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Tennis - General Discussion

Looks like the year of DelPo will begin on February 15th at the Delray Beach tournament.
I wonder how long he'll last this year before being sidelined for the rest of the year.
1 month? 2 months? 1 week?
 

d+pad

Member
Looks like the year of DelPo will begin on February 15th at the Delray Beach tournament.
I wonder how long he'll last this year before being sidelined for the rest of the year.
1 month? 2 months? 1 week?

I'm giving him three tournaments, although I truly hope I'm wrong...
 

MIMIC

Banned
So it took a few years, but I finally learned how to hit a proper one-handed backhand, lol

Although it may have looked like I was hitting a normal backhand, I definitely wasn't. I already posted pics of my BH grip, in which I had my thumb parallel with the racquet (pointing up instead of down).

So I was bored yesterday and just decided to hit the wall. And out of sheer curiosity, I tried to see if I could hit a few backhands with a "normal" grip. And after a few tries, I could! It felt weird hitting a normal BH without holding it in the weird way I do (muscle memory). But I immediately saw the advantages. It's a HELLUVA lot easier going from a BH to a FH -- especially for volleys. When I used to hit volleys, I would heavily rely on my reaction time because it takes a half-second longer for me to switch from a FH grip to a BH (and vice versa).

And my BH became even stronger; I even broke my strings hitting the BH (thank God I brought another racquet). The only time I've ever broken my strings was either after hitting the serve, or a FH. I've never broken strings after hitting a BH. I'd say that I doubled or tripled the power off of that wing.

It also makes proper footwork feel more natural.

The one sucky thing: I have to completely relearn how to hit a BH slice. Well, maybe not completely, but going for a slice without the way I used to felt completely unnatural, and it didn't have the same bite. But practice makes perfect, I guess. I only tried to hit a slice just a couple of times, so I really didn't do much work with it....I mostly just hit backhands.

It feels good. Another thing I noticed was that it takes WAY less effort to his a normal backhand (because of how I used to configure my fingers). So being pinned on the BH side won't feel like a chore anymore.

Can't wait to see how this goes in an actual match. I might play one tomorrow.
 

Milchmann

Member
Oti your girl ain't shit.

3-0 H2H for Baelinda.
never lost a set to her.

I was at the tie.

Kerber was exhausted and tired today. Bencic was impressive, confident and already more mature than most older players. But she really has to work on her return. Even Zombie Angie in the second set could serve well against her.

Hingis in doubles is great to watch. Her court awareness and shot selection are excellent and she bullied Grönefeld (who was awful particularly for a doubles-only player and put every volley in the net) relentlessly today.

Well deserved win for the Swiss. They are serious contenders for the Fed Cup title.
 

oti

Banned
Oti your girl ain't shit.

3-0 H2H for Baelinda.
never lost a set to her.

Yo you dissin me from the side like whaaaat that's rude.

Didn't watch the Kerber-Bencic match. Watched the doubles though and maaaan did Hingis own that court. The Germans played badly and didn't deserve to win. Hingis gets on the ball, Switzerland points. Also Petkovic-Grönefeld? Come on. Both of them were very nervous and their volleys terrible.
 

Milchmann

Member
Didn't watch the Kerber-Bencic match. Watched the doubles though and maaaan did Hingis own that court. The Germans played badly and didn't deserve to win. Hingis gets on the ball, Switzerland points. Also Petkovic-Grönefeld? Come on. Both of them were very nervous and their volleys terrible.

Petkovic was pretty good in the doubles. Well, at least leagues better than Grönefeld.

I hope USA and Germany play eachother in the relegation match

Serena and Venus won't play, right?
 

Milchmann

Member
Revealed: tennis umpires secretly banned over gambling scam

• Umpires allegedly conspired with betting syndicates to cheat odds
• Guardian investigation forces tennis authorities to make bans public
• Questions over a $70m data deal inadvertently facilitating corruption

Two international tennis umpires have been secretly banned, while four others face being thrown out of the sport for life on charges of serious corruption, the Guardian can reveal.

[...]

How the scam worked

• Tennis umpires at low-level professional events often input scores manually on to an IBM tablet. The scores are thereby transmitted to the ITF’s data partner, Sportradar. Bookmakers access this scoring data from Sportradar to service their in-play, or live betting markets, where bets are placed and often cashed out while the game is in progress.

