Prince of tennis
New User
I am the same type of player as Hewitt. Does every speedy players like Chang and Hewitt eventually lose their speed and get pwned? I don't want this to happen to me. What should I do to prevent it?
How did Hewitt loses his speed?
- Thread starter Prince of tennis
- Start date
wildmoose31
Rookie
are you playing tennis for a living? If not I would doubt you are going to play enough to wear your body down that fast
thats right....it worked for me, you should do the same.
Prince of tennis
New User
I played in community college as a number 6. Now I just play with friends. I am just like Hewitt, without my speed, i got nothing on my friends. I don't ever want to start losing to them and suck badly.
Bottle Rocket
Hall of Fame
You could consider trying to develop another dimension to your game?
Prince of tennis
New User
I am short and small-framed. What else can I develop?
JohnS
Semi-Pro
ive realized that a couple years ago. relying on too much on my speed like hewitt and nadal. I've always tried to be an aggressive player. As of now, im trying to develop a more potent forehand. I'm not a tall player, so speed comes instinctively. I now have a pretty good serve and come to the net when i can (off of an aggressive forehand or backhand).
Years from now, if i feel as though i lost my first step, i can always rely on the forehand, volleys, and serve.
Work on building another weapon that can win you some easier points. That way, you save energy and wear on your legs. Heavy grinding can only lead to an early retirement. The only guy I know that can compete even through all the wear and tear is Jimbo.
Years from now, if i feel as though i lost my first step, i can always rely on the forehand, volleys, and serve.
Work on building another weapon that can win you some easier points. That way, you save energy and wear on your legs. Heavy grinding can only lead to an early retirement. The only guy I know that can compete even through all the wear and tear is Jimbo.
M
Morrissey
Guest
I don´t know. Did Hewitt lose his speed or is it his desire and intensity instead? He still runs them down wonderfully but he´s been eerily quiet in his matches and I don´t see the will to win that he used to have. He´s in his mid 20´s and I still think he runs as good as before. The fire is not there and the fight isn´t the same either. I think those are his main problems, not the speed. At least not for another 3-4 years.
JohnS
Semi-Pro
Couldnt have agreed anymore. Also, he is aging. Hewitt 5 years ago would be able to run circles around the Hewitt of today or of last year.
*** Bold ***
Which is the true difference between Jimbo and Hewitt. Jimbo's fire kept him going while Hewitt is on cruise control with his current life.
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
I think the only thing that you can do is to stay the same age you are now forever.
BTW, I think Nadal is also beginning to lose his speed.
larlarbd
Banned
Don't get laid with beautiful australian actress . Always go out with girls like kim - the thought of her on your mind will always make you RUN faster . YEAH.
prince
Semi-Pro
i dont know how things are where you live - but in other places people get older.
The Gorilla
Banned
h keeps injuring his legs, he'll get back to where he was onvce he leaves those injuries behind.
nickarnold2000
Hall of Fame
The guy you should be emulating is Agassi. The guy makes the US Open finals at 35! Incredible! I remember Gilbert talking about him, always looking at improving and also keeping in tip top shape. Agassi, himself, has often said that strong legs are(was) the foundation of his game. I try to lift 3x/week and practice shots that r giving me trouble. Confidence is the result of all this.
Players are hitting the ball harder now and Hewitt needs more weapons.
Players are hitting the ball harder now and Hewitt needs more weapons.
crazylevity
Hall of Fame
Well I get older and lose my speed...but so do my peers! Haha...
Seriously, work on bettering other things such as groundstrokes, serves, volleys. Helps shorten points when you're still fresh, helps keep you in the game when you can't grind.
Seriously, work on bettering other things such as groundstrokes, serves, volleys. Helps shorten points when you're still fresh, helps keep you in the game when you can't grind.
It's REAL simple. He's just not as locked in as before. You can't fake something like that. Just think of your own play or when watching someone in the zone. When someone is in the zone, since when do they ever look slow? When someone's in the zone, they're able to play great offense it seems like time and time again, and a huge part of that is that they're so "locked in" mentally that they just pick up on the direction of balls a split second earlier. They're "tuned" into little cues, the sound of the ball leaving the strings, pick up on type of spin being used quicker, brace themselves to ready for a powerful shot faster, and the list goes on and on. A player who's TOTALLY IMMERSED into what's going out there will always cover the court exceptionally well. You combine that with someone of Hewitt or Chang's natural foot speed, then on their best retrieving days in the past, it's no wonder why it seemed like they could run anything down. Remeber those amazing highlight reel gets Chang would put on in the slams? He'd always show up on the end of tournament highlight reel. And his signature after running down this impossible shot after a long point, would be like this huge fist pump, ticking exhortations of his shoulders, and this FIERCE look in his eyes where it'd look like the eyeballs were bulging outside their orbital sockets like some alien predator whose just landed Cyndi Crawford on a hot silver platter for lunch.
