Tennis players have bad attitudes compared to other sports

[mxmx]

Tennis players have bad attitudes compared to other sports


Maybe its only due to me being more in tennis circles than other sports...but to me tennis players seem more arrogant than other sports people. Maybe the mental aspect eventually resulted in people becoming like this?

I saw a 16 year old national team player being beaten by a veteran club player (he was very good when he was younger and obviously still plays brilliantly)...anyways...this kid had absolutely no respect for the older dude. He cursed him, made bad calls...called him a old fella and so forth.
This is not the first time I see snot nosed little kids behave like this in tennis. Somehow when they play well, they lose all respect and think they are equal or better than the adults.

I also see more sore losers in tennis compared to some other sports
In some sports, I see more credit given where credit is due...

Is it just me?

 

[RUC]

No it's not just you.........Tennis players as a group are some of the biggest a-holes amongst athletes.
No secret at all - being a solitary sport and surrounding yourself with an entourage doesn't help it's kind of the nature of the beast. Back before the mid 70s you could and would run into players in bars and hotels and they would hang around at the small events and venues and mingle and act like regular folk. Today with security and the money and fame...etc it changed all -

With sooooo many being groomed and told from a very young age they are the greatest thing since sliced bread leads itself to developing coddled, demanding, petulant brats.........

 

[Manus Domini]

Have you seen chess players after a loss?

Or soccer players faking injuries?

 

[El Diablo]

I don't know of many sports that give international exposure to 15 year olds. This exposes behavior that is very much pre-adult, and also interferes with their maturation process by giving them too much too soon, producing feelings of entitlement.

 

[syc23]

Tennis players with bad attitudes? Not even close.

Soccer players 'simulate' injuries way worse and kick the seven bells out of each other. Diving for penalties is another cheating tactic every soccer players excel at too.

 

[Backbored]

Keep in mind that tennis is not a team sport when you compare individuals. From practice to play the emphasis is on one person and not a group.

 

[Russeljones]

Tennis players have bad attitudes compared to other sports


Maybe its only due to me being more in tennis circles than other sports...but to me tennis players seem more arrogant than other sports people. Maybe the mental aspect eventually resulted in people becoming like this?

I saw a 16 year old national team player being beaten by a veteran club player (he was very good when he was younger and obviously still plays brilliantly)...anyways...this kid had absolutely no respect for the older dude. He cursed him, made bad calls...called him a old fella and so forth.
This is not the first time I see snot nosed little kids behave like this in tennis. Somehow when they play well, they lose all respect and think they are equal or better than the adults.

I also see more sore losers in tennis compared to some other sports
In some sports, I see more credit given where credit is due...

Is it just me?

I think one needs to read more into the sport psychology. There's a reason tennis has been likened to boxing. The element of tennis that is most akin to boxing is the isolation. Only it is far worse. When you take into account the dimensions of a boxing ring and compare them with those of a tennis court you realize how much space there is for just two people, you and the one bent on destroying you. I believe it is this environment of isolation and extreme competitiveness lined with aggression that produces the traits you observe. Of course this is all exacerbated by the fact that the athletes devote so much time to the sport that many of them are pretty much bereft of any meaningful education. Just my thoughts.

 

[Fed_Djoker_Fan]

Tennis players have bad attitudes compared to other sports


Maybe its only due to me being more in tennis circles than other sports...but to me tennis players seem more arrogant than other sports people. Maybe the mental aspect eventually resulted in people becoming like this?

I saw a 16 year old national team player being beaten by a veteran club player (he was very good when he was younger and obviously still plays brilliantly)...anyways...this kid had absolutely no respect for the older dude. He cursed him, made bad calls...called him a old fella and so forth.
This is not the first time I see snot nosed little kids behave like this in tennis. Somehow when they play well, they lose all respect and think they are equal or better than the adults.

I also see more sore losers in tennis compared to some other sports
In some sports, I see more credit given where credit is due...

Is it just me?

I think its just you. Just see Soccer, Football, Basketball and look at all the fouls. Hell in Cricket, the team appeals for everything and its a norm for the players to lie and appeal for everything. Its the Umpires duty to get the calls right. Look at the flak Federer received for hitting a double bounced ball and claiming innocense.

