Tennis ball throw again....

L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Hi, Last week, I promised Cheetah that I'd go to the courts and try some tennis ball tosses for him, since he doubts I can throw. But I hurt my arm mudding the smooth walls at home, and didn't go to the courts till today.
Noon, 68 degrees, RoseGarden courts are about 400' above sea level. Took out 2 really old Dunlop balls, maybe 3 months old.
Stood at baseline, footwork like BenRoth.... basically 2 steps sideways. First toss, hit the top of the 20' high fence that is set 5' behind the backwall and 4' above the court. Second toss, over the fence, but NOT over the fence on the other side of that offset court, but hit the very bottom.
Retreived the two. Other direction, this time service footwork only. First toss, middle of a 18' high fence that serves as the backfence, again 21' behind the baseline. Second toss, this with service motion footwork only, hit the top of the fence and bounced over.
My shoulder was acting up, and another player showed up.
Now you doubters, try it. Didn't warm up, as FastFreddy says, you can't pick your warmups in real situations.
Service footwork seems to lessen the distance by at least 30', possibly as much as 50, as it's hard to toss at 40 degrees upwards with a standard service footwork.
Try it. The gardener was giving me funny looks.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
I can't hit the courts tomorrow, as that shoulder is bugging me after playing tiebreakers with the really good doubles guy who uses the same side of the racket for his groundies and volleys.
I'm still staring at the living room W and N walls, that have 2 coats of AllPurpose mud, and need a coat of Topping before I sand the who menegarie. That's gonna destroy my left arm.
 
B

BMC9670

Hall of Fame
Another classic LeeD "I can chuck stuff" thread! Love it!

One question, when you say you didn't warm up because "you can't pick your warmups in real situations", are you referring to impromptu "chucking" contests to impress the girls, throwing tennis balls at intruders for self-defense, or some other reason to engage in this strange activity.

Throwing tennis balls as far as you can, with or without warmups, just can't be good for your arm in any way.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Dude, Cheetah says all the stuff I did as a youth is impossible. Since most of us don't have footballs, football fields, baseballs, or baseball fields, I picked a tennis ball and tennis courts. With me?
This is a simple test. If you think you can throw a ball far, try it. I did a total of FOUR throws. I would take me a minimum of 15 throws to fully warm up, and a bunch of arm swings and leg work. I didn't do ANY of that stuff.
Instead of making inane comments, TRY IT! I doubt you will, it's better to sit behind your computer and make off the cuff remarks.
But try it.
 
B

BMC9670

Hall of Fame
No thanks. I think it's kind of silly. Who cares how far one can throw a tennis ball, or football or baseball for that matter, now, or in my youth?
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Well, YOU have never argued that I can't throw a football 70 yards.
But Cheetah has, so he has more stake in the matter.
And Limpin, of course.
But they won't try throwing the tennis balls either. For whatever reason.
Some other guys, like BungalowBill, also argued about throwing distances. But he never took up the challenge either, by tossing a ball, and see how far it goes
If you don't care, then don't try. But don't doubt that other people CAN.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
:)
and why is that?
I say something, and Cheetah or Limpin jump in saying it's impossible. I can take improbable, but would try to convince otherwise nonetheless.
Remember, I'll never meet any of you ever, so what point is it for me to lie about my past?
All I"m asking is, if you don't believe I can throw something far, try this test.
What's the big deal? It's only FOUR throws. And you don't have to come back and tell us your story afterwards, if you fail.
Fail to get close, that is. You don't fail if you tell the truth.
 
Cheetah

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
1) I never said you couldn't throw. I said you couldn't (now or ever) throw a football farther than Joe Montana as you claimed.

2) I never said things you did in your youth were impossible. I said 'I don't believe you'. What I did say was impossible, even though I didn't use the word 'impossible', was that your 3.5 occasional weekend hack friends could serve well into the 140's mph as you claimed.

3) You didn't promise me. You promised limpinhiter you would go out and throw.

