How good was everyone at Tennis on here?

I played for my local club for 7 years but gave up last year. What standard did or do you play at, or are you just an armchair fan?

I wonder how the average club player could cope with a return of serve say from a Roddick, Murray or Del Potro!

I would struggle to se the ball travelling at around 130mph +

I was a 5.0 or a rated amateur just 18 months ago just too busy to get out with my travel schedule. But still good just a bit rusty though.

I have been playing tennis for 5 years now. Being a recreational player, my play consists of the following:
1. An above average first-serve, and an average second-serve(kick-serve). Never got to measure them, but I count myself as a fairly decent server(sounds funny though I think this should have been the meaning of that word).
2. I am a base-liner with a decent fore-hand.
3. My back-hand is weaker wing. I had a good enough back-hand drive once upon a time. Of late, I tried to add back-hand slice to my game and that ruined my back-hand drive, as I am trying to slice every back-hand.

My favorite shot is down-line approach shot on the fore-hand.

And bread and butter shot is the cross-court fore-hand which I can position to my opponent's extreme corner during any time of the rally.

My dad plays tennis for our local club so I can hold my own in a recreational game with my ground strokes. My serve is poor at best I would say, unless I have a good hour to warm up and then it may improve to average! My backhand is my best shot but again thats not sayig much

Plumps up cushions on armchair.

Joins Woofie

I played tennis for my school but other things (like boys)
captured my imagination

Does Table Tennis count :huh: :run2:

ooooh yith Haddie !!!

We are all super athletic and pliable here

COUGH

Played badly when I was much younger. Could only serve underarm as well!

That armchair is filling up - think we need a sofa

I'm 98 and still the best tennis player on earth.

I didn't bother with the ATP; not enough of a challenge.

"I'm 98 and still the best tennis player on earth."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And is there anybody better than you up there on Pluto?

Stealth Maestro Agro Love wrote:I'm 98 and still the best tennis player on earth.

I didn't bother with the ATP; not enough of a challenge.

I'm only 93 and when SMAL kicks the bucket I'll be the best tennis player on earth.

I have always played amateur level. My nephew is getting coaching at the moment and is a trusty leftie!!

I tend to have matches with friends and tennis fans every week. I enjoy being a spectator more to be honest. I try to catch all the events on TV or online.

I can't recall ever being good though

Stopped a while back - work and stuff - but when I played I was decent club standard, really fast serve and an excellent single-handed backhand (though nobody hit high topspin bouncers to the ad court all day long........). Strong but erratic forehand and dodgy volleys.

I was incredibly fit back then and loved singles, and 5 setters.

You wouldnt happen to come from Basel BB? ;-)

lydian wrote:You wouldnt happen to come from Basel BB? ;-)

Jonathan Ross once has me in stitches on his Radio 2 Saturday show because he was telling his producer/sidekick Andy that he was sorry Fed had lost the 2008 final "because we play so similarly!".

I was only club, but seriously I had a serve like a demon -I played a County player once and after one ace he told me that it would have aced a professional - and my single handed backhand was technically very correct (I learned it from a coach) whereas my forehand was a mess because it was what I developed.

A couple of guys at my club play amateur tournaments around the country and are both around the No. 400 mark in the country.
I can't match them at singles, but we're not too far apart at doubles- they're Div 4, I'm Div 5. The main difference is that they both have much much better first serves than me, but I volley better than both.

Thing I always found, being extremely ordinary, is that now and then I would be cursed by playing really rather well. The problem was that this would then set my expectation and leave me bitterly frustrated at how garbage my game would revert to.

I play a lot but I wouldn't call myself very good. I did have my service speed measured though once which was faster than I thought.

Unfortunately I try and hit safe and keep a rally going. Shame as I can flatten it out and hit some good shots but I never have the bottle to go for it. I like to serve and volley sometimes even though it's a dying art.

the 606v2 golf lot have meet ups to play, maybe this could happen for the tennis lot one day maybe? I can't drive yet but would be up for that when I can.

i played til i was 16 was very good just couldn't serve but then doughnuts and the tv just seemed more appealing.....

bogbrush wrote:Thing I always found, being extremely ordinary, is that now and then I would be cursed by playing really rather well. The problem was that this would then set my expectation and leave me bitterly frustrated at how garbage my game would revert to.

