"Etiquette"

L

LGQ7

Hall of Fame
My work place has a group of players they meet on Saturday mornings at 8:00 am to play doubles. In my apartment complex, there are already tennis courts, and I am kind of the leader here in my apartment. I go to the work group for 3 reasons, 1. To see how I would interact with my peers, 2. For my 250+ lbs friend who prefer doubles (moving less), and 3. Take another tennis buddy to another venue and play doubles, it’s something new for them.

Background. I’m a chess player. In my mind, I’m the king. I like the movie Catherine the Great, starring Catherine Zeta Zones. If I have time, I want to read Catherine the Great’s diary.

So far so good. They play mostly doubles. But of course if the numbers is not 4 or 8, then it’s one court doubles and the other court singles. There are 2 courts. They have accommodated all of what I call my “neighborhood rules”. What I call “neighborhood rules” is that every neighborhood has its own rules for everything. I count ping pong to 21 playing singles, they went with that. 20-20 is draw, they went with that. I play 2 rackets doubles, they went with that. I tried to institute singles, they don’t like that. They’re older and can’t run too much. I can understand that, everybody is getting older. I tried to institute the Elo rating system (again, singles oriented), they didn’t go for it. I can still have an estimate of each player’s ability, because I usually play singles with them (when the numbers are not 4 and 8). So far so good.

I’ve been playing recreationally for 20+ years. 20 years ago, I discovered the tennis ball saver pressuring can. It keeps new balls better than new by pressurizing the air into the balls. It does not “re-pressurize” dead balls as it claims, only good for new balls. Being the genius I am, I’m not going use by brawn and mess up my wrist opening and closing those cans. I bought a Craftsman strap wrench to open those cans. I saw the commercial, I think by the guy that does This Old House. I bought it at Sears. I put 2 and 2 together, and I’ve been playing with super bouncy balls, no matter how old they are for 20 years. Of course, I throw them away when the brand is worn off, but even then, they still bounce better than new.

When you play with people, you can get a feel for their personality, you can tell who is easy going and who will be a pain in the ass. Last week we played, 8 people. We were playing, me and my overweight friend (he’s the best player, he played baseball and can handle a ball like a pitcher) and we were winning 5-1. A guy, old English guy, hit a ball out of the court. It went into the bushes. We lost the ball. Previously I discovered the bush was thorny, I’m not going to look for it. We used my 3 new, pressurized balls. I put 3 other flat balls (balls go flat within a week, after 2 weeks, they will be flatter than regulation) aside. We lost 1 ball, were down to 2 good balls. The old guy took one of the flat ball to play with, he gave it to his partner (the organizer of the group) to serve. I signaled to halt. Put my rackets (plural) down and walk to the other side of the court.

The events are re-created as best as I can remembered it, and objectively as I can tell it.

Me: Let me see those balls. I think one of them is not mine.
Old guy: We don’t have time to look for balls, the other people want to play. (I’m wasting everyone’s time).
Me: The other ball is not as good, my is in a pressur . . .
Old guy: I don’t care.
Me, picking out 2 balls, one mine and one flat, I was going to hold them up with one hand, let them go from a same vertical distance at the same time and demonstrate that my ball will bounce higher: Let me demonstr . . .
Old guy: (screaming) We don’t care. We’re just playing for fun. This is not Wimbledon. There’s 3 of us, and only 1 of you.
Me (going into my “dictator” mode) to the organizer: Either he goes, or I go. Either he goes, or 3 of us go.
organizer: I’m not the decision maker.
Me: Then, I’ll make for you.
I took my 2 balls and left. I was so tempted to command my 2 friends saying, we’re leaving . . . now! But I was calm enough to know that I cannot punish them for my decision since they woke up early and drove 30 minutes to get here.

I walked away out sight about 400 yards away where my friend’s car was parked. I didn’t have my metrocard with me so I couldn’t take the bus home. I had to wait. So I waited until they are done, 2 hours later. That was the shortest 2 hours of my life. It felt like 10 minutes. I was so happy. I became what I wanted to be all my life, for right now: dictator of the tennis court.

My driver friend came by: I can’t believe you’ve been sitting here.
Me: Believe . . . it. (I said it in a Wrestling kind of tone. My friend watches wrestling.)
The old English guy drove by. He stopped his car. Got out. I was sitting on the ground.

