Wow! Did you see Nalbandian?

[Alejandro D]

I just can't believe it. He comes from beating Federer and Nadal at 2 consecutives MS and some people are still arguing over his weight. Are you insane? Federer respects Nalbandian. How come so many of the people in this forum don't? As Javier Sergio said, GROW UP!!!!

 

[CAM178]

I couldn't give a rat's ass what Jensen and Cahill say about Nalbandian's weight. Nalbandian, even after having a pie eating contest with Jared from Subway, can still hang with the best in the world. He's never been in great shape, but that's going to change this year with Jaite. Just give the boy time. Keep in mind that he can't exercise 100% right now because of the back injury. I'm amazed he's even playing in the AO. I won't be surprised if Nalbandian does well at the AO. Maybe one of you naysayers can buy him a pizza after the AO. . . ha ha.

 

[WBF]

Jensen and Cahill both said he was fat, way out of shape and that it hurt his performance. These guys are former touring pros who know what they are talking about. The point is not whether you identify with Nalby because you've got a gut too, or if he's a poster boy for the pudgy. The question is: would he play better if he lost the soft gut? Unquestionably, he would. He'd be faster, have more endurance, be quicker, and stronger (the work losing the weight cannot help but build muscle).

Tennis is a sport. It requires speed and quickness and strength as well as hand eye coordination and skill. Nalby is a highly skilled elite athlete who plays at a high level because of his talent. But he wasn't carrying all that extra weight when he ripped Fed and Rafa last year. He isn't getting the most out of his considerable talent by carrying extra weight. And he will get toasted by any top ten player he faces right now. Bet you dollars to donuts!

Exactly.

I mean seriously, this is a factor at every single level of tennis, and becomes one of the deciding factors for 5.0 and better players. At a recent tournament, people changed their shirts often on the courts. Everyone was ridiculously fit. I did not change my shirt on the court My fitness was (imho, my opponent certainly outplayed me, but I suspect fitness was to blame) the deciding factor in my loss.... And I don't even have that big of a gut!

As mentioned earlier, it is important to note that his gut indicates that he probably isn't as fit... if he were training hard, he wouldn't have a gut! Unless he likes to drink and eat more than he should

KK Brings up a good point with the back issue. I would assume this was a contributing factor.

 

[BeHappy]

his metabolism must be incredibly slow!

Maybe he put on the weight over christmas and after the injury couldn't excercise it off?

 

[NamRanger]

Jensen and Cahill both said he was fat, way out of shape and that it hurt his performance. These guys are former touring pros who know what they are talking about. The point is not whether you identify with Nalby because you've got a gut too, or if he's a poster boy for the pudgy. The question is: would he play better if he lost the soft gut? Unquestionably, he would. He'd be faster, have more endurance, be quicker, and stronger (the work losing the weight cannot help but build muscle).

Tennis is a sport. It requires speed and quickness and strength as well as hand eye coordination and skill. Nalby is a highly skilled elite athlete who plays at a high level because of his talent. But he wasn't carrying all that extra weight when he ripped Fed and Rafa last year. He isn't getting the most out of his considerable talent by carrying extra weight. And he will get toasted by any top ten player he faces right now. Bet you dollars to donuts!

They both also ignore the fact that he has a recurring and serious back injury. You cannot strengthen the core of the body with an injury like that, not unless you want to get put out of commission for good. It's either Nalbandian sits out a season, gets the back going again, works out during the entire season to get in shape, or he goes back to tennis and uses his deep level of talent to offset his fitness level.


People tend to forget that Pete Sampras had pretty bad endurance for a professional athlete. His five set record is not very good at all, and long matches tend to wear down on Sampras alot. And look how he turned out.

 

[CAM178]

^^Well said, Nam.

It's easy for some of y'all on here to be armchair quarterbacks, when you don't have to play in 110 degree heat with a sh***y back like Nalby does. I'm going to venture a wild guess that Nalby and his group know a lot more about what they're doing than all of us on here. They were hired for a reason, and nobody knows Nalby's body better than he and his group.

If I were #10 in the world and I had just beat the crap out of everybody a couple of months ago, I could care less if my gut's a little big. Remember, too, that his body type will not allow him to ever look like Rafa. Again, just remember his ranking and recent accomplishments. As I say to anybody: I don't care what anybody looks like, as long as they get the job done. Nalbandian gets the job done, even with a bad back in high heat. That is a soldier, in my book.

 

[Leelord337]

^^^he is not fat, lol

 

[CAM178]

^^Go to bed, Leelord. . . you have classes in a few hours! I'm just poking fun, man. Don't sweat classes, seriously.