 

[winstonplum]

I think one needs to read more into the sport psychology. There's a reason tennis has been likened to boxing. The element of tennis that is most akin to boxing is the isolation. Only it is far worse. When you take into account the dimensions of a boxing ring and compare them with those of a tennis court you realize how much space there is for just two people, you and the one bent on destroying you. I believe it is this environment of isolation and extreme competitiveness lined with aggression that produces the traits you observe. Of course this is all exacerbated by the fact that the athletes devote so much time to the sport that many of them are pretty much bereft of any meaningful education. Just my thoughts.

The isolation of tennis can be excruciating. People snap, and yell, and vent; they're all alone and they're dying in a match.

 

[Backbored]

I think its just you. Just see Soccer, Football, Basketball and look at all the fouls. Hell in Cricket, the team appeals for everything and its a norm for the players to lie and appeal for everything. Its the Umpires duty to get the calls right. Look at the flak Federer received for hitting a double bounced ball and claiming innocense.

I disagree my fine friend, it was a single bounce. Now Raonic touching the net was a whole other controversy.

“I was fortunate that the line judge didn’t see it,” Raonic said. “It’s a lucky thing for me in my sense, unlucky for [del Potro].

 

[Overdrive]

Absolutely not true. It should be a crime to make ignorant statements such as this..

 

[pmerk34]

I don't know of many sports that give international exposure to 15 year olds. This exposes behavior that is very much pre-adult, and also interferes with their maturation process by giving them too much too soon, producing feelings of entitlement.

Justin Gimblestob correctly assessed how immature WTA players are.

 

[r2473]

"Darn kids these days have no respect for nothin'!!!! When I was their age..........."


(Creating a thread like this is a clear sign that you have reached the "cantankerous old man" stage of life).

 

[McLovin]

I once went to a fight and a hockey game broke out...

 

[Vcore89]

I think its just you. Just see Soccer, Football, Basketball and look at all the fouls. Hell in Cricket, the team appeals for everything and its a norm for the players to lie and appeal for everything. Its the Umpires duty to get the calls right. Look at the flak Federer received for hitting a double bounced ball and claiming innocense.

It was a single bounce alright, but looks (for a millisecond) like it caromed!

Happens all the time when I play, no biggie.

 

[marc45]

No it's not just you.........Tennis players as a group are some of the biggest a-holes amongst athletes.
No secret at all - being a solitary sport and surrounding yourself with an entourage doesn't help it's kind of the nature of the beast. Back before the mid 70s you could and would run into players in bars and hotels and they would hang around at the small events and venues and mingle and act like regular folk. Today with security and the money and fame...etc it changed all -

With sooooo many being groomed and told from a very young age they are the greatest thing since sliced bread leads itself to developing coddled, demanding, petulant brats.........

there's another side to that...I read a book about the game back in the 70's and 80's called Short Circuit...yes, the players were more available, more access....And much bigger a-holes often, and much less ethical at the game...the grass is often greener and all

I highly recommend the book...can probably get it at the library...here's a kindle edition (note the subtitle...and Mewshaw is a highly respected writer)

http://www.amazon.com/Short-Circuit...r=8-2&keywords=michael+mewshaw+short+circuit'



people really will be shocked at some incidents...Mewshaw dared report on some match-fixing going on and a tournament director took him into a room with a thug and kind of roughed him up

another player, Buster Mottram, an Englishmen, is a pretty proud racist and bigot...but charming in his own way ...ah, the 70's and 80's

 

[chrischris]

No it's not just you.........Tennis players as a group are some of the biggest a-holes amongst athletes.
No secret at all - being a solitary sport and surrounding yourself with an entourage doesn't help it's kind of the nature of the beast. Back before the mid 70s you could and would run into players in bars and hotels and they would hang around at the small events and venues and mingle and act like regular folk. Today with security and the money and fame...etc it changed all -

With sooooo many being groomed and told from a very young age they are the greatest thing since sliced bread leads itself to developing coddled, demanding, petulant brats.........

Its an ugly lonely place out there when you lose.. but when you win everybody are clingons and 'friends'and i always knew you had it in you types.
Thats the way it is. This causes players to become well kinda special and suspicious and fronting attitudes.

 

[jswinf]

I saw a 16 year old national team player being beaten by a veteran club player (he was very good when he was younger and obviously still plays brilliantly)...anyways...this kid had absolutely no respect for the older dude. He cursed him, made bad calls...called him a old fella and so forth.

Maybe it was his dad?

