Tennis: A Voice From the Past

[Chopin]

Hey guys,

You might enjoy this. It's quite amusing. I'm unable to share the full article due to copyright laws, but if any of you guys are in academia, or have access to journals, look this up in JSTOR.

Tennis: A Voice from the Past
Harald S. Mahony
The North American Review, Vol. 232, No. 4 (Oct., 1931), pp. 348-350
Published by: University of Northern Iowa

Edit: Here is the stable URL.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/25113914

You won't be able to view the full version without credentials. I have access to many academic journals and many great tennis articles if you guys would like me to post excerpts.

[Chopin]

I'm not sure why anyone would give this thread 1 star--the article is by former Wimbledon champion Harald S. Mahony and is an interesting insight into tennis of the old days.

[Chopin]

Also would anyone like me to share more articles with you guys? I have access to a lot of historical tennis documents?

(Hint--this is an olive branch)

[CyBorg]

Originally Posted by Chopin

Also would anyone like me to share more articles with you guys? I have access to a lot of historical tennis documents?

In case you don't get it, you didn't really share the above article.

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by CyBorg

In case you don't get it, you didn't really share the above article.

I'm not sure I can post the full article due to copyright issues so I just posted the link to the first page (it's only 3 pages) with hopes that others will be able to access the full text.

[AndrewD]

Much better value to search the Time Life archives. At least they don't require any subscriptions.

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by AndrewD

Much better value to search the Time Life archives. At least they don't require any subscriptions.

I have free access to most major academic journals though.

Can you find the above article in the Time Life archives?

[Wizard of id]

Originally Posted by Chopin

I'm not sure I can post the full article due to copyright issues so I just posted the link to the first page (it's only 3 pages) with hopes that others will be able to access the full text.

Quite right - you can't. I have JSTOR access currently, and it was a fascinating read. Here's his 1905 (when the article was actually written) opinion on appropriate grip. I'm citing the relevant part of the article (Mahony 1931).

"Mr Vaile (critic Mahony is answering) seems to have overlooked the crux of the question- whether it is best to play with an open or closed racket". He then goes on to explain that "playing with an open racket means grasping it in such a way that the face of the racket is like a lofted golf-club; the closed racket being, of course, laid forward with the face pointing more or less towards the ground., the former tending to impart 'cut', the latter 'rolling spin'."

He then goes on to advocate "the intermediate position, the head of the racket being held, if possible, above the wrist"

The "open position" appears to be Continental, and the "closed" a full Western maybe? So is he advocating a semi-western? Your opinion is sought

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by Wizard of id

Quite right - you can't. I have JSTOR access currently, and it was a fascinating read. Here's his 1905 (when the article was actually written) opinion on appropriate grip. I'm citing the relevant part of the article (Mahony 1931).

"Mr Vaile (critic Mahony is answering) seems to have overlooked the crux of the question- whether it is best to play with an open or closed racket". He then goes on to explain that "playing with an open racket means grasping it in such a way that the face of the racket is like a lofted golf-club; the closed racket being, of course, laid forward with the face pointing more or less towards the ground., the former tending to impart 'cut', the latter 'rolling spin'."

He then goes on to advocate "the intermediate position, the head of the racket being held, if possible, above the wrist"

The "open position" appears to be Continental, and the "closed" a full Western maybe? So is he advocating a semi-western? Your opinion is sought

Thanks for the post. I'll get back to you soon.

[Tina]

Originally Posted by Chopin

Hey guys,

You might enjoy this. It's quite amusing. I don't know how to share it, but if any of you guys are in academia, or have access to journals, look this up in JSTOR.

Tennis: A Voice from the Past
Harald S. Mahony
The North American Review, Vol. 232, No. 4 (Oct., 1931), pp. 348-350
Published by: University of Northern Iowa

Edit: Here is the stable URL.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/25113914

You won't be able to view the full version without credentials. I have access to many academic journals and many great tennis articles if you guys would like me to post them.

Are you still working in academia, Chopin? -Tina

[Don't Let It Bounce]

Originally Posted by Wizard of id

He then goes on to advocate "the intermediate position, the head of the racket being held, if possible, above the wrist"

The "open position" appears to be Continental, and the "closed" a full Western maybe? So is he advocating a semi-western? Your opinion is sought

"Open" ought to be Continental, yeah, but I'd guess by "closed" he means something close to semi-Western, with "intermediate" being something like Eastern, . It would be awkward to keep the racquet head higher than the wrist with a semi-Western. Interesting to see topspin and underspin referred to as "rolling spin" and "cut", too.

Chopin, by all means post whatever you can of these sorts of articles.

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by Don't Let It Bounce

"Open" ought to be Continental, yeah, but I'd guess by "closed" he means something close to semi-Western, with "intermediate" being something like Eastern, . It would be awkward to keep the racquet head higher than the wrist with a semi-Western. Interesting to see topspin and underspin referred to as "rolling spin" and "cut", too.

Chopin, by all means post whatever you can of these sorts of articles.

I'd be happy to, though sometimes I'm constrained.

The large problem is, however, as you can see, there are those who attack every thread I make. I could make the exact same thread as one of the Historians (exact, word for word) and people would tell me how much it sucks whereas if someone else made it would be "brilliant."