 

[Leelord337]

^^^lol, thx. I'm just goin to get 3 hours of sleep, wake up at 3am to watch live AO coverage, then go back to bed. I'm on Aussie time right now,

 

[CAM178]

^^^lol, thx. I'm just goin to get 3 hours of sleep, wake up at 3am to watch live AO coverage, then go back to bed. I'm on Aussie time right now,

LOL. . . good on ya, mate.

 

[baseliner87]

this is all i could find

I'm sure if Nalby can get through to the 2nd week we'll be able to see whether he is *fat* as everyone says as there will be more pics etc

that this look fat to yous!!!! i mean yes his big boned but to me hes well built....i mean look a the third picture....i don't see a beer gut.

 

[tzinc]

There have been numerous fatter athletes and they succeeded no reason to post this UNLESS it's effecting his success.

 

[javier sergio]

You're right, some day I hope to get the forehand and backhand down. Then, if the stars align, I'll hit a volley before I die. Sweet! Seriously, this thread is about an extremely talented guy who looks like he might be ill prepared for top level play. This is not about mocking some guy who's had a few too many whatevers. It's about a guy who apprears to be squandering his deep talent at the moment. Again, looks can be deceiving and I'll admit that I may be wrong on this one. One thing is for sure, I've never heard anyone say that they need to carry extra fat to play better tennis, especially a top level pro.

You are right about carrying "extra weight" not being necessary but he seems to be he likes that way. On top of that he proved that with the little disadvantage of carrying extra weight is giving a hard time to the fittest guys.

 

[Grimjack]

First, he's not fat. He may have more body fat than the average ATP'er, but he'd still be a stone lock for top 1% of fittest people on the planet.

Second, do you wunderkinds know what fat IS? It's stored energy. The reasons fat has a bad name are, of course, many. Yes, there's a strong correlation between body fat and lack of fitness -- but by no means an absolute correlation. And yeah, fat is in many senses "dead weight," meaning you must have extra reserve strength to move it around at the same speed, or for the same duration.

Now, that said, look at the guy's freaking legs. They're made of granite. He obviously HAS more strength down there than the average ATP'er. So he's having no trouble moving a little extra weight around.

Is he in good cardio/endurance shape? Obviously. The guy, if anything, is FAMOUS for routinely getting into longer-than-expected matches -- and wins more than his fair share of them.

So, he's got the strength to move the weight around well enough to be an athletic threat against any player. Furthermore, he's got the wind to stay tough for 5 sets, over and over again. So with those things in hand, what does body fat do for him? It helps him. Over the course of a match, nobody is going to burn so much fuel so fast that fat reserves begin to deplete for energy. But over the course of two weeks? You can bet they will. At the end of two weeks of gruelling 4 and 5 setters, all else being equal, would you rather have the body of Nalbandian or Monfils?

The answer ought to be Nalbandian. But of course, it isn't for most. Because in the modern society, looking good is more important. When Fed shows up with a little belly, or Nalbandian shows up a little stocky, they get #### for it. Which is absurd. Monfils is built to get from point A to point B faster. Nalbandian is built to get from point A to point B "fast enough", fifty-thousand times over the course of two weeks. Monfils has a better body than Nalbandian for track & Field. Nalbandian has a better body for tennis.

Combine his physique with his patience and his ability to hit textbook groundies all day, and Nalbandian has the perfect build for his style of tennis. There's a reason he's been a top-flight player for years without the raw talent or weapons most of the top guys possess.

 

[NamRanger]

First, he's not fat. He may have more body fat than the average ATP'er, but he'd still be a stone lock for top 1% of fittest people on the planet.

Second, do you wunderkinds know what fat IS? It's stored energy. The reasons fat has a bad name are, of course, many. Yes, there's a strong correlation between body fat and lack of fitness -- but by no means an absolute correlation. And yeah, fat is in many senses "dead weight," meaning you must have extra reserve strength to move it around at the same speed, or for the same duration.

Now, that said, look at the guy's freaking legs. They're made of granite. He obviously HAS more strength down there than the average ATP'er. So he's having no trouble moving a little extra weight around.

Is he in good cardio/endurance shape? Obviously. The guy, if anything, is FAMOUS for routinely getting into longer-than-expected matches -- and wins more than his fair share of them.

So, he's got the strength to move the weight around well enough to be an athletic threat against any player. Furthermore, he's got the wind to stay tough for 5 sets, over and over again. So with those things in hand, what does body fat do for him? It helps him. Over the course of a match, nobody is going to burn so much fuel so fast that fat reserves begin to deplete for energy. But over the course of two weeks? You can bet they will. At the end of two weeks of gruelling 4 and 5 setters, all else being equal, would you rather have the body of Nalbandian or Monfils?