 

[chrischris]

Maybe it was his dad?

Prolly ..either that or Uncle , relative , coach or what have you.

Surely, we all know what it can be like.

 

[LeeD]

It's just YOU.
Every sport, the young kids think they know it all, and are naturally better than the elders.
I've seen it in EVERY sport, most from both sides of the equation.
Do you think a phenom 16 year old respects any elders, besides the No. 1 in the sport? NOPE.
Kids today, and yesterday, just have no respect.

 

[chrischris]

It's just YOU.
Every sport, the young kids think they know it all, and are naturally better than the elders.
I've seen it in EVERY sport, most from both sides of the equation.
Do you think a phenom 16 year old respects any elders, besides the No. 1 in the sport? NOPE.
Kids today, and yesterday, just have no respect.

Certainly, they picked that up from their elders.

 

[El Diablo]

LeeD
have you ever seen a young NHL player say he was better than the more senior players in the league? Me neither. It's not part of that culture to behave that way.

 

[LuckyR]

The "kid" thing is just that: a kid thing, not a generational thing.

 

[LeeD]

THERE has NEVER been a case of a 16 year old tennis player saying he's better than the top 100 in tennis, either. And the top 100 are senior to him.
BUT, as indicated, there are plenty of examples of 16 year old juniors playing in Open events who strut and brag, and even belittle an older opponent, before the match and if he wins, even after. If he loses, he can still strut and brag, saying it was a "fluke", or a lucky win by the elder.
OTOH, I've seen older folkes behave just like 16 year olds after winning, or losing.

 

[chrischris]

THERE has NEVER been a case of a 16 year old tennis player saying he's better than the top 100 in tennis, either. And the top 100 are senior to him.
BUT, as indicated, there are plenty of examples of 16 year old juniors playing in Open events who strut and brag, and even belittle an older opponent, before the match and if he wins, even after. If he loses, he can still strut and brag, saying it was a "fluke", or a lucky win by the elder.
OTOH, I've seen older folkes behave just like 16 year olds after winning, or losing.

Hmm.. sounds a bit like men in suits when out of power.

 

[mxmx]

Maybe it was his dad?

No...it wasn't. I know the one personally and have met both.

 

[mxmx]

It's just YOU.
Every sport, the young kids think they know it all, and are naturally better than the elders.
I've seen it in EVERY sport, most from both sides of the equation.
Do you think a phenom 16 year old respects any elders, besides the No. 1 in the sport? NOPE.
Kids today, and yesterday, just have no respect.

I think its worse in tennis. It has to do with the way they are coached and with the sport itsself - things like the way structures are run at the top that negatively filters down? I have seen far more respect in some other professional sports. But I think it will also depend on different cultures in different countries and how well disciplined their tennis academies/coaching clinics are.

 

[Vcore89]

Should try to ask America's Cup skipper Russell Coutts and his crewmen how they and their counterparts behave for comparison.

 

[Peters]

It's true tennis players have a hell of a lot of defense mechanisms, personalty-wise.

They spend their time playing a sport where everything is on them - if a footballer has a bad day his team mates can easily pick up the slack, but a tennis player has to have immense mental strength just to even attempt to compete somewhere near the top.

And this pressure is always there, every point of every game of every set in every match. Month-in, month-out. One bad game can cost you a set, which nearly always results in a loss.

I've read various things in the past about tennis players having a higher than average number of mental issues, compared to many sports. I'm sure it's down to the constant mental effort to deal with everything all by yourself.

Nowhere to run either, a footballer can go in at halftime and - as I say - have his teammates win the game instead. A tennis player needs to desperately foster that feeling of being arrogant and strong-willed - a pillar.

Of course the problem is many of them aren't pillars; they're just talented individuals who have to manufacture mental strength because it doesn't come naturally.

And this is a real nightmare to have to deal with I imagine. I don't know how many professional tennis players truly love playing, despite what some of them say.

 

[chrischris]

It's true tennis players have a hell of a lot of defense mechanisms, personalty-wise.

They spend their time playing a sport where everything is on them - if a footballer has a bad day his team mates can easily pick up the slack, but a tennis player has to have immense mental strength just to even attempt to compete somewhere near the top.

And this pressure is always there, every point of every game of every set in every match. Month-in, month-out. One bad game can cost you a set, which nearly always results in a loss.

