Will the Big 3 deeply regret their "longevity" when they start having health issues post-retirement?

[UnderratedSlam]

The way things are going Federer has a smashed knee (and God knows what else), Nadal is well on his way to invalidity, and Djokovic will also probably eventually pay a heavy price for the torture he's been subjecting his body to. Djokovic fans who naively believe that "messiahs" are exempted from such savage fates might be in for great disappointment...

Now, I know that most pro sports (not counting golf which isn't a sport) involve such risks and that often there is a health price to pay in return for raking in millions and fame and glory. This is nothing new but it's not really what I'm referring to. What I am addressing here aren't the "normal" injuries that occur during a player's "prime" (whatever the hell that means) but the problems that arise or are exacerbated as a result of extending careers to absurd lengths. Tennis is an extreme sport to play for two decades on a pro level: it's borderline pathological insanity that allows players to push themselves this hard. They underestimate the frailty of the human body - and how harshly age can punish such recklessness and naivety.

Sure, some athletes can get away with it. But many don't.

Is being the Slam Race winner worth becoming an invalid over?

 

[Mustard]

Nadal will probably have knee and hip replacements when he's in his 60s. It must be a piece of cake in the meantime to deal with aches and pains when not playing tennis compared to when playing tennis.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Djokovic is in great shape for his age. Nadal on the other hand is punishing his body a lot. Fed has retired at right time as his knees couldn’t take it anymore.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

Djokovic is in great shape for his age. Nadal on the other hand is punishing his body a lot. Fed has retired at right time as his knees couldn’t take it anymore.

You are assuming that Federer told us everything.

Former pros don't exactly post an essay for the media listing all of their physical limitations that are a direct result of professional tennis.

I would be very curious to find out the health details of Lendl, Muster, Courier, Borg, Chang, Agassi and the rest. But this won't happen. We don't really know what goes on behind closed doors, the pain medication, all the surgeries and other issues.

 

[Mustard]

You are assuming that Federer told us everything.

Former pros don't exactly post an essay for the media listing all of their physical limitations that are a direct result of professional tennis.

I would be very curious to find out the health details of Lendl, Muster, Courier, Borg, Chang, Agassi and the rest. But this won't happen. We don't really know what goes on behind closed doors, the pain medication, all the surgeries and other issues.

Muster's knee was never 100% again after the 1989 accident. He can't fully bend it.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

Muster's knee was never 100% again after the 1989 accident. He can't fully bend it.

Could you elaborate? I find this difficult to believe.

 

[Mustard]

Could you elaborate? I find this difficult to believe.

Why is it difficult to believe?

From the June 1995 Sports Illustrated article below:

"Muster, like Seles, knows what it's like to try to come back. In
1989 Muster, then 21 and a Top 10 clay-court wizard, was poised
for the breakout of his career. But on the April night that he
propelled himself into the final of the Lipton Championships with
a five-set win over Yannick Noah, Muster found his career decked
by a drunk driver. As Muster was unloading gear from the trunk of
a car, the driver slammed into its front end; the bumper severed
both the medial collateral and the anterior cruciate ligament in
Muster's left knee. It wasn't clear if he would ever walk easily
-- much less play -- again.

But Muster attacked rehabilitation with the same ferocity that
marks his tennis. Quickly he and his manager-coach, Ronald
Leitgeb, designed a chair that enabled Muster to sit on court and
bat balls while still in a cast. And that changed everything.
``The most remarkable day I ever had with Thomas was the day I
first brought him this chair, when I put him in it on the court,
and he could hit the balls,'' Leitgeb says. ``Two weeks before,
when he came out of the hospital, he'd said, `Ah, I'm not going to
run again in my life. I've had enough of physical and athletic
training. That's it.' He had such sad eyes. But then he was
hitting in that chair, and I could see the fire in his eyes. From
that moment I believed he was going to do it.

Less than six months later Muster was back on the circuit; by May
1990, he had returned to the Top 10; from there he crafted a
reputation as a bit of a bully and the last man anyone wanted to
face in a big match. He still can't bend his left leg completely,
yet Muster has risen to a career-high No. 3 ranking solely
through his dominance on clay. Of his 29 tournament wins, 28 have
come on that surface. His fitness and heart go unquestioned."