Old English guy: We were both wrong. I know that you wanted us to play with the best balls and I appreciate you brought them. But you were wrong when you said: either he goes or I go . . . I had to go on the defensive . . . I appreciate that you brought good balls . . .

Me (I have an artistic background in geometry): Do you play a musical instrument, like a piano?
old guy: no.
Me: I don’t know music either. But I know you have to tune a piano. The hot and cold and tensions expand contract the strings, so you have to tune it. (I respect artists because precision is in their vocabulary).
old guy: for a high level concert
Me (I was going to continue saying that I know a lady who plays a real piano and would not touch a synthesizer because it sounds nothing like a real piano), but it’s too complicated for him for me explain. I went to a concert at the Kennedy Center and real sound sounds nothing like CDs or MP3, they sound so “flat”, like a movie screen is flat. I don’t have the technical vocabulary to describe it.

He reached out his hand and said: I’m sorry, I appreciated you wanting us to play with good balls . . .
I shook his hand, from a seated position on the ground, (I can talk from the ground up to standing person, because I feel that much superior, I don’t even need to stand up), and I stood up and shook his hand and said something like: . . . Okay.

Then I assured my friends that it really is okay, because I thought it was big of him to apologize. Me, I would never apologize.

My driver friend: I was gonna kill you. You messed up the rotation for everybody. (There are 7 people so they are lopsided, and when the doubles game is finished, they rotate players, and still are lopsided.)

My other friend said, “tomorrow we can play at our apartment, with your own balls, your own rules, your own court, your own kingdom.”I laughed, because he knew how I think.

Any input would be appreciated.
 
images
 
LGQ7 said:
I’m the king. I like the movie Catherine the Great, starring Catherine Zeta Zones. If I have time, I want to read Catherine the Great’s diary.

Being the genius I am, I’m not going use by brawn and mess up my wrist opening and closing those cans.

When you play with people, you can get a feel for their personality, you can tell who is easy going and who will be a pain in the ass.

Me (going into my “dictator” mode) to the organizer: Either he goes, or I go. Either he goes, or 3 of us go.

So I waited until they are done, 2 hours later. That was the shortest 2 hours of my life. It felt like 10 minutes. I was so happy. I became what I wanted to be all my life, for right now: dictator of the tennis court.


Me (I have an artistic background in geometry):

Me: (I respect artists because precision is in their vocabulary).

He reached out his hand and said: I’m sorry, I appreciated you wanting us to play with good balls . . .
I shook his hand, from a seated position on the ground, (I can talk from the ground up to standing person, because I feel that much superior, I don’t even need to stand up), and I stood up and shook his hand and said something like: . . . Okay.

Then I assured my friends that it really is okay, because I thought it was big of him to apologize. Me, I would never apologize.

My driver friend: I was gonna kill you. You messed up the rotation for everybody. (There are 7 people so they are lopsided, and when the doubles game is finished, they rotate players, and still are lopsided.)

My other friend said, “tomorrow we can play at our apartment, with your own balls, your own rules, your own court, your own kingdom.”I laughed, because he knew how I think.

Any input would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

"Dictator of the tennis court". "Im the King". "I feel that much superior". "Being the genius that I am". "I would never apologize". "I have an artistic background in geometry"

You sound like a massive w***er to be honest.
 
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That is a sad commentary on the entitled youth of today. All I can do after reading that is SMH.

Admittedly the old guy was foolish for wanting to play with a flat ball. But going all, "I'm leaving and taking my balls with me," like a spoiled child in the playground is more indicting.
Humility and selflessness when in a group are important lessons to learn.
 
Dartagnan64 said:
That is a sad commentary on the entitled youth of today. All I can do after reading that is SMH.

Admittedly the old guy was foolish for wanting to play with a flat ball. But going all, "I'm leaving and taking my balls with me," like a spoiled child in the playground is more indicting.
Humility and selflessness when in a group are important lessons to learn.
Click to expand...

OP in his post mentioned he has "been playing recreationally for 20+ years".
 
[QUOTE="in his post mentioned he has "been playing recreationally for 20+ years".[/QUOTE]

I am 45 years old. I began playing Chinese chess at the age of 8 (Chinese chess is closer to original chess from India. The elephant moves the same as the original elephant. The vizier moves the same as the vizier in the original Indian chess.) Ping pong at the age of 9. International chess at the age of 16. Tennis at the age of 20. I'm not young and stupid. And I can predict that some one will say "you're old and stupid."

