Purestriker
Legend
I like that he cc'd you. Big and bold.
The most delusional player you ever met?
- Thread starter dannyslicer
- Start date
MayorGorman
Rookie
The captain was a nice guy, he called me and we had a laugh about it.
time_fly
Hall of Fame
It's a multi-way tie between all the 70+ year old guys that want to self-rate at 3.5 and join my team. To play singles, no less. The last guy I even gave a little "try out" including a set that I won 6-0 in about 20 minutes, and he STILL self-rated at 3.5 and asked for the team number.
Lord Of The Strings
Rookie
I'm not sure it's delusion, or just overly ambitious...but we have a couple guys locally who are lower-end 3.5 who always latch on to a 4.0 team (a different one each year) and ONLY play 4.0. They just get destroyed every match unless their opponents are also mid/low 3.5s (which is rare). We're talking this has been going on since pre-COVID and they've never gotten the 4.0 bump (nor should they), nor have they improved their game in any substantial way. They're just a punching bag for even low 4.0s and then their captains are left trying to figure out who to pair them (most captains just put themselves in there) and taking the L. It takes a top tier player to win with them as a 4.0 partner because they're absolute liabilities. As an opposing captain, you almost feel bad for your own guys who are playing against them because nobody is really having a fun match.
I truly don't mind people playing up, especially people that are on improvement trajectories and putting in the work to make their game a bit better. It's the combination of these guys only playing up, along with them doing it year in and year out for 5+ years now with no change that just leaves me speechless.
I truly don't mind people playing up, especially people that are on improvement trajectories and putting in the work to make their game a bit better. It's the combination of these guys only playing up, along with them doing it year in and year out for 5+ years now with no change that just leaves me speechless.
Weekendhacker
Rookie
Not sure why their captain even let them play 4.0, unless he’s really desperate for players. These guys probably hoping to bag a win over a 4.0 team and get bumped to 4.0 themselves.
rui.
I'm currently dealing with a lesser degree of this.
Older guy who is too proud to do any fitness work and tries to jump back into action off months of being sedentary.
Gets into the cycle of destroying himself with a long session and then can't play again for weeks.
norcal
Legend
I signed up for the Yolo County Open 'A' division (this was back in the 90's when ratings went D, C,B,A, Open) because I had won a couple B tournaments. This tournament had a strong draw so I was apprehensive for my first time in the A's.
My opponent shows up, young guy with his gf, 12 pack bag, matching outfit etc etc. I'm thinking this guy must be really good! Well we warm up and he either sucks or is sandbagging the warmup lol. Turns out he sucks and I'm happy to have an easy 0,0 match since it was going to be HOT later in the day.
I figure he got the ratings backwards and should have signed up for the D division. But no, he says, "wow you're really good, glad I didn't sign up for the Opens!" I'm like 'wtf' and he says, "I beat all my friends and they're really good and they said I'm an 'A' player.
This kid was really bad and should have played D's. Normally I would let him win a couple games out of pity but I had to save myself cause I was playing singles and dubs and it was going to be around 100 later.
Easiest match I ever had in competition. Hopefully his gf talked some sense into him.
My opponent shows up, young guy with his gf, 12 pack bag, matching outfit etc etc. I'm thinking this guy must be really good! Well we warm up and he either sucks or is sandbagging the warmup lol. Turns out he sucks and I'm happy to have an easy 0,0 match since it was going to be HOT later in the day.
I figure he got the ratings backwards and should have signed up for the D division. But no, he says, "wow you're really good, glad I didn't sign up for the Opens!" I'm like 'wtf' and he says, "I beat all my friends and they're really good and they said I'm an 'A' player.
This kid was really bad and should have played D's. Normally I would let him win a couple games out of pity but I had to save myself cause I was playing singles and dubs and it was going to be around 100 later.
Easiest match I ever had in competition. Hopefully his gf talked some sense into him.
