Have you been served Humble Pie?

D

dizzlmcwizzl

Hall of Fame
Share an interesting story here ... My personal tale of woe goes like this ....

I had a really good season which resulted in getting bumped up to 4.5 on early start ratings. I am in full training mode for next year which includes diet, core excercises, and swimming. At this moment I feel great and after seeing earlier today I had been bumped I feel like all the hard work is paying off.

A friend of mine invited to fill in for an indoor contract and I agreed. It turns out the other players were 3 super seniors ranging from high a 3.5 to low 4.0's ( I am 42). I figured I would dominate the evening, get a congratulatory beer and go home happy.

What I got instead was a lesson in using my pace against me. Ridiculous change of pace on the serve and having every ball come back from these 125 squared inch rackets ...

I ate my humble pie of a 6-3, 6-2 drubbing that I cant even blame on my partner. Back to practice.
 
Larrysümmers

Larrysümmers

Hall of Fame
yeah man. in the semis of this doubles open we encountered these guys. they just whooped us good. and they did it like they have done it many times before. not super fast serves, but fast enough and in good enough placement to play textbook doubles. causing either my partner or myself to be stranded at net while hitting perfectly placed balls to the baseline causing mad scramblings.

needless to say they had our number good.
 
Clay lover

Clay lover

Legend
I played with some old guys regularly at some park before and all they did was hit the ball flat with little pace, when you hit them a high ball with topspin they dink it back high. However, they would make no errors and give you no freebies. I'd bet they can beat most 4.0 doubles teams.
 
chollyred

chollyred

Rookie
I play with a bunch of seniors whenever I can get off work on a Monday or Friday (I'm 53). There can be anywhwere between 20-30 guys playing round robin. Some of these guys are in their 80s and can make you look and feel stupid. Not a lot of pace, but deadly accurate shots with tons of spin and high lobs on the baseline. They know how to pick your game apart and make you pay for any mistakes. Some are still playing A division doubles against much younger guys and going to the playoffs.
 
L

Lame_Backhand

New User
My form of humble pie came in Adult league this season. I started playing tennis around the same season as a guy from another facilty, and I have pretty much owned him in all of our meetings. Apparently he took a ton of private lessons over the winter and went from a pusher, to a player, and he also worked with his doubles partner (both computer rated 3.5's) with their pro as well on their double strategy/game. The result, he and his partner "drubbed" myself and my partner 6-3, 6-0. The match was over quick.....

I commended he and his partner on their great play and hard work. They went undefeated in both 3.5 and 4.0.

So, the above experience has definitely lite a fire under my *** to get my game in shape. I took for granted last season that I would be one of the better 3.5's in the area, and did not work to improve. Lesson learned.
 
Cindysphinx

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
Geez.

I had to eat it once in a tri-level match. Line-ups were exchanged, and I gazed at my opponent across the lobby. She was the octogenarian who was literally putting on support hose to get ready for the match. Man, she was so old and frail looking. I figured my main job was to make sure I didn't nail her with an overhead and hurt her.

Um, she was the one who hurt me. Good lord, I could not get a ball past her. She spent the next two hours finding ways to make my partner and me miss shots.

When the match finished, my partner and I did the walk of shame to the lobby to report our scores. This lady sat down in a chair and slowly peeled off her support hose. Mission accomplished.
 
W

Wilson 1986

Rookie
several times by older players.
not so much by their speed around the court, but the precision of their shots.
a bit more precision and power soon put a stop to that.
never underestimate older players.
lesson learned.
 
W

Wilson 1986

Rookie
you can say that again.
we would all love to spend every day on the courts.
most of us have jobs that restrict that.
people who have retired don't have this to worry about.
it really isn't fair :-(
 
J

jdubbs

Hall of Fame
I used to have problems with them, but just got a lot more accurate and put a lot more pace on the ball and hardly ever lose to them anymore. A hard, high, topspin shot gives these guys a lot of problems. A big, well placed serve as well.
But yeah, we've all been handed our collective A$$es by seniors at some point.
 
michael_1265

michael_1265

Professional
Yes, I eat a serving of humble pie at least once a season. At least it's low in calories, right?
Two years ago, we lost to a doubles team headlined by a 75 year old with two knee braces and a hearing aid (his partner was 65). He started out looking like he didn't even know what court he was on. He got faster and more alert every game. At the beginning of the second set, he split my partner and I with a running passing shot, and he was moving so fast I thought the the braces were going to disintegrate, a la Forest Gump. 6-1, 6-1.
 
r2473

r2473

G.O.A.T.
When you were my age, did you ever get served humble pie from an octagenarian?

