Height of Lew Hoad

[timnz]

Hello,

I have seen written in many places that Hoad was 5ft 8inches. But in many photographs he seems a lot taller than Ken Rosewall who we know was 5ft 7inches. And he certainly doesn't seem 6 or 7 inches shorter than Pancho Gonzales who was 6ft 2 or 3.

If you look forinstance at the photo of 'Young Sport Stars from Australia in the 1950's' Hoad is second from the left and Rosewall is third from the right. Hoad looks half-a head taller not one inch.

I would have thought he was around 5ft 11inches

[ag200boy]

sorry but how exactly do we "know" that rosewall was 5'7"?

could be either one of the heights was stated incorrectly, or neither and the photo was just at a bad angle, or they were both wrong

[timnz]

I guess through the weight of Internet references. Ken seems to be pretty consistently referred to as 5ft 7inch.

[Tony Sideway]

Lew could have been a GOAT challenger if he had not suffered many many injuries

[tomwill65]

There has been a lot of talk in regard to lew hoads height he was 5 f 11 inchs not the 5f 8 inchs that has been stated in past discussions,his weight when at the height of his game was around 85 lbs. Playing at his best i dont think anyone past or present would beat him.Regards Tomwill65

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by tomwill65

There has been a lot of talk in regard to lew hoads height he was 5 f 11 inchs not the 5f 8 inchs that has been stated in past discussions,his weight when at the height of his game was around 85 lbs. Playing at his best i dont think anyone past or present would beat him.Regards Tomwill65

85 lbs.?!

Wow! I had thought he was a big power player. You're not going to get much power being 5' 11" and 85 pounds (skin and bones).

[tomwill65]

Correction onL Lew Hoad weight it was 185 lbs i forgot the 1. cheers tomwill,

[Bjorn99]

If Hoad didn't drink a barrel of beer every hour of the day, he would have been the greatest of all time. Heck, he jockingly told the story of how he drank all night before the US Open final, and watched boxing movies all night long with a complete stranger and lost in four sets to Rosewall the next day.

[Limpinhitter]

Many Aussies who remember Hoad consider him the greatest Aussie talent of all time. Considering the amazing players that came from Austraila, that's saying a lot.

[Bjorn99]

My fathers best friend spent a whole year covering him for a movie script and for writing a book. During his playing career. Said he was the greatest human being he ever met. And greatest talent he ever saw. He himself was a voracious drinker as well. Too bad, the influence of alcohol. Its diminished many an athlete.

[accidental]

I got a photo with Rosewall at the Aus Open this year. I asked him how tall he was and he told me he was 4'11, but I think he was really more like 4'8

[rajeshafrica]

Originally Posted by Bjorn99

My fathers best friend spent a whole year covering him for a movie script and for writing a book. During his playing career. Said he was the greatest human being he ever met. And greatest talent he ever saw. He himself was a voracious drinker as well. Too bad, the influence of alcohol. Its diminished many an athlete.

I remember reading an interview with John Newcombe, where Newcombe mentions that Hoad had a bad back which was never cured and he drank heavily to ease the pain

[tomwill65]

Originally Posted by Bjorn99

If Hoad didn't drink a barrel of beer every hour of the day, he would have been the greatest of all time. Heck, he jockingly told the story of how he drank all night before the US Open final, and watched boxing movies all night long with a complete stranger and lost in four sets to Rosewall the next day.

I read an article written by Harry Hopman in regard to that US Open final he said the swirling wind did not help Hoad it affected is service and overhead and also he had struggled to get past Neale Fraser in the semi final with an arm injury, In regard to his drinking he drank all night before the french final and we all know what happened there ,many people have said he could recover very quickley, thats just what i read Cheers.Tomwill .

[NLBwell]

From what I recall without looking it up Hoad was 5' 11" tall. I remember being surprised he wasn't over 6'.

[TMF]

Hoad doesn't look that taller than Rosewall when standing next to one another. If Rosewall is listed at 5'6", I would say Hoad at most is 5'9"

[TMF]

Here's another one. He's a most is 3" taller than Rosewall.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by TMF

Here's another one. He's a most is 3" taller than Rosewall.

Completely wrong, but rather funny. Everyone can clearly see that the very peak or Rosewall's head, is just even with, or slightly under Hoad's eyebrows. All anyone has to do is take out a measuring tape, put it at their eyebrows and measure 3 inches. Then imagine how non-human they'd look if that 3 inches represented the tip of their head! LOL! I can only imagine what you look like TMF!

It is a minimum of 4 inches from eyebrows to peak of head, and since Rosewall is listed at 5'7, that puts Hoad right around 5'11, as others have been claiming. I always thought he was between 5'10 and 5'11.

[TMF]

^
Well anyone who said Chang is 5'9" is reasonable will likely to exaggerate another player's height.

[kiki]

I am amazed at how important height is for the newcomers to tennis.Babies, Lew Hoad is one of the greatest talents that ever played this game and his record was just hampered by terrible injuries.And that has nothing to see with his height.

All I can say is that his ***** was enormous, as he proved.Even the GOAT Rod Laver paid his tribute to Hoad, as did the greatest pro player of the pre open era, a ertain Pancho Gonzales.Happy?

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by Datacipher

* * * All anyone has to do is take out a measuring tape, put it at their eyebrows and measure 3 inches. Then imagine how non-human they'd look if that 3 inches represented the tip of their head! LOL! I can only imagine what you look like TMF!
* * *

So you've actually met TMF in person!