We have some of that here, but it seems like it happens more on the women's side than the men's. We have some women that just got the bump to 3.5 and are griping that 4.0 captains didn't want them on their teams for the spring leagues. I was thankful that this year the rule is that teams must be at least 50-percent at-level. In year's past there would be teams that were almost entirely made up of players who were mediocre at their actual level and still playing up. They were the punching bags of their flights when playing up. I don't know about the other teams in the flight, but my teammates and I were not enthused about spending more time on our drives to the match location than actually playing the match.
I'm guessing this wasn't in India?
I used to put on a gullible face when opponents made excused, and gush about how tough they were playing w/ their injuries, or how amazing they did using their backup racquet, and how cruel the climate had messed their string tension... but as I've become "mature" I feel it's better to just nod and let people save their face.
chuckersthenut
Hall of Fame
Should have stolen his gf too.I signed up for the Yolo County Open 'A' division (this was back in the 90's when ratings went D, C,B,A, Open) because I had won a couple B tournaments. This tournament had a strong draw so I was apprehensive for my first time in the A's.
My opponent shows up, young guy with his gf, 12 pack bag, matching outfit etc etc. I'm thinking this guy must be really good! Well we warm up and he either sucks or is sandbagging the warmup lol. Turns out he sucks and I'm happy to have an easy 0,0 match since it was going to be HOT later in the day.
I figure he got the ratings backwards and should have signed up for the D division. But no, he says, "wow you're really good, glad I didn't sign up for the Opens!" I'm like 'wtf' and he says, "I beat all my friends and they're really good and they said I'm an 'A' player.
This kid was really bad and should have played D's. Normally I would let him win a couple games out of pity but I had to save myself cause I was playing singles and dubs and it was going to be around 100 later.
Easiest match I ever had in competition. Hopefully his gf talked some sense into him.
Cobaine
Semi-Pro
In the mid 2000s I lived in San Diego and played tennis at the Morley Field Complex in Balboa Park. It was a cool place because there were so many characters.
One day as I was hitting on a ball machine, a guy came up and asked if I wanted to hit with him instead. I usually say no in those situations because if I am on the ball machine I am there for a reason to work on something specific. But this guy persisted and said that he's a 5.5 player, with the clear impression that he was doing me a favor by asking me to hit. I was probably a high 4.0/low 4.5 at the time, so for a 5.5 to want to hit with me I thought was an opportunity I shouldn't let pass.
We start hitting and I immediately realize this guy has never had any formal instruction. He had horrible grips and technique, and was basically a pusher/hacker. But he moved well and didn't miss much. He suggested we play a set. I wasn't too excited about playing a pusher (it's just not fun... I know we all need to learn how to beat them, but doesn't mean I look forward to it), but I thought, whatever let's do it.
Usually pushers give me trouble, but because I had just been grinding on the ball machine my footwork and timing were on point. I slaughtered him 6-1 in like 20 mins. There was no way this guy was 5.5.
When we sat down after the set, he was clearly flustered and embarrassed. He asked if I played D1 tennis, etc., and I was like, bro, I'm barely a 4.5 on a good day. He said no way, you just kicked my ass and I win 5.5 tournaments regularly. Given my knowledge of the characters that played at Morley Field, I figured it was just par for the course. However, when I got home I looked up his record on the USTA website. He had indeed won 5.5 tournaments in the area. My brain exploded. There was no way that was possible. 5.5 is basically the open level and I had friends that were actually that good so I knew how they played. This guy would barely win a point off of them.
So I did some more research. I discovered that the tournaments in San Diego were regularly held with many levels, from 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, Open. I went back to the USTA website to do a comprehensive search for all his results. While he had won some 5.5 tournaments, he had also been double bageled in the first round of some of them. I asked some other guys at the complex about it. Apparently, because there was such a broad range, most people played in 3.5 through 4.5, and the best players played Open, leaving very few people to sign up for the 5.5 bracket. This guy self rated it seems, and signed up for 5.5. Some other similarly talented players regularly did the same, and he ended up winning some of the tournaments. When real 5.5s signed up, he got smoked.
