Explain Nadal and Serena

R

RVAtennisaddict

Professional
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...


So you are suspicious are you ?


:D :D
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...
Because you don't need to be skinny to be a successful athlete in tennis. Tennis is also as much mental as it is physical which make Nadal and serena so successfull due to them being so mentally strong unlike the majority of both tours.
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...
Nadal got himself a proper dietitian for the first time in 2017, as I recall. For someone as disciplined as he is on court, he was pretty undisciplined when it came to diet...so while Novak was running from gluten like Liberace at the Playboy Mansion, Nadal was scoffing pasta and biscuits like he was trying to compete with Taylor Townsend.

So he's actually a lot leaner now than he was when he was young, carrying less fat but similar levels of muscle, and it's paying off in spades.
li0scc0 said:
People... Nadal is not that big. He's muscular and fit but a good 40 pounds from a bodybuilder physique. His muscularity is very attainable for any mesomorph.
Click to expand...
It's TTW...most of these guys have never stepped foot on a tennis court, let alone a gym.

On these boards, anyone who has visible biceps = proof of steroids, even though Nadal's physique can be attained and superceded in under a year with a good workout routine and adequate macros management. Hell, you can make Nadal's legs look like Hantuchova's if you did nothing but 5x5 barbell squats for a year.
 
Bender said:
Nadal got himself a proper dietitian for the first time in 2017, as I recall. For someone as disciplined as he is on court, he was pretty undisciplined when it came to diet...so while Novak was running from gluten like Liberace at the Playboy Mansion, Nadal was scoffing pasta and biscuits like he was trying to compete with Taylor Townsend.

So he's actually a lot leaner now than he was when he was young, carrying less fat but similar levels of muscle, and it's paying off in spades.
Click to expand...
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...-drinking-3-litres-of-coca-cola-daily.587160/
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...
Where are you from?

My boyfriend got bigger muscles than Nadal, he aint a bodybuilder. Never doing weightlifting. Guess he (and I :p) are blessed then. My dad is a big man too.
 
Gato said:
Did you see short distance runners? Like 60/100/200m? They are even bigger and more muscular than Rafa. And tennis is about short sprints not about long running without stops
Click to expand...
Sometimes I wonder where the people in here come from if they havent seen Rafa types of bodies before. Its not a rare kind of body.
maybe many in this forum lives in the country of mosquitoes?
I mean, look around. Plenty of big men that are not bodybuilders.
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.
Click to expand...

Fish was a wimp, of course losing the flab helped.

Serena and Nadal are lithe and flexible and fast too.

Why most ASSume it would be otherwise is just a sign of their ignorance.

RVAtennisaddict said:
Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...

You're impressed thanks to your disingenuous belief about muscle mass and Tennis performance.

But that's okay, you have plenty of company.
 
Gato said:
Did you see short distance runners? Like 60/100/200m? They are even bigger and more muscular than Rafa. And tennis is about short sprints not about long running without stops
Click to expand...

Or, look at running backs in Football, huge muscles and as quick and agile as any Tennis pro.

And you're right, fast twitch muscle, which happens to be what makes up large muscles, is
just what the doctor ordered, for moving well on a Tennis court.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
Sometimes I wonder where the people in here come from if they havent seen Rafa types of bodies before. Its not a rare kind of body.
maybe many in this forum lives in the country of mosquitoes?
I mean, look around. Plenty of big men that are not bodybuilders.
Click to expand...

It's a 'country club' crowd thing.

Pencil necks and bird chests as far as the eye can see.
 
2good4U said:
It's a 'country club' crowd thing.

Pencil necks and bird chests as far as the eye can see.
Click to expand...
Hm, maybe not the most macho types chose tennis as a sport. More muscles means more testosterone. Testosterone probably attracted to speed. Like downhill skiing 140kmh :D
"Tennis is gay" is something I hear quite often. Maybe it is something in it after all.
 
Man of steel said:
Because you don't need to be skinny to be a successful athlete in tennis. Tennis is also as much mental as it is physical which make Nadal and serena so successful due to them being so mentally strong unlike the majority of both tours.
Click to expand...

