Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

Sysyphus

Talk Tennis Guru

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bamos
 

Kalin

Legend
They have also destroyed a generation of older, dumb phones. Ooops, can we call them that? They're all special in their own way, I guess.... but destroyed nevertheless.
 

Zoolander

Hall of Fame
They have also destroyed a generation of older, dumb phones. Ooops, can we call them that? They're all special in their own way, I guess.... but destroyed nevertheless.

My dumb phone is alive and kicking..... i like real buttons, old school style and i dont want a phone thats smarter than me
 

Sysyphus

Talk Tennis Guru
It does seem noteworthy that the last truly great tennis players who have emerged as of yet come from essentially the last generation that haven't been glued to smartphones and social media since an early age. With my generation, that stuff has been part of our lives since we were still very young, and with those who are slightly younger than me it seems even more noticeable.

Similarly in football, Messi and Ronaldo are also from that last cohort to really mature sans SoMe.

Might be coincidences, and even if it's not it's guaranteed to be a very complex picture. Nevertheless.
 
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Deleted member 771911

Guest
It's all the money they get after just reaching a few slam fourth rounds. They get rich too quick.
The smart phones and social media is just making them even less motivated. Why bother winning slams when you can be rich and have 100000 insta likes anyway?
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
Yes. But don't blame one generation. It has jacked up many.

Plus it's not the phone, but social media.

Right. Plenty of Gen X, even Boomers have become obsessed with their phones and social media. Maybe not as uniform, but plenty.

There are people of every generation who actually do have a healthy relationship with their phone and don't let it run their lives. Clearly, there are others on the opposite end of the spectrum and all points in between.

The one thing I notice is the "feedback loop." People are just so used to feedback of any type ALL the time - texts, replys, social media posts, likes, dislikes, and on and on. You see how people can never put their phone down, get antsy like a smoker without cigarette. And then they post a lot because doing so is a way to guarantee feedback. It can, for some people (not all) become a situation of diminishing returns. So they need even more feedback. They're not wrong to say social media can be addictive.

A lot of this is harmless - I don't think it's destroyed an entire generation. But, a lot of people do have real problems resulting from it.
 

michiru

Rookie
It's all the money they get after just reaching a few slam fourth rounds. They get rich too quick.
The smart phones and social media is just making them even less motivated. Why bother winning slams when you can be rich and have 100000 insta likes anyway?
it’s 100% the prize money. in the olden days players worked part time. Borg had to make a ‘comeback’ bc he was broke. now players are spoiled and it shows in their results and attitude
 

GhostOfNKDM

Hall of Fame
Smartphones make dissipation of our time, energy and emotions way easier, leaving less for the real things our lives.

I won't blame younger people. When I look back to the days when the only devices in my pocket were a flip phone and a Sony digital organizer, I was more focused on managing MY life.

These days I'm addicted to the constant drip of useless information that my mobile offers me in a zillion ways; worrying about things that aren't in my control and ignoring the things I should be doing...
 

Cabeza del Demonio

Professional
It's not smartphones, it's just having a weak game. Every top young player has some technical weakness or the other. Tsitsipas can't return. Thiem can't volley. Zverev can't hit a 2nd serve to save his life. Medvedev can't handle variety. While mental strength is a problem, I'd contend the lack of confidence is partly caused by these technical pitfalls. Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic don't have an Achilles heel that glaring (except for Nadal's serve, but he's just a freak of nature in his defensive ability and mental toughness, so he gets by. Still tanked his game in 2015, though.)
 

Meles

Bionic Poster

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bamos
Bathing in blue light and not getting enough sleep; sounds like average TTW user.:unsure::eek: I've noted one neighbor's kids up at all hours of the night from the light from their devices lighting up their bedroom shades. Sleep is very important and I believe Borg was a master of it.
 

Clay lover

Legend
It takes away time for practice and it also provides instant validation in the form of social media replies/likes. Back then people had to prove themselves using results which strengthens their drive and now they can just type or upload silly stuff and people feed their ego. Why use hard work to gain recognition then?
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Can someone explain to me why the young WTA women of the “smartphone“ generation keep winning Slams while smartphones are being cited as the reason that young ATP men are unable to win Slams? Also, why are young men able to win Slams in doubles and in Masters/WTF singles tournaments if they are so affected by social media? Also, it doesn’t seem to affect golfers or badminton or other racquet sports players. Must be a strange mental disease caused by smart phones where it affects only young men in tennis Slams.
 

Azure

G.O.A.T.
No. If yes, we would have seen weak sportsmen in other fields, weak engineers, doctors, scientists etc etc. An argument that is not solid enough.
 
T

TheNachoMan

Guest
This CNN article (yes I know it’s fake news) is quite interesting
 

michiru

Rookie
Can someone explain to me why the young WTA women of the “smartphone“ generation keep winning Slams while smartphones are being cited as the reason that young ATP men are unable to win Slams? Also, why are young men able to win Slams in doubles and in Masters/WTF singles tournaments if they are so affected by social media? Also, it doesn’t seem to affect golfers or badminton or other racquet sports players. Must be a strange mental disease caused by smart phones where it affects only young men in tennis Slams.
 
Can someone explain to me why the young WTA women of the “smartphone“ generation keep winning Slams while smartphones are being cited as the reason that young ATP men are unable to win Slams? Also, why are young men able to win Slams in doubles and in Masters/WTF singles tournaments if they are so affected by social media? Also, it doesn’t seem to affect golfers or badminton or other racquet sports players. Must be a strange mental disease caused by smart phones where it affects only young men in tennis Slams.

Regardless of the broader issue of how damaging phone culture is, this is all the info we need to know that phones are not responsible for stopping future generations from breaking through in tennis.
 

D.Nalby12

G.O.A.T.
Safe to say as I'm too part of same generation - I've lost hours of precious time on smartphone which could have been used for some career building task. I regret it - and I feel many of us share the same story.
 
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