I've read various things in the past about tennis players having a higher than average number of mental issues, compared to many sports. I'm sure it's down to the constant mental effort to deal with everything all by yourself.

Nowhere to run either, a footballer can go in at halftime and - as I say - have his teammates win the game instead. A tennis player needs to desperately foster that feeling of being arrogant and strong-willed - a pillar.

Of course the problem is many of them aren't pillars; they're just talented individuals who have to manufacture mental strength because it doesn't come naturally.

And this is a real nightmare to have to deal with I imagine. I don't know how many professional tennis players truly love playing, despite what some of them say.

Good well founded post.

 

[mxmx]

i agree ^ well said

 

[Manus Domini]

It's true tennis players have a hell of a lot of defense mechanisms, personalty-wise.

They spend their time playing a sport where everything is on them - if a footballer has a bad day his team mates can easily pick up the slack, but a tennis player has to have immense mental strength just to even attempt to compete somewhere near the top.

And this pressure is always there, every point of every game of every set in every match. Month-in, month-out. One bad game can cost you a set, which nearly always results in a loss.

I've read various things in the past about tennis players having a higher than average number of mental issues, compared to many sports. I'm sure it's down to the constant mental effort to deal with everything all by yourself.

Nowhere to run either, a footballer can go in at halftime and - as I say - have his teammates win the game instead. A tennis player needs to desperately foster that feeling of being arrogant and strong-willed - a pillar.

Of course the problem is many of them aren't pillars; they're just talented individuals who have to manufacture mental strength because it doesn't come naturally.

And this is a real nightmare to have to deal with I imagine. I don't know how many professional tennis players truly love playing, despite what some of them say.

The difference between team and individual sports isn't that you can get away with a bad day in a team sport, but that you have people there always to hold you up and to tell you, "it's OK, we got this" when you mess up. Ceteris paribus, a soccer team of 11 will beat a team of 10. But you can't play well if you're feeling down, and it's the support of teammates that allows you to play your best on a team.

 

[Steady Eddy]

"Darn kids these days have no respect for nothin'!!!! When I was their age..........."


(Creating a thread like this is a clear sign that you have reached the "cantankerous old man" stage of life).

What'sa matta you? Gotta no respect? (Anyone remember that?)

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Hobby of the privileged

Most people who play tennis come from privileged backgrounds, they're not used to being "inferior" in anyway.

Look at the pros, one in particular Andy Murray: When he's winning, fist pumps and professional manners all around. When he's losing, he acts as if someone shot him in the legs and charlie horsed him in the back. And these are supposed to be professionals.

 

[Kalin]

Great points on tennis being an individual sport thus much more pressure.

Also, tennis is a non-contact sport and the referee has minimal (some would say zero) effect on the game.

Compare this to soccer. Yes, we see players misbehave there. However, two things quickly happen- 1. Player consistently gets kicked in the shins or provoked into a fight so he is often sent off and 2. Referee starts picking up on misbehaving player or yellow/red-carding him immediately

A prime recent exhibit is Luis Suarez - an utterly brilliant but psychologically unstable player with a propensity for diving. He gets constantly provoked by opponents and constantly picked on by referees, often when he is not in the wrong. As a result he has had to clean up his game and his attitude significantly because it was costing him appearances thus hurting his career badly.

Had John McEnroe been a soccer player he wouldn't have lasted a season with his attitude.

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Great points on tennis being an individual sport thus much more pressure.

Also, tennis is a non-contact sport and the referee has minimal (some would say zero) effect on the game.

Compare this to soccer. Yes, we see players misbehave there. However, two things quickly happen- 1. Player consistently gets kicked in the shins or provoked into a fight so he is often sent off and 2. Referee starts picking up on misbehaving player or yellow/red-carding him immediately

A prime recent exhibit is Luis Suarez - an utterly brilliant but psychologically unstable player with a propensity for diving. He gets constantly provoked by opponents and constantly picked on by referees, often when he is not in the wrong. As a result he has had to clean up his game and his attitude significantly because it was costing him appearances thus hurting his career badly.

Had John McEnroe been a soccer player he wouldn't have lasted a season with his attitude.

What about NBA and the NFL? There are also good examples of bratty people and yeah, the veterans don't stand for that s*** either.

 

[Kalin]

Exactly... Teammates + strong coaching personnel + refs who can actually destroy your career if they so wish= generally better behaviour

None of these controls exist in tennis