Why do some people think that.......

[smarog]

they can determine someone's appropriate level after watching a person hit for 5-10 minutes?!?! I see a lot of posts on here saying thing similiar to "after watching this person hit for a couple minutes he looked like he should be a 4.0." You may think that you have an idea of what the strokes and pace of a certain level look like, but what you can't tell after watching someone hit for a few minutes is what their mental make-up is. If you play tennis, you know that a lot of what happens during a match goes on upstairs - is a person a quitter?, do they cave in on pressure points?, do they dig in and get tough under pressure?, do they adapt to a new opponent's style quickly?, etc. I know a guy with solid and grooved strokes that refuses to play any type of match (even practice sets) because he can't handle the "stress" of live match conditions (what I find ironic is that he's a surgeon and works under stressful conditions all day in the OR). How many times have you found yourself thinking that you're in for an easy match during warm ups because your opponent(s) don't have the prettiest strokes only to find youself in a 3 set thriller because their mental game or on court thinking and problem solving skills are excellent? All I'm saying is there is a lot more to being a good tennis player than looking the part on a practice court.

[hard2explain]

What does this surgeon do when playing tennis? just out of curiosity.

[floridatennisdude]

I've lost twice this spring to a guy that would make Brad Gilbert proud. Comes out limping, awkward grip on the racquet, a little overweight. The first set of our first match, 0-6. I've never been run so much in my life.

Guys like that have spare rooms full of trophies.

[smarog]

The Surgeon? He just hits. He never even plays practice points - just feeds the ball and hit groundies down the middle of the court (which he's really good at and fun to hit with). My only guess is that it's a stress relief for him and he doesn't want to make his hobby stressful since his profession is.

[OrangePower]

Originally Posted by smarog

Why do some people think that....... they can determine someone's appropriate level after watching a person hit for 5-10 minutes?!?!

Because talk tennis is filled with gurus who can instantly diagnose your entire game based only on a single shot.

In fact some of the more experienced posters here can tell you your exact level down to the DNTRP just by looking over your racquet and strings.

[hard2explain]

Originally Posted by smarog

The Surgeon? He just hits. He never even plays practice points - just feeds the ball and hit groundies down the middle of the court (which he's really good at and fun to hit with). My only guess is that it's a stress relief for him and he doesn't want to make his hobby stressful since his profession is.

A 'zennis' player if you will.

[BHiC]

Originally Posted by OrangePower

Because talk tennis is filled with gurus who can instantly diagnose your entire game based only on a single shot.

In fact some of the more experienced posters here can tell you your exact level down to the DNTRP just by looking over your racquet and strings.

Yep, just follow this basic criteria and everyone can rate others like an experienced TT'er -

I am a 5.5, everybody else is a 2.5. If some lousy 2.5 beats me, it is because he is a pusher, moonballer, and hooked me every other point. The only people who are not 2.5's are the ones that play with BLX 90s, hit with a one-handed backhand, or are S&Vers.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by smarog

The Surgeon? He just hits. He never even plays practice points - just feeds the ball and hit groundies down the middle of the court (which he's really good at and fun to hit with). My only guess is that it's a stress relief for him and he doesn't want to make his hobby stressful since his profession is.

Hate to break it to you, but some people, including me, find tennis boring after a while. In my case, the threshold is 1 hour for singles or 2 hours for doubles. I feel hungry, I feel like taking a bath, and I feel that I could be doing other things.

I played for an hour today, and now I need to take care of some work.

There is also a sense of frustration at not being able to play like the pros, leading to self-criticism even when playing well.