[Videos] Clay court play from Medellin and Mexico City

navigator

Hall of Fame
The first two are from Medellin. A few minutes of warm-up followed by a few 11 point tie-breakers. Plenty of mediocre points as I couldn't be bothered to do a lot of editing - this is probably 75% of all the points. Difficult conditions - humid, mid-80s, 5000 feet above sea level, very dry courts - but very fun. My opponent is pretty much just hitting second serves (very nice guy but a bit lazy on the court). First serve's improved from marginal to decent; second serve's improved from terrible to merely "not good"; ground strokes pretty much static; volleys static but net game's improved due to better positioning.

1. http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cbeYr66CKr
2. http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cbeYrm6CsY

A short video of some hitting in Mexico City. You can hear the thud of the pressureless balls (used at high altitude - 7,500 feet in Mexico City). Great courts - fantastic condition.

http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cbeY3l6CMv

Video quality is mediocre... as usual. I'm too lazy to learn how to make proper videos... as usual.
 

navigator

Hall of Fame
Are the opponents people who work/coach in the club or people you found to play with?

They're trainers that work at the club. The guy in Medellin charged the equivalent of US$20 for two hours and I paid $5 for the court. In Mexico City the court was free (I played a tournament there) and the trainer charged the equivalent of US$23 for two hours. I've found that virtually all of the clubs/courts in Latin America - public and private - have trainers available and they're quite inexpensive. You don't even have to call ahead.
 

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
They're trainers that work at the club. The guy in Medellin charged the equivalent of US$20 for two hours and I paid $5 for the court. In Mexico City the court was free (I played a tournament there) and the trainer charged the equivalent of US$23 for two hours. I've found that virtually all of the clubs/courts in Latin America - public and private - have trainers available and they're quite inexpensive. You don't even have to call ahead.
Wait, do you have to be a member or do you just show up?
 

navigator

Hall of Fame
Wait, do you have to be a member or do you just show up?

It depends. At a club like the one in Mexico City (Club Raqueta de los Bosques in this instance) you can't just show up because that club's private. But I was playing a tournament there so I could use the facilities for free (but had to pay to hit with a trainer). In most large cities in Latin America, however, there are pretty large public clay court tennis facilities where you can just show up and pay for a court and a trainer - no membership required. I can speak directly to Lima, Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Santiago, and near me in Rosarito (hard courts, though). I don't think there are many public clay courts in Mexico City, but there are lots of public hard court facilities.
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
They're trainers that work at the club. The guy in Medellin charged the equivalent of US$20 for two hours and I paid $5 for the court. In Mexico City the court was free (I played a tournament there) and the trainer charged the equivalent of US$23 for two hours. I've found that virtually all of the clubs/courts in Latin America - public and private - have trainers available and they're quite inexpensive. You don't even have to call ahead.

Yeah these "semi-coaches" seem to be common in many countries.

Do these clubs have ball boys too?
 

navigator

Hall of Fame
Yeah these "semi-coaches" seem to be common in many countries.

The head pro is often a very good player. When I was in Lima (a public facility) the head pro was this guy: http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/tobias-clemens/c611/overview
At the (private) club in Mexico City where I was playing this guy is the head pro: http://www.atpworldtour.com/es/players/eduardo-magadan-castro/ma73/overview

Do these clubs have ball boys too?

Yes, "peloteros". They generally cost US$2-3 per hour.
 

navigator

Hall of Fame
You're hitting well Navigator.

Europe plans this summer?

Thanks, I feel like I'm getting a smidge better, mostly just *trying* to play smarter... the strokes are pretty embedded at this point, so not much I can do there (I'm lazy and obstinate).

Europa Europa... yes, I'm definitely coming I just don't know when. I'm going to play Lima in June, and Mexico City and the World Championships in November. Those are the only things for sure at the moment. The problem is that that fantastic September/October Spain schedule got screwed up this year because Helge split up Mallorca into two separate tournaments which screwed up the other tournaments around it, so I'm not sure if I'm going to play those events this year - they really fvcked up an otherwise perfect schedule of tournaments. I'm thinking of playing those three grass court tournaments in the South of England (St. George's and the other two) - what are your views on those? Still contemplating doing the South American Grade A leg in November?
 

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
It depends. At a club like the one in Mexico City (Club Raqueta de los Bosques in this instance) you can't just show up because that club's private. But I was playing a tournament there so I could use the facilities for free (but had to pay to hit with a trainer). In most large cities in Latin America, however, there are pretty large public clay court tennis facilities where you can just show up and pay for a court and a trainer - no membership required. I can speak directly to Lima, Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Santiago, and near me in Rosarito (hard courts, though). I don't think there are many public clay courts in Mexico City, but there are lots of public hard court facilities.
It must be nice to be basically a touring pro :D
 

MisterP

Hall of Fame
The thing that we carry with us literally 100% of the time is all you need to make hi def vids. I feel like any phone made in the last 4 years would take better video than whatever you're using here. Which is a shame because you're clearly hitting the ball well.
 

Shroud

G.O.A.T.
Riddle (courtesy of the Church's Steve Kilbey): What do you get when you cross the Sisters of Mercy with Bauhaus?

The Sisters of Murphy

*rim shot*
Ugh! That did make me laugh. I would probably listen to that. Though Bauhaus never did it for me and i dont get the draw.