4) What challenge are you talking about? I don't recall this. Was there some kind of throwing challenge? To see how far you can throw a tennis ball? Why? If you're challenging me to a tennis ball throwing contest then I accept. As you recall I've played 3rd base at a high level and I also was a pitcher and my throwing form is excellent. So what is this challenge? I don't understand what you talking about in your throwing description in post 1. 20' high fence is not too descriptive.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Glad you came back to respond.
JoeMontana had one of the weakest arms of any QB. I cannot throw nearly as far as JaMarcusRussell, JohnElway, BrettFavre, DanMarino, or JayCutler. Those guys are known to throw 80+ yards regularly in practice. A top tier JoeMontana throw might go barely 50 yards.
There is no challenge, as you well know. You and Limpin seem to believe only pro athletes can throw stuff far. I'm saying lots of amateurs can also.
Why don't you TRY throwing FOUR tennis balls next time on court? Is that too much to ask?
And a fence 20' high IS pretty hard to understand, I understand.
Picture this. On one end of the court, an 18' high fence sits 5' behind the regular backwall, starting 4' above the court. On the other side, the backfence is 20' high. Is that clear enough? :):)
A long throw should clear the fence, no?
 
gregor.b

gregor.b

Professional
LeeD said:
Well, YOU have never argued that I can't throw a football 70 yards.
But Cheetah has, so he has more stake in the matter.
And Limpin, of course.
But they won't try throwing the tennis balls either. For whatever reason.
Some other guys, like BungalowBill, also argued about throwing distances. But he never took up the challenge either, by tossing a ball, and see how far it goes
If you don't care, then don't try. But don't doubt that other people CAN.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that you can. Or can't. Or whatever. Rest peacefully and confidently in the knowledge that you can, and be done with it. Take the Lance Armstrong approach. YOU WON, YOU KNOW IT AND STUFF THE DOUBTERS.
 
Cheetah

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
LeeD said:
Glad you came back to respond.
JoeMontana had one of the weakest arms of any QB. I cannot throw nearly as far as JaMarcusRussell, JohnElway, BrettFavre, DanMarino, or JayCutler. Those guys are known to throw 80+ yards regularly in practice. A top tier JoeMontana throw might go barely 50 yards.
There is no challenge, as you well know. You and Limpin seem to believe only pro athletes can throw stuff far. I'm saying lots of amateurs can also.
Why don't you TRY throwing FOUR tennis balls next time on court? Is that too much to ask?
And a fence 20' high IS pretty hard to understand, I understand.
Picture this. On one end of the court, an 18' high fence sits 5' behind the regular backwall, starting 4' above the court. On the other side, the backfence is 20' high. Is that clear enough? :):)
A long throw should clear the fence, no?
Click to expand...

No. not clear enough. so you are throwing a tennis ball from the baseline over a 20' fence on the other side of the same court? That's it?
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
:)
On the two throws BACK, from the baseline, tennis serve footwork, not throwing footwork, 2 throws total, over a 20' high fence. I did NOT clear the fence with the second throw, but hit the very top, and it bounced over, to the chargrin of the garderner working there.
On the first two throws, TWO steps, like BigBen did, over an 18' high fence that is set back 5' from where the normal backboard would be (21' behind baseline), and set 4' high to allow a flower garden to grow at that level.
About half my first flat serves bounce over that 4' high wall, and about 1/3rd of my topspin first serves do the same. 4' is sternum height to me.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Don't hit too many, it's been known to stress the lower back, especially for old farts like me.
 
S

sunof tennis

Professional
BMC9670 said:
Another classic LeeD "I can chuck stuff" thread! Love it!

One question, when you say you didn't warm up because "you can't pick your warmups in real situations", are you referring to impromptu "chucking" contests to impress the girls, throwing tennis balls at intruders for self-defense, or some other reason to engage in this strange activity.

Throwing tennis balls as far as you can, with or without warmups, just can't be good for your arm in any way.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Throwing a tennis ball hard is not really good for your arm. Especially at my advanced age.
 