Too right, there have been a number of times where I've thought "If only I could play like that all the time". And probably an equal number where I've thought "Thank God* I don't play like that all the time."

* Other deities are available, or none at all.

I'll put the words of Georges Deniau (Guy Forget coach) when he saw me play 25 years ago: "He (referring to me) doesn't know how to play but he has good hands".

lol BB.
I was pretty decent "County" standard, played some tournaments at La Manga. Volkl 20mm beam Classic10 Pro racquets
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=326298 (the first yellow ones in the pics) with gut/kevlar combo.
Have topspin SHBH, flatish 1st serve, kick serve serve which changed direction on bounce ("kind" of Edberg-ish - actually he had best ever kick serve for me, he could make it rear like a mule over people's heads even on fast grass!). Semi-western grips, FH played with open stance. As learnt on artificial grass courts and played indoors a fair bit I was more a fast court player really.

I was fairly rudey poo (love it, beat the censor to it!) but very enthusiastic, and my serve was accurate (but tres pathetic) and I had an ok double-handed backhand down the line. Other than that, very hit and miss and while I could volley well in lessons with someone feeding me the ball, lost technique and everything trying to replicate that in a match. In short, I was not anyone's favourite doubles partner if they had a competitive nature.

Along with singing, it is the one thing I would love to have been able to excel at, but still had enormous fun hitting with friends and being an armchair expert!

Gonzini wrote:I play a lot but I wouldn't call myself very good.
the 606v2 golf lot have meet ups to play, maybe this could happen for the tennis lot one day maybe? I can't drive yet but would be up for that when I can.

I am in but I'll do the umpire job then! I wouldn't enjoy to much bagelling mercilessly my 606 mates

Gonzini wrote:I play a lot but I wouldn't call myself very good. I did have my service speed measured though once which was faster than I thought.

Unfortunately I try and hit safe and keep a rally going. Shame as I can flatten it out and hit some good shots but I never have the bottle to go for it. I like to serve and volley sometimes even though it's a dying art.

the 606v2 golf lot have meet ups to play, maybe this could happen for the tennis lot one day maybe? I can't drive yet but would be up for that when I can.

I would be game if people here would fancy a mini tournament? The 606V2 Championships?

I thought and I thought what the most apt description of my "level"would be..... It is not right that I should blow my own trumpet, soI'll put it this way : I'm yet to peak

legendkillar wrote:

Gonzini wrote:I play a lot but I wouldn't call myself very good. I did have my service speed measured though once which was faster than I thought.

Unfortunately I try and hit safe and keep a rally going. Shame as I can flatten it out and hit some good shots but I never have the bottle to go for it. I like to serve and volley sometimes even though it's a dying art.

the 606v2 golf lot have meet ups to play, maybe this could happen for the tennis lot one day maybe? I can't drive yet but would be up for that when I can.

I would be game if people here would fancy a mini tournament? The 606V2 Championships?

I'll be the ump

There was a poster in the old 606 who stopped posting there 4 or 5 years ago. Everything he said was very interesting and insightful. I naturally listened to him cause I knew he knew. I said later that his most impressive performance was to take a set off Yanick Noah in New York 10 years after Yanick had retired.

MaratSafin of old 606 was also very interesting when talking about tennis...and a good caoch working in my neighbourhood apparently.

He actually didn't stop posting Tenez - If he is the Indian Fellow
I remember he was banned for extremely pornographic suggestions
to the Female posters .

yummymummy wrote:He actually didn't stop posting Tenez - If he is the Indian Fellow
I remember he was banned for extremely pornographic suggestions
to the Female posters .

Certainly not him. A very decent poster> What are you on about?

Anyway, I just won today the +45 of my club for the 2nd year in a row....playing terribly though. Awful conds.

Tenez wrote:Anyway, I just won today the +45 of my club for the 2nd year in a row....playing terribly though. Awful conds.

Llolobucks !

Tenez has a either a very short memory or he wasn;t around
when then the Man from India posted - and believe me YES was his
mantra

sportslover wrote:I wonder how the average club player could cope with a return of serve say from a Roddick, Murray or Del Potro!

I would struggle to se the ball travelling at around 130mph +

Well here's member of the public trying to return Roddick's serve for $1,000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwtPu4Ej5Hg