[Don't Let It Bounce]

Originally Posted by Chopin

I'd be happy to, though sometimes I'm constrained.

The large problem is, however, as you can see, there are those who attack every thread I make. I could make the exact same thread as one of the Historians (exact, word for word) and people would tell me how much it sucks whereas if someone else made it would be "brilliant."

Yeah, you do seem to draw more than your share of the emotionally revved-up responses.* If it negates the fun of posting on TT for you, then, yeah, I'd give it a miss. On the other hand, though, if you had people rating a thread you started as 5 stars (or whatever constitutes the approval of strangers around here), you wouldn't exactly rewrite your resume to include that approval, so perhaps the disapproval of strangers can be viewed in a similar dispassionate light.

* I never imagined before reading these boards that one's opinion of who is great at hitting a fuzzy ball, or who used to be, could be so personal. It's hard to see myself mistaking polite disagreement for attack (or attacking instead of politely disagreeing) on such matters–not even in my teenage 'I wanna be like Borg' days. However, lots of presumably nice people clearly do, so maybe I'm just remembering my past through the lens of the present.

[goldenyama]

Originally Posted by Chopin

I'd be happy to, though sometimes I'm constrained.

The large problem is, however, as you can see, there are those who attack every thread I make. I could make the exact same thread as one of the Historians (exact, word for word) and people would tell me how much it sucks whereas if someone else made it would be "brilliant."

If you just posted a link to a full article and said 'enjoy, guys' like most posters do then you may earn some respect.

The fact that you post one page and whine and cry about anonymous people on the web criticising you just shows your true selfish and warped nature.

Who give a **** how many stars people rate your thread!!? I didn't even notice that threads have star ratings until you pointed it out...did teacher not give you enough gold stars in primary school?

Either stop being a knob and post the articles that you have access to or shut up. Nobody cares about your 'olive branch' and nobody is going to beg you or say 'I'll be your best friend'.

[Tina]

Originally Posted by goldenyama

If you just posted a link to a full article and said 'enjoy, guys' like most posters do then you may earn some respect.

The fact that you post one page and whine and cry about anonymous people on the web criticising you just shows your true selfish and warped nature.

Who give a **** how many stars people rate your thread!!? I didn't even notice that threads have star ratings until you pointed it out...did teacher not give you enough gold stars in primary school?

Either stop being a knob and post the articles that you have access to or shut up. Nobody cares about your 'olive branch' and nobody is going to beg you or say 'I'll be your best friend'.

Hi Goldenyama,

Please leave Chopin alone. No one is perfect isn't it. I am his Friend at TTW (I've joined this group since Dec 2009). Thanks.

-Tina

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by Don't Let It Bounce

Yeah, you do seem to draw more than your share of the emotionally revved-up responses.* If it negates the fun of posting on TT for you, then, yeah, I'd give it a miss. On the other hand, though, if you had people rating a thread you started as 5 stars (or whatever constitutes the approval of strangers around here), you wouldn't exactly rewrite your resume to include that approval, so perhaps the disapproval of strangers can be viewed in a similar dispassionate light.

* I never imagined before reading these boards that one's opinion of who is great at hitting a fuzzy ball, or who used to be, could be so personal. It's hard to see myself mistaking polite disagreement for attack (or attacking instead of politely disagreeing) on such matters–not even in my teenage 'I wanna be like Borg' days. However, lots of presumably nice people clearly do, so maybe I'm just remembering my past through the lens of the present.

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

Yeah, I mean I'm more amused than upset that certain people have nothing better to do than rate all my threads 1 star (even threads that are up to 5 years old). The real problem is that some people try to hijack my threads and probably scare away other posters from participating by posting nonsense (see CyBorg, and goldenyama's recent post).

Don't worry though, I am as constant as the northern star.

Best,
Chopin

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by goldenyama

If you just posted a link to a full article and said 'enjoy, guys' like most posters do then you may earn some respect.

The fact that you post one page and whine and cry about anonymous people on the web criticising you just shows your true selfish and warped nature.

Who give a **** how many stars people rate your thread!!? I didn't even notice that threads have star ratings until you pointed it out...did teacher not give you enough gold stars in primary school?

Either stop being a knob and post the articles that you have access to or shut up. Nobody cares about your 'olive branch' and nobody is going to beg you or say 'I'll be your best friend'.

1) You're an idiot.

2) I can't post the full article without violating copyright laws, but I thought that:
A) Posters would enjoy reading the first page.
B) Some posters might have access to the journal, and thus, could read the entire article and comment on it.

Really quite simple, eh?

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by Tina

Hi Goldenyama,

Please leave Chopin alone. No one is perfect isn't it. I am his Friend at TTW (I've joined this group since Dec 2009). Thanks.

-Tina

Don't worry, Tina, the words of an old Jimmy Cliff song come to mind:

"Well the officers are trying to keep me down
Trying to drive me underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done"

[Tina]

Originally Posted by Chopin

Don't worry, Tina, the words of an old Jimmy Cliff song come to mind:

"Well the officers are trying to keep me down
Trying to drive me underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done"

I just found you the link for this song-The Harder They Come. The soundtrack (The Harder They Came) was released in 1972 before I was born. Anyway, enjoy the music and have a nice day! -Tina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGE4dnrPPZQ