming playing when raining is definitely out. But what if it's just damp out (say it had been raining a few hours before but wasn't actually raining anymore)? And can you play with gut in a small amount of drizzle?

On another matter, as an esteemed UK RH of long-standing haha, why not join the likes of Dave, Rich and myself on the FB group? IIRC you were dead against it and the idea of being on FB previously - which I understand. But you can simply join and do nothing else but post in the UKRHs group, which is a closed group, i.e., no-one but the groups members can have access to you etc. You wouldn't have to have anything to do with the rest of FB appartus, so to speak. There's definitely some good banter (some of it stuff we can't really say on TT). And, most importantly, some pretty good 'action' on the racketaholic front LOL. Anyhow, just thought I'd mention it.

[Dags]

Originally Posted by Ross K

As I'm pretty new to gut and given our weather, can you tell me what are the rules re playing in the wet. I'm presuming playing when raining is definitely out. But what if it's just damp out (say it had been raining a few hours before but wasn't actually raining anymore)? And can you play with gut in a small amount of drizzle?

I once met an old-timer who had been playing with gut since back in the day. He used to keep a bottle of baby powder in his bag (it was probably talc, actually. Can you even buy talc now? I remember my dad having Brut when I was young, but I'm not sure I've seen the stuff since...), and sprinkled it on the strings after playing in the drizzle or wet. No idea if that's a good idea or not, but he believed in it.

These days, most gut has a coating. It should take some punishment, though I guess once it starts to fray you have that danger of moisture getting in.

[Ross K]

Originally Posted by Dags

I once met an old-timer who had been playing with gut since back in the day. He used to keep a bottle of baby powder in his bag (it was probably talc, actually. Can you even buy talc now? I remember my dad having Brut when I was young, but I'm not sure I've seen the stuff since...), and sprinkled it on the strings after playing in the drizzle or wet. No idea if that's a good idea or not, but he believed in it.

These days, most gut has a coating. It should take some punishment, though I guess once it starts to fray you have that danger of moisture getting in.

I see. So a bit of damp is okay... BTW, I love that story about the talcum powder. I may have to nick some off my Gran!

[prostaff junkie]

Originally Posted by Ross K

Rob,

As I'm pretty new to gut and given our weather, can you tell me what are the rules re playing in the wet. I'm presuming playing when raining is definitely out. But what if it's just damp out (say it had been raining a few hours before but wasn't actually raining anymore)? And can you play with gut in a small amount of drizzle?

On another matter, as an esteemed UK RH of long-standing haha, why not join the likes of Dave, Rich and myself on the FB group? IIRC you were dead against it and the idea of being on FB previously - which I understand. But you can simply join and do nothing else but post in the UKRHs group, which is a closed group, i.e., no-one but the groups members can have access to you etc. You wouldn't have to have anything to do with the rest of FB appartus, so to speak. There's definitely some good banter (some of it stuff we can't really say on TT). And, most importantly, some pretty good 'action' on the racketaholic front LOL. Anyhow, just thought I'd mention it.

Yeah, join the group. I do 99% of my FB activity within the UKRH group. It's great, lot's of good friendly banter and LOTS of serious RHing going on. Always a good place to pick up different frames too.

[prostaff junkie]

And there's A LOT more activity than there is here......

[crosscourt]

Was anyone else at Twickenham yesterday? What an amazing game! Having watched a series of really mediocre football matches recently it was exhilarating to see some brilliant sport. Nobody wanted to leave the stadium at the end.

[Dags]

Have the stewards thrown you out yet?

I was muttering to myself before the game... Youngs in for Care, the most uninventive centre pairing since Tindall and Noon, no specialist open side, only one winger in the 23... fortunately it turns out that Stuart Lancaster knows a damned sight more about team selection than I do.

The Six Nations can't come quickly enough now!

[Ash_Smith]

^^^No Dags, your original points still apply. Manu and Barritt are still a very one dimensional pairing, Manu runs some decent lines however, but neither of them can pass more than 5 yards - the handling for the Manu try was pretty poor and Barritt passed too early, not committing his man. For me they shouldn't start together (either one or other should start at 13 - gives more depth to the squad then). Robshaw is not an open side, but yesterday the whole team committed so well at the break down it hardly mattered - Launchbury played like an extra back-row forward! Brown did have a good game at 11 and against a team who kick as well as NZ (and the Saffas for that matter) it makes sense to have an extra full back. Although I don't really rate Alex Goode. B.Youngs is okay, but I prefer Care as his pass his sharper and he's quicker at getting the ball out of the ruck, Youngs just stands around waiting for it to come back.

Morgan, Wood, Launchbury, Parling, Cole all had stormers and the rest were all very solid (Manu benefitting from Dan Carter having a bit of a shocker in the tackle!).

Oh, and Freddie Burns is the future!!!

Cheers

Ash

P.S. G'wan Glaws!!!

[Ross K]

Why didn't I realize going into last night birthday do for a good old mate that a combo of ciders, lagers, slow gin, and wine was not necessarily the best choice for a hangover-free Sunday?

Mind you, the 2am bagel with Marmite AND Nutella tasted strangely delicious.

[crosscourt]

We started our celebrations in earnest when England scored their third try. We finished them at about 430pm this afternoon. Makes you feel lucky to be alive in several senses. Though I dont feel all that good right now and don't expect it to get any better for a while.

I thought England played well as a collective. Pretty much every player did things well and badly. It didn't matter that much when things went wrong because of the overall strength of purpose. I think Robshaw can take some real credit for that.

[Marshredder]

Anyone got a first Gen AeroPro Drive they fancy selling thats in good condition? Let me know

Playing squad on a friday night, -2 or whatever outside, court freezing over, lethal yet hilarious at the same time

[Dags]

Originally Posted by Ash_Smith

Oh, and Freddie Burns is the future!!!

I'm hopeful that this week he has a session with Billy Twelvetrees about kicking out of hand. Probably whilst the rest of the team are being reminded that it's preferable to keep 15 men on the field for more than 60 minutes.

Originally Posted by Ross K

Mind you, the 2am bagel with Marmite AND Nutella tasted strangely delicious.

Surely a tennis player should strive for a double bagel? Or failing that, maybe a bagel and a breadstick.

Originally Posted by crosscourt

We started our celebrations in earnest when England scored their third try. We finished them at about 430pm this afternoon. Makes you feel lucky to be alive in several senses. Though I dont feel all that good right now and don't expect it to get any better for a while.

I thought England played well as a collective. Pretty much every player did things well and badly. It didn't matter that much when things went wrong because of the overall strength of purpose. I think Robshaw can take some real credit for that.

Definitely a day for celebration. Whilst I agree with Ash that there are a number of misgivings about this team, how often do you beat New Zealand? And how often is it a decent win? NZ didn't play well, but before the game were being touted as maybe the best side ever. If you don't stop and bask for a moment at times like this, when do you? (World Cup wins aside. But they're even less common.)