With his current style and insane court coverage, I'm thinking his game will start to suffer around 25-6. Not to say he won't modify his game before then to prolong his career. But let's be honest he's breaking down now. I think Hewitt is a ok example of a player that relied on speed as a weapon. Now, that he doesn't have that extra bit of gas it's hard for him to keep winning. Nadal obviously has extra weapons, the ninja forehand and backhand (for that matter). The thing is.. will it be enough at 25-26-27. I'm sure Fed would appreciate a few less balls coming back because of Nadal's court coverage.
How long before Nadal's knees change his game?
- Thread starter richied
- Start date
Andres
G.O.A.T.
When Nadal is 27, Fed will be like 32 or 33.
stormholloway
Legend
Who cares? Don't be so negative. Why does this matter to you? Can't you wait to see what happens?
What is your malfunction exactly?
McLovin
Legend
The thing that irritates me about these threads and this thinking, is that they imply there is something wrong with Nadal's game.
Answer me this:
Who's career would you rather have if they were to end today? Nadal's, with 6 Major titles, 16 Masters titles and the #1 ranking, or Blake's, with 0 Major finals, 0 Masters titles and a career high ranking of 5?
Answer me this:
Who's career would you rather have if they were to end today? Nadal's, with 6 Major titles, 16 Masters titles and the #1 ranking, or Blake's, with 0 Major finals, 0 Masters titles and a career high ranking of 5?
rubberduckies
Professional
richied, welcome to the forums!
It's always nice to hear fresh ideas and new perspectives brought to light. I'm sure a speak for everyone in giving you many thanks for blessing these boards with a welcomed break from our usual monotonous banalities. As for your question on Nadal's longevity, I'm afraid I'll need more time to ruminate on the issue and thoroughly consider the arguments of both sides before forming an opinion.
It's always nice to hear fresh ideas and new perspectives brought to light. I'm sure a speak for everyone in giving you many thanks for blessing these boards with a welcomed break from our usual monotonous banalities. As for your question on Nadal's longevity, I'm afraid I'll need more time to ruminate on the issue and thoroughly consider the arguments of both sides before forming an opinion.
zagor
Bionic Poster
According to whom? He recently won AO and got to the final at Rotterdam,didn't he?
I just wanted to post in regards to Nadal's playstyle and the future health of his knees
A little background for this is that stressing the knees and working them out actually strengthens the cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles in the knee, what causes injuries is overstressing the knee without leaving enough time for the knee to properly recover. If you look at other sports such as basketball and football which require sudden starts and stops and changes of direction as well, you'll see when the players get injured its from an acute injury such as tearing of a ligament or cartilage and that most players in these sports dont have the same tendonitis injuries a tennis player has.
A difference with Nadal seems to be his naturally strong physique, having strong muscles with high endurance reduces injuries as they act as stabilizers to control stress on the joint to something it can comfortably withstand. I think Nadal understands that he needs proper rest and along with federer plays a limited schedule now knowing hes going to be playing 4-5+ matches every tournament he joins, now with the way the ATP calendar works he cant really get enough rest he needs specially in certain parts of the season and there needs to be a change by the ATP in regards to this unless they want their players to have more injuries specially with the way the game is played today. But as to chronic knee injuries plaguing his career, I think the way Nadal balances his schedule and level of fitness, it he can keep his speed and endurance up he can continue to play the same high level for another 3-4 years which doesnt bode well for federer or sampras' records
A little background for this is that stressing the knees and working them out actually strengthens the cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles in the knee, what causes injuries is overstressing the knee without leaving enough time for the knee to properly recover. If you look at other sports such as basketball and football which require sudden starts and stops and changes of direction as well, you'll see when the players get injured its from an acute injury such as tearing of a ligament or cartilage and that most players in these sports dont have the same tendonitis injuries a tennis player has.
A difference with Nadal seems to be his naturally strong physique, having strong muscles with high endurance reduces injuries as they act as stabilizers to control stress on the joint to something it can comfortably withstand. I think Nadal understands that he needs proper rest and along with federer plays a limited schedule now knowing hes going to be playing 4-5+ matches every tournament he joins, now with the way the ATP calendar works he cant really get enough rest he needs specially in certain parts of the season and there needs to be a change by the ATP in regards to this unless they want their players to have more injuries specially with the way the game is played today. But as to chronic knee injuries plaguing his career, I think the way Nadal balances his schedule and level of fitness, it he can keep his speed and endurance up he can continue to play the same high level for another 3-4 years which doesnt bode well for federer or sampras' records
Nadal_Freak
Banned
Yawn. Nadal is hardly in situations where he is playing all defense. Verdasco was the exception. Most of the time these days the other player is running more. Clay court season is coming up. Thus even less taxing for Nadal as he finishes matches quickly and on a soft surface.
luckyboy1300
Hall of Fame
huh? i thought he currently has 12.
McLovin
Legend
'scuse me. I mis-read the Wiki page. Its 16 finals, 12 titles. Still, my point stands.
mikeler
Moderator
Nadal always talks about improving his game and I've seen the improvement over the past few years. I'm wondering if Nadal will improve his serve to get more free points over the next year or two. If Federer who is the same height with less muscles can have such an effective serve, it would seem like Nadal has not reached his potential yet for his serve.
GameSampras
Banned
The older you get the tougher it is to recover from matches. Nads can recover rather good at this moment considering he is only 22. Lets see how he recovers from matches in a few years.
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