BACK IN THE SWING WINS IN PARIS BY STEFFI GRAF AND THOMAS MUSTER MADE ANY COMEBACK SEEM POSSIBLE

WAITING FOR MONICA ACT I, SCENE 1 Curtain opens to reveal a floor covered by a sheet of infernal redclay. This is Tennis Limbo, where everyone --

vault.si.com

 

[UnderratedSlam]

Why is it difficult to believe?

From the June 1995 Sports Illustrated article below:

"Muster, like Seles, knows what it's like to try to come back. In
1989 Muster, then 21 and a Top 10 clay-court wizard, was poised
for the breakout of his career. But on the April night that he
propelled himself into the final of the Lipton Championships with
a five-set win over Yannick Noah, Muster found his career decked
by a drunk driver. As Muster was unloading gear from the trunk of
a car, the driver slammed into its front end; the bumper severed
both the medial collateral and the anterior cruciate ligament in
Muster's left knee. It wasn't clear if he would ever walk easily
-- much less play -- again.

But Muster attacked rehabilitation with the same ferocity that
marks his tennis. Quickly he and his manager-coach, Ronald
Leitgeb, designed a chair that enabled Muster to sit on court and
bat balls while still in a cast. And that changed everything.
``The most remarkable day I ever had with Thomas was the day I
first brought him this chair, when I put him in it on the court,
and he could hit the balls,'' Leitgeb says. ``Two weeks before,
when he came out of the hospital, he'd said, `Ah, I'm not going to
run again in my life. I've had enough of physical and athletic
training. That's it.' He had such sad eyes. But then he was
hitting in that chair, and I could see the fire in his eyes. From
that moment I believed he was going to do it.

Less than six months later Muster was back on the circuit; by May
1990, he had returned to the Top 10; from there he crafted a
reputation as a bit of a bully and the last man anyone wanted to
face in a big match. He still can't bend his left leg completely,
yet Muster has risen to a career-high No. 3 ranking solely
through his dominance on clay. Of his 29 tournament wins, 28 have
come on that surface. His fitness and heart go unquestioned."

BACK IN THE SWING WINS IN PARIS BY STEFFI GRAF AND THOMAS MUSTER MADE ANY COMEBACK SEEM POSSIBLE

WAITING FOR MONICA ACT I, SCENE 1 Curtain opens to reveal a floor covered by a sheet of infernal redclay. This is Tennis Limbo, where everyone --

vault.si.com

What does it mean "cannot completely bend the leg"? What is "completely"? Three millimeters less than the other leg?

 

[wangs78]

Federer doesn’t look bad at all. Yes, he has meniscus damage which makes it hard to explode out of a deep knee bend but for everyday walking, climbing stairs (one stair at a time), as well baseline coverage at 85% of max, he seems fine. It’s that final 15% that you need at the pro level to be able to turn defense into offense instantaneously that he is not able to do anymore. Nadal does look like he will fall apart but we thought that 10 years ago and here he is winning 2 Slams in 2022…. Djokovic looks like he is still in great shape.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

Federer doesn’t look that bad to be honest. Yes, he has meniscus damage which makes it hard to explode out of a deep knee bend but for everyday walking, climbing stairs (one stair at a time), as well baseline coverage at 85% of max, he seems fine. It’s that final 15% that you need at the pro level to be able to turn defense into offense instantaneously that he is not able to do anymore. Nadal does look like he will fall apart but we thought that 10 years ago and here he just one 2 Slams in 2022…. Djokovic looks like in great shape.

So no hip replacements or anything like that for any of them?

I find it very hard to believe that all three will walk away from this decades-long masochism scot-free.

And I don't mean Murray.

 

[mtommer]

OP forgot the option: "No. It was all worth it. Wheelchair, crutch....all of it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

 

[wangs78]

So no hip replacements or anything like that for any of them?

Nothing to indicate that, no. Maybe if Fed stays very active, trains hard and plays a lot of exhibitions he could aggravate his knee where he could need a knee replacement one day (because a frayed meniscus is prone to more wear than an smooth, undamaged one.

 

[Mustard]

So no hip replacements or anything like that for any of them?