And their extra fast twitch muscles don't hurt either.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
Hm, maybe not the most macho types chose tennis as a sport. More muscles means more testosterone. Testosterone probably attracted to speed. Like downhill skiing 140kmh :D
"Tennis is gay" is something I hear quite often. Maybe it is something in it after all.
Click to expand...

Pro Tennis, where most of women are built like men, and most of the men aren't.:p

Lots of people consider the sport of Tennis ripe for ridicule, thanks to that.
 
2good4U said:
Or, look at running backs in Football, huge muscles and as quick and agile as any Tennis pro.

And you're right, fast twitch muscle, which happens to be what makes up large muscles, is
just what the doctor ordered, for moving well on a Tennis court.
Click to expand...
Referencing football players as counterexamples in a case against insinuations of the potential use of performance enhancing drugs is a questionable strategy to put it mildly.
 
2good4U said:
Pro Tennis, where most of women are built like men, and most of the men aren't.:p

Lots of people consider the sport of Tennis ripe for ridicule, thanks to that.
Click to expand...
Hahahahaha Yeah, its not that strange people having these thoughts about tennis.
But when even people in here reacting on Rafas muscles, which are not really that big, it has gone too far. He looks normal to me. In the world I live in many men looks like that and even bigger.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
My boyfriend got bigger muscles than Nadal, he aint a bodybuilder. Never doing weightlifting. Guess he (and I :p) are blessed then. My dad is a big man too.
Click to expand...

Stop bragging! You sound like a female version of Sascha Zverev ;)

2good4U said:
Or, look at running backs in Football, huge muscles and as quick and agile as any Tennis pro.
Click to expand...

Ask a running back to run in all directions for 5+ hours, as Rafa often does and let's see how he handles it. Then ask him to repeat it 6 more times within 2 weeks. Make sure he signs off his life insurance to you. Enjoy your deserved retirement in comfort.

TearTheRoofOff said:
Referencing football players as counterexamples in a case against insinuations of the potential use of performance enhancing drugs is a questionable strategy to put it mildly.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. Most of these guys are doped to the gills.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
Sometimes I wonder where the people in here come from if they havent seen Rafa types of bodies before. Its not a rare kind of body.
maybe many in this forum lives in the country of mosquitoes?
I mean, look around. Plenty of big men that are not bodybuilders.
Click to expand...

former wrestler and college football player here, who still weighs 250 after losing 100lbs. No one has ever called me small, but most tennis players are not bulky. Serena definitely is, and COMPARED to other tennis players, Nadal is. And in football/short distance track they don't average the 2-5 miles of sprinting like they do in tennis, period. At times Roddick was thought to be "too bulky" and he is no Nadal (or serena for that matter).

They break the mold of typical tennis players who are successful- and are successful on the highest levels
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...
Have you ever seen Nadal in the flesh? He does not look like a body builder. I think you should adjust your set.
 
Bender said:
Nadal got himself a proper dietitian for the first time in 2017, as I recall. For someone as disciplined as he is on court, he was pretty undisciplined when it came to diet...so while Novak was running from gluten like Liberace at the Playboy Mansion, Nadal was scoffing pasta and biscuits like he was trying to compete with Taylor Townsend.

So he's actually a lot leaner now than he was when he was young, carrying less fat but similar levels of muscle, and it's paying off in spades.

It's TTW...most of these guys have never stepped foot on a tennis court, let alone a gym.

On these boards, anyone who has visible biceps = proof of steroids, even though Nadal's physique can be attained and superceded in under a year with a good workout routine and adequate macros management. Hell, you can make Nadal's legs look like Hantuchova's if you did nothing but 5x5 barbell squats for a year.
Click to expand...


You're 100% right.
I am sure that if I would be a tennis pro then people will also blame me for steroids and other stuff bcz I also have a muscular physique. (Despite the fact that I don't eat anything like PEDs or steroids and also no meat/fish/flesh/seaFood, no eggs, no protein powders)

People nowadays are doubting every single person except themselves, thanks to social media's extraordinary capabilities to spread fake news
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
former wrestler and college football player here, who still weighs 250 after losing 100lbs. No one has ever called me small, but most tennis players are not bulky. Serena definitely is, and COMPARED to other tennis players, Nadal is. And in football/short distance track they don't average the 2-5 miles of sprinting like they do in tennis, period. At times Roddick was thought to be "too bulky" and he is no Nadal (or serena for that matter).