Reminds me of the lead singer of XTC saying "i'd give my right arm to be in Def Leapord" with his deadpan english accent...
 

navigator

Hall of Fame
The thing that we carry with us literally 100% of the time is all you need to make hi def vids. I feel like any phone made in the last 4 years would take better video than whatever you're using here. Which is a shame because you're clearly hitting the ball well.

Yes, very true. Allow me to explain. I'm actually using a pretty high quality video camera - it came with my volleycam (I ditched the aparatus, but I digress). So, the original recording is fairly high quality. The problem is that I don't (a) know how to edit video (and I can't watch unedited videos with the between point ball gathering so I don't expect others to), or (b) have any way of posting video (no youtube account, or anything else of that nature). So, when I go to screencast-o-matic (where the videos are posted) I make, in essence, a recording of my video, so it loses a generation of quality and I end up with the low frame rate, Zapruderesque footage. But screencast-o-matic is SOOO easy to use that I don't care. I'm too lazy to learn how to properly edit video and I'd have no way of posting it even if I did. So, that's the explanation - poor though it may be - for the cr4ppy quality - I'm a lazy bast4rd. I just don't care enough to improve it. And I doubt future generations are going to be studying my tennis videos for tips, so...
 

navigator

Hall of Fame
Come on. Its a reference to your blue shorts and shirt that seem to be a must

Ahh... hahaha... well, all of my videos are posted on the same site in the same place, so this was easy to check. Ten videos posted over three years, in four of which I'm wearing blue. I guess you haven't seen the others. I'm wearing black, for example, in the other video in the original post which I think you mentioned you didn't watch. I do like the blue, though...
 
C

Chadillac

Guest
The thing that we carry with us literally 100% of the time is all you need to make hi def vids. I feel like any phone made in the last 4 years would take better video than whatever you're using here. Which is a shame because you're clearly hitting the ball well.

Storage issues. The phone mem would only last like 20mins max in hd, he plays for 2 hours.

Very nice playing/hitting. Excellent balance on defense/deep balls.
 

Shroud

G.O.A.T.
Storage issues. The phone mem would only last like 20mins max in hd, he plays for 2 hours.

Very nice playing/hitting. Excellent balance on defense/deep balls.
My standard iphone 6 something or other easily does 2 hours if i am diligent about moving and deleting earlier videos
 

Shroud

G.O.A.T.
Ahh... hahaha... well, all of my videos are posted on the same site in the same place, so this was easy to check. Ten videos posted over three years, in four of which I'm wearing blue. I guess you haven't seen the others. I'm wearing black, for example, in the other video in the original post which I think you mentioned you didn't watch. I do like the blue, though...
I only recall 3-4 and all were blue. So yeah i think thats the touring pro uniform. Bet you are sponsored or something
 
C

Chadillac

Guest
My standard iphone 6 something or other easily does 2 hours if i am diligent about moving and deleting earlier videos

What res, fps, bit rate and compression are you doing? Can phones do h.265 yet (video container)? With an iphone is probably a .mov

Right click your vid file and goto properties i think (im not on windows, i forget). It will give you file details. You can also use an app call gspot to tell you all the attributes of your video (helpful when you see someones low file size that looks great)
 

Moz

Hall of Fame
Thanks, I feel like I'm getting a smidge better, mostly just *trying* to play smarter... the strokes are pretty embedded at this point, so not much I can do there (I'm lazy and obstinate).

Europa Europa... yes, I'm definitely coming I just don't know when. I'm going to play Lima in June, and Mexico City and the World Championships in November. Those are the only things for sure at the moment. The problem is that that fantastic September/October Spain schedule got screwed up this year because Helge split up Mallorca into two separate tournaments which screwed up the other tournaments around it, so I'm not sure if I'm going to play those events this year - they really fvcked up an otherwise perfect schedule of tournaments. I'm thinking of playing those three grass court tournaments in the South of England (St. George's and the other two) - what are your views on those? Still contemplating doing the South American Grade A leg in November?

I think the inserting of the European Champs may have screwed things up. St. George's Hill is a nice tournament, old style British club and the courts are decent. The South of England the courts are good but there is zero back-up and they can be anal about them being used in marginal conditions. If it rains it's a long week in a retirement village. Frinton is an ok venue but the courts can be pretty variable.

I've decided against South America, too much to work on this year. I am trying to persuade the missus to move to Mallorca around that time....
 

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
What res, fps, bit rate and compression are you doing? Can phones do h.265 yet (video container)? With an iphone is probably a .mov

Right click your vid file and goto properties i think (im not on windows, i forget). It will give you file details. You can also use an app call gspot to tell you all the attributes of your video (helpful when you see someones low file size that looks great)
With the filmicpro app, you can use your iphone to record in 24fps, 25fps, ... 240fps. Can also adjust a lot of other things.
h264. Can't wait for more products to use h265.
 

Shroud

G.O.A.T.
What res, fps, bit rate and compression are you doing? Can phones do h.265 yet (video container)? With an iphone is probably a .mov

Right click your vid file and goto properties i think (im not on windows, i forget). It will give you file details. You can also use an app call gspot to tell you all the attributes of your video (helpful when you see someones low file size that looks great)
I will check later. I think you can do all the way up to 240 or something. Pretty sure its usually 30fps
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
I will check later. I think you can do all the way up to 240 or something. Pretty sure its usually 30fps

You can do 240 in slow-motion mode and then play it at full-speed. The default is slower (not exactly sure and maybe you can set it). This is for the iPhone 6 but I don't think that the 7s are any better - just higher resolution and better scrubbing.
 
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