Have you been served Humble Pie?

[dParis]

Originally Posted by 86golf

A couple years ago a senior player with old school strokes took it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJrfD14M2U

After losing the point with a back hand squash shot at 3:33, I was ready to go home and kick the dog.

Where is the "COME ON!!!" at 1:48? The old man's running fh at 1:57 is a thing of beauty.

[MNPlayer]

Originally Posted by 86golf

A couple years ago a senior player with old school strokes took it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJrfD14M2U

After losing the point with a back hand squash shot at 3:33, I was ready to go home and kick the dog.

That dude is good! How many points did you win? I didn't see a single one.

[86golf]

Originally Posted by MNPlayer

That dude is good! How many points did you win? I didn't see a single one.

I had some highlights too, but for the purposes of this thread I omitted them. I think he won 3 and 3. I feel like I'm a lot better now, but I haven't run up against him since. I recall him mentioning that he had a pretty good record in the 65 and older USTA division.

[purge]

Originally Posted by roman40

I've been beaten several times by inferior players, but I really have no one to blame but myself, I just didn't play well. One loss to any player really doesn't mean much, but it can be frustrating if you don't accept the fact that everyone has good/bad days. Of course, in some cases, player A can be very effective against player B, while being very unsuccessful against other players of similar level. B may be a better player overall, and still be an underdog to A. Counter intuitive, but true.

sounds a bit like player B's name is roger and player A's name is rafael +g+

[purge]

i only just started playing tennis at the end of last year but i already had a similar "older guy" experience as well

we had our club championships recently and my first match was against a guy whos in his mid 60s i guess but if you look at him hes killer fit with legs like an iron man contestant just a bit more wrinkled so to say lol. so i didnt think hed be a pushover but i was still confident, since i can pretty much hold my ground in baseline rallies against the guys from the club who are my age (20s) even tho theyve been playing for quite a bit longer than i have obviously. i still make too many errors of course and serve and netplay leave alot to be desired but i thought i should be good enough from the baseline to get this especially since it was blazing hot that day and i thought if all else fails i should at least be able to get him tired in the long run.

but the guy just showed no sign of exhaustion at all. we dueled fro 2 1/2 hours in the sun at 30°C in the shades and he didnt even seem to sweat. changing sides i coughed my lungs up and he just sat there and looked around like he was on a stroll through the park oO
and of course he brought everything back and not just in somehow but with depth and angles and everything. it took at least 3, 4 big forehands to get past him, he was almost impossible to wrong foot. after a while i could only still hit winners with drop shots as i started to drop from just about anywhere.. behind the baseline.. right off the return.. but with mixed success on the whole.

in the end it was 5-7 2-6 as i fell apart physically towards the end of the 2nd set. so it wasnt a beatdown but really didnt think id lose that match up front. i actually switched from tabletennis to tennis last year because i got sick of losing to 50+ year old fat guys who just have feel for the ball and 40 years of practice with that crooked backhand shot -.- and you just cant even fight against the loss cause the harder you try and the more physical you try to get the more you shank. and you get frustrated by the thought that youre just playing the only sport they could ever beat you in +g+

i thought that was much less likely in tennis cause physical condition plays a much bigger role there. i was certain of it.
and there comes the first senior and takes me down in a highly physical contest without even breaking much of a sweat :/
oh well.. so much for that

[atatu]

I lost 61, 61, to the #1 Univeristy of Texas Women's player about eight years ago, and that was when I was actually a good 5.0 and not a weak 4.5. She was just too consistent and the only was I could even win a point was when I hit a service winner or a volley winner. Anytime we got into a baseline exchange, forget it.

[Centryx]

i think you should rename the thread to, "Ever been served humble pie by a senior citizen?"

[LeeD]

Yeah, I mentioned last year that I lost 1-0 to a 67 year old who was going into the finals of the 65 Nationals in 4 days.
Dude ran faster than me, could redirect softy balls service line deep and near the sidelines, and worst, when he asked me to hit (I was was smacking the wall trying to increase pace), he said he only wanted to rally a "few balls".
I told him I was working on decreasing spin on shots, and he said .."fine, I'll just retrieve them then"

[PimpMyGame]

Around 17 or 18 years ago when I was in my early twenties I was offered a match by a woman I worked with. Prob mid to late 30s, kind of aloof woman who I was looking forward to beating into shape. Needless to say, she handed my *** to me in double-quick time. I don't recall the score but it wasn't pretty.

