Two-Racket Tennis?

JRstriker12 · 08-24-2009, 10:07 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/sp...24rackets.html

Dude is whacked. 140mph serve? Don't know.....

Xisbum · 08-24-2009, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRstriker12

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/sp...24rackets.html

Dude is whacked. 140mph serve? Don't know.....

Total wack job. Bet the racquet companies love him.

Wizard of id · 08-24-2009, 10:16 AM

Cool article.
Read the weasel words "can reach "nearly" 140mph.
Journalism code for "I've never served anything that I could pass off as something close to a 140mph serve"

He also has some weird illegal rubbery flexible grip attached, according to the article.

alice301 · 08-24-2009, 10:36 AM

hahaha! i love it! it totally freaks me out how the dominant arm of a pro player is grossly oversized, compared to the other arm. but the last thing that my spastic game needs is another racquet...i can only imagine the injury i'd inflict upon myself!

JRstriker12 · 08-24-2009, 10:53 AM

Bet Rafa would rock at 2 racket tennis.

Also like how he acts like this is a new thing. I'm sure every 10 yr old child and most tennis players have tried this for fun and realized it sucked.

Cindysphinx · 08-24-2009, 11:29 AM

Can you imagine how erratic your toss would be if you tossed with your racket?

My sister once played a lady who only had one arm. Her other arm had been amputated at the elbow. She served by putting the racket under her shorter arm. She tossed the ball with her hand and then switched the racket to that hand and struck the ball.

I imagine that she probably tried tossing the ball with her racket, and I'll bet she decided it doesn't work well.

Zielmann · 08-24-2009, 11:44 AM

I like how they said something about 'avoiding the pesky backhand'. Clearly these aren't great players, if they're resorting to something like this to avoid a backhand.

I do respect the talent one must have to do this, but I think it's crazy. I would never be able to make my left arm do anything useful with a tennis racquet myself, so these people do have some sort of skill here.

And yeah, who hasn't tried this before in some form or another? I haven't with tennis before, cause I can't coordinate myself well enough to even try. But I've done it with ping pong, semi-successfully.

JRstriker12 · 08-24-2009, 11:54 AM

Sucky backhand so has to play two forehands - Check
Can't generate power so makes a the stick longer than legally allowed (whip-grip) - Check (though why you need to do this with the many powerful rackets on the market is beyond me).
Claims serves of up to 140mph - Check

This dude is a serious hacker. Are we sure he's not on TW????? He should be. He'd fit right in.

LOL!

goober · 08-24-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zielmann

I like how they said something about 'avoiding the pesky backhand'. Clearly these aren't great players, if they're resorting to something like this to avoid a backhand.
.

yeah I agree. The solution to a bad backhand is to a develop a better backhand or maybe go to a 2HBH not go to 2 racquets! If you were truly ambidextrous, I would go to one those racquets with 2 handles if anything.

Beach tennis I get. This I don't. It doesn't even sound like fun.

Bud · 08-24-2009, 12:01 PM

"Stalking the baseline with a racket in each hand like a giant lobster with graphite claws, Don Mueller receives the attention he is looking for. Don Mueller is always looking for people to play his brand of tennis, with one racket per hand.

Passers-by and people on other courts do double takes as he scoops up a ball using his rackets in pincer fashion, balances it on the throat of one of racket, then rolls it into the air as he unleashes his ferocious serve, which he says can reach speeds of nearly 140 miles per hour."

Mmhmmmm... does he post on TT, BTW?

Bud · 08-24-2009, 12:04 PM

"It took a long time for the epiphany to hit me in the head like a brick, but it did," Mueller said. "I was hitting against the wall and switching hands and I suddenly thought, Why am I switching the racket back and forth in my hands?"

"So I started playing with two rackets."

So, this brilliant guy never thought to develop his BH instead of wasting time switching the racquet between hands, during a point?

Cindysphinx · 08-24-2009, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zielmann

I like how they said something about 'avoiding the pesky backhand'. Clearly these aren't great players, if they're resorting to something like this to avoid a backhand.

I do respect the talent one must have to do this, but I think it's crazy. I would never be able to make my left arm do anything useful with a tennis racquet myself, so these people do have some sort of skill here.

And yeah, who hasn't tried this before in some form or another? I haven't with tennis before, cause I can't coordinate myself well enough to even try. But I've done it with ping pong, semi-successfully.

The only way I could hit anything with my left hand would be to use a ping pong paddle.

Bud · 08-24-2009, 12:29 PM

"Two-Racket Tennis"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJlBqY5yQuM

Check out some of his other vids, too.

There is no way in hell this guy serves a tennis ball 140 MPH.
- - - - -

Mueller also invented a grip for a tennis racket (also considered against the rules by the U.S.T.A.), a rubbery extension called the Whip-Grip, which gives the racket head extra velocity.

"They said you can’t change the shape of the racket," he scoffed, adding with the authority of a physicist, "Every time a ball hits the racket, it changes its shape."

Check out his "Whip-Grip"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knSK6QZQCx8

gameboy · 08-24-2009, 12:44 PM

Why does he need two racquets? Why can't he just switch hands based on where the ball is?