I find it very hard to believe that all three will walk away from this decades-long masochism scot-free.

And I don't mean Murray.

Jimmy Connors doesn't look too bad. He had a hip replacement over a decade ago though, as I recall.

 

[Obnavox]

No. No head injuries, unlike football players.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

OP forgot the option: "No. It was all worth it. Wheelchair, crutch....all of it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

That pretty much sums up the 2nd option.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

Jimmy Connors doesn't look too bad. He had a hip replacement over a decade ago though, as I recall.

Still, it can't have been fun, huh?

It's not like pulling out a tooth.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

No. No head injuries, unlike football players.

Some players can't be damaged that way anyway.

Safin.

 

[Underdog]

For some reason I think they’ll be fine after retirement.

 

[Don Felder]

If they need a hip or something in their 40s-60s… so what? Lots of folks end up needing one or two things like that, especially active people.

 

[ND-13]

Very valid question . I often have this thought that the human body will show the wear and tear, sooner or late.

Those stretches and lunges, day in day out , cannot be good for the long term.

 

[TenS_Ace]

They have so much $$$$$$$ it doesn't matter! They can go to the MAYO clinic weekly to get fixed up !!

 

[MichaelNadal]

Nadal gonna be walking around like Mick Foley

 

[Third Serve]

I would hope none of these players suffer any sort of long-lasting damage to their body.

 

[Federev]

The way things are going Federer has a smashed knee (and God knows what else), Nadal is well on his way to invalidity, and Djokovic will also probably eventually pay a heavy price for the torture he's been subjecting his body to. Djokovic fans who naively believe that "messiahs" are exempted from such savage fates might be in for great disappointment...

Now, I know that most pro sports (not counting golf which isn't a sport) involve such risks and that often there is a health price to pay in return for raking in millions and fame and glory. This is nothing new but it's not really what I'm referring to. What I am addressing here aren't the "normal" injuries that occur during a player's "prime" (whatever the hell that means) but the problems that arise or are exacerbated as a result of extending careers to absurd lengths. Tennis is an extreme sport to play for two decades on a pro level: it's borderline pathological insanity that allows players to push themselves this hard. They underestimate the frailty of the human body - and how harshly age can punish such recklessness and naivety.

Sure, some athletes can get away with it. But many don't.

Is being the Slam Race winner worth becoming an invalid over?

Good and interesting thread.

Hard to come up w novel and civil thread topics on the big 3, but you did it.

 

[Mustard]

Nadal gonna be walking around like Mick Foley

Tennis players are not likely to have dementia and CTE issues anyway. No head traumas.

 

[nawoo]

How is Djokovic torturing his body? He is in the best physical condition out of the 3 and shows no signs of injury as evident by his ballet splits at Wimbledon

Don't lump him with the other 2 just to fit your narrative

 

[MichaelNadal]

Tennis players are not likely to have dementia and CTE issues anyway. No head traumas.

Yeah, just literally talking about the way Mick walks lol

 

[jindra]

LOL... zero insight into how top performers think

 

[Midaso240]

How is Djokovic torturing his body? He is in the best physical condition out of the 3 and shows no signs of injury as evident by his ballet splits at Wimbledon

Don't lump him with the other 2 just to fit your narrative

In some ways, Djokovic's approach reminds me of the basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem was one of the pioneers of implementing yoga/stretching for a professional athlete and he played to 42 without having any major injuries despite having a 7'2" frame...

Sometimes injuries are just bad luck though, rather than bad management

 

[Rafa4LifeEver]

The way things are going Federer has a smashed knee (and God knows what else), Nadal is well on his way to invalidity, and Djokovic will also probably eventually pay a heavy price for the torture he's been subjecting his body to. Djokovic fans who naively believe that "messiahs" are exempted from such savage fates might be in for great disappointment...

Now, I know that most pro sports (not counting golf which isn't a sport) involve such risks and that often there is a health price to pay in return for raking in millions and fame and glory. This is nothing new but it's not really what I'm referring to. What I am addressing here aren't the "normal" injuries that occur during a player's "prime" (whatever the hell that means) but the problems that arise or are exacerbated as a result of extending careers to absurd lengths. Tennis is an extreme sport to play for two decades on a pro level: it's borderline pathological insanity that allows players to push themselves this hard. They underestimate the frailty of the human body - and how harshly age can punish such recklessness and naivety.