So there was basically a group of observably low-level players playing each other in the 5.5 bracket and calling themselves 5.5's.
One day as I was hitting on a ball machine, a guy came up and asked if I wanted to hit with him instead. I usually say no in those situations because if I am on the ball machine I am there for a reason to work on something specific. But this guy persisted and said that he's a 5.5 player, with the clear impression that he was doing me a favor by asking me to hit. I was probably a high 4.0/low 4.5 at the time, so for a 5.5 to want to hit with me I thought was an opportunity I shouldn't let pass.
We start hitting and I immediately realize this guy has never had any formal instruction. He had horrible grips and technique, and was basically a pusher/hacker. But he moved well and didn't miss much. He suggested we play a set. I wasn't too excited about playing a pusher (it's just not fun... I know we all need to learn how to beat them, but doesn't mean I look forward to it), but I thought, whatever let's do it.
Usually pushers give me trouble, but because I had just been grinding on the ball machine my footwork and timing were on point. I slaughtered him 6-1 in like 20 mins. There was no way this guy was 5.5.
When we sat down after the set, he was clearly flustered and embarrassed. He asked if I played D1 tennis, etc., and I was like, bro, I'm barely a 4.5 on a good day. He said no way, you just kicked my ass and I win 5.5 tournaments regularly. Given my knowledge of the characters that played at Morley Field, I figured it was just par for the course. However, when I got home I looked up his record on the USTA website. He had indeed won 5.5 tournaments in the area. My brain exploded. There was no way that was possible. 5.5 is basically the open level and I had friends that were actually that good so I knew how they played. This guy would barely win a point off of them.
So I did some more research. I discovered that the tournaments in San Diego were regularly held with many levels, from 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, Open. I went back to the USTA website to do a comprehensive search for all his results. While he had won some 5.5 tournaments, he had also been double bageled in the first round of some of them. I asked some other guys at the complex about it. Apparently, because there was such a broad range, most people played in 3.5 through 4.5, and the best players played Open, leaving very few people to sign up for the 5.5 bracket. This guy self rated it seems, and signed up for 5.5. Some other similarly talented players regularly did the same, and he ended up winning some of the tournaments. When real 5.5s signed up, he got smoked.
So there was basically a group of observably low-level players playing each other in the 5.5 bracket and calling themselves 5.5's.
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Weekendhacker
Rookie
Sounds like this guy is a 3.5 at best and he’s claiming he’s a 5.5. He probably beat a bunch of 3.0 and maybe 3.5’s. This proves that the overall USTA rating system sucks.In the mid 2000s I lived in San Diego and played tennis at the Morley Field Complex in Balboa Park. It was a cool place because there were so many characters.
One day as I was hitting on a ball machine, a guy came up and asked if I wanted to hit with him instead. I usually say no in those situations because if I am on the ball machine I am there for a reason to work on something specific. But this guy persisted and said that he's a 5.5 player, with the clear impression that he was doing me a favor by asking me to hit. I was probably a high 4.0/low 4.5 at the time, so for a 5.5 to want to hit with me I thought was an opportunity I shouldn't let pass.
We start hitting and I immediately realize this guy has never had any formal instruction. He had horrible grips and technique, and was basically a pusher/hacker. But he moved well and didn't miss much. He suggested we play a set. I wasn't too excited about playing a pusher (it's just not fun... I know we all need to learn how to beat them, but doesn't mean I look forward to it), but I thought, whatever let's do it.
Usually pushers give me trouble, but because I had just been grinding on the ball machine my footwork and timing were on point. I slaughtered him 6-1 in like 20 mins. There was no way this guy was 5.5.
When we sat down after the set, he was clearly flustered and embarrassed. He asked if I played D1 tennis, etc., and I was like, bro, I'm barely a 4.5 on a good day. He said no way, you just kicked my ass and I win 5.5 tournaments regularly. Given my knowledge of the characters that played at Morley Field, I figured it was just par for the course. However, when I got home I looked up his record on the USTA website. He had indeed won 5.5 tournaments in the area. My brain exploded. There was no way that was possible. 5.5 is basically the open level and I had friends that were actually that good so I knew how they played. This guy would barely win a point off of them.
