Tennis in 2033

[treblings]

what will it be like?
- courts even slower?
- player´s height even more important?
- return of serve n´volley?
- aces at 200mph ?
- material innovations or restrictions?

let´s all look into our personal crystal ball and come up with scenarios

there´s a somewhat serious background to my question. tennis is a beautiful game with many facets and different playing styles.
should we teach our youngsters only todays power topspin game, or is there place for s&v, finesse and touch shots in the future?
are the coaches of today shaping tennis future by only teaching todays pro game?

[luvforty]

imagine you combine all the strength of the current top 10 and put it in 1 player, and double that, you get 2033 tennis.... or genetic engineering makes tennis totally irrelevant.

or - the pro game gets so far removed from the average rec player and it has to reverse course - wooden rackets with 65in maximum head size... (which is what I like to see).

[treblings]

Originally Posted by luvforty

imagine you combine all the strength of the current top 10 and put it in 1 player, and double that, you get 2033 tennis.... or genetic engineering makes tennis totally irrelevant.

or - the pro game gets so far removed from the average rec player and it has to reverse course - wooden rackets with 65in maximum head size... (which is what I like to see).

possible scenarios
but wait....the pro game is so far removed from the average rec game already, the futures here already

[slowfox]

Technology will change it again. I see racquets like Star Wars light sabers. Players will jet around the court with hovercraft platforms. It will be so fast ! Oh wait, you said 2033 not 3033... haha

[luvforty]

eventually all sports competitions will be irrelevant.. we will become gattaca - only the purest genes are allowed to exist.

[Nostradamus]

players will be 8 foot 3 inches tall and lob will be obsolete

[cluckcluck]

There still won't be any American champions.

[Ducker]

lobs are pretty much already obselete

[shazbot]

I wish tennis was smiliar to Baseball.

Here we are, 2013, with all the modern technology and they are still using wooden baseball bats.

I think at some point they need to stop improving the racquet/string tecnology.

Even golf just made a rule that in a few years those 'hockey stick' like putters can no longer be used.

[luvforty]

i think in both sports, the new equipment benefits the elites far more than the average rec player... the poly string makes a difference in the pros, but only bring injured arms to the recs..

the multi-layer golf balls allow pros to drive 300+ years, but the recs still average 200.

but - I think the commercial side will not allow wooden rackets or persimmon drivers to return... because it's hard to justify selling a piece of lumber for $499 (the price of a super duper titanium high MOI driver), or $299 (the all mighty titanium racket).

[Head Pegger]

Most likely will have even more spin involved in the game
I don't see rackets changing dramatically but new string will probably be better.
All I want is for Hawkeye to be installed EVERYWHERE!

[treblings]

Originally Posted by Head Pegger

Most likely will have even more spin involved in the game
I don't see rackets changing dramatically but new string will probably be better.
All I want is for Hawkeye to be installed EVERYWHERE!

arm-friendly polys
we actually have people in our club calling out for a hawkeye decision right now in 2013

[TomT]

Originally Posted by luvforty

... the pro game gets so far removed from the average rec player and it has to reverse course - wooden rackets with 65in maximum head size... (which is what I like to see).

I like this idea a lot. Would be very interesting to see what sort of tennis it produces.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by TomT

I like this idea a lot. Would be very interesting to see what sort of tennis it produces.

would you like to see that only in the pro game, or with patzers(sorry, borrowed that expression from another post of yours) like ourselves as well

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

The Hawaiian grip will return in the year 2033.

[TomT]

Originally Posted by treblings

would you like to see that only in the pro game, or with patzers(sorry, borrowed that expression from another post of yours) like ourselves as well

Yeah, I used to play a lot of chess. Patzer refers to more or less perpetually bad, very amateurish, chess players. It can be used to refer to more or less perpetually bad, very amateurish, tennis players as well ... I guess.

[TomT]

Originally Posted by treblings

would you like to see that only in the pro game, or with patzers(sorry, borrowed that expression from another post of yours) like ourselves as well

To answer your question, I learned to play with a 65 sq. in. wooden racquet. Served about 20 mph faster (about 105 mph) than I'm now able to with modern racquet (about 85 mph average). More reliable shots, etc. Much higher competitive level in those days. But I was 27 years old then. Didn't play for about 37 years. 37 years! Now I'm 65. Just got back into tennis this year. Big difference from the old game. Different game. But it truly is a game for life, I think. Am adjusting to the newer racquets. My hope is to get back to at least a solid 3.5 level of play.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by TomT

To answer your question, I learned to play with a 65 sq. in. wooden racquet. Served about 20 mph faster than I'm now able to with modern racquet. More reliable shots, etc. Much higher competitive level. But I was 27 years old then. Didn't play for about 37 years. 37 years! Now I'm 65. Big difference. Different game.

sure is a different game, that´s why i asked. i love playing with wooden racquets even now, but for the majority of people who learned their game with modern racquets it would be extremely difficult to adjust.
37 years is more than the average age of the posters around here

[TomT]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

The Hawaiian grip will return in the year 2033.

What's the Hawaiian grip?

[TomT]

Originally Posted by treblings

sure is a different game, that´s why i asked. i love playing with wooden racquets even now, but for the majority of people who learned their game with modern racquets it would be extremely difficult to adjust.
37 years is more than the average age of the posters around here

Yeah. I guess so. Wish I had kept up with it, but couldn't. Now that I'm retired, and in south Florida, can play to my heart's content. Love the game.