My biggest mistake was telling my friends that I was about to demolish an older woman on court. Imagine my despair at having to tell them what actually happened.

Lesson learned.

[PimpMyGame]

In addition I have been served humble pie in doubles many times by retired gentlemen. Too many to count, but fortunately it doesn't happen too much now.

The world seems to be full of these guys who just know how to play you at doubles.

[purge]

Originally Posted by Centryx

i think you should rename the thread to, "Ever been served humble pie by a senior citizen?"

well what could be more humbling for a young man or woman than getting their asses handed to them at sports by someone who could be one of their grandparents?

[saguar0]

TBH, I think this is awesome.
When this happens to me, I just keep thinking that I hopefully play like them when I am the same age

[jdubbs]

Originally Posted by 86golf

A couple years ago a senior player with old school strokes took it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJrfD14M2U

After losing the point with a back hand squash shot at 3:33, I was ready to go home and kick the dog.

This is a good post. First, having the guts to post a losing match. Second, for showing, in practice, a classic pusher who can't move well.

I used to have problems with these types of players doing the same thing you did, hitting the ball right up the middle to their sweet spot, and letting them dictate play. They'd kill me with drop shots, lobs, off-speed slices.

I took some lessons and really started learning how to hit with power and dictate play by not letting the ball drop too low when returning a drop shot, improving my fitness to grind when necessary, and really learn how to put hard topspin that they couldn't handle. And improving my overhead immensely.

[corbind]

Originally Posted by 86golf

A couple years ago a senior player with old school strokes took it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJrfD14M2U

After losing the point with a back hand squash shot at 3:33, I was ready to go home and kick the dog.

I've watched this video maybe four times now. Every time I turn on my computer it plays. I'm very impressed with the old man. To me he seems to have a strange baseline strokes. Is it because he's swinging slow and the motions are in slow motion?

Nevertheless, that old man ruled the court using what he knows and the shots he's comfortable with. Imagine if that guy had the body of a 30-year-old. I think he'd cause some people quit tennis after being served humble pie....

[rjw]

classic video....thee's hope for me...lol

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

It's a brilliant video! There is an older guy who looks and plays EXACTLY like that at our club, Leon is his name. He even has the beard! I love how these guys just effortlessly pick up the deep shots to the BH on the half volley, no problem at all and it lands neatly a foot inside the baseline...

[rjw]

I'm no spring chicken, but I play with a guy who's 3 or 4 years my senior (63) and it's tough to get anything past him.

I've changed my strokes, more compact swing , hit late, etc. So, if I execute correctly, I can catch him flat footed and take away a few precious fractions of a second that he needs to anticipate and execute.

It's a BIG if...at times.....

[jdubbs]

I was served some humble pie this weekend in a league doubles match. The 2 guys we played were decent 4.0's, but I'm "almost" a 4.5 in singles and figured with me any my weaker 4.0, we could take them.

We won the first set 6-3. I wasn't serving particularly well, and lost games on my serve, but was very good at net and my partner was solid.

We then lost the next 2 sets without winning a single game. I was so embarrassed by the end. And didn't win a single game on my serve.
So frustrating. I took it out in a singles match the next day where I played great and served well, so at least I had that going for me.

But I really gotta improve my volleying!

I'm definitely a 4.0 doubles player and not improving much. "maybe" 4.5 in singles but we'll find out for sure in a few weeks at my first 4.5 tourney.

[Backhand DTL]

Originally Posted by 86golf

A couple years ago a senior player with old school strokes took it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJrfD14M2U

After losing the point with a back hand squash shot at 3:33, I was ready to go home and kick the dog.

We've all been there! The guy knows where to hit the ball and just won't give you anything for free.

[snark]

Originally Posted by 86golf

A couple years ago a senior player with old school strokes took it to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJrfD14M2U

After losing the point with a back hand squash shot at 3:33, I was ready to go home and kick the dog.

Amazing! I play a guy who plays and looks just like that. I have not lost to him recently, he relies on his drop shot too much (actually, it is outstanding, but becomes predictable), and can be overpowered, but if you relax just a little bit, he would kill you.

Beats many young players here. It's fun, when they come in confident, thinking it would be an easy game against the old guy