When someone has a different idea than you. There are 3 possibilities.

1. a difference of style, different strokes for different folks.
2. That person is dumber than you.
3. That person is smarter than you.

If that person is smarter than you, how would you know? Think about that one! How would you know?

Again, I don't know anything about music. But I know there are tuning forks. I saw in the movie Raise Your Voice, the first test, the teacher strikes a tuning fork and ask Hillary Duff, what is the note? Again, I don't know music, but how many hertz per hertz must she be correct? How many hertz must an instrument be tuned? And what is that percentage? 99.99% ?

In origami, you take a square and fold something like a crane. The first square must be perfect. If the square is not perfect and you fold in halves both ways, making 4 squares, you made 4 imperfect squares, NO MATTER how you fold it. It is exactly like a genetic flaw. One original cell divides into 2, then 4, and so on. Any flaw will multiply itself with every division. Think of a Xerox machine. If a copy is 99% (im)perfect, each copy of a copy is an exponential flaw. (Raise your hand if you had an A in math and understood that).

Why shouldn't "playing" tennis be like playing a musical instrument? Why shouldn't the "instrument" be in tip top shape? Why shouldn't tennis be an Art? It is an Art to me.

I taught a Latin dancer tennis once and it was a piece of cake. She follows every direction, without even questioning. She understood every explanation, I explained everything. And when I explain something, she would say "That's just like dance. That's just like dance".
 
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ONgame said:
Next time, bring more than 3
Click to expand...

That is the first intelligent response. The thought did cross my mind. The solution is what I call "technological". Yes, it can be solved this way. But my problem, and all of our problems are not "technological", they are "sociological". How do I communicate what is important to me when someone else doesn't even want to hear?
 
Dartagnan64 said:
Humility and selflessness when in a group are important lessons to learn.
Click to expand...

Command and control is the most important thing when in a group.

Playing singles, just 4 people, who plays first? What is the sequence? That's 4 factorial = 24 possibilities. Can you list all 24 possibilities? 8 people, 8 factorial = 40,320 possibilities. As the numbers increase, the factorials increase to mind boggling complexity.

I wish someone who is a choreographer, conductor, stage director, football coach, general, or someone in those kinds of professions would chime in. In know from Wrestling, "You don't let the inmates run the asylum."
 
LGQ7 said:
Command and control is the most important thing when in a group.

Playing singles, just 4 people, who plays first? What is the sequence? That's 4 factorial = 24 possibilities.
Click to expand...

Just this simple problem is headachy.

There are 4! possibilities = 24

but . . . 2 players count as one group.

so first 2 then next 2 so . . .

It's 4! = 24

24 ÷ 2² = 6

See? See the complexity in a group?
 
Groups are complex dynamics for sure, but it shouldn't be the owner of the balls that gets to self-determine leadership.

Negotiation and democracy is preferred to dicatatorial behavior in most settings.

Of course leadership involves planning and having more than enough good balls to compensate for the occasional stray ball.
 
LGQ7 said:
My work place has a group of players they meet on Saturday mornings at 8:00 am to play doubles. In my apartment complex, there are already tennis courts, and I am kind of the leader here in my apartment. I go to the work group for 3 reasons, 1. To see how I would interact with my peers, 2. For my 250+ lbs friend who prefer doubles (moving less), and 3. Take another tennis buddy to another venue and play doubles, it’s something new for them.

Background. I’m a chess player. In my mind, I’m the king. I like the movie Catherine the Great, starring Catherine Zeta Zones. If I have time, I want to read Catherine the Great’s diary.

So far so good. They play mostly doubles. But of course if the numbers is not 4 or 8, then it’s one court doubles and the other court singles. There are 2 courts. They have accommodated all of what I call my “neighborhood rules”. What I call “neighborhood rules” is that every neighborhood has its own rules for everything. I count ping pong to 21 playing singles, they went with that. 20-20 is draw, they went with that. I play 2 rackets doubles, they went with that. I tried to institute singles, they don’t like that. They’re older and can’t run too much. I can understand that, everybody is getting older. I tried to institute the Elo rating system (again, singles oriented), they didn’t go for it. I can still have an estimate of each player’s ability, because I usually play singles with them (when the numbers are not 4 and 8). So far so good.

