How was your start on TTW? How have you evolved as a poster?

Lleytonstation

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
So I came to TTW thinking I was a tennis guru. That changed quickly when I learned about ELO, weak eras, and next gens.

The first few posts of mine were very thought out and analytical. I soon learned that was a mistake.

I now have evolved into posting "ABNG, TIGER, weak era, and ngbs" along with fast and furious gifs and peaky blinders.

Man does TTW change you.

What were your first experience with TTW, and how have you evolved? Post one of your first few posts if you can find it.

@Azure @Bender @King No1e @Nole Slam @NoleFam @GabeT @MichaelNadal @Third Serve @Federer and Del Potro

@Federer and Del Potro old uso thread got me thinking about this.

I evolved like the fast and furious franchisee.
tenor.gif
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Well back then we just talked tennis and it was a lot more serious. It's turned me into a really jokey poster bc there's so much mess going on here lol. In ways I like the way it used to be, but at the same time it's probably more fun now. Joined when I was 21 and now im 35 so I have changed a lot as a person in ways people wouldn't realize on the forum bc im halfway in character on here.

Venus V Henin

Well its not secret since defeating Morigami Venus has really waken up and smelled the coffee! I don't know what it is about centre court but she really knows how to turn her game up when it counts. In her 3rd round match I really was DISAPPOINTED in her play... but now if things go the way they...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com tt.tennis-warehouse.com

First thread :D
 
Bender

Bender

G.O.A.T.
Started off under a different username (which I had changed a few years ago), mostly focused on Tips & Instructions as a lurker before branching out to GPPD.

Back then I was almost purely a Nadal fan, but because I was on T&I a lot, I was watching more Federer videos than Nadal videos and was at the very least neutral towards him if not quite positive.

No gif game because it wasn't a thing back then, and although likes didn't exist at the time I was actually more careful in trying to curate a more balanced and neutral view of things in GPPD. And for a while I did take some pride in the fact that I was willing or at least trying to accept things I didn't like if it made sense and aligned with my observations, but that died a quick death a while back because people straight up accused me of being a sore loser trying to pull off some sort of "hurr durr as an objective Federer and Nadal fan" façade, ironically by posters who should be the last people to accuse anyone of faux objectivity and delusions of grandeur.

This is just a stupid meaningless site where people post about a hobby that they themselves aren't any good at (otherwise why would you post here looking for advice like I did) but in retrospect it's kinda weird how easily it all affects you after a while. When it comes to matches and stuff, I still try to get over things quickly, congratulate the right posters, and move on, but I think my days actively trying to share information I think would be useful for other people are numbered if they haven't passed a long time ago already. Nowadays it's just a 1-3 line joke because that's about the depth and relevance a lot of GPPD threads deserve.
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Bender said:
Started off under a different username (which I had changed a few years ago), mostly focused on Tips & Instructions as a lurker before branching out to GPPD.
Nowadays it's just a 1-3 line joke because that's about the depth and relevance a lot of GPPD threads deserve.
Click to expand...

Exactly. It's basically changed along with the world, attention spans are shorter than ever.
 
King No1e

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
I lurked for a while, but I made my account originally to post a detailed breakdown of Wimbledon 17 matches during the tournament. Started out posting serious stuff like that, now I just do weak era trolling.
 
Bender

Bender

G.O.A.T.
MichaelNadal said:
Exactly. It's basically changed along with the world, attention spans are shorter than ever.
Click to expand...
For me it's a little bit of that and a little bit of the fact that GPPD discussions are the same recycled crap spun in what the OP thinks is a novel way, which turns out to have been thought up six times before.

If it's not about XYZ being GOAT then it's yet another cookie-cutter whining post on the internet about how NextGen are cookie-cutter whiners who spend too much time on the internet.
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Bender said:
For me it's a little bit of that and a little bit of the fact that GPPD discussions are the same recycled crap spun in what the OP thinks is a novel way, which turns out to have been thought up six times before.