Sure, some athletes can get away with it. But many don't.

Is being the Slam Race winner worth becoming an invalid over?

Djokovic has a natural gift unlike Fedal, so I think he'll be mostly fine.

 

[tennis_error]

First, don't put Novak and Rog in the same group with Rafa. Roger will be 100% fine, he was on the edge of coming back to pro tennis. He will be/is in better physical shape than 99.9% or us ordinary people.

Second, these injuries are mostly pro tennis career dangerous, not ordinary life dangerous. Most of ordinary people who do any sport for recreational reason suffer those injuries and live normally.

Third, there are only rare examples of famous sportsman who suffer serious problems after career, not included brain damage in some sports.

Four, they will have access to best medicine avable on this planet, and medicine is advancing rapidly. Murray plays pro tennis with artificial hip, for God's sake

 

[Djokovicfan]

This threads premise is outdated.

if you work out your body as much as novak or rafa have for their entire lives, your body works hard to protect its physical systems and get into a mode where you are not causing irreparable damage every time you chase down a ball or go for a distance run.

if for the first 30 yrs of your life you did nothing but eat mcdonalds and mastur6ate to msnbc (not judging) and then you start running 15 miles a day on concrete sidewalks wearing high heels, then yeah, you body is going to get destroyed.

But In your body’s formative years it very plastic and able to adjust its trajectory to be able to cope and manage with whatever stresses/forces it thinks it will have to endure to remain genetically fit enough to survive and reproduce.

You would be surprised what your body can adjust to. Your dna really wants to reproduce itself (please forgive the falsely anthropomorphic characterization) so it will go to large lengths to armor your physical systems if it senses you are (for example) going to be working out 8 hours a day for the majority of your life like a pro tennis player. From a typical viewpoint your DNA doesnt have an actual brain. If a kenyan distance runner could simulate the adrenaline and stress, then for all his DNA knows, he had been getting chased by f’ing lions for 18 miles a day ever since he started running at age 7, and he needed his body to be able to put up with that daily abuse for decades/God knows how long in order to not get eaten by lions. So his DNA will do almost metamorphic tier changes to his body to armor it to take huge abuse, otherwise his DNA will have failed itself, lion or no lion.

A former viewpoint which i never believed in once in my life was that you needed to ice after workouts and try to fight your DNA’s response in order to slow down the inevitable destruction of your body. The basic premise behind this icing mentality was recently debunked by scientists who found that your body can rebuild things like cartilage and really armor your body to take abuse—which ultimately is all under the control of your DNA which oversees everything.

i always felt that icing in order to fight your body’s natural response, which is essentially fighting your DNA’s response, was just completely stupid.

Its like, “ do you know how many more billion years your DNA has been playing this game than you have? And you think in all those billions of years, DNA hasnt figured out how to correctly respond to a **** sapiens workout stresses?”

A funny side note is that some of the concepts involved in your body’s systems and DNA activities are more complicated than most people can understand.

in other words you could say, “oh, you failed biology? Haha, that means your meat in your gluteus maximus is smarter than your mind is, lol”

while this joke is true for the mind, your brain is immensely complex, and huge questions still stand, like how our minds “in the drivers seat” perspective even gets created.

think about the fact that every sentence in every human language is actually a concrete mathematical statement or equation. We just memorize the language and its nonsensical exceptions as surface waves of the ocean of mathematical relations, just as chemists memorize the surface waves of the particle physics ocean, or running windows on your computer is the surface of the computer code ocean.

how tf did i get here. Jesus.

 

[Tennfan123]

Far worse will be the emotional and mental toll which they won't even start to understand until they are in their fifties.

 

[Bambooman]

This threads premise is outdated.

if you work out your body as much as novak or rafa have for their entire lives, your body works hard to protect its physical systems and get into a mode where you are not causing irreparable damage every time you chase down a ball or go for a distance run.

if for the first 30 yrs of your life you did nothing but eat mcdonalds and mastur6ate to msnbc (not judging) and then you start running 15 miles a day on concrete sidewalks wearing high heels, then yeah, you body is going to get destroyed.