The answer ought to be Nalbandian. But of course, it isn't for most. Because in the modern society, looking good is more important. When Fed shows up with a little belly, or Nalbandian shows up a little stocky, they get #### for it. Which is absurd. Monfils is built to get from point A to point B faster. Nalbandian is built to get from point A to point B "fast enough", fifty-thousand times over the course of two weeks. Monfils has a better body than Nalbandian for track & Field. Nalbandian has a better body for tennis.

Combine his physique with his patience and his ability to hit textbook groundies all day, and Nalbandian has the perfect build for his style of tennis. There's a reason he's been a top-flight player for years without the raw talent or weapons most of the top guys possess.

I agree except the very last part, he has plenty of weapons and a whole lot of raw talent.

 

[CAM178]

There's a reason he's been a top-flight player for years without the raw talent or weapons most of the top guys possess.

Great post except for this part. Nalbandian has more talent than any of the top guys, IMO. He just can't put it together consistently. I think that's going to change now with Jaite in his corner. His grasp of court geometry and point construction are absolutely frightening. Look no further than Gasquet's comment that he had never been beaten that badly before (his loss to Nalby at AMS Paris '07).

 

[need2bfit]

First, he's not fat. He may have more body fat than the average ATP'er, but he'd still be a stone lock for top 1% of fittest people on the planet.

Second, do you wunderkinds know what fat IS? It's stored energy. The reasons fat has a bad name are, of course, many. Yes, there's a strong correlation between body fat and lack of fitness -- but by no means an absolute correlation. And yeah, fat is in many senses "dead weight," meaning you must have extra reserve strength to move it around at the same speed, or for the same duration.

Now, that said, look at the guy's freaking legs. They're made of granite. He obviously HAS more strength down there than the average ATP'er. So he's having no trouble moving a little extra weight around.

Is he in good cardio/endurance shape? Obviously. The guy, if anything, is FAMOUS for routinely getting into longer-than-expected matches -- and wins more than his fair share of them.

So, he's got the strength to move the weight around well enough to be an athletic threat against any player. Furthermore, he's got the wind to stay tough for 5 sets, over and over again. So with those things in hand, what does body fat do for him? It helps him. Over the course of a match, nobody is going to burn so much fuel so fast that fat reserves begin to deplete for energy. But over the course of two weeks? You can bet they will. At the end of two weeks of gruelling 4 and 5 setters, all else being equal, would you rather have the body of Nalbandian or Monfils?

The answer ought to be Nalbandian. But of course, it isn't for most. Because in the modern society, looking good is more important. When Fed shows up with a little belly, or Nalbandian shows up a little stocky, they get #### for it. Which is absurd. Monfils is built to get from point A to point B faster. Nalbandian is built to get from point A to point B "fast enough", fifty-thousand times over the course of two weeks. Monfils has a better body than Nalbandian for track & Field. Nalbandian has a better body for tennis.

Combine his physique with his patience and his ability to hit textbook groundies all day, and Nalbandian has the perfect build for his style of tennis. There's a reason he's been a top-flight player for years without the raw talent or weapons most of the top guys possess.

Well thought out but I disagree with the fitness/fat analysis you did. Nobody here doubts his athletic ability or his skill in tennis. He's exceptional in both regards. The question is more whether the extra weight, which he's clearly carrying, will help him or hinder him. In that sense, I feel that you are wrong. Extra body fat does not help him in any way during a match. The longer burn theory for fat is simply not true. If your hypothesis were true, I think we'd see more guys naturally selected out of the general population that have his body type on the pro tour. Fact is, most are much leaner than him. I think he's one of the best players on the pro tour and he truly does have the raw talent and weapons to be at or near the top, even if it's the twilight of his career, but imagine what he'd be like if he was a bit more trim. By the way, the top 1% of the planets population would put him in a group of approximately 66 million. I would agree with you on that point.

 

[NamRanger]

Well thought out but I disagree with the fitness/fat analysis you did. Nobody here doubts his athletic ability or his skill in tennis. He's exceptional in both regards. The question is more whether the extra weight, which he's clearly carrying, will help him or hinder him. In that sense, I feel that you are wrong. Extra body fat does not help him in any way during a match. The longer burn theory for fat is simply not true. If your hypothesis were true, I think we'd see more guys naturally selected out of the general population that have his body type on the pro tour. Fact is, most are much leaner than him. I think he's one of the best players on the pro tour and he truly does have the raw talent and weapons to be at or near the top, even if it's the twilight of his career, but imagine what he'd be like if he was a bit more trim. By the way, the top 1% of the planets population would put him in a group of approximately 66 million. I would agree with you on that point.