If it's not about XYZ being GOAT then it's yet another cookie-cutter whining post on the internet about how NextGen are cookie-cutter whiners who spend too much time on the internet.
Click to expand...

Yeah there used to be a lot more to talk about too lol. There's no narratives in tennis now, or at least the narrative has been the same for a LONG time now.
 
D

Deleted member 780836

Guest
What happens with most forums is that they start out as very valuable places for info/knowledge/experiences etc and there a lot of domain experts that post. With time more annoying people join and the discussions get more ridiculous with time, this pushes away the domain experts and the people that make this place valuable. What's left? Current ttw.
The best example is the tennis tips section, absolute hot garbage in that place, blatantly wrong info in most threads, but no one to call out the bs.
I've asked the mods to delete my account, this is no longer a valuable place for the most part. The rackets/shoes/strings/stringing machine sections are still good, the rest I don't know man...
I used to post in good faith, but I quickly learned to not take things seriously
 
Bender

Bender

G.O.A.T.
colabby said:
What happens with most forums is that they start out as very valuable places for info/knowledge/experiences etc and there a lot of domain experts that post. With time more annoying people join and the discussions get more ridiculous with time, this pushes away the domain experts and the people that make this place valuable. What's left? Current ttw.
The best example is the tennis tips section, absolute hot garbage in that place, blatantly wrong info in most threads, but no one to call out the bs.
I've asked the mods to delete my account, this is no longer a valuable place for the most part. The rackets/shoes/strings/stringing machine sections are still good, the rest I don't know man...
Click to expand...
There are still some knowledgeable guys over on T&I but after the whole BSSH / TTPS / gregory diamond / oserver era I think a lot of lesser-known but knowledgeable posters just left and never came back. Haven't seen John Yandell post in a while either.

Racquet section was great a few years ago too. We had Peter Fig (who worked for Wilson for a while) post in my PS90 thread a few times sharing information on development on the design of the PJ on the RF97A, and he shared some photos of some prototype PJs for the 2014 PS90 that would later become the 1st gen RF97A PJ. You literally wouldn't be able to get that information anywhere else. Maybe one day I'll rehost some of those images so they aren't lost in time and share them on reddit or something so that more people get to learn about it.
 
Crocodile

Crocodile

G.O.A.T.
Lleytonstation said:
So I came to TTW thinking I was a tennis guru. That changed quickly when I learned about ELO, weak eras, and next gens.

The first few posts of mine were very thought out and analytical. I soon learned that was a mistake.

I now have evolved into posting "ABNG, TIGER, weak era, and ngbs" along with fast and furious gifs and peaky blinders.

Man does TTW change you.

What were your first experience with TTW, and how have you evolved? Post one of your first few posts if you can find it.

@Azure @Bender @King No1e @Nole Slam @NoleFam @GabeT @MichaelNadal @Third Serve @Federer and Del Potro

@Federer and Del Potro old uso thread got me thinking about this.

I evolved like the fast and furious franchisee.
tenor.gif
Click to expand...
ELO as in Electric Light Orchestra
 
Crocodile

Crocodile

G.O.A.T.
Came here mainly interested in talking about racquets, After a while there is only so much you can talk about racquets so you end up diversifying and end up here.
 
stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
I joined as a middle aged but naive fan of the sport, believing peeps could come and discuss the sport without insulting each other because they differ in player allegiance. Then I discovered all the bizarre tin foil conspiracy acts that go on and that just makes me go into paroxysmal contractions from crying and laughing at the same time…crying that peeps really believe this stuff and laughing that I’m clearly a higher form of intellect.

I now just stick around for the free therapy sessions offered by armchair analyst Freud wannabes. There’s also a few word games that offer free exercise of the gray matter.
 
SystemicAnomaly

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Using this place to organize my thoughts & make some sort of effort to convey them in a semi-coherent fashion in an attempt to slow down the inevitable cognitive decline.