But In your body’s formative years it very plastic and able to adjust its trajectory to be able to cope and manage with whatever stresses/forces it thinks it will have to endure to remain genetically fit enough to survive and reproduce.

You would be surprised what your body can adjust to. Your dna really wants to reproduce itself (please forgive the falsely anthropomorphic characterization) so it will go to large lengths to armor your physical systems if it senses you are (for example) going to be working out 8 hours a day for the majority of your life like a pro tennis player. From a typical viewpoint your DNA doesnt have an actual brain. If a kenyan distance runner could simulate the adrenaline and stress, then for all his DNA knows, he had been getting chased by f’ing lions for 18 miles a day ever since he started running at age 7, and he needed his body to be able to put up with that daily abuse for decades/God knows how long in order to not get eaten by lions. So his DNA will do almost metamorphic tier changes to his body to armor it to take huge abuse, otherwise his DNA will have failed itself, lion or no lion.

A former viewpoint which i never believed in once in my life was that you needed to ice after workouts and try to fight your DNA’s response in order to slow down the inevitable destruction of your body. The basic premise behind this icing mentality was recently debunked by scientists who found that your body can rebuild things like cartilage and really armor your body to take abuse—which ultimately is all under the control of your DNA which oversees everything.

i always felt that icing in order to fight your body’s natural response, which is essentially fighting your DNA’s response, was just completely stupid.

Its like, “ do you know how many more billion years your DNA has been playing this game than you have? And you think in all those billions of years, DNA hasnt figured out how to correctly respond to a **** sapiens workout stresses?”

A funny side note is that some of the concepts involved in your body’s systems and DNA activities are more complicated than most people can understand.

in other words you could say, “oh, you failed biology? Haha, that means your meat in your gluteus maximis smarter than your mind is, lol”

while this joke is true for the mind, your brain is immensely complex, and huge questions still stand, like how our minds “in the drivers seat” perspective even gets created.

think about the fact that every sentence in every human language is actually a concrete mathematical statement or equation. We just memorize the language and its nonsensical exceptions as surface waves of the ocean of mathematical relations, just as chemists memorize the surface waves of the particle physics ocean, or running windows on your computer is the surface of the computer code ocean.

how tf did i get here. Jesus.

Post of the century.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

This threads premise is outdated.

if you work out your body as much as novak or rafa have for their entire lives, your body works hard to protect its physical systems and get into a mode where you are not causing irreparable damage every time you chase down a ball or go for a distance run.

if for the first 30 yrs of your life you did nothing but eat mcdonalds and mastur6ate to msnbc (not judging) and then you start running 15 miles a day on concrete sidewalks wearing high heels, then yeah, you body is going to get destroyed.

But In your body’s formative years it very plastic and able to adjust its trajectory to be able to cope and manage with whatever stresses/forces it thinks it will have to endure to remain genetically fit enough to survive and reproduce.

You would be surprised what your body can adjust to. Your dna really wants to reproduce itself (please forgive the falsely anthropomorphic characterization) so it will go to large lengths to armor your physical systems if it senses you are (for example) going to be working out 8 hours a day for the majority of your life like a pro tennis player. From a typical viewpoint your DNA doesnt have an actual brain. If a kenyan distance runner could simulate the adrenaline and stress, then for all his DNA knows, he had been getting chased by f’ing lions for 18 miles a day ever since he started running at age 7, and he needed his body to be able to put up with that daily abuse for decades/God knows how long in order to not get eaten by lions. So his DNA will do almost metamorphic tier changes to his body to armor it to take huge abuse, otherwise his DNA will have failed itself, lion or no lion.

A former viewpoint which i never believed in once in my life was that you needed to ice after workouts and try to fight your DNA’s response in order to slow down the inevitable destruction of your body. The basic premise behind this icing mentality was recently debunked by scientists who found that your body can rebuild things like cartilage and really armor your body to take abuse—which ultimately is all under the control of your DNA which oversees everything.

i always felt that icing in order to fight your body’s natural response, which is essentially fighting your DNA’s response, was just completely stupid.

