i guess us old timers are the only ones on here?????

jimanuel12 said:

i told my niece recently that when i started playing tennis we used wood rackets, she looked at me like i had two heads??

reallly??? she said.
i said yes, and they were heavy rackets with a small head and small sweet spot.
these kids now a days, they don't know good they have it but the new rackets are more likely to cause arm problems being too light and too head heavy.
so, i caution the young people to be aware of that.

but what do i know??

i still don't know who adam lambert and lady gaga is?????

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Superman1272 said:

How old do I have to be to be in the old timers club?

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Tennis Man said:

It's a good question. My guess is over 50 at least. I missed the whole wooded racquet era. So I wouldn't call myself an old-timer. 80's is my thing, the start of modern racquet era

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jimanuel12 said:

i started with the old woodies, but then went to the wislon T-2000 and T-3000.
went back to the woodies, then a long lay off.
went to a wilson and then to the over size modern rackets.
made the terrible mistake of going to a wilson hyper hammer last year and still healing from the tennis elbow.
now i bought a kennex 5G and a couple of fischer m pro 105 for the arm.
will try them out as soon as i heal up.
been playing tennis since high school and college and this is only the second time i have had TE.

the dreaded wilson hyper hammer - the racket build for TE.
i should sue them!!!

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Tennis Man said:

I don't know what tennis elbow is. I always played with heavy good-quality frames like Pro Staff 85. Now you make me wonder if someone had TE from such frames. Maybe from constanly mishitting them

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coachrick said:

I'm a little amused when posters refer to the POG(Prince Original Graphite) in 90 or mid. NO...the Prince ORIGINAL Graphite was only oversize...stayed that way for a few years.

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but the new rackets are more likely to cause arm problems being too light and too head heavy.

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Superman1272 said:

How old do I have to be to be in the old timers club?

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Virginia said:

It's not weight that gives you TE. In fact, it's likely to be the opposite.

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pshulam said:

There are many factors attributed to tennis elbow:

improper hitting techniques
stiffness of the racquet
string stiffness
high string tension
weak tendon

I am sure there are more ..

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pshulam said:

There are many factors attributed to tennis elbow:

improper hitting techniques
stiffness of the racquet
string stiffness
high string tension
weak tendon

I am sure there are more ..

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coachrick said:

One of the most common causes is overuse. Rod Laver had a severe case of TE in the 70s. At one tournament at Sea Pines, he tried a forearm strap popular at the time. It took TWO of them strapped end to end to go around his left forearm! Not so sure the human arm was designed to hit tennis balls 4, 6, 8 hours a day.

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Virginia said:

What I meant was that just the fact of using a heavy racquet would not give a player TE. The stress on the arm is more likely to come with a light racquet, as there is more impact to absorb.

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coachrick said:

One of the most common causes is overuse. Rod Laver had a severe case of TE in the 70s. At one tournament at Sea Pines, he tried a forearm strap popular at the time. It took TWO of them strapped end to end to go around his left forearm! Not so sure the human arm was designed to hit tennis balls 4, 6, 8 hours a day.

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Virginia said:

It's not weight that gives you TE. In fact, it's likely to be the opposite.

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CollegeBound said:

My wife is a physio and she is adamant that one of the most common causes today is people using grip sizes which are too small for them.

Agreed on that one...unless the player has a 'feathery' grip and doesn't clamp down on the handle. If anyone has a doubt, just look at the extensor attachment at your elbow when you clamp down on a very small grip vs a larger one. When those muscles and tendons work so hard just to hold the grip, they can't absorb as much as when they are more relaxed. YMMV of course.

On the other hand, the old days of stretching leather grips onto handles and stringing 15-20 rackets a day made for some pretty good cases of TE. Hitting fluffed up or damp tennis balls didn't help, either. Did anyone mention Tretorn pressureless? Now, I AM showing my age!

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coachrick said:

CollegeBound said:

My wife is a physio and she is adamant that one of the most common causes today is people using grip sizes which are too small for them.

Agreed on that one...unless the player has a 'feathery' grip and doesn't clamp down on the handle. If anyone has a doubt, just look at the extensor attachment at your elbow when you clamp down on a very small grip vs a larger one. When those muscles and tendons work so hard just to hold the grip, they can't absorb as much as when they are more relaxed. YMMV of course.

Did anyone mention Tretorn pressureless? Now, I AM showing my age!

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Feathery grip or firm grip, it doesn't matter. The problem isn't caused by how tightly you grip the racquet (that's something else altogether) but because the small grips (combined with the light weight racquets) allow and encourage people to use a lot more wrist and forearm in their shot. Even players who are well-trained and hitting on a regular basis can have injuries but people who only hit once or twice a week are far more likely to do damage. My wife is of the opinion that if those people increased the frequency of their tennis we'd actually be seeing more injuries. Having a few days break between hits allows the tendons to relax. The less time they have to relax the quicker the path to injury.

A secondary problem she's seeing a lot of is 'carpel tunnel' injuries. Now that one is very much related to how tight you grip your racquet.


Doesn't show your age at all. Tretorn still make pressureless tennis balls and were recently sponsoring the Challenger tour.

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vwfye said:

i actually have my players use the biggest grip they can stand. it allows for a relaxed grip that in turn allows twitch muscles to... well... twitch.

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CollegeBound said:

coachrick said:

Doesn't show your age at all. Tretorn still make pressureless tennis balls and were recently sponsoring the Challenger tour.

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Yeah, but we were actually crazy enough to USE them! (and their Slazenger counterparts)...back in the old days.