(No doubt that I have the bad gene)
devo-logo.png
 
Lleytonstation

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
MichaelNadal said:
Well back then we just talked tennis and it was a lot more serious. It's turned me into a really jokey poster bc there's so much mess going on here lol. In ways I like the way it used to be, but at the same time it's probably more fun now. Joined when I was 21 and now im 35 so I have changed a lot as a person in ways people wouldn't realize on the forum bc im halfway in character on here.

Venus V Henin

Well its not secret since defeating Morigami Venus has really waken up and smelled the coffee! I don't know what it is about centre court but she really knows how to turn her game up when it counts. In her 3rd round match I really was DISAPPOINTED in her play... but now if things go the way they...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com tt.tennis-warehouse.com

First thread :D
Click to expand...
Bender said:
Started off under a different username (which I had changed a few years ago), mostly focused on Tips & Instructions as a lurker before branching out to GPPD.

Back then I was almost purely a Nadal fan, but because I was on T&I a lot, I was watching more Federer videos than Nadal videos and was at the very least neutral towards him if not quite positive.

No gif game because it wasn't a thing back then, and although likes didn't exist at the time I was actually more careful in trying to curate a more balanced and neutral view of things in GPPD. And for a while I did take some pride in the fact that I was willing or at least trying to accept things I didn't like if it made sense and aligned with my observations, but that died a quick death a while back because people straight up accused me of being a sore loser trying to pull off some sort of "hurr durr as an objective Federer and Nadal fan" façade, ironically by posters who should be the last people to accuse anyone of faux objectivity and delusions of grandeur.

This is just a stupid meaningless site where people post about a hobby that they themselves aren't any good at (otherwise why would you post here looking for advice like I did) but in retrospect it's kinda weird how easily it all affects you after a while. When it comes to matches and stuff, I still try to get over things quickly, congratulate the right posters, and move on, but I think my days actively trying to share information I think would be useful for other people are numbered if they haven't passed a long time ago already. Nowadays it's just a 1-3 line joke because that's about the depth and relevance a lot of GPPD threads deserve.
Click to expand...
Exactly my evolution. I quickly realized it is the same posters posting the same arguments in the same threads with the same ending.

I went from this:
Lleytonstation said:
Haha your hilarious. I have seen Thiem play many times, yes, mainly on hard courts, but I am very aware of what he can and cant do. Here are the following losses Thiem has on just clay in the past two years:

2018: Tsitsipas, Zverev, Fognini, Jarry, Klizan, Djokovic, Nadal
2019: Klizan, Schwartzman, LAjovic, Verdasco, Djokovic, and of course soon to be Nadal

For starters that is a lot of losses and against journeymen for the most part. If he was as great as you are saying he would not be losing to these guys. His last two FO's have been QF: Zverev, Khachanov, SF: Cecchinato, Djokovic, and Finals: Straight sets to Nadal. Maybe one solid win against these players.

Sure, he is good, but nothing crazy. The way he tries to smash the ball on RG slow clay is not a smart plan. However, if he finds consistency on hard courts, he can do what we saw against Nadal at the USO last year.

But honestly, I am okay if I am wrong, I never said I was a tennis guru, and you probably are more knowledgeable on this then me. Difference is, I dont go around calling people names and insulting people based on their opinions (your post say you do this all the time). I am here to learn and have fun. So you win. You happy? Enjoy it.
Click to expand...
To this:
Lleytonstation said:
cb192cb1b4009d49fd6e0ee47f84826d.gif

LPfq.gif

V4Mt.gif


These three gifs will get the job done.
Click to expand...
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Lleytonstation said:
Exactly my evolution. I quickly realized it is the same posters posting the same arguments in the same threads with the same ending.

I went from this:

To this:
Click to expand...

EXACTLY lol. People try to box me in a corner about my tennis knowledge bc of the way I've posted the last few years, I'm like who has time for these stupid debates that just get washed away in a day or two, with people that will never agree on anything? I'd rather just be remembered as the food and gifs guy :D
 
T1000

T1000

Legend
Started out as a high schooler trolling the gppd section. Gj011 nadal_freak veronoquim and lone wolf were the easiest to get reactions out of. Also used to play those pick it games for each tournament, not sure if those threads are still active. Now I’m 29 and post about other sports and sometimes weight lifting.
 