Its like, “ do you know how many more billion years your DNA has been playing this game than you have? And you think in all those billions of years, DNA hasnt figured out how to correctly respond to a **** sapiens workout stresses?”

A funny side note is that some of the concepts involved in your body’s systems and DNA activities are more complicated than most people can understand.

in other words you could say, “oh, you failed biology? Haha, that means your meat in your gluteus maximis smarter than your mind is, lol”

while this joke is true for the mind, your brain is immensely complex, and huge questions still stand, like how our minds “in the drivers seat” perspective even gets created.

think about the fact that every sentence in every human language is actually a concrete mathematical statement or equation. We just memorize the language and its nonsensical exceptions as surface waves of the ocean of mathematical relations, just as chemists memorize the surface waves of the particle physics ocean, or running windows on your computer is the surface of the computer code ocean.

how tf did i get here. Jesus.

Too many Hollywood sci-fi movies, not good for the intellect.

Documentaries bring you closer to reality, but only the real ones. And plenty of reading. Real reading.

A steady influx of sci-fi movies makes one start believing in man's limitless cosmic destiny and opportunities and other Utopian nonsense.

And various superman theories.

 

[FrontHeadlock]

Nadal gonna be walking around like Mick Foley

"Most painful was a torn abdominal muscle. I was ashamed when I found out I hadn't broken my pelvis, because that's what it felt like to me, so I did not know at the time that torn abdominal muscles end careers for football or hockey. Because you lose the ability to explode from the mid-section. But luckily in wrestling, we can work around injuries, arms, legs, we find whatever we need to work around the core. I did that for many months, but that hurt me for a couple of years, so that's two."

Mick Foley's Most Painful Injury Ever Was A Torn Abdominal Muscle

Mick Foley is well-known for being a hardcore wrestler, and he has recalled the five most painful injuries from his career.

www.wrestlinginc.com

 

[ollinger]

A rather silly thread, the health "risks" of tennis are orthopedic and generally can be dealt with successfully with surgery, certainly well enough to make for a perfectly comfortable life. The health benefits, on the other hand, are considerable.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

A rather silly thread, the health "risks" of tennis are orthopedic and generally can be dealt with successfully with surgery, certainly well enough to make for a perfectly comfortable life. The health benefits, on the other hand, are considerable.

So that's why people live to be 250 now...

 

[MichaelNadal]

"Most painful was a torn abdominal muscle. I was ashamed when I found out I hadn't broken my pelvis, because that's what it felt like to me, so I did not know at the time that torn abdominal muscles end careers for football or hockey. Because you lose the ability to explode from the mid-section. But luckily in wrestling, we can work around injuries, arms, legs, we find whatever we need to work around the core. I did that for many months, but that hurt me for a couple of years, so that's two."

Mick Foley's Most Painful Injury Ever Was A Torn Abdominal Muscle

Mick Foley is well-known for being a hardcore wrestler, and he has recalled the five most painful injuries from his career.

www.wrestlinginc.com

Mick is legendary af and the way he made that haphazard style work with a 350lb body is GOAT tier top 5 for me all time.

 

[Sampras-Bruguera 1993]

Better than these football players and pro wrestlers I guess that are going crazy due to countless concussions. I would rather have a few aches and pain than go completely postal nuts

 

[FrontHeadlock]

Mick is legendary af and the way he made that haphazard style work with a 350lb body is GOAT tier top 5 for me all time.

Mick should have gotten himself in better shape, not only while wrestling but certainly after he retired. Carrying all that extra weight around can't be good for him.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Mick should have gotten himself in better shape, not only while wrestling but certainly after he retired. Carrying all that extra weight around can't be good for him.

Yeah he was actually in good shape as original dark Mankind in 96 and 97. He got too big after for sure. But he still slayed

 

[UnderratedSlam]

Better than these football players and pro wrestlers I guess that are going crazy due to countless concussions. I would rather have a few aches and pain than go completely postal nuts

Well, sure, tennis is practically a cakewalk compared to having your brain damaged in every match and practice session.

 

[DSH]

The way things are going Federer has a smashed knee (and God knows what else), Nadal is well on his way to invalidity, and Djokovic will also probably eventually pay a heavy price for the torture he's been subjecting his body to. Djokovic fans who naively believe that "messiahs" are exempted from such savage fates might be in for great disappointment...