No, I never had that problem really, why?

caddy004.jpg
 
Matt H.

Matt H.

Professional
i've taken a couple double bagels in league play.

a few 1-0's or 0-1's as well.

Sometimes it's been frustrating because i feel like i make a couple shots to open up the court and don't finish. other times i just know there's nothing i can do to hurt my opponent and i'm just going to get my butt whipped on that particular day.
 
goober

goober

Legend
Beat this guy 6-0, 6-0 first time we play. Next time I win like 6-2, 6-3. I don't see him again for about 8 months. Then I see his name again on drawsheet. I am thinking easy win. He shows up 40 lbs lighter with better groudstrokes and more aggressive play. He runs me off the court 6-0, 6-1.
 
Hewex

Hewex

Semi-Pro
My opponent beat me 6-1, 6-1 in a league match and told me that was the quickest match he'd had.
 
heftylefty

heftylefty

Hall of Fame
goober said:
Beat this guy 6-0, 6-0 first time we play. Next time I win like 6-2, 6-3. I don't see him again for about 8 months. Then I see his name again on drawsheet. I am thinking easy win. He shows up 40 lbs lighter with better groudstrokes and more aggressive play. He runs me off the court 6-0, 6-1.
Click to expand...

You get Props for even telling this story. Despite the baked goods you were serve; you, my friend, are a stud.

I have a similar story. Many moons ago my men's dubs partner and I made to our first final. And who did we draw? A team we rick-rolled about two months early. We knew we would win our first tourney before the first ball as in play. Needless to say we go smoked like a fine Cuban, a straight set beat down. I don't recall getting bageled, but it felt like it.
 
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roman40

roman40

Rookie
I've been beaten several times by inferior players, but I really have no one to blame but myself, I just didn't play well. One loss to any player really doesn't mean much, but it can be frustrating if you don't accept the fact that everyone has good/bad days. Of course, in some cases, player A can be very effective against player B, while being very unsuccessful against other players of similar level. B may be a better player overall, and still be an underdog to A. Counter intuitive, but true.
 
michael_1265

michael_1265

Professional
roman40 said:
I've been beaten several times by inferior players, but I really have no one to blame but myself, I just didn't play well. One loss to any player really doesn't mean much, but it can be frustrating if you don't accept the fact that everyone has good/bad days. Of course, in some cases, player A can be very effective against player B, while being very unsuccessful against other players of similar level. B may be a better player overall, and still be an underdog to A. Counter intuitive, but true.
Click to expand...

Inferior is as inferior does, right? At least 50% of the time when I have played someone in USTA singles with "inferior" strokes, they ended up not being so inferior after all. Lesson learned.
 
Timbo's hopeless slice

Timbo's hopeless slice

Hall of Fame
I played a 50 something guy in the third round of an open tournament when I was in my early twenties and playing ok..

He had a knee brace and a Wilson T-2000.

At the end of the match, he graciously shook my hand and said 'bad luck, lad, I think I was lucky, you were a good player out of luck today'

yeah, right.

6-0 6-0

just killed me everywhere!
 
roman40

roman40

Rookie
michael_1265 said:
Inferior is as inferior does, right? At least 50% of the time when I have played someone in USTA singles with "inferior" strokes, they ended up not being so inferior after all. Lesson learned.
Click to expand...
Oh, yeah, what you're saying is true, strokes don't have to look pretty to be effective. However, when I say "inferior", I mean players that I beat most of the time. I think it all comes down to psychological factors. It takes a long time to learn a new stroke or to improve speed/endurance, or to lose what you've already learned, but it seems that consistency can really suffer if you'r upset, nervous, worried, indifferent, bored, etc. Mental state has a huge impact on performance, and many players don't realize that, especially when they are playing badly. In my opinion, that's the most common reason for "humbling" experiences.

BTW, I don't consider losing to a better player "humbling", that should be expected.
 