He'll get better as the tournament goes on. He will burn fat over the span of 2 weeks. Serena did the same thing last AO, it appeared that she looked MUCH thinner in the final then she did in her first round match.

 

[need2bfit]

He'll get better as the tournament goes on. He will burn fat over the span of 2 weeks. Serena did the same thing last AO, it appeared that she looked MUCH thinner in the final then she did in her first round match.

I'll bet you're right about that. He's a lot of fun to watch regardless of the above debate. Huge talent and I hope he does well.

 

[Richie Rich]

He'll get better as the tournament goes on. He will burn fat over the span of 2 weeks. Serena did the same thing last AO, it appeared that she looked MUCH thinner in the final then she did in her first round match.

i think you need to visit an optometrist. or get your tv checked and calibrated

 

[kingdaddy41788]

I am sick of people ripping other people based on their body size it's as bad as ripping people based on their skin colour GROW UP!!!

No, people let themselves get fat (aside from a few with medical conditions). People don't decide they're skin color. That doesn't make it nice, but it does make it very different.

 

[Loco4Tennis]

didnt you see Feds belly starting to show underneath the black shirt too... but after about a week of play....that will melt away once again

this happened to Fed last year at the Aussie Open too.... He wore a bigger shirt but you could tell he was carrying a bit of a belly, but after a week it was gone.... man i wish I had those skillz

the belly is prob cuz he takes some time off during the Holidays

if what you said was true, then its perfect for this thread, the #1 player in the world is paking some poundage and his game still the same,
good catch

 

[Coaching]

Hey, a lemon that can hit a bad *** backhand..I want to be a lemon too.

 

[CAM178]

i think you need to visit an optometrist. or get your tv checked and calibrated

I agree with Nam about Nalbandian, but not Serena. She'll always be large and in charge. Or as I like to call Serena: Rasputia (from the movie "Norbit"). I can just hear Serena walk into the locker room. . 'How YOU der?!!'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R6oOoe251s

 

[NamRanger]

i think you need to visit an optometrist. or get your tv checked and calibrated

so you're saying Serena wasn't slightly thinner and moving better in the final when she demolished Sharapova then when she nearly lost in the first round?

 

[t-swede]

nalbandians fitness !

whatever you people say about nalbandian so called fat the fact is that he would bagel 99.9% with a walmart racket and you were about 6% body fat !

remember that tennis is a game of skills and btw he beat the worlds GREATEST PLAYER EVER TWICE (FEDERER)

I REST MY CASE

the swede

 

[NamRanger]

whatever you people say about nalbandian so called fat the fact is that he would bagel 99.9% with a walmart racket and you were about 6% body fat !

remember that tennis is a game of skills and btw he beat the worlds GREATEST PLAYER EVER TWICE (FEDERER)

I REST MY CASE

the swede

I know, everyone here thinks they can crank 130 mph serves right on the T and in the corner, and hit 100 mph forehands and 80 mph backhands. Nalbandian could probably beat you with a wooden racquet let alone a walmart racquet.

 

[Leelord337]

If he's a lemon when wearing a yellow shirt, I must be an orange when wearing an orange shirt.

 

[Richie Rich]

so you're saying Serena wasn't slightly thinner and moving better in the final when she demolished Sharapova then when she nearly lost in the first round?

yes..........

 

[Richie Rich]

whatever you people say about nalbandian so called fat the fact is that he would bagel 99.9% with a walmart racket and you were about 6% body fat !

remember that tennis is a game of skills and btw he beat the worlds GREATEST PLAYER EVER TWICE (FEDERER)

I REST MY CASE

the swede

I know, everyone here thinks they can crank 130 mph serves right on the T and in the corner, and hit 100 mph forehands and 80 mph backhands. Nalbandian could probably beat you with a wooden racquet let alone a walmart racquet.

nalbandian could bagel me with a frying pan. i've never doubted or questioned his talent. however, he's still carrying an extra 10kg at least. he seems content but it just seems like a shame that someone so talented doesn't want to put in the extra workouts to be in top shape physically

 

[Tempest344]

you decide!

 

[Andres]

nalbandian could bagel me with a frying pan. i've never doubted or questioned his talent. however, he's still carrying an extra 10kg at least. he seems content but it just seems like a shame that someone so talented doesn't want to put in the extra workouts to be in top shape physically

10 kg!? Are you nuts!?
If he's carrying any extra weight, it's probably not even 8 or 9 lbs! But 22 lbs!?

 

[Morrissey]

giant Lemon? lol he's gonna kick your ass if he sees you.