Now, I know that most pro sports (not counting golf which isn't a sport) involve such risks and that often there is a health price to pay in return for raking in millions and fame and glory. This is nothing new but it's not really what I'm referring to. What I am addressing here aren't the "normal" injuries that occur during a player's "prime" (whatever the hell that means) but the problems that arise or are exacerbated as a result of extending careers to absurd lengths. Tennis is an extreme sport to play for two decades on a pro level: it's borderline pathological insanity that allows players to push themselves this hard. They underestimate the frailty of the human body - and how harshly age can punish such recklessness and naivety.

Sure, some athletes can get away with it. But many don't.

Is being the Slam Race winner worth becoming an invalid over?

You only live once and immortal glory comes at a price.
If you believe in the Devil, you will sell your soul to achieve genius, even if it brings you heartbreaking pain in the end, as in the mythical Thomas Mann novel: Doktor Faustus.

 

[Djokovicfan]

Too many Hollywood sci-fi movies, not good for the intellect.

Documentaries bring you closer to reality, but only the real ones. And plenty of reading. Real reading.

A steady influx of sci-fi movies makes one start believing in man's limitless cosmic destiny and opportunities and other Utopian nonsense.

And various superman theories.

Haha. I used to despise star trek so much for its bull$h;+ chinsy fake intellectual nonsense. “Tractor beams”, “fake gravity”. It struck me as being something like 5% science and 95% fiction. I even made fun of some of my mates who liked it.

the ideas i posted above are mostly based on stuff i learned at uni. Dawkins book is great but its also pretty trivial once you quickly get an idea of how big of a MFer DNA is. I feel like the selfish gene is kind of like a great springboard for exploring deeper and deeper nihilisms.

The cool thing about it all is that even in the nihilism of nihilisms, there still seems to be room for God, who i believe in.

 

[Djokovicfan]

So that's why people live to be 250 now...

I personally dont think its reasonable to assume it will always be impossible to relengthen telomeres to stop humans from aging as fast or even altogether. It might actually happen sooner than you would think. But there would be problems to address if we could. For example we would have to strictly ration reproduction, because this planet is not going to support 200 billion humans.
But just for s&g, would any of you guys choose to live forever if you had the option to stop your body from aging?

 

[GoldenSwing]

Yes any of these big three players will deeply regret the damage did they to their bodies making millions of dollars and becoming the all time three greatest players in one of the biggest sports of the world

They will be crippled and whimpering by the hit they hit 50 for all they did.

Short answer: No. Crap topic. They're going to retire stress free and have the money they need to do whatever it takes to fix any issues lol. I've seen basketball players, boxers, and NFL players (all contact sports) all retire comfortably with no health issues. This seems more like a jab at Djokovic and Nadal for adding more trophies.

 

[Djokovicfan]

Yes any of these big three players will deeply regret the damage did they to their bodies making millions of dollars and becoming the all time three greatest players in one of the biggest sports of the world

They will be crippled and whimpering by the hit they hit 50 for all they did.

Short answer: No. Crap topic. They're going to retire stress free and have the money they need to do whatever it takes to fix any issues lol. I've seen basketball players, boxers, and NFL players (all contact sports) all retire comfortably with no health issues. This seems more like a jab at Djokovic and Nadal for adding more trophies.

Pretty much.
Op seems like a woman who works out on an elliptical 1 whole hour per week and thinks she is going to have the final laugh because at age 50 her 300 pound body in her own delusional opinion will not be “worn down and plagued with health issues from too much exercise”.

its so stupid you would think this thread was a troll attempt.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Nadal will probably have knee and hip replacements when he's in his 60s.

Connors has had two hip replacements, so did Boris.

Edberg, Andre and Lendl couldn't play for several years in retirement due to back issues.

Chronic pain is not unusual for retired pro athletes.

 

[MiHo]

I think both Federrer and Djokovic care too much about their well-being post retirement even if they don't win the slam race. On the other hand, Nadal will kill himself if that's what it takes for the slam record, and he proved that this year at FO playing with all types of pain killers and at Wimbledon playing Fritz with serious injury.