Bud · 08-24-2009, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gameboy

Why does he need two racquets? Why can't he just switch hands based on where the ball is?

See post #11

Xisbum · 08-24-2009, 01:44 PM

I'll see your wacko tennis racquet guy and raise you Doc Bottoms Aspray "all over deodorant."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...082302176.html

Tried to find the youtube video, but couldn't. Bet the actual commercial is a blast.

Zielmann · 08-24-2009, 02:11 PM

lol. The very first ball he hits in that vid is a complete shank...

You can totally tell that he's a natural righty though. When the ball came to his left side, he just kinda punched it back over unless it was right in the middle of his hitting zone.

There was an ambidextrous guy on our high school team. Natural righty as well, but just took forehands with both sides. He only needed one racquet to be able to play that way. But he also had a 2hbh for emergency situations. Oh, and he could have probably beaten this guy...

Why couldn't this guy have just done the same thing? Seems like he had too many other usta rules that he wanted to break (like the grip mod), so he just decided to make his own game out of it so he could make all that stuff legal.

JRstriker12 · 08-24-2009, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xisbum

I'll see your wacko tennis racquet guy and raise you Doc Bottoms Aspray "all over deodorant."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...082302176.html

Tried to find the youtube video, but couldn't. Bet the actual commercial is a blast.

<John McEnroe>He can't be serious.</John McEnroe>

JRstriker12 · 08-24-2009, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zielmann

lol. The very first ball he hits in that vid is a complete shank...

You can totally tell that he's a natural righty though. When the ball came to his left side, he just kinda punched it back over unless it was right in the middle of his hitting zone.

There was an ambidextrous guy on our high school team. Natural righty as well, but just took forehands with both sides. He only needed one racquet to be able to play that way. But he also had a 2hbh for emergency situations. Oh, and he could have probably beaten this guy...

Why couldn't this guy have just done the same thing? Seems like he had too many other usta rules that he wanted to break (like the grip mod), so he just decided to make his own game out of it so he could make all that stuff legal.

Why couldn't he???? Because there's no money in it. This dude is tring to make CASH off of two-handed tennis - maybe by selling his "WhipGrip"? Maybe giving lessons?

See quote below:

"My goal is to turn ambidexterity and cornball humor into gold, or at least sufficient green,” he said. “Make way for the juggling gourmet. Maybe I can make enough money to really get two-racket tennis off the ground.”

HOWEVER - it might be kinda fun to see a a pro play another pro who had two rackets just for kicks. Like Rafa with two rackets vs. Murray with one.

Xisbum · 08-24-2009, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRstriker12

selling his "WhipGrip"?

Posted without accompanying snark, with tremendous restraint. ROTFLMAO, squared.

08-24-2009, 10:36 AM	#4
alice301 New User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: shreveport Posts: 72	hahaha! i love it! it totally freaks me out how the dominant arm of a pro player is grossly oversized, compared to the other arm. but the last thing that my spastic game needs is another racquet...i can only imagine the injury i'd inflict upon myself! __________________ medicated & motivated Last edited by alice301 : 08-24-2009 at 10:48 AM.

08-24-2009, 10:53 AM	#5
JRstriker12 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 3,261	Bet Rafa would rock at 2 racket tennis. Also like how he acts like this is a new thing. I'm sure every 10 yr old child and most tennis players have tried this for fun and realized it sucked. __________________ Ludacris: My chick bad! Tell me if you seen her. She always brings the racket like Venus and Serena! Last edited by JRstriker12 : 08-24-2009 at 10:57 AM.

08-24-2009, 11:29 AM	#6
Cindysphinx G.O.A.T. Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 14,091	Can you imagine how erratic your toss would be if you tossed with your racket? My sister once played a lady who only had one arm. Her other arm had been amputated at the elbow. She served by putting the racket under her shorter arm. She tossed the ball with her hand and then switched the racket to that hand and struck the ball. I imagine that she probably tried tossing the ball with her racket, and I'll bet she decided it doesn't work well. __________________ -- Random Error Generator, Version 4.0 -- Master Moonballer

08-24-2009, 11:44 AM	#7
Zielmann Semi-Pro Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 525	I like how they said something about 'avoiding the pesky backhand'. Clearly these aren't great players, if they're resorting to something like this to avoid a backhand. I do respect the talent one must have to do this, but I think it's crazy. I would never be able to make my left arm do anything useful with a tennis racquet myself, so these people do have some sort of skill here. And yeah, who hasn't tried this before in some form or another? I haven't with tennis before, cause I can't coordinate myself well enough to even try. But I've done it with ping pong, semi-successfully. __________________ Wooohoooo!!!

08-24-2009, 11:54 AM	#8
JRstriker12 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 3,261	Sucky backhand so has to play two forehands - Check Can't generate power so makes a the stick longer than legally allowed (whip-grip) - Check (though why you need to do this with the many powerful rackets on the market is beyond me). Claims serves of up to 140mph - Check This dude is a serious hacker. Are we sure he's not on TW????? He should be. He'd fit right in. LOL! __________________ Ludacris: My chick bad! Tell me if you seen her. She always brings the racket like Venus and Serena!