J

jdubbs

Hall of Fame
I lost to a 50+ year old player at my last tournament. I won my first service game, then broke him for a quick 2-0 lead. He then won the next 6 games.
He had a mean kick serve and serve and volley game that got me out of my rhythm. The 2nd set was closer, but I still lost. I double faulted my way to that loss, though. I think I could take him next time without all the double faults (about 15-20 total...wow).

The tourney before, an Open, I lost to a player who looked like he was half trying, 6-0, 6-0. Wow, what a freaking shellacking. He was barely breaking a sweat.

If you're trying to improve in tennis, you will get served humble pie on a consistent basis.

On the other hand, I beat a guy last week I had lost to 6-2, 6-2 a year before. He couldn't believe he lost so badly to me, the final was 6-1, 6-2. He just had a game that I loved to play against. So it works both ways.
 
USERNAME

USERNAME

Professional
First big adult open tourny I played I drew the 3 seed who was playing for one of the PAC10 (PAC12 now) schools. 6-0 1st set, I was shell shocked by all the consistant pace. 6-1 2nd set, still was just blocking all returns and hitting most everything on the run. He gave me the one game, shoulda been 0,0... Big moment for me though since that's what really lit a fire under my butt to start working very hard.
 
Y

yonexpurestorm

Rookie
jdubbs said:
I lost to a 50+ year old player at my last tournament. I won my first service game, then broke him for a quick 2-0 lead. He then won the next 6 games.
He had a mean kick serve and serve and volley game that got me out of my rhythm. The 2nd set was closer, but I still lost. I double faulted my way to that loss, though. I think I could take him next time without all the double faults (about 15-20 total...wow).

The tourney before, an Open, I lost to a player who looked like he was half trying, 6-0, 6-0. Wow, what a freaking shellacking. He was barely breaking a sweat.

If you're trying to improve in tennis, you will get served humble pie on a consistent basis.

On the other hand, I beat a guy last week I had lost to 6-2, 6-2 a year before. He couldn't believe he lost so badly to me, the final was 6-1, 6-2. He just had a game that I loved to play against. So it works both ways.
Click to expand...

i know this feeling jdubbs. lol.
 
T

tideronthehooch

New User
Yep, got some last weekend in a doubles match against two older guys in their 50-60's. One guy had some shots and played pretty traditional doubles, but his partner was a tall lanky guy who lobbed everything and did it well. Got me and my partner so frustrated we couldn't get the ball over the net and when we did it was outside the lines. Lost 1/1. At least it was quick...
 
dParis

dParis

Hall of Fame
Hewex said:
My opponent beat me 6-1, 6-1 in a league match and told me that was the quickest match he'd had.
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Nice.:) GT?
Fuji said:
I get owned at least once a week, darn inconsistent mental game! :)

-Fuji
Click to expand...
The strokes/shots are easy, right? I'm "Silky d" during warm-ups, then when the ball goes up for the match, I don't even know which end of the racquet to hold.
Wilson 1986 said:
all this humble pie must be keeping the chef busy.
great stories guys :)
Click to expand...
You finally found an honest thread! Good stuff, right?
 
J

jdubbs

Hall of Fame
I served some humble pie to a self described "5.0" yesterday. We only played one set but I won 6-4. He was begging for another set but I had to go. I was hitting every line and serving really well (only 1 double fault).

Since I'm a 4.0, I don't think he was really a 5.0. Maybe a 4.5.

Ironically, before that, i was playing social doubles against 3.5's and I lost 4 games on my serve thanks to double fault-itis. So embarrassing. I was getting so mad, but kept it in.

This game will drive you crazy sometimes.
 
Baxter

Baxter

Professional
When I was in my early 30s and at the top of my game I played on a Saturday morning ladder at the Claremont Club in Southern California. There was a guy in his seventies, Clare Hoke or something like that, that used to clean my clock in straight sets every time we played. I swear to God that guy knew where I was going to hit the ball before I did. He was fit and he looked thirty years old from the neck down yet he didn't move all that fast, but the combination of his uncanny ability to predict my shots, and his completely flat strokes got me every time. That and the fact that he made almost no unforced errors made him a formidable foe and kept him near the top of the ladder. He's one of the reasons I still play several times a week at age 56. It was humble pie, but it didn't taste that bad at all. It just made me shake my head in wonder whenever we met up.
 