That's being IN the moment and SO completely immersed that it's literally akin to like a religious convulsion or experience as they say when a faith healer at one of those religious conventions touches down on thee.
Hewitt just don't get that way anymore. He used to be that way. He used to be so locked in that it made other players feel like he was a hungry hungry hippo who was going to suck in every single shot they tried before they even tried so don't even try. His bulging eyeballs give off a STRONG powerful visual cue to other players that they intuitively pick up on which makes them more tentative. Where, the mental construction is one of where the power player feels threatened and like oh my gosh, the onus is on ME to put the ball away one, two, maybe three or even four times a point just to even get a sniff at winning a point! Now, however, the power players body language against Hewitt is one of mocking, defiant confidence; thus, Hewitt now sub-consciously feels threatened. Now, the onus is on ME to chase down ALL of these POWERFUL shots or else I'm cooked.
That's why body language is so important in tennis. Sub-consciously you pick on these things as a player and they subtley SWAY the balance one way or another. It's a delicate MENTAL pendulum tennis. It takes VERY little to differentiate between being a winner and a loser at this level. Put it this way, Kuerten you saw agianst Herynch at the Tennis Channel Open recently. What was your impression of him? I'll tell you mine. IMMEDIATELY within the first few points, I could just feel this slight unease in the guy, this tentativeness, and stifness to the way he played that wasn't there back when he first burst onto the scene. Back then, the guy just gave off this impression of being this loose gun, this free spirit, this LOOSEY GOOSEY competitor and it was unerving to the other guys. It unnerved them and they didn't play as well as they maybe good have against him has Guga's unique body language/demeanor not been such a powerful sub-conscious signal/cue to them.
And yet within the first few points, it was immediately clear to me that this guy is a shadow of his old self, the mojo's gone, the self-belief is gone, the loosey-gooseyness is gone.
AND YET, even still the guy can still put up games and competitive sets and matches. Winning matches consecutively though, going on streaks though, the occasional full blown in the zone blowouts on your best days that send a message to all the other players and make them fear you and give you games before match even starts, etc. Those kinds of things are far less likely to happen though now, far less likely to happen for any FORMER top player.
If you've grown up around a pack of dogs as I have, you'll notice a very particular trend. THE SECOND the former top dog starts showing a little bit of age or has an injury or whatever, etc. the other dogs IMMEDIATELY pick up on it, and boy does their body language change....
It makes ALL the difference in the world yet in the end a dog is still a dog right? Right.
Just as Guga is still a legitimate pro player.
Same goes for Hewitt, though since he's younger and not as diabled by injuries, he's still a level up from that, say a very good player still. Just no longer a great one.
Nothing's wrong with Hewitt except what's going on between his own two ears and the way other players no longer fear him.
Time will tell if he'll ever TRULY be able to get that all-consuming fire back again. If he does, he'll again, be able to cover the court like Superman. If he doesn't, he'll continue to cover the court really well...just don't expecting him to make those Superman gets he used to pull-off so "routinely."
The bottom-line is that before matches were NEVER "routine" to him, you got the sense as did his opponent that to him this was a life and death battle out here.
Now, he sees it as a sporting contest and *not* LIFE as in a Rocky MOVIE. After all, is what made Rocky the runaway hit that it was, pardon the pun, the boxing...or was it the HEART behind the boxing, the STORY that went into the boxing? It's the same with Hewitt right now. I mean it's not a whole lot of grown men who are as obsessed with Rocky as much as Hewitt WAS. Thinking of it like growing up, Hewitt as a person has grown-up and matured, is no longer as juvenile and short-sighted in his thinking, is a bit more worldly, has been cultivated/domesticated by his blond hair, blue-eyed wife, etc. Once you "mature" as a person, it's very difficult and most of all unnatural to purposely "dumb down" and become more simple minded and short sighted...EVEN IF, Hewitt would like to dumb down momentarily to win a match. You can TRY to do that, but it's not something you can really fake. It's just not intuitive, and when something feels unintuitive, this will ALWAYS "slow you down" in sports. Reaction time is EVERYTHING in sports, and half the battle is being tuned in mentally like an insect using ALL of his senses to find food. Hewitt's let's just say exercising more of his senses in his hotel bedrooms nowadays than before probably, more you know who, hubba-hubba (the baby, his baby, not the blond wowza other thing), than say being PERFECTLY content with watching Rocky reruns.