I’ve been playing recreationally for 20+ years. 20 years ago, I discovered the tennis ball saver pressuring can. It keeps new balls better than new by pressurizing the air into the balls. It does not “re-pressurize” dead balls as it claims, only good for new balls. Being the genius I am, I’m not going use by brawn and mess up my wrist opening and closing those cans. I bought a Craftsman strap wrench to open those cans. I saw the commercial, I think by the guy that does This Old House. I bought it at Sears. I put 2 and 2 together, and I’ve been playing with super bouncy balls, no matter how old they are for 20 years. Of course, I throw them away when the brand is worn off, but even then, they still bounce better than new.

When you play with people, you can get a feel for their personality, you can tell who is easy going and who will be a pain in the ass. Last week we played, 8 people. We were playing, me and my overweight friend (he’s the best player, he played baseball and can handle a ball like a pitcher) and we were winning 5-1. A guy, old English guy, hit a ball out of the court. It went into the bushes. We lost the ball. Previously I discovered the bush was thorny, I’m not going to look for it. We used my 3 new, pressurized balls. I put 3 other flat balls (balls go flat within a week, after 2 weeks, they will be flatter than regulation) aside. We lost 1 ball, were down to 2 good balls. The old guy took one of the flat ball to play with, he gave it to his partner (the organizer of the group) to serve. I signaled to halt. Put my rackets (plural) down and walk to the other side of the court.

The events are re-created as best as I can remembered it, and objectively as I can tell it.

Me: Let me see those balls. I think one of them is not mine.
Old guy: We don’t have time to look for balls, the other people want to play. (I’m wasting everyone’s time).
Me: The other ball is not as good, my is in a pressur . . .
Old guy: I don’t care.
Me, picking out 2 balls, one mine and one flat, I was going to hold them up with one hand, let them go from a same vertical distance at the same time and demonstrate that my ball will bounce higher: Let me demonstr . . .
Old guy: (screaming) We don’t care. We’re just playing for fun. This is not Wimbledon. There’s 3 of us, and only 1 of you.
Me (going into my “dictator” mode) to the organizer: Either he goes, or I go. Either he goes, or 3 of us go.
organizer: I’m not the decision maker.
Me: Then, I’ll make for you.
I took my 2 balls and left. I was so tempted to command my 2 friends saying, we’re leaving . . . now! But I was calm enough to know that I cannot punish them for my decision since they woke up early and drove 30 minutes to get here.

I walked away out sight about 400 yards away where my friend’s car was parked. I didn’t have my metrocard with me so I couldn’t take the bus home. I had to wait. So I waited until they are done, 2 hours later. That was the shortest 2 hours of my life. It felt like 10 minutes. I was so happy. I became what I wanted to be all my life, for right now: dictator of the tennis court.

My driver friend came by: I can’t believe you’ve been sitting here.
Me: Believe . . . it. (I said it in a Wrestling kind of tone. My friend watches wrestling.)
The old English guy drove by. He stopped his car. Got out. I was sitting on the ground.

Old English guy: We were both wrong. I know that you wanted us to play with the best balls and I appreciate you brought them. But you were wrong when you said: either he goes or I go . . . I had to go on the defensive . . . I appreciate that you brought good balls . . .

Me (I have an artistic background in geometry): Do you play a musical instrument, like a piano?
old guy: no.
Me: I don’t know music either. But I know you have to tune a piano. The hot and cold and tensions expand contract the strings, so you have to tune it. (I respect artists because precision is in their vocabulary).
old guy: for a high level concert
Me (I was going to continue saying that I know a lady who plays a real piano and would not touch a synthesizer because it sounds nothing like a real piano), but it’s too complicated for him for me explain. I went to a concert at the Kennedy Center and real sound sounds nothing like CDs or MP3, they sound so “flat”, like a movie screen is flat. I don’t have the technical vocabulary to describe it.

He reached out his hand and said: I’m sorry, I appreciated you wanting us to play with good balls . . .
I shook his hand, from a seated position on the ground, (I can talk from the ground up to standing person, because I feel that much superior, I don’t even need to stand up), and I stood up and shook his hand and said something like: . . . Okay.

Then I assured my friends that it really is okay, because I thought it was big of him to apologize. Me, I would never apologize.