Novichok

Novichok

Professional
I've been lurking here on and off since 2015 but I made an account recently because I wanted to use the ignore button.
There are just so many annoying trolls...:laughing:
I was mostly interested in gear, pros' specs and racquet customisation, but the 'discussions' on GPPD are so tempting.
 
Last edited:
3loudboys

3loudboys

G.O.A.T.
Lurked for a very long time and only really visited the gear section to check out rackets. Was and still am a racketaholic and huge kudos to @vsbabolat for all the information he continues to impart for nothing, predominantly about the Head classics which were my passion - 90's Rad Tours mmm. Also visited the Tips & Instructions boards as kids were having lessons and tried to contribute constructively to technical debates - some interesting and some nutty stuff - informative or amusing - win win.

Evolved into a serial peruser of the Odds & Ends content where I have been fortunate to meet some remarkable characters that I have some great banter with and occasionally share ideas. The sureshs has been a surreal experience and the legend lives on. @stringertom - will be pushing back the frontiers of word association later...

Has been a great experience and have learnt to relax and not be quite so serious.
 
ChaelAZ

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
Had an account back in 2006 or 2007, but never posted much. Just read since I was here more as a tennis watcher than player. I spent a few years around, but went other places so deleted the profile and just lurked and read. Didn't create this account until 2014 I think when I started getting into league play more and looking for like-minded folks. Never really paid attention to people's names or such, but just generally know the crowd.

Not sure I have evolved in any way for how I post or such. I mean, personally I have gotten older, slower, and had to pay more attention to threads that talk about managing play more than looking to improve technique or such. I am not on court as much since my son finished his tennis time and I don't help with the high school or juniors anymore. Actually letting my coaching cert go and just looking for at level competition, but also just good people. Used to do a bunch of demos and early release reviews/testing of some sticks, but not really interested in it much. I still keep up with the Blades though,

Still enjoy throwing in my .02 on things when people ask.
 
The Green Mile

The Green Mile

Bionic Poster
It was a rude wake up call as to how forums were really like. I was honestly shocked at the mud slinging and whatnot, my first experience with an internet forum. I used to post more serious stuff a while back, but have realized it's not really worth it. For every good thread, there's ten crappy ones. Concentrated dominance like what's happening now with Djoker going for the CYGS brings out all the trolls and new users, it's happened a few times before since I've been here.
 
D

Deleted member 743561

Guest
Been a minute now. Wow.

Their SEO must have been pretty good at the time. Place kept coming up. Browsed for like 10 minutes, and I knew Team RF needed a boost.

lol, just kidding. Sorta. :sneaky:

Was pretty late in his career already at that point. What an unexpectedly glorious several years of late winter Fred, tho!

Overall, glad to have found the place. Some good correspondences, and some interesting... "journaling" we'll call it. :)
 
D

Deleted member 743561

Guest
Novichok said:
I've been lurking here on and off since 2015 but I made an account recently because I wanted to use the ignore button.
So many weirdos... :laughing:
I was mostly interested in gear, pros' specs and racquet customisation, but the 'discussions' on GPPD are so tempting.
Click to expand...
lol, just saw this.

Absolutely classic... signed up expressly to gain the ability to ignore folks! :D
 
Crocodile

Crocodile

G.O.A.T.
Some times you just like to participate in a part of a forum that is easy and short. Explaining the mechanics of a serve In tennis tips at 10.30pm can use up some energy,
 
s_andrean

s_andrean

Semi-Pro
I joined in 2005(!) as a 17 year old kid, and not an emotionally intelligent one judging by some of my early posts! George Bush was just starting his 2nd term in office and the iPhone was 2 years away from being invented..

