Will "seniors" with 2HBHs quit tennis?

[fgs]

i'm getting 43 and learned tennis in the 70's. i started out with a 1hbh and switched to 2hbh by the age of 12. after giving up competitive tennis at 22 due to a series of injuries, i picked up the game 19 years later. i tried to hit one handed the first couple of hitting sessions but then went to my trusted 2hbh, slices of course 1handed. it's close to two years that i'm back now and i have recovered my game pretty well - eastern grips and lots of topspin, and play competitive on the seniors tour in the country i'm living.
in the +45 age groups there are just a couple of 2handers, nobody laughs about. in the +35 and +40 (where i mainly play) there are a few more, but we are definitely in the minority. still noone laughs about our girlie backhands, because as funny as it seems we seem to kick quite a lot of 1hbh sporting man's asses, so around here girlies are taken seriously.
i don't want to go into the technique related similarities and differences of these two strokes, but in my opinion both are in different ways demanding.
by the way, there don't seem to be many beer bloated bellies around here either, in the competitive department, probably because most drink wine.

and oh yeah, i just about forgot that i love the idea of being a girlie amongst borg, connors, wilander et al.

[Virginia]

Originally Posted by heycal

I think there's some folks with excellent technique who developed TE who might disagree with you on this, including some pros... I'm not sure anyone can say with absolute certainty what does or does not cause TE.

What I should have said is that some of today's modern and ridiculously light, but head heavy racquets, often coupled with inferior technique, is what gives players TE.

If you are lucky, yes. But I'd knock on wood if I were you.

None of the 70/80 year olds at my club have TE, EXCEPT the very few who've chosen to use super light racquets or have poor technique. Our oldest member is 86 and by the way no beer pots where I play. One of our best players is 83 and still bounds around the court like a 30 year old.

P.S. Our club is seniors only and is the only club in New Zealand with its own (astroturf) courts and clubhouse.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by spot

Here is the important question- how can 50 year old guys with 1BH handle highballs to the backhand side? Kids today are learning to hit with massive topspin. Are 50 year old guys with 1BH going to be able to do anything with huge topspin to their backhands? The biggest advantage to the 2BH is that it lets you handle high balls easier. Right now when I face and old guy in league tennis with a 1BH I just take him over because he simply can't handle the topspin to his backhand once I take it out of his strikezone.

How do we handle high 1HBH's? Simple. We don't play against kids. LOL

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by heycal

So you missed a year of tennis because you were too stubborn to abandon your girlie one hander, that oh-so pretty stroke used by suspiciously effeminate types Roger Federer and Richard Gasgay, in favor of the macho 2 hbh, presumably because you didn't think you had the testosterone to use the stroke favored by he-men like Connors, Nadal, Safin, etc? Is that what you're saying?

Right, that 2HBH that's used by 95% of female players, including the pros, because of their weak girly arms Yes, that's the one.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by fgs

and oh yeah, i just about forgot that i love the idea of being a girlie amongst borg, connors, wilander et al.

If Borg wasn't "girly" with his long blond hair, skin tight shirts, short "hot pants" shorts, I don't know who is. LOL

[fgs]

breakpoint,
if my count is not wrong, based on the latest atp-rankings, there are 12 girlies in the top 20 as opposed to 2 men in the wta top 20.
in those years almost everyone wore hot pants. i still have some old navyblue fila and ellesse pants left, which i like much more than these new ones available now.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by fgs

breakpoint,
if my count is not wrong, based on the latest atp-rankings, there are 12 girlies in the top 20 as opposed to 2 men in the wta top 20.

Take a look at the Top 2000 women pros, the thousands of female college players, and the millions of women who play recreational and competitive tennis. 95% using 2HBH's may even be conservative.

[fgs]

breakpoint,
you are right, i just pointed out that taking only the top 20 in women's you end up with only two men.
but if you think nadal has girly arms you should go to have some proper looking glasses fitted.
if you compare him with serena, than he might classify as a rather cute girlie, but that would be the case of the other top20 atp too.

[heycal]

Originally Posted by Virginia

What I should have said is that some of today's modern and ridiculously light, but head heavy racquets, often coupled with inferior technique, is what gives players TE.

Tell that to the many people who got TE back in the olden days using their heavy, headlight wood rackets.

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

Right, that 2HBH that's used by 95% of female players, including the pros, because of their weak girly arms Yes, that's the one.

Right -- I use the two hander used by women and extremely virile men, while you use the one hander favored by lesbians and gay men. Glad we're clear on that.

[The Gorilla]

becker was gay?

[fgs]

heycal,
the point with the lesbians i understood, but who are the gay men?
but there seems to be a lesbian who sports a 2hbh too.