That's being IN the moment and SO completely immersed that it's literally akin to like a religious convulsion or experience as they say when a faith healer at one of those religious conventions touches down on thee.
Hewitt just don't get that way anymore. He used to be that way. He used to be so locked in that it made other players feel like he was a hungry hungry hippo who was going to suck in every single shot they tried before they even tried so don't even try. His bulging eyeballs give off a STRONG powerful visual cue to other players that they intuitively pick up on which makes them more tentative. Where, the mental construction is one of where the power player feels threatened and like oh my gosh, the onus is on ME to put the ball away one, two, maybe three or even four times a point just to even get a sniff at winning a point! Now, however, the power players body language against Hewitt is one of mocking, defiant confidence; thus, Hewitt now sub-consciously feels threatened. Now, the onus is on ME to chase down ALL of these POWERFUL shots or else I'm cooked.
That's why body language is so important in tennis. Sub-consciously you pick on these things as a player and they subtley SWAY the balance one way or another. It's a delicate MENTAL pendulum tennis. It takes VERY little to differentiate between being a winner and a loser at this level. Put it this way, Kuerten you saw agianst Herynch at the Tennis Channel Open recently. What was your impression of him? I'll tell you mine. IMMEDIATELY within the first few points, I could just feel this slight unease in the guy, this tentativeness, and stifness to the way he played that wasn't there back when he first burst onto the scene. Back then, the guy just gave off this impression of being this loose gun, this free spirit, this LOOSEY GOOSEY competitor and it was unerving to the other guys. It unnerved them and they didn't play as well as they maybe good have against him has Guga's unique body language/demeanor not been such a powerful sub-conscious signal/cue to them.
And yet within the first few points, it was immediately clear to me that this guy is a shadow of his old self, the mojo's gone, the self-belief is gone, the loosey-gooseyness is gone.
AND YET, even still the guy can still put up games and competitive sets and matches. Winning matches consecutively though, going on streaks though, the occasional full blown in the zone blowouts on your best days that send a message to all the other players and make them fear you and give you games before match even starts, etc. Those kinds of things are far less likely to happen though now, far less likely to happen for any FORMER top player.
If you've grown up around a pack of dogs as I have, you'll notice a very particular trend. THE SECOND the former top dog starts showing a little bit of age or has an injury or whatever, etc. the other dogs IMMEDIATELY pick up on it, and boy does their body language change....
It makes ALL the difference in the world yet in the end a dog is still a dog right? Right.
Just as Guga is still a legitimate pro player.
Same goes for Hewitt, though since he's younger and not as diabled by injuries, he's still a level up from that, say a very good player still. Just no longer a great one.
Nothing's wrong with Hewitt except what's going on between his own two ears and the way other players no longer fear him.
Time will tell if he'll ever TRULY be able to get that all-consuming fire back again. If he does, he'll again, be able to cover the court like Superman. If he doesn't, he'll continue to cover the court really well...just don't expecting him to make those Superman gets he used to pull-off so "routinely."
The bottom-line is that before matches were NEVER "routine" to him, you got the sense as did his opponent that to him this was a life and death battle out here.
Now, he sees it as a sporting contest and *not* LIFE as in a Rocky MOVIE. After all, is what made Rocky the runaway hit that it was, pardon the pun, the boxing...or was it the HEART behind the boxing, the STORY that went into the boxing? It's the same with Hewitt right now. I mean it's not a whole lot of grown men who are as obsessed with Rocky as much as Hewitt WAS. Thinking of it like growing up, Hewitt as a person has grown-up and matured, is no longer as juvenile and short-sighted in his thinking, is a bit more worldly, has been cultivated/domesticated by his blond hair, blue-eyed wife, etc. Once you "mature" as a person, it's very difficult and most of all unnatural to purposely "dumb down" and become more simple minded and short sighted...EVEN IF, Hewitt would like to dumb down momentarily to win a match. You can TRY to do that, but it's not something you can really fake. It's just not intuitive, and when something feels unintuitive, this will ALWAYS "slow you down" in sports. Reaction time is EVERYTHING in sports, and half the battle is being tuned in mentally like an insect using ALL of his senses to find food. Hewitt's let's just say exercising more of his senses in his hotel bedrooms nowadays than before probably, more you know who, hubba-hubba (the baby, his baby, not the blond wowza other thing), than say being PERFECTLY content with watching Rocky reruns.
larlarbd
Banned
BTW, I think Nadal is also beginning to lose his speed.