My driver friend: I was gonna kill you. You messed up the rotation for everybody. (There are 7 people so they are lopsided, and when the doubles game is finished, they rotate players, and still are lopsided.)

My other friend said, “tomorrow we can play at our apartment, with your own balls, your own rules, your own court, your own kingdom.”I laughed, because he knew how I think.

Any input would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I was gonna pick up the book "Levels of the Game" by John McPhee...
but this post has filled by summer tennis-novel reading list quite nicely, thx :P

What happens next, is there a sequel? Perhaps "A Dictator/Artist/Chess Players Visits A Far Away Tennis Court"?
 
Hello chess player,

What’s your rating? :D

Do you prefer closed games or wild tactical brilliances?

And imho, you got it easy lol But I had a better experience overall:

Here is my balls story:

I hit last week with this advanced player (casual friend, hits better than most coaches at my club) and I had opened new Dunlop Fort Clay balls for us, on har-tru, just to find out later that:

a) He has given them away afterwards to some poor Brazilian (That I had already given a can as bday present).

b) Complained (including to me) that the balls were so heavy and so slow that they were hurting his arm and shoulder (by the need to generate force).


Ok so we hit again yesterday, when I was already dead tired (after playing someone weaker than me, but mainly due to lack of sleep).

Again he refuses to play with Dunlop Fort Clay (that I had…smuggled into Canada ahem), but insists on his used Wilson balls...We go thru a few cans of his used Wilsons and I had a blast!

Eventually I adapted to his lighter balls and managed to stay in rallies (he hits very strong and heavy).

Sure he was cooperative, like he wasn’t going so much for winners, while I was (sometimes inadvertently, i.e. when forced to take his heavy top spin balls on the rise etc).

The funniest part was that, although we were playing with the same stick, Wilson BLX 95, his was an older model, while mine, being the latest has probably better shock absorbing (i.e. the amplifeel is molded into the handle etc).

So in answer to his question as to how come heavy balls don’t affect my arm, I answer that my arm and shoulder are protected by…natural gut.

So he first tries one of racquets (latest BLX 95) with a bit of a thicker grip that he’s used to, with multifilament and he declares that is so much easier on his shoulder…
  1. Than he tries my racket with natural gut (Babolat VS Team strung at 57 mains and 55 crosses) and decides on the spot to string his racquet with it (no more pain).

  2. If it works, I’m supposed to sell him an older stick of mine, if not, he’s considering upgrading the racket as well.

  3. Hasn’t even tried my new (or used for 45 minutes) Dunlop Clay Forts again…:D And I did also have brand new Babolats in my bag, just for him. And even heavier Slazenger balls! And lighter Gamma. Etc.
I’m so looking forward to play that dude again, I mean rally with him (can’t remember facing anyone that hits as hard and heavy).

Cheers!
 
Personally, I never play with dead balls -- that's why I always bring quite a few good ones with me. Before we start a match, I set all other balls aside and insist we play with good balls. I just like knowing how the ball reacts and not have to crawl in order to retrieve topspin shots. With that said, if I know people play a dead ball, you can be sure I'll punish them: drop shot and slices.

With that being said, you need to be clear on such details BEFORE the match and you have to get everyone in agreement.

Moreover, unless you're a five year old, you don't make a scene and walk off the court each time something doesn't go your way. People can be rude, idiotic, ignorant, arrogant and emotional to the poibt they won't listen to anyone. It's a sad fact of life, just deal with it. Someone behaves like an ape? Unless you ever experienced a case where being an ape yourself got someone re-thinking their approach, I suggest behaving in a civil fashion regardless.

And, seriously, you wouldn't apologize for being a jerk, even to someone you will frequently encounter? Those people must either be masochists or completely blind to your behavior to hang out with you.
 
LGQ7 said:
That is the first intelligent response. The thought did cross my mind. The solution is what I call "technological". Yes, it can be solved this way. But my problem, and all of our problems are not "technological", they are "sociological". How do I communicate what is important to me when someone else doesn't even want to hear?
Click to expand...


You make it clear prior to the match that you'd rather use good balls when rallying with your friends. The problem is that your behavior came off as perhaps rude or even aggressive and that old man lost his cool. It's when people aren't very emotionally involved in something that you can count on them for processing information more thoughtfully.

Alternatively, you could also try to ask it as a favor instead of rushing to the net and attempting to impose your will on everyone... People seldom mind handing favors, especially when they don't really care about going one way or another.