So I did some more research. I discovered that the tournaments in San Diego were regularly held with many levels, from 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, Open. I went back to the USTA website to do a comprehensive search for all his results. While he had won some 5.5 tournaments, he had also been double bageled in the first round of some of them. I asked some other guys at the complex about it. Apparently, because there was such a broad range, most people played in 3.5 through 4.5, and the best players played Open, leaving very few people to sign up for the 5.5 bracket. This guy self rated it seems, and signed up for 5.5. Some other similarly talented players regularly did the same, and he ended up winning some of the tournaments. When real 5.5s signed up, he got smoked.
So there was basically a group of observably low-level players playing each other in the 5.5 bracket and calling themselves 5.5's.
chuckersthenut
Hall of Fame
Have you ever met a player that has major problems playing with new people?In the mid 2000s I lived in San Diego and played tennis at the Morley Field Complex in Balboa Park. It was a cool place because there were so many characters.
One day as I was hitting on a ball machine, a guy came up and asked if I wanted to hit with him instead. I usually say no in those situations because if I am on the ball machine I am there for a reason to work on something specific. But this guy persisted and said that he's a 5.5 player, with the clear impression that he was doing me a favor by asking me to hit. I was probably a high 4.0/low 4.5 at the time, so for a 5.5 to want to hit with me I thought was an opportunity I shouldn't let pass.
We start hitting and I immediately realize this guy has never had any formal instruction. He had horrible grips and technique, and was basically a pusher/hacker. But he moved well and didn't miss much. He suggested we play a set. I wasn't too excited about playing a pusher (it's just not fun... I know we all need to learn how to beat them, but doesn't mean I look forward to it), but I thought, whatever let's do it.
Usually pushers give me trouble, but because I had just been grinding on the ball machine my footwork and timing were on point. I slaughtered him 6-1 in like 20 mins. There was no way this guy was 5.5.
When we sat down after the set, he was clearly flustered and embarrassed. He asked if I played D1 tennis, etc., and I was like, bro, I'm barely a 4.5 on a good day. He said no way, you just kicked my ass and I win 5.5 tournaments regularly. Given my knowledge of the characters that played at Morley Field, I figured it was just par for the course. However, when I got home I looked up his record on the USTA website. He had indeed won 5.5 tournaments in the area. My brain exploded. There was no way that was possible. 5.5 is basically the open level and I had friends that were actually that good so I knew how they played. This guy would barely win a point off of them.
So I did some more research. I discovered that the tournaments in San Diego were regularly held with many levels, from 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, Open. I went back to the USTA website to do a comprehensive search for all his results. While he had won some 5.5 tournaments, he had also been double bageled in the first round of some of them. I asked some other guys at the complex about it. Apparently, because there was such a broad range, most people played in 3.5 through 4.5, and the best players played Open, leaving very few people to sign up for the 5.5 bracket. This guy self rated it seems, and signed up for 5.5. Some other similarly talented players regularly did the same, and he ended up winning some of the tournaments. When real 5.5s signed up, he got smoked.
So there was basically a group of observably low-level players playing each other in the 5.5 bracket and calling themselves 5.5's.
Cobaine
Semi-Pro
Are you suggesting that he was actually a 5.5 level player who lost to my lowly self because he had never played me before?
chuckersthenut
Hall of Fame
You didn't really answer my question and you asked me one of your own.
kevin qmto
Legend
Honestly I don’t think so? I mean, unless I play them again I can’t say.
Since I play in a fairly large USTA league I rarely play the same person twice so I’m playing new guys all the time. Hell usually I play better against a stranger. They don’t know all my weaknesses yet!
This says more about the guys scared to level up.In the mid 2000s I lived in San Diego and played tennis at the Morley Field Complex in Balboa Park. It was a cool place because there were so many characters.