• The four umpires who have been suspended are alleged to have deliberately delayed the inputting of these scores, thereby giving gamblers, some of whom may have been present at courtside, 30 seconds to a minute of advance warning before the betting odds moved in response to the updated score. In some cases, the umpires were texting the score directly to gamblers before it had been officially updated.

• Gamblers could therefore manipulate and take advantage of minor shifts in the in-play market through knowing the scores in advance of the odds shifting to reflect them.
 
5966141_3_l.jpg


Nice little scam there.
 
Bencic enters the top 10

Is she guaranteed to be in the top 10 Monday? She's #11 right now and in the final, but Venus is #12 and is in the final at Kaohsiung. If Venus wins her final and Bencic loses her's, is Bencic still top 10? I'm bad at math

Also, Nadal looking very pedestrian on clay right now. lost the first set to Theim.
 
She's already 9th ahead of Suarez Navarro and Safarova. Venus can't catch her this week, and if she wins the final she'll rise to 7th over Kvitova and Pennetta (2 points behind Sharapova).
 

oti

Banned
Bencic enters the top 10

It was kinda beautiful seeing her play doubles with Hingis against Germany. Switzerland's past and biggest potential for a bright future playing together and all. Let's hope she stays healthy and keeps her head in the game.
 

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
I was at Rotterdam today, Klizan was acting a fool the whole time. Can't believe he won too. Mahut is a damn beast tho, played crazy good doubles with Pospisil right after his 3 set loss, first time seeing Pospisil live

Also hit 199 kph at the serving test thingy AGAIN this year. Still can't hit 200, shit's rigged I tell you, should've brought my own racquet -_-'

So it took a few years, but I finally learned how to hit a proper one-handed backhand, lol

Although it may have looked like I was hitting a normal backhand, I definitely wasn't. I already posted pics of my BH grip, in which I had my thumb parallel with the racquet (pointing up instead of down).

So I was bored yesterday and just decided to hit the wall. And out of sheer curiosity, I tried to see if I could hit a few backhands with a "normal" grip. And after a few tries, I could! It felt weird hitting a normal BH without holding it in the weird way I do (muscle memory). But I immediately saw the advantages. It's a HELLUVA lot easier going from a BH to a FH -- especially for volleys. When I used to hit volleys, I would heavily rely on my reaction time because it takes a half-second longer for me to switch from a FH grip to a BH (and vice versa).

And my BH became even stronger; I even broke my strings hitting the BH (thank God I brought another racquet). The only time I've ever broken my strings was either after hitting the serve, or a FH. I've never broken strings after hitting a BH. I'd say that I doubled or tripled the power off of that wing.

It also makes proper footwork feel more natural.

The one sucky thing: I have to completely relearn how to hit a BH slice. Well, maybe not completely, but going for a slice without the way I used to felt completely unnatural, and it didn't have the same bite. But practice makes perfect, I guess. I only tried to hit a slice just a couple of times, so I really didn't do much work with it....I mostly just hit backhands.

It feels good. Another thing I noticed was that it takes WAY less effort to his a normal backhand (because of how I used to configure my fingers). So being pinned on the BH side won't feel like a chore anymore.

Can't wait to see how this goes in an actual match. I might play one tomorrow.
That sounds good man, I use 3 different type of backhand grips as well, train through them and at some point you'll be using whichever one you want whenever you feel the need naturally. Against a wall switching grips might not be good because of the shorter reaction time that's needed but in a match it's easy (unless receiving a service).

Two questions which I always wonder of people doing a OHBH , do you use much (if any) wrist? And do you keep the racket parallel to the ground or more hanging downwards when making contact with the ball?
 
Taylor Fritz made his first ATP final today defeating Ricardo Berankis.
He's this years future of American tennis.
2015: Tiafoe
2014: Donaldson
2013: Sock
2012: Harrison
2008; Donald Young


I'll fill in the gaps later.
However, Fritz is the youngest American to make an ATP final since Michael Chang in 1988 so that's something encouraging
 
He's this years future of American tennis.
2015: Tiafoe
2014: Donaldson
2013: Sock
2012: Harrison
2008; Donald Young


I'll fill in the gaps later.
However, Fritz is the youngest American to make an ATP final since Michael Chang in 1988 so that's something encouraging
Yeah, Donaldson has plateaued. He lost in the qualies of Delray Beadh today. Same with Rublev.