Now I've just turned 33, happily married, and thankfully a way better player than I was. Also I now argue with building contractors rather than other 17 year olds on the TW forum. It has always been useful to get 'hive mind' insights on tennis gear, but for specific product options opinions still are as wildly undependable as ever.

.. and George Bush is now a painter.
 
Third Serve

Third Serve

Talk Tennis Guru
I was fresh and green when I first started. I’m still basically the same poster now but with an extra two and a half years of experience knowing the ins and outs of the forum. And less cringe. I’ve also changed my opinions on a few things as you’ll soon see.

Here’s one of my very first threads:

Third Serve said:
We’ve seen some nice tennis from the next gen so far this year so I thought it would be cool to create a ranking of the best of these players based on how well you think they will perform in the future. The ranking has nothing to do with their current accomplishments (although of course they can be used for predictions). The players ranked should meet simply this criterion:
  • Age must be 23 or under when rounded. For example, I wouldn’t consider Kyrgios to be next gen at this point since he’s almost 24 (23.8). He can still have a great career but he’s not next gen imo. If you don’t agree with me, then go ahead and throw Nick in there.
Let’s start with my list:
  1. Stefanos Tsitsipas - I love his style of play, but putting my bias aside, it’s clear that he has the right work ethic and he seems very comfortable both from the baseline and up at the net. His groundstrokes look a bit loopy, but he has time to fine-tune his game. His SF showing at the AO and some of his other runs (Rogers Cup and Dubai) also impress me.
  2. Sascha Zverev - Yeah, I don’t like him much, but 3 Masters and the WTF at the age of 21 speak for themselves. Not to mention, he also beat some of top players to win those titles (including Federer and Djokovic — back to back!). I expect him to do very well in the Masters events... but he still needs to work on the slams. With Ivan coaching, though, I think he’ll get there.
  3. Daniil Medvedev - Solid game, solid groundstrokes, if a bit unorthodox. He seems to have worked on keeping his level consistent over the past few months. If he can improve his fitness, he will definitely win some big events.
  4. Denis Shapovalov - Wildly inconsistent at times, I still think Denis can truly break through. His main problem seems to be his over-eagerness to go for broke, usually resulting in a lot of errors. He has immense talent and a few more years to develop than some of the others, so if he pulls a Federer and somehow string enough “on days” together, he will win slams.
  5. Felix Auger-Aliassime - This guy’s record at 18 is super impressive. He already has a final and his game can be good enough to compete with the top. Key word: can. Like Denis, he can be inconsistent, so he just needs to string together his shots and he could enter the top 30 by the end of the year. Who knows what could happen next?
  6. Borna Coric - The next baby Djokovic, Coric is consistent enough from the baseline to trouble top players. His net game is crap, however, so that stands in the way first of all.
  7. Alex de Minaur - His speed is Hewitt-like, so it makes sense that Rusty is coaching him. He is yet to defeat a top 20 player, which suggests that time is running out for him. This is aggravated by his physical style of play, so if he really does go full Hewitt, his career will be on the downturn in his mid-20s. Use that speed!
  8. Karen Khachanov - A few months ago, I would have placed him in #4 or #5. But atm he seems to be following in Sock’s footsteps. His win/loss this year is 4/4 which isn’t that great. It’s tough to predict how his career will turn out.
  9. Frances Tiafoe - A refresher for American tennis, Tiafoe has the potential to make it deep in the slams and other big events with his powerful shotmaking. I can’t say for sure whether he’d win some of those tournaments but he can turn out to be a consistent top 10 player.
I apologize for the long read. Well, what do you all have to say?
Click to expand...
My top 3 actually still looks the same now (and I’m a bit surprised I put Medvedev that high up on the list given he hadn’t even had his 2019 “breakthrough” yet), only I’m much less eager and excited about this group of players now lol

There are plenty of cringe posts from early 2019 that you could probably dig up to embarrass me even more.
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Third Serve said:
I was fresh and green when I first started. I’m still basically the same poster now but with an extra two and a half years of experience knowing the ins and outs of the forum. And less cringe. I’ve also changed my opinions on a few things as you’ll soon see.