Yup , I second That . Also his shots are losing edge.
Duzza
Legend
Think before you post.
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The Gorilla
Banned
No, he's injured his leg repeatedly over the last year or so, when he was free of injury at Queens he was as fast as ever.
illkhiboy
Hall of Fame
So true, especially what you said about the body language communication. It's a good reminder to me, since I have this huge tournament coming up overseas. I will present myself as a warrior sort of a person who kills his opponents.
I really enjoy you're posts. They are more complex and revealing than the usual "Oh he's not so good anymore," "players have figured him out" etc which might be true at times but are too simplified at most times.
Prince of tennis
New User
nevermind. he just won the Tennis Channel Open.
bluegrasser
Hall of Fame
I don't know....Hewitt looked pretty quick against Safin yesterday..
Prince of tennis
New User
would anyone say getting big is not a good choice for Chang and Hewitt type of players?
ibemadskillzz
Semi-Pro
how much are your anti aging prods. I need them asap
315 lb if i remembered correctly.
nickarnold...its great someone else remembered that agassi points to his wheels as the foundation of his game, not just good hand -eye coordination.
Young Pete
Professional
marry beautiful actress = game over
look at sampras and hewitt.....
well worth it though
look at sampras and hewitt.....
well worth it though
Lambsscroll
Hall of Fame
Eat four balanced meals a day for starters just to make sure you have the nutrients. From there play at least 2 times a week. I'm sure you have a great first step so don't get lazy and not use it.
Yeah, as you age, what you really lose is your lateral movement, which involves changing directions, absorbing impact forces, and mantaining peak explosiveness. As you get older, your stretch reflex -- key to that explosiveness and springing out of a recovery step -- dips. Actually, as you play more, this is also true, since repeated use of the reflex naturally weakens its response. So as you get older, you have to work that much harder in order keep that aspect of your speed.
And this kinda leads to footwork patterns. If your movement is largely about sharp direction changes and exploding out of the step, then you'll eventually have a harder time then the person who relies on soft arcs and fast steps to get around the court.
It's all about the motivation. As Hewitt starts to win more matches, watch him move faster and faster. This is something every tennis player has experienced: when you're relaxed and playing with confidence, you just get a certain "spring" in your step. I just saw this thing with JCF as well. Last year his speed was completely gone and he was just totally flat footed. I mean, in Cincy he was moving like a snail compared to what he used to be. But just recently, after racking up a good amount of wins on the clay, suddenly he is moving and hitting like young Juan Carlos again.
I don't think age is a factor for guys like Hewitt and JCF; they're still quite young and fresh. What are they, mid-twenties? That's not old, even in tennis terms.
I don't think age is a factor for guys like Hewitt and JCF; they're still quite young and fresh. What are they, mid-twenties? That's not old, even in tennis terms.
Heavy Metal Tennis Star
Professional
injuries maybe?
Andy Hewitt
Professional
Fell down the stairs.
killer
Semi-Pro
Speed and drive/desire are intrinsically linked: if you've got nothing but yourself to live for, you've got no real concern about whether you destroy your hamstring chasing down a ridiculous ball and making the shot. Hewitt now has a wife and baby, and as much as it sucks, it DOES take the edge off of most players- your considerations (albeit on a subconscious level) widen and you start wondering if ripping your knees apart just to win one point is really worth it.
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!Tym Generally I like your posts but here...You really underestimate the significance of injuries and overweight the psychobabble. Guga: It's amazing the guy's out there at all after 2 hip surgeries, let alone playing like a top 200 player. Tennis is a game of speed, balance, fitness and racquet skill. Which of those doesnt deteriorate with 2 years away from the game and an injured hip. Yeah of course Guga doesnt have the swagger he once did because he doesnt have the elite level body to put him in position to hit the shots he used to.
Injuries, even after you've recovered from them, completely affect your intensity level. It takes awhile before you abandon your safety net like you used to when you're younger.
"Peak" mental focus is actually about managing the ups and downs of your intensity through a game. You have to learn how to "relax into concentration", and then use sudden bursts of intensity when it's most needed. Like, for example, returning a serve. If your body isn't willing, then everything must be pushed closer to threshhold, which creates emotional meltdowns, mental lapses, and other Safinesque behaviour.
"Peak" mental focus is actually about managing the ups and downs of your intensity through a game. You have to learn how to "relax into concentration", and then use sudden bursts of intensity when it's most needed. Like, for example, returning a serve. If your body isn't willing, then everything must be pushed closer to threshhold, which creates emotional meltdowns, mental lapses, and other Safinesque behaviour.