[heycal]

Originally Posted by fgs

heycal,
the point with the lesbians i understood, but who are the gay men?

Federer, Gasgay, and apparently, as I'm just finding out from this thread now, Becker.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by heycal

Right -- I use the two hander used by women and extremely virile men, while you use the one hander favored by lesbians and gay men. Glad we're clear on that.

Thanks for coming out and letting us know from your personal experience that Nadal and Safin are "extremely virile men". LOL

[fgs]

heycal,
i don't know about gasgay, but i'm astonished to find out mirka is a man.

the gorilla,
since becker is still alive and kicking do you suggest he WAS gay in his active period and turned hetero after he retired?

[heycal]

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

Thanks for coming out and letting us know from your personal experience that Nadal and Safin are "extremely virile men". LOL

Those of us who are manly enough to handle using a two-handed backhand don't have hang-ups about acknowledging that there are other virile men among us. But apparently you are at peace with your own sexuality as well, since you've come out as a loud and proud 1 hander. I applaud you.

Originally Posted by fgs

heycal,
i don't know about gasgay, but i'm astonished to find out mirka is a man.

Guess you haven't some of those Mirka-related threads around here...

[fgs]

heycal,
i read some of those threads and i remember her having been called fat, chunky and whatever related to weight issues, but does that make her a man?
but, what does this have to do with seniors using 2hbh? would i not be allowed to play my trusted 2hbh if i don't divorce and renegate my child?

[widmerpool]

Originally Posted by fgs

i'm getting 43 and learned tennis in the 70's. i started out with a 1hbh and switched to 2hbh by the age of 12. after giving up competitive tennis at 22 due to a series of injuries, i picked up the game 19 years later. i tried to hit one handed the first couple of hitting sessions but then went to my trusted 2hbh, slices of course 1handed. it's close to two years that i'm back now and i have recovered my game pretty well - eastern grips and lots of topspin, and play competitive on the seniors tour in the country i'm living.
in the +45 age groups there are just a couple of 2handers, nobody laughs about. in the +35 and +40 (where i mainly play) there are a few more, but we are definitely in the minority. still noone laughs about our girlie backhands, because as funny as it seems we seem to kick quite a lot of 1hbh sporting man's asses, so around here girlies are taken seriously..

fgs,

this is my point. it sounds like you grew up when it was at least 50-50.

30 yrs later, you are the minority.

so what happened? one of the following...

A) people with two-handers aren't very good on average and so don't play in your 40+ tourneys

B) two-handers switched to one-hand

C) two-handers quit competitive tennis.

[heycal]

Originally Posted by widmerpool

fgs,

this is my point. it sounds like you grew up when it was at least 50-50.

30 yrs later, you are the minority.

so what happened? one of the following...

A) people with two-handers aren't very good on average and so don't play in your 40+ tourneys

B) two-handers switched to one-hand

C) two-handers quit competitive tennis.

Or D) Most guys who learned to play tennis 30 years ago are still using the 1 hbh they learned with.

I don't know where you got the 50-50 figure from his post. The 1 hbh was the standard for men back then; it wasn't 50-50.

[fgs]

widmerpool,
what happened:
the 45+ guys have learned 1hbh and the few who use 2hbh have picked the game up late and have been taught 2hbh. so it's rather natural that in this age group, 45 and up, the 2hbh would be rather the exception (not even minorty).
the guys i have grown up with have stayed with the 1hbh (i said that i initially learned 1handed and switched about 6 years later to twohanded!), so it would be natural to still have a minority in the 35-45 age group. the minority is around some 20%. while others had borg and connors, we here had nastase in the 70's, so 2hbh was minority or girlie.
the young guns (from 16 up to 30) i play in the open tournaments have gone in the vast majority to 2hbh (90%). what they will do when they get to 45-50 i can't tell. as for me, i have currently no intention to switch to a 1hbh in competition, mostly because of the additional stability i get on service returns. the guys i'm playing, even in the +40 group, know how to hit a fast ball (the vast majority being former players like myself), so i'd really run into trouble.
from the guys i've grown up with, quite a few have given up on tennis because of the walk of life they have pursued (i myself have been away for 19 years). i simply guess that if they were to pick up tennis again, they'd go back to the technique they used in their "active" years, so the conclusion that the 2hbhanders have quit competitive tennis is not valid or does apply to the same extent to the onehanders. from the ones i know and meet frequently in tournaments, i don't know of any to have switched either way.

[Ultra2HolyGrail]

TE more than likely with a one hander-case closed..


In all my years i never heard of a two hander being girly lol. This must be old jokes from old farts who grew up playing in the 70's, EARLY 70's Heck playing tennis in general is considered girly to many.