Discussion Thread

[Haddie-nuff]

This is an interesting article that requires no preamble from me but I thought it interesting enough to bring to your attention if you have not already seen it. It raises some interesting points which may well be worthy of discussion.


http://www.tennis.com/news/2012/10/smaller-ball/39748/

[lags72]

Interesting, well written-article, and one that reflects so much of what many posters here have been saying for a good while.

In essence the author's assessment can be distilled into one key sentence, which is clearly borne out by overall match results during the past four years (or "these days" as per the article) - a period in which the identities of 'the big four' have remained unchanged, with only periodic switches in their respective order of placings

"Speed, defense, flexibility, versatility, consistency: Those are the things that, rather than raw power, win the most important tennis matches these days, and it’s no accident that they're all strengths of the Top 4"

[carrieg4]

Really enjoyed this article, thanks for posting Haddie-nuff.

[Haddie-nuff]

Really enjoyed this article, thanks for posting Haddie-nuff.

My pleasure I enjoyed it too

[Josiah Maiestas]

Stalled tennis? My heart bleeds. Just learn how to rally, don't waste your efforts hitting 140 mph serves, bad for your shoulder longevity. Raonic will never win slams if his ground game remains trapped in mediocrity, technique > power. Although I would rather see power win over spin, spin is the anti tennis more than serving power.

[time please]

It is a really interesting article Haddie, thanks for sharing

I think the following paragraph is interesting because it shows how maybe the slower courts are helping the taller players because they have time to reach the ball and it is their wingspan rather than this generation of very tall players having naturally superior flexibility or atheleticism than their super long predecessors:

In the cases of Cilic and del Potro, it wasn’t their serves that were helped by their size, but their wingspan. Cilic in particular benefited from this on his return; he was one of the few players I had ever seen who could keep two hands on his backhand even when the server stretched him wide to that side.

[Haddie-nuff]

Your welcome.... I cant say that until it was brought to my attention in this article it was something I had been consciously aware of but yes it is now becoming more noticeable how the game seems to favour the taller players. The point being that players like Nishikori and Ferrer are more noticeable for their lack of height.
Albeit I think they are for the most part faster around the court.
I wonder how Rod Laver would have coped with Isner say ??

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