It happens to the best of us (so why did it happen to me?)...
You leave the old school, the very old school, for something a little more "user friendly". That's how it starts. The next thing you know, you'll get a cholesterol test that doesn't come back so good and your doctor will recommend more of the stuff that doesn't taste so good.....then you'll notice that things that used to flex now sort of hang.....then you'll start looking at some 100 sq in frames and think "you know, they really aren't that big after all". Then, you'll start to get tired playing with that ultra heavy (teehee) 12 ounce frame. You'll lose to some old(er) farts who play with Big Bubba's (or at least that's how they look across the net). You'll go to senior sectionals and notice all the teaching pros you're playing against and how they use what we used to call Granny sticks. You'll begin to question the very nature of your participation in the sport, why are you holding yourself back with this antiquated equipment when even the pros are playing with the light, big stuff.... You'll start reading the boards more thoroughly. Where once you didn't know what string or tension you had in your frame and didn't care, you'll begin to wonder "Is that dampener really that heavy?". You'll ask people if the poly you're using is really the most arm friendly after you feel that twinge in your arm. You'll question your tension after seeing the quote from Nate Ferguson "String as loosely as you can control". Then, and this really seals it, you'll play doubles and notice that you are not only the oldest guy on the court, but old enough to be at least two of the players' father. You'll see them, right out of college, swinging some stick that your mother wouldn't play with and knocking the felt off the ball. You'll ask them "what kind of string are you using" and they'll shrug and smile. You'll know deep down they're thinking "it wouldn't matter to your game if I knew or told you". Then you'll find yourself, not getting to balls....not because you can't, but because you're afraid to because if you push off too hard, if you run with too much effort, the calf might tear or that hamstring give up the ghost mid-stride. And you'll dread the days when folks wonder if you're going to play tennis or scuba dive because you have so much neoprene on your body.
But....then there are the good days and they are better than they ever were when you were younger. There are those days when you beat the kids on court who played in college and look at you and wonder how in the hell you did that (without lobbing and slicing and dicing [which is after all the final stage]). You'll get invited to play with some guys who are leveled above you, but kinda like the fact that an old, fat fart can still hit the ball. And, you'll learn to appreciate those days....and you won't react when you have a bad day because, after all, even Federer has 'em.
So, I say....goodbye Wilson.....wait, I just bought Wilson frames, my first since the n90 and before that the P'staff 85! I guess life really does travel in small circles.
