Hewitt must be taking some sort of drug/substance.

verdasco67

Professional
i was watching the hewitt vs clement match and i noticed his arms were much solid and bigger. i know he did weight training and stuff but there is no way he could have got that bulk in so little time . Or maybe its just me, maybe his muscles looked small on tv before..=P
 

david aames

Professional
He went down one shirt size and went sleeveless. Big difference.

verdasco67 said:
i was watching the hewitt vs clement match and i noticed his arms were much solid and bigger. i know he did weight training and stuff but there is no way he could have got that bulk in so little time . Or maybe its just me, maybe his muscles looked small on tv before..=P
 
I saw hewitt practising in Sydney last week and he has bulked up - theres no doubt about that. But to say that hes been taking drugs/substances is going a bit far. It would be easily possible to develop that amount of muscle in the last 18 months, which is the time frame in which this muscle development has occurred. It is only in the last 2 months that it has been really noticeable that he has been doing more gym work (although he has been doing it over the last 18 months). Also remember - he never used to play in a sleeveless shirt until last week.
 

redclay

New User
God, does anyone here actually WATCH men's pro tennis anymore...or just read about it on this forum...

Hewitt has clearly been weight training for over a year...any video of him from the the slams last year will show him with bigger forearms and a bigger neck. It's just that down under its 40 grad and he's been wearing that stupid sleaveless shirt.
 
Buffed-up Hewitt

LOL redclay..those sleeveless shirts are becoming more and more frequent for him. No reason why he can't show off his new look though. I am sure Melbourne is hot anyhow.
The commentators on ESPN2 were talking before his match against Clement...how he has been working out and looks like he could be heading back to 2002 form. He won in Sydney and the beefed up Hewitt is showing signs of contending again. Let's see if the court speed issue comes up. Hewitt is taking bigger cuts.
BTW, what is with Clement's clashing purple headband and orange shirt? Yikes...someone needs to help his wardrobe!
 
Of course having said that Hewitt's fastest was 209, while Clement's was 210!

He does seem to be going about 5mph faster, but I'm not sure if it's an actual improvement or the evironment. Everyone is clocking pretty high. I noticed Thomas Johansson who is a bonafide fast server but who generally tops out in the 120's mph, hit 220km/h which equals the fastest seve I have ever seen him hit and I haven't seen him hit that for a few years now....same with Rusedski hitting 230km/h...

Hewitt is definitely going for his biggest serves more than he as at times in the past though!
 

redclay

New User
I'm sure the heat is playing a big part of it. Hot air = faster serves. And of course anytime Hewitt steps on a court he brings his own cloud of hot air with him...that must account for the 5 mph speed increase.

You know...that thing where he points his fingers at his face.. http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=52006170&cdi=0

or the one where he knifes his opponent on the ground... http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=52006475&cdi=0

but i mean come on guys..he really is a badass...i mean look at this guy... http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=51998394&cdi=0
 
redclay said:
I'm sure the heat is playing a big part of it. Hot air = faster serves. And of course anytime Hewitt steps on a court he brings his own cloud of hot air with him...that must account for the 5 mph speed increase.

Yes, that could be. The hot conditions have an effect on the balls which may help increase speeds. In actual practice, I think the ball slows down less in the heat as well, which makes the serve seem much faster, but I don't think that shouldn't effect radar readings very much.
 

bertrevert

Legend
Upon winning Adelaide Hardcourt Hewitt copiously thanked Roger Rasheed his coach, mentor, and trainer. They have developed quite a bond. Strength and fitness is the subtext of our game. Were Hewitt to do well this year it may prove to be a rebuttal to those who say his retrieving game will wear him out real quick. The way he looks he could well prove to have many more years to come. Ho hum.

I find his game kind-of boring. I am unsure why. Courier said while commentating his round 1 win that "Hewitt goads his opponent into taking a shot". He just waits for the other person to tee-off and make a mistake. I agree Hewitt relies on this tactic. However, while that is true, it is not the whole picture IMO. I think it ignores his feathery touch shots (you know those really angular very soft off-forehands), his passing shots, and his bigger serve.

Does he take banned substances? Get off the grass.
 

ShooterMcMarco

Hall of Fame
honestly, if he thinks he can beat federer with bigger muscles he's living in a fantasy world. federer doesn't have "guns" or anything like that. in fact, someone on the boards even said that federer had flab. point is, federer just has a better game, and his strokes are just to good to be overpowered. both roddick and safin hit hard, and federer owns them both fairly easily.
 

raftermania

Banned
Man, this is like the accusations I'm getting that I'm on drugs!

Hewitt got bigger because he likely set a goal for himself, and knowing Lleyton, he's so determined he likely worked hard as hel! to get bigger.
 

david aames

Professional
Ok, someone just pointed to it under a different thread. Now tell me that the guy is any different than he was 6 months ago.

He just went sleeveless and the media is all over about how he pumped up iron just so that they can build up that rivalry story with Federer. I know tennis has pretty low standards when it comes to athletism but come on...

51998394.jpg
 
Part of the problem here is that it is virtually impossible to tell who is and who is not on drugs by looking at them, except when combined with bodybuilding. Those who work out have surely seen those guys who grow and shrink like balloons as they go throught there cycles.

But there are plenty of guys who I have trained, who used steroids who were darn skinny and didn't get all that much bigger...they were still skinny...look at Petr Korda or Coria for that matter.

By that same token, if you see a guy who looks big and ripped, there is about a 90% chance, believe it or not, that he has used....it is extremely uncommon to get that way naturally.

As far as Hewitt goes...no way to know...I think it's widespread anyway, but his appearance change is not unnaturally dramatic and could certainly have been achieved naturally...so I don't think he's a more likely suspect than he was 2 years ago!
 

ShooterMcMarco

Hall of Fame
it's possible to get big real fast. ryan reynolds got huge for blade trinity, and he did it in less than a year, maybe even less than 4 months. he said that he just worked out hard, and ate everything that was in front of him. protein shakes and eating 6 meals a day can get you real far.
 
it's because you have not seen hewitt with a sleeveless shirt before. Anyone can bulk up in a short time, if they train hard and eat right.
 

Audiodude

Rookie
ShooterMcMarco said:
honestly, if he thinks he can beat federer with bigger muscles he's living in a fantasy world. federer doesn't have "guns" or anything like that. in fact, someone on the boards even said that federer had flab. point is, federer just has a better game, and his strokes are just to good to be overpowered. both roddick and safin hit hard, and federer owns them both fairly easily.

May as well not try to improve at all, then.
 

Don Felder

Semi-Pro
First off, if you find old pictures of Hewitt fist pumping and whta not, I always thought his forearms looked reasonably well defined...

Second off, you have to remember that his body fat % and overall fitness level were already at world class numbers, so give him 3 months pumpin iron in the gym and looking like that should be no problem whatsoever...
 

PusherMan

Rookie
ibemadskillzz said:
it's because you have not seen hewitt with a sleeveless shirt before. Anyone can bulk up in a short time, if they train hard and eat right.

Thank you, ibe!!!

All of the drug stuff is TOTALLY OUT OF HAND. I really wonder how many of the folks on these boards even know what free weights are. Sure Hewitt is bigger, but to even suggest he is "on something" because the man simply eats and works out more is just plain ignorance.

It's really simple, folks. You eat. You work out. You eat some more. Eat again. Sleep. Work out....repeat on a regular basis. Guess what? You get buff. No rocket science here. No substances needed.
 

verdasco67

Professional
hmm maybe hewitt's muscles were always pretty defined. Of course its more defined now....maybe his sleeve shirts covered his muscles up. i use to think he had twig like arms. =P
 
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