Try to avoid statements, tone and body language that can too easily be construed as aggressive or too assertive. It just begs for confrontation.
 
10isMaestro said:
You make it clear prior to the match that you'd rather use good balls when rallying with your friends.
Click to expand...

I did. Before we begin, I said, "We'll use my balls, they bounce better." So we put the 3 flat balls aside of the edge of the fence in the middle of the court, under a bench. I don't know how many people heard it, I said it to the organizer. When the old English guy hit one out, he went over to the middle of the court on the fend and picked up one flat ball and gave it to his partner, the organizer. That's exactly what I was doing, trying to establish a rule. I was talking to the organizer, I wasn't even talking to him. He butt in. He said, "We don't care." HE screamed, "We don't care. We're just playing for fun. This is not Wimbledon. There's 3 of us and only 1 of you." I reacted to HIM. Make made a CLASSIC LIE. He switched cause and effect when he last talked to me. And yes, I understand the paradoxical nature of cause and effect. I can be bossy because someone is not listening. They can be not listening because I'm bossy.

He was rude, he was aggressive, that's when I lost my cool.
 
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tennis_ocd said:
Credit for working Hilary Duff into the most pathetic ttw thread ever.
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I don't know music. What I know comes from movies. Is there someone out here with a music background to tell me how many hertz per hertz must an instrument be tuned, whether it be a piano, violin, guitar . . . ectc... Does ANYBODY here know music? And can make an intelligent comment?
 
Chotobaka said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You clearly do not understand that you are dealing with a Chinese Chess prodigy, among other things. They are not wired like us non-genius, non-narcissist mortals.
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I know you are being sarcastic. But if you would listen to yourself, you've actually made a very intelligent observation. Leaders ARE not wired like normal people. They ARE wired differently. They ARE smarter. Intelligence, i.e. brain cells, i.e. microchips. Nature is VERY stingy with microchips. I read something on animal intelligence. You take a goose and a wooden red cube. The goose will sit on it like it is an egg. To a goose, anything smooth is an egg. That's it's algorithm. That's an incredibly efficient algorithm, because everything in it's environment is rough. Rocks are rough, tree branches are rough. If it's smooth, it's an egg. There are birds that are vulnerable to cookoo birds that put their own eggs camouflaged as others eggs so it will become a freeloader. Those birds can distinguish size, color, texture, and spot patterns of their eggs and freeloader eggs. Nature arms them with greater sophistication of pattern recognition. Again, nature is very stingy with microchips, microchips are arms. Intelligence is an arms race.
 
nytennisaddict said:
I was gonna pick up the book "Levels of the Game" by John McPhee...
but this post has filled by summer tennis-novel reading list quite nicely, thx :p

What happens next, is there a sequel? Perhaps "A Dictator/Artist/Chess Players Visits A Far Away Tennis Court"?
Click to expand...

Usually, the organizer sends out an email on Monday for tennis on Saturday. It's Wednesday and I haven't heard a thing.

Did he forget to send?
Is he hesitant to send?
Did he send and not include me?

Stay tuned for next exciting episode. Same Bat time, same Bat channel!
 
Chotobaka said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You clearly do not understand that you are dealing with a Chinese Chess prodigy, among other things. They are not wired like us non-genius, non-narcissist mortals.
Click to expand...

In the Vietnam war, the battles are in the jungle. You have to hit and run, or be hit and run. Sometimes when you run you leave weapons behind, cache of bullets behind. The American would see the cache of bullets left behind, they would tamper with the bullets and leave it there. Bullets are precious in war. So when their enemy return, they would pick up the bullets. They will be killed by their own bullet, by their own hand, with their own gun.

Tell me, is the person who devised that trick wired like an ordinary person? And what is the consequence if you are not smarter than your enemy?
 
LGQ7 said:
I don't know music. What I know comes from movies. Is there someone out here with a music background to tell me how many hertz per hertz must an instrument be tuned, whether it be a piano, violin, guitar . . . ectc... Does ANYBODY here know music? And can make an intelligent comment?
Click to expand...

Usually it starts at a=440 in the US. It's slightly different in other countries 441-445Hz.
 