They break the mold of typical tennis players who are successful- and are successful on the highest levels
Click to expand...

As compared to the rest of their tours, Serena is far, far bulkier than Nadal. Nadal might be a bit bigger than average, but he's not an outlier. Serena is a legit outlier. Off the top of my head the only chick I can think of who is a bit bulky is Sloane, and Serena is wayyyy bulkier than Sloane.
 
Agree on Serena, and she is much thinner since being pregnant. The real point here (as a manly man, who struggles to get better at tennis. And it is not my form so it has to be my movement and bulk- and people always tell me how fast I am so it movement through a long point- is how do they do it so well. They are different than the others. And some people call Monfis a bulky tennis player, so I don't think I am out of line.

I am just surprised that two players outside the tennis mold do it so well, and really want to know how (so I don't have to loose another 50lbs tbh)
 
RVAtennisaddict said:
Agree on Serena, and she is much thinner since being pregnant. The real point here (as a manly man, who struggles to get better at tennis. And it is not my form so it has to be my movement and bulk- and people always tell me how fast I am so it movement through a long point- is how do they do it so well. They are different than the others. And some people call Monfis a bulky tennis player, so I don't think I am out of line.

I am just surprised that two players outside the tennis mold do it so well, and really want to know how (so I don't have to loose another 50lbs tbh)
Click to expand...

Lmao, Monfils is a twig.

Most people confuse low bodyfat for bulk, especially on TV.
 
Nadal is not really that muscular. Compared to other players he is. He has more of a soccer player body type, which is not surprising, since he almost picked up soccer over tennis. His uncle is a former soccer pro in Spain. Nicknamed The Beast. :D
 
lots of ignorance in this thread. I am not judging what tennis players might take drugs here.

-Nadal is a mesomorth, the lucky minority who have natural muscles and easily put them on. Mike Tyson is the textbook Mesomorth, he was benching 200lbs aged 12. That's why he was so feared at such a young age, he became a physical beast much quicker than other men would be capable of. It also helped Nadal break through at a very young age.

-Zedbot is a ectomorth. Haters mock him for his build by calling him ziraffe etc. This is the natural body type he has, its challenging for someone like him to gain muscle while having a tennis career. Djokovic is also a ectomorth, he looks like a tour de france cyclist nowadays.

-Raonic is a Endomorth, has the type of body more suited for Rugby. That's why he's slow and looks podgy, an endomorth has a very hard time keeping the fat off and becoming ripped. Though it's certainly possible to do a better job of it than Raonic does, Raonic doesn't look like he lifts.

Different genes, different body types, different natural builds. Diet and working out are essential, but your natural genes are also a big factor.

Nadal has the ideal natural build for his style of play, so does Federer. Your natural genes influence what style of play is best for you.
 
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RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...
Serena is very fast and very powerful. She has perhaps the best serve in women's history which is a heck of a start. Very few hit a lot of outright winners against her because she has the ability to run everything down. Yet at the same time she has the ability to hit winners off the ground from anywhere.

Nadal, relatively speaking in my opinion doesn't have the serve that Serena has and he doesn't have the relative power that Serena hit. Nadal is still extremely agile despite his body builder look (and I agree with some others that he really isn't that muscular compared to body builders) and his ability to have quick bursts of speed is rarely seem in tennis history. I think Nadal is a player who perhaps beats himself less than just about any player in history.
 
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pc1 said:
Serena is very fast and very powerful. She has perhaps the best serve in women's history which is a heck of a start. Very few hit a lot of outright winners against her because she has the ability to run everything down. Yet at the same time she has the ability to hit winners off the ground from anywhere.

Nadal, relatively speaking in my opinion doesn't have the serve that Serena has and he doesn't have the relative power that Serena hit. Nadal is still extremely agile despite his body builder look (and I agree with some others that he really isn't that muscular compared to body builders) and his ability to have quick bursts of speed is rarely seem in tennis history. I think Nadal is a player who perhaps beats himself less than just about any player in history.
Click to expand...
Well it is 100x easier to aces and hit winners against WTA players than it is against ATP players. Plus the strength differential isn't really that drastic between rafa and the rest of the ATP, whereas Serena's physique is light years ahead of the rest of the WTA.
 