Here’s one of my very first threads:


My top 3 actually still looks the same now (and I’m a bit surprised I put Medvedev that high up on the list given he hadn’t even had his 2019 “breakthrough” yet), only I’m much less eager and excited about this group of players now lol

There are plenty of cringe posts from early 2019 that you could probably dig up to embarrass me even more.
Click to expand...
Typed more in your first post than I have during my whole career here.
 
stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
This is how fresh and green I was when first trying to contribute:

Prior to IW’11 SF/final weekend that featured the last 4 winners of slams (JMDP USO’09, fedr AO’10, The Nadal RG/W/USO’10, Joe Kovic AO’11), I failed to have studied how the great @sureshs had handled Cincinnati’09’s parallel scenario and made his thread about the weekend into the GOAT Cincy-The Real Slam thread, something with more legs than a centipede.

The Great Big One’s thread still gets cited 12 years later and many around here still call the tournament The Real Slam. OTOH, my thread had ZERO responses to my suggestion that it was a RPS weekend ahead of us that late winter in Sunny IW. P.S.: JMDP was not the scissors to The Nadal’s paper but Joe Kovic was able to switch like a chameleon from the paper to cover fedr’s rock to the scissors to cut up Paper Nadal. It was a historic weekend with his back-to-back Fedal victories that earned Joe Kovic his first week at #2 in the world and continued his unbeaten streak.
 
Mike Bulgakov

Mike Bulgakov

G.O.A.T.
I first came to TW as an innocent man who just wanted to buy racquets and strings. A few years later, I was enticed by my gateway drug into the forums, threads about strings populated with some of the knowledgeable stringers who used to inhabit the forums. I was just lurking. Soon learning about new strings wasn't enough, and I visited the notorious Odds & Ends part of town. Then one morning I woke up in a Talk Tennis City subway tunnel, realizing that I was a habitual poster in Odds & Ends.
 
Crocodile

Crocodile

G.O.A.T.
stringertom said:
This is how fresh and green I was when first trying to contribute:

Prior to IW’11 SF/final weekend that featured the last 4 winners of slams (JMDP USO’09, fedr AO’10, The Nadal RG/W/USO’10, Joe Kovic AO’11), I failed to have studied how the great @sureshs had handled Cincinnati’09’s parallel scenario and made his thread about the weekend into the GOAT Cincy-The Real Slam thread, something with more legs than a centipede.

The Great Big One’s thread still gets cited 12 years later and many around here still call the tournament The Real Slam. OTOH, my thread had ZERO responses to my suggestion that it was a RPS weekend ahead of us that late winter in Sunny IW. P.S.: JMDP was not the scissors to The Nadal’s paper but Joe Kovic was able to switch like a chameleon from the paper to cover fedr’s rock to the scissors to cut up Paper Nadal. It was a historic weekend with his back-to-back Fedal victories that earned Joe Kovic his first week at #2 in the world and continued his unbeaten streak.
Click to expand...
You and Suresh, and the vortex must go back a long way.
 
Rafa4LifeEver

Rafa4LifeEver

G.O.A.T.
Lleytonstation said:
So I came to TTW thinking I was a tennis guru. That changed quickly when I learned about ELO, weak eras, and next gens.

The first few posts of mine were very thought out and analytical. I soon learned that was a mistake.

I now have evolved into posting "ABNG, TIGER, weak era, and ngbs" along with fast and furious gifs and peaky blinders.

Man does TTW change you.

What were your first experience with TTW, and how have you evolved? Post one of your first few posts if you can find it.

@Azure @Bender @King No1e @Nole Slam @NoleFam @GabeT @MichaelNadal @Third Serve @Federer and Del Potro

@Federer and Del Potro old uso thread got me thinking about this.

I evolved like the fast and furious franchisee.
tenor.gif
Click to expand...
Started as a gentleman
 
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