Delpo this weeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
It would be insane if Fritz could upset Nishikori in the finals tomorrow.

edit: Venus wins Taiwan. She's in elite company among players who have won a WTA event at age 35+
 
Wozniaki is wearing just body paint in the 2016 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. I took a picture of the TV screen when they showed the preview so the quality is low but since it's body paint I'll put it in spoilers just to be safe.
25012508165_51ba3a75e4_b.jpg

I think the artist was going for a lingerie look with the paint. Something seems off about it but maybe it will look better in print.
 

MIMIC

Banned
That sounds good man, I use 3 different type of backhand grips as well, train through them and at some point you'll be using whichever one you want whenever you feel the need naturally. Against a wall switching grips might not be good because of the shorter reaction time that's needed but in a match it's easy (unless receiving a service).

Interesting. Didn't know people used multiple grips in a match.

I might use my old grip for BH slices. I played 2 matches since changing my grip, and my BH slice SUUUUUCCCCKKKKSSS. It is wayyyyyy too floaty and really kills me on the return. It lands super short and just sits up. Whereas with my old BH slice, it really bites into the court and has massive amount of spin. It kills a lot of people. When it lands short, it barely bounces and a lot of people either misjudge it or completely mishit it. I miss that, lol

As for the BHs, I managed to hit 4 BH winners today, and 2 of them were under pressure CC passing shots. It was fucking incredible! So I think I'm doing pretty good on that front.

Two questions which I always wonder of people doing a OHBH , do you use much (if any) wrist? And do you keep the racket parallel to the ground or more hanging downwards when making contact with the ball?

With my old grip, I barely used any wrist; mostly forearm. But I was tinkering with some things, and I noticed that when I use more wrist, I can hit the ball a lot cleaner and with more accuracy. I'm going to try it out to see if I can work with that.

As for the position of the racquet, here's a GIF I made of me hitting the wall (old grip):

0lR80XM.gif


Looks like I have it hanging downward, but I guess it depends on WHEN you make contact. I haven't filmed myself with my new grip, but I feel like I'm taking it a bit earlier where it's more parallel with the ground. That's another improvement I get to make with this new grip. I felt very limited with my old grip

You're watching a re-run. See a few posts above

Fuuuuuuuuuuuu........

Guess I might as well keep myself unspoiled and watch it all the way through.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
^

wait you're a black guy? i could have sworn you posted videos of yourself playing before and it was some white guy. lol

probably thinking of someone else i guess
 

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
As for the position of the racquet, here's a GIF I made of me hitting the wall (old grip):

0lR80XM.gif
I would just improve on one thing now, although it might be a little big of a change I promise it'll make your backhand a whole lot better if you get the hang of it. Position yourself more so that you hit your backhand like I do in this picture http://i.imgur.com/IeSO2CJ.png

If you do this you might start noticing how your body naturally rotates into the ball when hitting the backhand. You have some big hips, make good use of it! The power increase will be very surprising as it won't cost you any strength whatsoever, just natural kinetic movement

edit, here's the full thing for context. Although it's not a clear enough example of the hip turn I'm talking about, to explain it better I guess it should feel like going in the ball with your body

rh9C6ga.gif


Depending on the racquet you have you may also benefit from strongarming it a bit less so it swings naturally from it's weight, although it may only look like you're doing that from here, in which case just let it swing further :) Pretend it's an extension of your body instead of a stick you are hitting with. Kind like boxing if you throw a punch you let it go it's course till the end of the swing naturally
 
The DelPotro era resumes tonight!!!!


Rajeev Ram beat Tomic in Delray Beadh. Fuck off with this top ten shit.

Did you watch the match? I can't help but watch Tomic still. Missed this match though. He's got some great results against players just in or out of top 10 e.g. cilic, gasquet, ferrer. When you look at the top 5 players he's getting nutted. Glancing at his activity of this year and last he needs to shake off losing to players ranked 30-80 or so if he wants to go top 10 consistently.
 
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