Cheetah

Cheetah

Hall of Fame
ok did the challenge. i can throw farther than you of course because i'm younger than you. however i will admit that if you threw the tennis balls as far as you said then I would consider that excellent and definitely an above average arm.

i definitely do not recommend anyone here trying to throw a tennis ball far as you can. it's not good for the body for sure. very stressful.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Good stuff, thanks.
I figure anyone 30 years younger, with a live arm, will make my throws look like girlie pushes. I can't serve nearly what did in the mid '70's. Heck, I can't nearly run as fast as I did then. Surprise surprise.
Thanks for going through the motions, Cheetah.
 
J

jmnk

Hall of Fame
@Leed. I have hard time depicting what you did. What does that part mean
"Second toss, over the fence, but NOT over the fence on the other side of that offset court, but hit the very bottom. "? What 'offset court'?
 
WildVolley

WildVolley

Legend
In my opinion, throwing hard is more dangerous than serving hard. There's no way I'm going to go out and see how far I can throw a tennis ball.

I have never had a great throwing arm, (throwing a baseball against radar, the fastest I can ever recall was 65mph) but I can easily bring 100mph with my serve and top 110mph on the lucky flat ones.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
If FOUR total throws hurt your arm, don't do it. But don't tell me I can't throw a ball.
Our RoseGarden courts are 3 aligned, then at the middle court, another court sized space is set at a T. So cannot throw over the far sidefence of the T court.
This with 2 total throws in that direction.
I'm trying to abide by FastFreddy's rules...no warmups in the real world.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Sorry, I can't take credit. Some guy named Alex called me on the phone in April, told me he had a camera, and would like to vid. We met, had to wait 2 hours at 3 different courts (really crowded, first non rainy day in a month), then my g/f drove up P'd off I took so long, then we got to hit.
I served wide serves duece court, the first hitting the bottom of the camera on a 36" tripod placed at the back fence 21' behind the baseline. The other's went wild, maybe one other going IN.
Bear in mind, I was limping badly even walking, bad ankle, bad knee. Hard to hit your best serves with leg injury.
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Oh, most of you just laughed at the old fart trying to hit serves.
Alex is 6' tall, about 180, had been playing 4.0 league tennis. He said my serve was fast, and wanted to vid it. He showed some serves, for me, easily caught with one hand.
No, very few people can catch my first serves with bare hands, one or two.
 
KineticChain

KineticChain

Hall of Fame
uncle+rico+throwing+football.jpg
 
J

jmnk

Hall of Fame
LeeD said:
If FOUR total throws hurt your arm, don't do it. But don't tell me I can't throw a ball.
Our RoseGarden courts are 3 aligned, then at the middle court, another court sized space is set at a T. So cannot throw over the far sidefence of the T court.
This with 2 total throws in that direction.
I'm trying to abide by FastFreddy's rules...no warmups in the real world.
Click to expand...
@LeeD - sorry to be bugging you again, I just wanted to try myself so i want to make sure what the setup is.

here's a picture of those courts at roseGarden.
map-berkeley-hills-rose-walk-rose-garden-3.jpg

Let's say we label the courts 1 through 4 starting from left, and the space north of halfcourt 2 and court 3 is labeled 5. the bottom of the picture is south.
So which direction, and from where, were you throwing?
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Second court from the right, throw from behind the lower baseline, over the fence, hit bottom of the upper most fence where the lined up green trees are
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
Tennis ball toss, kinda fun, means nothing..
Replies
30
Views
3K
LeeD
L
CAREDDINGTON
  • Poll
Placement of a Kick-Serve Ball Toss vs. Execution of Biomechanics
2 3 4
Replies
175
Views
4K
Shroud
Shroud
Steady Eddy
The Overhead Made Easy
Replies
15
Views
790
FiReFTW
FiReFTW
Jessica
Serve needs major help
Replies
13
Views
1K
Birke
B
Xievie
I can't still can't serve, I still lose my temper when trying to fix my serve
Replies
30
Views
4K
Chas Tennis
C
Top