LGQ7 said:
In the Vietnam war, the battles are in the jungle. You have to hit and run, or be hit and run. Sometimes when you run you leave weapons behind, cache of bullets behind. The American would see the cache of bullets left behind, they would tamper with the bullets and leave it there. Bullets are precious in war. So when their enemy return, they would pick up the bullets. They will be killed by their own bullet, by their own hand, with their own gun.
Click to expand...
Interesting metaphor. Your opponent left a cache of semi-dead balls under the bench. They purposefully hit a precious high bouncing one into the thorns hoping you'd be killed by numerous pricks from a dangerous bush. You out-smarted them by retreating from the field of battle to go sit in a parking lot jungle for two hours.

btw if four of you are playing for two+ hours you can chip in a buy a new can of balls for about .25 cents a person per hour. Splurge.
 
Usually, the organizer sends out an email on Monday for tennis on Saturday. It's Wednesday and I haven't heard a thing.

Did he forget to send?
Is he hesitant to send?
Did he send and not include me?

Stay tuned for next exciting episode. Same Bat time, same Bat channel!
Click to expand...
Bad behavior is rarely rewarded, I am going with the third option. I know its desperately hard to fathom that people wouldnt line up to bask in your greatness, but it looks like its happening in a public forum no less....
 
tennis_ocd said:
Interesting metaphor. Your opponent left a cache of semi-dead balls under the bench. They purposefully hit a precious high bouncing one into the thorns hoping you'd be killed by numerous pricks from a dangerous bush. You out-smarted them by retreating from the field of battle to go sit in a parking lot jungle for two hours.

btw if four of you are playing for two+ hours you can chip in a buy a new can of balls for about .25 cents a person per hour. Splurge.
Click to expand...
Hysterical. But come on, it was a planned tactical retreat! Those 2 hours for them must have been hell without the OPs presence!
 
Buy a case of balls at any closing big chain athletic apparel store for $12 and call it a day.

You're probably the guy who hooks people on line calls in social tennis too, aren't ya?
 
So we have chinese chess, the vietnam war, hillary duff, and the acoustics of the kennedy center in one thread over whether or not to use flat balls?
 
pfrischmann said:
Usually it starts at a=440 in the US. It's slightly different in other countries 441-445Hz.
Click to expand...

Thank you.

Let's see, that's abut 5 hertz per 445 = 1/89 per second. Let me demonstrate how precise that is. I looked up the movie frame rate. It is 24 frames per second. "Seeing is believing" is the saying. Only 24 f/p is good enough to appear real to our eyes. Now that's an "unreal" precision.

I just finished playing tennis right now. An of course an idiot would take out one of his ball to mix in mine. I did my bounce test.

Idiot: It's only a little bit of difference.
Me: little bit of difference is a lot of bit of difference. In the Olympics, the difference between 1st place and 2nd place is half a second. The gold medalist could make millions, 2nd place gets nothing.

Has anyone ever bought lunch and the cost is $10 and you pay $9 and said, "It's only a little bit of difference?" Ever?
 
Last edited:
pfrischmann said:
Usually it starts at a=440 in the US. It's slightly different in other countries 441-445Hz.
Click to expand...

5/445 = 1/89

Take a stop watch. Press start and press stop. 89th of a second, good. 90th of a second, good. 91/th of a second, too much. The thing is you can't even SEE beyond 24 frames per second. You can't even SEE it, let alone stop the stopwatch. That's how precise music has to be.
 
I used to work in a croissant factory. ALL the machines in the factory has to be tuned, exactly like a musical instrument. For example, the dough cutter. The timing of the dough cutter determines how long the roll of dough is and therefore the weight of each croissant. Quality control measure the weight of the croissant. Any croissant dented, mis-shapened or underweight, they won’t sell them, we get to eat them.

I do origami, folding paper. Crane makes the best paper. Crane makes paper for money. I called up Crane.

Me: What’s the thickness of a Crane 100% cotton letter paper?
Crane lady: Let me transfer you to quality control.

Isn’t that incredible? She doesn’t say, “Who the f**k is on the other line?” Or “Is this a crank call?” She took the question at face value as a serious question as it is.

Then I got quality control, they said “It’s so and so many pages per inch”. That’s what they do, they make sure an inch stack of those papers has a certain number of pages. They control exactly how thick each page is.

That’s the real world we live in. Precision is in everything.
 
I worked as graveyard shift supervisor in the croissant factory. I don't know anything about music, but it's just like conducting a symphony.
 
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