One day as I was hitting on a ball machine, a guy came up and asked if I wanted to hit with him instead. I usually say no in those situations because if I am on the ball machine I am there for a reason to work on something specific. But this guy persisted and said that he's a 5.5 player, with the clear impression that he was doing me a favor by asking me to hit. I was probably a high 4.0/low 4.5 at the time, so for a 5.5 to want to hit with me I thought was an opportunity I shouldn't let pass.
We start hitting and I immediately realize this guy has never had any formal instruction. He had horrible grips and technique, and was basically a pusher/hacker. But he moved well and didn't miss much. He suggested we play a set. I wasn't too excited about playing a pusher (it's just not fun... I know we all need to learn how to beat them, but doesn't mean I look forward to it), but I thought, whatever let's do it.
Usually pushers give me trouble, but because I had just been grinding on the ball machine my footwork and timing were on point. I slaughtered him 6-1 in like 20 mins. There was no way this guy was 5.5.
When we sat down after the set, he was clearly flustered and embarrassed. He asked if I played D1 tennis, etc., and I was like, bro, I'm barely a 4.5 on a good day. He said no way, you just kicked my ass and I win 5.5 tournaments regularly. Given my knowledge of the characters that played at Morley Field, I figured it was just par for the course. However, when I got home I looked up his record on the USTA website. He had indeed won 5.5 tournaments in the area. My brain exploded. There was no way that was possible. 5.5 is basically the open level and I had friends that were actually that good so I knew how they played. This guy would barely win a point off of them.
So I did some more research. I discovered that the tournaments in San Diego were regularly held with many levels, from 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, Open. I went back to the USTA website to do a comprehensive search for all his results. While he had won some 5.5 tournaments, he had also been double bageled in the first round of some of them. I asked some other guys at the complex about it. Apparently, because there was such a broad range, most people played in 3.5 through 4.5, and the best players played Open, leaving very few people to sign up for the 5.5 bracket. This guy self rated it seems, and signed up for 5.5. Some other similarly talented players regularly did the same, and he ended up winning some of the tournaments. When real 5.5s signed up, he got smoked.
So there was basically a group of observably low-level players playing each other in the 5.5 bracket and calling themselves 5.5's.
chuckersthenut
Hall of Fame
Interesting.
ClownCar96
Professional
Where do you guys live to have such robust leagues… I’m jealous. Somewhere west, south and warm I bet.
Cobaine
Semi-Pro
Ok. To answer your question, no I haven’t. Especially on the tournament scene because like Kevin said you’re usually playing new people all the time and if it was a major problem I doubt they’d be playing tournaments.
That being said, I do think it is easier to play people whom you’ve played before, because at least you know what to expect.
The chasm between a 4.0/4.5 player and a legit 5.5 player is huge. Your suggestion is like asking if an 8 year old can beat an adult in a fist fight because the adult isn't used to fighting children.
ttwarrior1
Hall of Fame
not sure if i posted. but i had a player get a dui on a cow
LOBALOT
Legend
Yeah but as a captain we get a lot of flack from this type of player. A few years back I had one of those ambulance chaser 30 TV commercial a night attorneys reach out to me to play on one of my teams. He is also on the board of directors/reagants for a large division one university. This guy thought he was the greatest gift to tennis and insisted I play him every match on my team and it was always that he was having an off day at singles or his partners fault at doubles. He drove me absolutely nuts and frustrated everyone on the team.
GodlessEndeavor
Professional
Everyone who loses a match and then says they "lost but they're better than their opponent".
Edit - I mean after a single match against that opponent, with no pre-existing knowledge of them.
Edit - I mean after a single match against that opponent, with no pre-existing knowledge of them.
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johnmccabe
Hall of Fame
Maybe captain of a weak team has no good players signing up?
johnmccabe
Hall of Fame
Somewhat sympathetic for the dude. It's partial fault of the tournament. my area has so called interclub league where teams sign up supposedly based on USTA ratings. But most people are playing up in this league, so the 4.0 teams are basically all 3.5s and even 3.0. New guys never played official USTA can win a championship in this league and get a very wrong impression of their ratings.In the mid 2000s I lived in San Diego and played tennis at the Morley Field Complex in Balboa Park. It was a cool place because there were so many characters.