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coachrick said:

If you read my other posts(like the one I just left in the Former Pro Player dept. re: Roy Emerson), you can be certain that I qualify for the 'double nickel' club...plenty old if you ask me. I came along just in time for the 'boom' of the 70s. Plenty of wood sticks but since I worked in a tennis specialty shop, I got to try out just about everything! We also had to figure out how to string them!

I'm a little amused when posters refer to the POG(Prince Original Graphite) in 90 or mid. NO...the Prince ORIGINAL Graphite was only oversize...stayed that way for a few years.

I'm also amused when threads discussing 'classic' rackets go ALL THE WAY BACK to the late 90s or even more recent models. These young whippersnappers don't know 'classic'. Why, I'll show them 'classic' by golly!!! j/k and all that, y'all!

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coachrick said:

CollegeBound said:

Yeah, but we were actually crazy enough to USE them! (and their Slazenger counterparts)...back in the old days.

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Hitting tretorns fooled me into thinking I was a good tennis player.

Did you ever use the old tennis ball pumper contraption? You could re-use your tennis balls for months by constantly pumping them up, and they'd still maintain their bounce, even when they were worn down to the size of a handball. Ever drink water out of the old metal tennis ball cans during water breaks on the tennis court? Ah, the good ol' days!

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PBODY99 said:

That siad, I have moved towards a slightly headlight balance in my super stiff Prince Speedport Golds, so they swing like my last Wilson Cliff Richey Ultra (Med 4 5/8) in my hands.

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SVP said:

coachrick said:

Hitting tretorns fooled me into thinking I was a good tennis player.

Did you ever use the old tennis ball pumper contraption? You could re-use your tennis balls for months by constantly pumping them up, and they'd still maintain their bounce, even when they were worn down to the size of a handball. Ever drink water out of the old metal tennis ball cans during water breaks on the tennis court? Ah, the good ol' days!

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Ha! Never used but SOLD a ton of the Ball Savers. Remember the Slazenger box of four from Sears...with a little carrying handle on the box! Remember when Borg got in all sorts of trouble with Bancroft/Tretorn because he refused to play a tournament using the Tretorn Pressureless ball.

I gave the salesman for the plastic ball cans the contact info at Dunlop/Hartwell, GA ball factory. Easiest sale he ever made. In Atlanta, it took about two weeks before everyone knew that balls still sold in the metal cans were the 'OLD' balls!

We would sneak in an old bald pressureless ball from time to time during fun matches. Sounded like you were hitting with metal strings! Especially fun on damp courts! Ah, memories!

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SVP said:

coachrick said:

Hitting tretorns fooled me into thinking I was a good tennis player.

Did you ever use the old tennis ball pumper contraption? You could re-use your tennis balls for months by constantly pumping them up, and they'd still maintain their bounce, even when they were worn down to the size of a handball. Ever drink water out of the old metal tennis ball cans during water breaks on the tennis court? Ah, the good ol' days!

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yes, it was good water, yeah???
anyway, i found some old metal can tennis balls at a yard sale, never been opened - got 3 cans for $1.00 - what a deal!!!!

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jimanuel12 said:

SVP said:

yes, it was good water, yeah???
anyway, i found some old metal can tennis balls at a yard sale, never been opened - got 3 cans for $1.00 - what a deal!!!!

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I'm wondering, why would the cans never have been opened?

Secondarily, what would they smell like if you opened them now?

Let's start an old fogeys thread- memories of what it was like to play in the old days. We have the technology to go back that far. Start from the 70s, go back to the 60s, even the 50s if there's anyone around from that time. Maybe even the 40s, you never know. Who wants to talk about the "nuthugger" shorts from the 70s?

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SVP said:

jimanuel12 said:

I'm wondering, why would the cans never have been opened?

Secondarily, what would they smell like if you opened them now?

Let's start an old fogeys thread- memories of what it was like to play in the old days. We have the technology to go back that far. Start from the 70s, go back to the 60s, even the 50s if there's anyone around from that time. Maybe even the 40s, you never know. Who wants to talk about the "nuthugger" shorts from the 70s?

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i remember when i first tried to play, i was in high school, had never hit a tennis ball.
my girlfriend, sandy, got me to play. we only had one court in our town at the time, back in the late 60's. no one played tennis, the court was always open.
we had the old woodie rackets, the canvas tennies shoes and the little white shorts, man i was cool!!!!
sandy had the long hair tied back in a ponytail.

when i got to college, we used to play until we could not move, play for hours and hours, but i was young back then.
i was in college when the T2000 came out but could not afford one at that time.
finally bought one later when i got out of school and got a job then moved up to the T3000, man what a racket, such power but it really sucked, the sweet spot was too small.
man, those were the days!!!
even played on a clay court in Georgia one time.

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PBODY99 said:

...so they swing like my last Wilson Cliff Richey Ultra (Med 4 5/8) in my hands.

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Don't Let It Bounce said:

I'm such an old-timer I remember the only British pop star to ever get a racquet named after him. :lol:

But not as fondly as I remember knees that didn't hurt no matter how long I played.

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retrowagen said:

Cliff Richey? Pop star?? You mean Cliff Richard, right? LOL (maybe you ARE old!)

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SVP said:

coachrick said:

Ever drink water out of the old metal tennis ball cans during water breaks on the tennis court? Ah, the good ol' days!

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Hilarious - hate to admit that I did this too...nothing like metallic tasting water with a little ball fuzz mixed in!

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