I think of that song from U2. Leeeemooooon, he wore leeeemooon! Oh well, I guess we know why he skipped Shanghai, Fat Dave is back.

 

[OrangeOne]

If he's a lemon when wearing a yellow shirt, I must be an orange when wearing an orange shirt.

I'm sorry... were you looking for me?

PS. There's no excuse for a pro athlete to have a gut. None. If Nalby can play pro-tennis, there's plenty of low(er) impact exercise that his body can handle, and more importantly, he could also look more into nutrition, which is mostly the root cause of high fat levels anyways...

Next Q....

 

[Richie Rich]

10 kg!? Are you nuts!?
If he's carrying any extra weight, it's probably not even 8 or 9 lbs! But 22 lbs!?

yes, 10kg. at least. it's not all around his belly.

 

[tennisadd1ct]

He's moving fine...I just saw a video of him playing

 

[tennisadd1ct]

Wow the images don't work....

 

[jmverdugo]

Ok, Nalby is one of my favorites players and i posted in this thread that maybe was the shirt, but i just saw him playing and yes, definitely, he is fatter than he was in November, hope it doesnt affect his game to much ... but i have to say that Fed have a gut too, not so obvius but is there, so everybody is carring some xmas bagage.

uhmm, maybe they have that extra fat to be use by the body as fuel in long matches, would that be possible?

 

[babySuri]

Ok, Nalby is one of my favorites players and i posted in this thread that maybe was the shirt, but i just saw him playing and yes, definitely, he is fatter than he was in November, hope it doesnt affect his game to much ... but i have to say that Fed have a gut too, not so obvius but is there, so everybody is carring some xmas bagage.

uhmm, maybe they have that extra fat to be use by the body as fuel in long matches, would that be possible?

people are not camels... they're just fat.

 

[Carla]

Whoever wrote:

Federer is the Yankees, Nadal the Red Sox.

I must say to you that Nadal is the New York Yankees and Federer is the Red Sox.

LOL

 

[Carla]

I agree that body size is no ones business and if he pleased with himself as a person and tennis player, that is all that matters to me.

Bias is bias.

 

[jmverdugo]

I agree that body size is no ones business and if he pleased with himself as a person and tennis player, that is all that matters to me.

Bias is bias.

I agree with you, but then what are we going to write if not about other people bussines? , this forum would not even exist!!

 

[Morrissey]

The same fat Dave that beat Federer and mauled Nadal! It's too bad ole fat Dave isn't on Nadal's side of the draw. I was looking forward to another Nadal beatdown.

Yeah but that Nalby was slimmer and in shape. Also it was indoors, let's see him play like that ALL YEAR long like Fed and Nadal do on a regular basis. But Dave gained weight in the off season. In Madrid and Paris he didn't have a bulge in his belly like he does now. Take that kiddo.

 

[Morrissey]

Whoever wrote:

Federer is the Yankees, Nadal the Red Sox.

I must say to you that Nadal is the New York Yankees and Federer is the Red Sox.

LOL

How so? The Yankees have 27 World Series while the Sox have always been the underdog and have 6 World Series titles. I think that's very accurate, learn some baseball before you laugh.

 

[Fedace]

It is ALL muscles in that belly of his.

 

[Feña14]

I didn't notice him being too much fatter than before but at the end of the match I did notice his breasts were a little more defined than before lol, I guess that could indicate he put a bit of weight on over the off season.

I'm sure he'll be fit as a fiddle though once he gets stuck into 2008.

 

[racingdad23]

uh...oh. Looks like Barry Bond's ex-trainer has found some new work

Dont take it seriously...its just a joke guys.

 

[Carla]

Morrissey,

I have been a NYY fan for 53 years and a baseball across the board.

Nadal is the NYY to me because I love him best and the NYY the best.

No need to be so very rude. I love not hate.

 

[Morrissey]

Morrissey,

I have been a NYY fan for 53 years and a baseball across the board.

Nadal is the NYY to me because I love him best and the NYY the best.

No need to be so very rude. I love not hate.

Oh ok, I didn't know if you were a Nadal hater. I have to keep my guard up. I can't make the relation between the Yanks who win all the time with Nadal who doesn't win all the time like Fed. But I agree with you on half, Nadal is the best. The Yanks, umm. I best not say anything in here and I'm from New York. But many people here hate the Yanks. Especially Jeter and ARod.

 

[Morrissey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that doesn't change the fact that Nalbandian kicked Nadal's paella eating *** all over the place. By the way, when was the last time Nadal won a hardcourt title?

In the Spring vs Djokovic in Indian Wells. When was the last time Nalby won a Grand Slam? Ooops!