One day as I was hitting on a ball machine, a guy came up and asked if I wanted to hit with him instead. I usually say no in those situations because if I am on the ball machine I am there for a reason to work on something specific. But this guy persisted and said that he's a 5.5 player, with the clear impression that he was doing me a favor by asking me to hit. I was probably a high 4.0/low 4.5 at the time, so for a 5.5 to want to hit with me I thought was an opportunity I shouldn't let pass.
We start hitting and I immediately realize this guy has never had any formal instruction. He had horrible grips and technique, and was basically a pusher/hacker. But he moved well and didn't miss much. He suggested we play a set. I wasn't too excited about playing a pusher (it's just not fun... I know we all need to learn how to beat them, but doesn't mean I look forward to it), but I thought, whatever let's do it.
Usually pushers give me trouble, but because I had just been grinding on the ball machine my footwork and timing were on point. I slaughtered him 6-1 in like 20 mins. There was no way this guy was 5.5.
When we sat down after the set, he was clearly flustered and embarrassed. He asked if I played D1 tennis, etc., and I was like, bro, I'm barely a 4.5 on a good day. He said no way, you just kicked my ass and I win 5.5 tournaments regularly. Given my knowledge of the characters that played at Morley Field, I figured it was just par for the course. However, when I got home I looked up his record on the USTA website. He had indeed won 5.5 tournaments in the area. My brain exploded. There was no way that was possible. 5.5 is basically the open level and I had friends that were actually that good so I knew how they played. This guy would barely win a point off of them.
So I did some more research. I discovered that the tournaments in San Diego were regularly held with many levels, from 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, Open. I went back to the USTA website to do a comprehensive search for all his results. While he had won some 5.5 tournaments, he had also been double bageled in the first round of some of them. I asked some other guys at the complex about it. Apparently, because there was such a broad range, most people played in 3.5 through 4.5, and the best players played Open, leaving very few people to sign up for the 5.5 bracket. This guy self rated it seems, and signed up for 5.5. Some other similarly talented players regularly did the same, and he ended up winning some of the tournaments. When real 5.5s signed up, he got smoked.
So there was basically a group of observably low-level players playing each other in the 5.5 bracket and calling themselves 5.5's.
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johnmccabe
Hall of Fame
Nardi did beat Djokovic once and I still think Djokovic is a better player. Only if someone always has this attitude after losses, then he is delusional.
GodlessEndeavor
Professional
I'm mostly talking about people who play someone they didn't know just once and then say things like that.
it's interesting reading through these posts, and thinking back of my experiences with delusional players....
...and thinking back of all the times i've been delusional...
we should come up with the N-stages-of-tennis-delusion... because we all go through it... it just depends on how quickly you get through each stage (usually dictated to how quickly you subject yourself to environments with very good players)...
for most public park hacks (i am one), that don't compete (usta, tourneys, etc...),... you will be stuck in the lower stages of delusion for a lifetime...
some favorite delusions of mine (that i've experienced):
* no way a girl would beat me
* no way a 12y girl would be me (me as a grown *ss man - she was nationally ranked and did eventually go pro)
* no way an <fill in old guy age> would beat me
* no way an old guy & smoker would beat me (i was in my 20's at the time)
* no way a pusher, junker, moonballer, etc... would beat me (cuz of my awesome topspin)
etc...