Gato said:
Did you see short distance runners? Like 60/100/200m? They are even bigger and more muscular than Rafa. And tennis is about short sprints not about long running without stops
Click to expand...

Yes, it would be interesting to see how young worldclass Sprinters would do in tennis if they were directed to that sport early enough. Problem is it is so expensive to develop a tennis player, I don't think most of those young people ever get the chance to excel at a sport like tennis. But I'm guessing many would if money/opportunity weren't issues.
 
clout said:
Well it is 100x easier to ace and hit winners against WTA players than it is against ATP players. Plus the strength differential isn't really that drastic between rafa and the rest of the ATP, whereas Serena's physique is light years ahead of the rest of the WTA.
Click to expand...

Not really. There are several strong WTA players who hit harder than Serena like Stosur, Keys, Ostapenko, Coco, etc.

Try as you might, you cannot sum up the greatness that is Serena looking at one attribute. She is the most complete player on the women's side we've seen in a long time with no weaknesses to speak of and excels at everything anyone would want in a tennis player.
 
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RVAtennisaddict said:
to me they are tennis oxymorons. I mean that most tennis players tend to be lithe and flexible and fast. But Serena/Nadal look like body builders compared to the rest of the tour. How can their body type be so different (mind you closer to mine). I mean Marty fish got so much better when he cleaned up his diet and got 20lbs lighter.

Nadal to me is even more impressive because he is a power player who runs everything down.
Click to expand...

Both lead each tour in TUE's, could have something todo with their build
 
FrontHeadlock said:
My God how low T is the OP that he thinks Nadal is bulky?
Click to expand...

Confirmed soy boy. Though, he did look a lot different before the biological passport policy. Probably just a coincidence.

54jpokE.png
 
clout said:
Well it is 100x easier to aces and hit winners against WTA players than it is against ATP players. Plus the strength differential isn't really that drastic between rafa and the rest of the ATP, whereas Serena's physique is light years ahead of the rest of the WTA.
Click to expand...
Still it’s all relative. There have been some players in sports just naturally more gifted than any other like Lebron James in basketball in the NBA today or Mario Lemieux in hockey. Serena did have some comparable talents imo like Clijsters, Venus, Henin, Graf (although Graf was passed her best) that she had played.
 
pc1 said:
Still it’s all relative. There have been some players in sports just naturally more gifted than any other like Lebron James in basketball in the NBA today or Mario Lemieux in hockey. Serena did have some comparable talents imo like Clijsters, Venus, Henin, Graf (although Graf was passed her best) that she had played.
Click to expand...
Man Mario Lemieux :( I still feel horrible for everything he had to endure and overcome throughout his career. The man defeated cancer, while also dealing with a bunch of other chronic injuries and he still managed to dominate the league whenever he was on the ice. I truly believe he'd be equally as great as Wayne had he not suffered from all his ailments. Mario's career in the big picture might be one of the biggest what ifs in sports tbh
 
Gato said:
Did you see short distance runners? Like 60/100/200m? They are even bigger and more muscular than Rafa. And tennis is about short sprints not about long running without stops
Click to expand...
Ohh good to know, probably the cleanest group of athletes in sports.o_O
 
Soianka said:
Not really. There are several strong WTA players who hit harder than Serena like Stosur, Keys, Ostapenko, Coco, etc.

Try as you might, you cannot sum up the greatness that is Serena looking at one attribute. She is the most complete player on the women's side we've seen in a long time with no weaknesses to speak of and excels at everything anyone would want in a tennis player.
Click to expand...

Lol sup Serena
 
Rafa has good physique but far from being big. A lot of dudes in my gym are bigger than him without looking like a bodybuilder.

Serena is big yeah but it's not like the WTA challenges her.
 
TearTheRoofOff said:
Referencing football players as counterexamples in a case against insinuations of the potential use of performance enhancing drugs is a questionable strategy to put it mildly.
Click to expand...

Your ASSumption is erroneous.

The 'case' is Serena and Nadal being too bulky that it's supposed to slow them down.

And Football players are a fantastic examples that large 'bulky' muscled = very fast and agile.
(irrespective of how that 'bulk' was obtained, to put it mildly)
 
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