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N

NLBwell

Legend
Not anymore, because over the years i have learned to never judge anyone's tennis ability by their age, the way the look, or even the way their strokes look. It is just too easy to underestimate people. (Help, I've become Lou Holtz!)
 
8

86golf

Semi-Pro
MNPlayer said:
That dude is good! How many points did you win? I didn't see a single one.
Click to expand...

I had some highlights too, but for the purposes of this thread I omitted them. I think he won 3 and 3. I feel like I'm a lot better now, but I haven't run up against him since. I recall him mentioning that he had a pretty good record in the 65 and older USTA division. :)
 
P

purge

Hall of Fame
roman40 said:
I've been beaten several times by inferior players, but I really have no one to blame but myself, I just didn't play well. One loss to any player really doesn't mean much, but it can be frustrating if you don't accept the fact that everyone has good/bad days. Of course, in some cases, player A can be very effective against player B, while being very unsuccessful against other players of similar level. B may be a better player overall, and still be an underdog to A. Counter intuitive, but true.
Click to expand...
sounds a bit like player B's name is roger and player A's name is rafael +g+
 
P

purge

Hall of Fame
i only just started playing tennis at the end of last year but i already had a similar "older guy" experience as well

we had our club championships recently and my first match was against a guy whos in his mid 60s i guess but if you look at him hes killer fit with legs like an iron man contestant just a bit more wrinkled so to say lol. so i didnt think hed be a pushover but i was still confident, since i can pretty much hold my ground in baseline rallies against the guys from the club who are my age (20s) even tho theyve been playing for quite a bit longer than i have obviously. i still make too many errors of course and serve and netplay leave alot to be desired but i thought i should be good enough from the baseline to get this especially since it was blazing hot that day and i thought if all else fails i should at least be able to get him tired in the long run.

but the guy just showed no sign of exhaustion at all. we dueled fro 2 1/2 hours in the sun at 30°C in the shades and he didnt even seem to sweat. changing sides i coughed my lungs up and he just sat there and looked around like he was on a stroll through the park oO
and of course he brought everything back and not just in somehow but with depth and angles and everything. it took at least 3, 4 big forehands to get past him, he was almost impossible to wrong foot. after a while i could only still hit winners with drop shots as i started to drop from just about anywhere.. behind the baseline.. right off the return.. but with mixed success on the whole.

in the end it was 5-7 2-6 as i fell apart physically towards the end of the 2nd set. so it wasnt a beatdown but really didnt think id lose that match up front. i actually switched from tabletennis to tennis last year because i got sick of losing to 50+ year old fat guys who just have feel for the ball and 40 years of practice with that crooked backhand shot -.- and you just cant even fight against the loss cause the harder you try and the more physical you try to get the more you shank. and you get frustrated by the thought that youre just playing the only sport they could ever beat you in +g+

i thought that was much less likely in tennis cause physical condition plays a much bigger role there. i was certain of it.
and there comes the first senior and takes me down in a highly physical contest without even breaking much of a sweat :/
oh well.. so much for that
 
atatu

atatu

Legend
I lost 61, 61, to the #1 Univeristy of Texas Women's player about eight years ago, and that was when I was actually a good 5.0 and not a weak 4.5. She was just too consistent and the only was I could even win a point was when I hit a service winner or a volley winner. Anytime we got into a baseline exchange, forget it.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Yeah, I mentioned last year that I lost 1-0 to a 67 year old who was going into the finals of the 65 Nationals in 4 days.
Dude ran faster than me, could redirect softy balls service line deep and near the sidelines, and worst, when he asked me to hit (I was was smacking the wall trying to increase pace), he said he only wanted to rally a "few balls".
I told him I was working on decreasing spin on shots, and he said .."fine, I'll just retrieve them then" :):)
 
PimpMyGame

PimpMyGame

Hall of Fame
Around 17 or 18 years ago when I was in my early twenties I was offered a match by a woman I worked with. Prob mid to late 30s, kind of aloof woman who I was looking forward to beating into shape. Needless to say, she handed my ass to me in double-quick time. I don't recall the score but it wasn't pretty.

My biggest mistake was telling my friends that I was about to demolish an older woman on court. Imagine my despair at having to tell them what actually happened.

Lesson learned.
 
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