...and thinking back of all the times i've been delusional...
we should come up with the N-stages-of-tennis-delusion... because we all go through it... it just depends on how quickly you get through each stage (usually dictated to how quickly you subject yourself to environments with very good players)...
for most public park hacks (i am one), that don't compete (usta, tourneys, etc...),... you will be stuck in the lower stages of delusion for a lifetime...
some favorite delusions of mine (that i've experienced):
* no way a girl would beat me
* no way a 12y girl would be me (me as a grown *ss man - she was nationally ranked and did eventually go pro)
* no way an <fill in old guy age> would beat me
* no way an old guy & smoker would beat me (i was in my 20's at the time)
* no way a pusher, junker, moonballer, etc... would beat me (cuz of my awesome topspin)
etc...
jhick
Hall of Fame
My doubles partner in college (D3) was convinced he could "go pro" and make some money as a freshman (I was a junior at the time). I told him no way, the gap is just too big. He didn't believe me for a while, but eventually came to his senses. To be fair, he came from a small town in Wisconsin and probably hadn't faced a lot of high level competition up to that point.
chuckersthenut
Hall of Fame
Definatly myself. I just played in an Open singles draw. I have highly overestimated my tennis skills. Granted he is the head pro at the facility we played at. Seemed like a home court advantage. He beat me 6-0 6-1. Guy was a beast. Monstrous lefty kick serve. I had no idea how to handle it. Outside of a few double faults I'm not sure I won a point on his serve.
Nicholas Noker
Rookie
A co worker found out I played tennis (I have been stuck at 3.5 for a while, but I'm a pretty good one). He says he never played but was an athlete his whole life blah blah, so when he asked to play I was VERY hesitant. But I wanted to get in good with the guy....
I show up to the courts and he has running shoes on and needs to borrow a racket.
It shames me to say, the guy beat me!
I show up to the courts and he has running shoes on and needs to borrow a racket.
It shames me to say, the guy beat me!
Weekendhacker
Rookie
This is hard to believe. A guy who never played tennis in his life beating a high 3.5 level guy? I would pay to see this.
Cashman
Hall of Fame
It's unusual but not unbelievable. Fitness/footwork and hand-eye coordination go a long way in tennis. A gifted athlete who has played other racquet sports can hang in a groundstroke rally fairly intuitively, even if the strokes are pretty ugly. That might be all it takes to beat a 3.5 (who are generally not the most consistent players).
The main challenge is the serve, which is pretty biomechanically complicated and hard to hit well without a lot of tennis-specific practice. Maybe he was underarming it in a way that was hard to attack.
tennis4me
Hall of Fame
Met a guy in his early to mid 80s taking USPTA certification test. On day 1 (pre-test day) where the tester was demoing teaching methods, the tester asked for volunteers and asked each one what they want to fix it to learn. The tall 80+yo guy (in decent shape, but not extremely mobile) raised his hand and said, "I want to learn how to do a violent American kick serve". The instructor smiled and handled it gracefully.
ummm you left out the best part...
how did he handle it?my first thought if it were me, "we can definitely go through the motion of how to hit a kick, presuming you already know how to slice,... but how violent it is will be a function of your own physical abilities..."
tennisjon
Professional
I had a match like that in intramurals in college. 0 & 0 in over 2 hours. Every game went to multiple deuces. But after that, having never beaten him, I finally did the next match. Even though the score wasn't close, I knew I played so much better than I had in the past and that gave me the confidence to beat him. After that I tried out for the college team and eventually made it.
dannyslicer
Semi-Pro
No, you sign up weeks and months in advance
Fairhit
Hall of Fame
I train with a guy who is constantly telling me his daughter´s coach keeps asking him to play senior professional tournaments, he has played the club´s tourney like 3 times and has has yet to win his firts match, he has played 9-10 Round Robin matches and lost all of them, it is a 3.0-3.5 tournament but he keeps telling me the coach swears he can win a pro senior tournament.
dannyslicer
Semi-Pro
Dink serve is a weapon against a 3.5
3.5 will blast it long or into net
Weekendhacker
Rookie
What’s considered a senior here? 65+?
Fairhit
Hall of Fame
40+, he's 55.
FuzzyYellowBalls
Legend
I imagine this guy when anyone on the forum says "my coach says I am hitting like a 5.0 now" (or insert any other number)
jm1980
Talk Tennis Guru
If he was a middle-of-the-pack 4.5, fudging his ranking to 5.0 isn't the worst exaggeration in the world.
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