Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

explorequotes...interesting "new" contributor. He is actually quoting one member here on the forum and if I am not mistaken he should be nominated in the category of "Best Subliminal Troller". But that is only par for the course for a member who chooses as his user_name "explorequotes".

[explorequotes]

Welcome to my playground! I'm Bigfoot. Wherever you hit the ball, there I will be. Once, John Yandell used a lovely parenthetical regarding myself. "If he behaves himself..." he said. The pressure has been on ever since. Still don't know if I can do it.

I, too, applaud the above article by Tom Allsopp on stopping time. Among its other virtues is its smashing up of one of those ready made ideas that can creep, insidiously and unbeknownst to the person, into anyone's unconscious.

From reading the old book RICK ELSTEIN'S TENNIS KINETICS, WITH MARTINA NAVRATILOVA and starring Mary Carillo in its visuals, I got the idea of little steps. Watching people like John McEnroe or Justine Henin or even Roger Federer only reinforced this.

But Tom, with eyes like a dermatologist, has noticed something that the rest of us can see only once it has been pointed out-- that when Roger isn't using small steps, he's using big steps.

This is essential intelligence for a tall person such as myself. Get there first.
Then refine position with small adjustments if needs be or maybe throw in a couple extra just to stay alive.

Also, in Roger's first match at The Open last night, he took countless balls on the rise-- talk about stopping time! It's fun to see an uneven match once in a while. The virtuoso comes out.

Friendship SMS

[don_budge]

Happy Fourth of July...My fellow Americans

It has been a while since I have written in this thread. Traditional thoughts. Happy Fourth of July to each and every American. The country is coming to a great point historically speaking and there is a great divide in the union. Somehow the word "United" is taking a back seat to diversity and this should never happen. Be that as it may...please do not respond with any disparaging remarks. In fact...I don't need any negativity at all. Just refrain.

My dear father just came out of his third surgery and I just spoke to him with my wife here in Sweden. It has been a tough ordeal. He's ninety years old. This is what life is about and how thin the balance is at times between life and death. My faith in God has only deepened because of this experience and the older my father gets the more he impresses me with what kind of man he is. The Lord is my Shepherd...I shall not want.

All of us have our fathers and we have our stories. This is something we all have in common. Perhaps we can at least try to draw on the things that unite us before we find ourselves too divided to go back. You see this in families a lot nowadays. The dysfunction gets to hysterical proportions. Members of families become estranged. It's unfortunate and in many cases totally unnecessary. Keep your heads and try to love your families, your neighbours and as much as you possibly can...our America.

[bottle]

I'm looking out my window now. The entire tree is visible to me. Thinking back last night on the awe the vision of the very top of this tree silhouetted against the full moon...yellowish orange due to the partially cloudy sky. I am thankful for small things...the things that make a man truly rich and thankful. Thank you Lord and Happy Easter to all of tennisplayer.net.

I don't know. Are you sure you don't have Easter confused with Thanksgiving? Isn't Easter supposed to be a time of Transformation? I do know for sure that if you don't wear something new a bird will poop on your head.

[don_budge]

I'm looking out my window now. The entire tree is visible to me. Thinking back last night on the awe the vision of the very top of this tree silhouetted against the full moon...yellowish orange due to the partially cloudy sky. I am thankful for small things...the things that make a man truly rich and thankful. Thank you Lord and Happy Easter to all of tennisplayer.net.

[don_budge]

Once In A Blue Moon...

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/...ad-easter.html

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

Trees...

http://nautil.us/blog/why-forests-give-you-awe

Looking out from my window...it is night now. The full moon is directly in line with the tallest tree in the landscape. The very top of the 25 meter tall pine is lit by the moon. Only the top two meters of the tree are silohetted against the darkness by the moonbeam. Like a sign. An Easter sign...a gift. Thank you. I am very fortunate.

[bottle]

Looking out from my window...it is night now. The full moon is directly in line with the tallest tree in the landscape. The very top of the 25 meter tall pine is lit by the moon. Only the top two meters of the tree are silohetted against the darkness by the moonbeam. Like a sign. An Easter sign...a gift. Thank you. I am very fortunate.

Is it like Eliza and George and their baby making it across Lake Erie from Sandusky, Ohio to Amherstberg, Ontario? Which is like Uncle Tom escaping Simon Legree and making it to heaven?

[don_budge]

Once In A Blue Moon...

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/...ad-easter.html

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

[don_budge]

In that case, well spotted, old boy. I should have known. You have a mind like a bear trap.

You have to listen to people like Fred. He was a vintage player who witnessed the classic era and the start of the modern era. He understood the wooden racket like only a vintage player can. You can see Fred's racket and the strings he played with in the Wimbledon museum. The modern player would be mortified at the thought of playing with such an antique. I would love to give the finalists of this year's US Open one of Fred's rackets each to play the final with. That would be fun to watch.

That's right...you must listen to people like Fred. He is iconic and a great success story. Listening to the interview that seems to serve as a basis to the article is an eye opener as to how the tennis society in his day operated. He wasn't of the social class that had inroads into the game. I know that feeling from when I started to participate in 1968...it was coincidentally the same year the game went open.

Don Budge used to talk to me about the conditions that they played in. He seemed to be less than happy in 1972 that he missed out on the big money. The big money in 1972 not being what it is today.

Elders like Fred Perry and Don Budge you can hang on every word. Most likely they aren't out to fool anyone.

Thanks for your participation on this thread. Your stuff is always appreciated.

[bottle]

Amen. Great find with the interview. Listening to the elders gives perspective.

So why don't you do it?

[don_budge]

You have to listen to people like Fred. He was a vintage player who witnessed the classic era and the start of the modern era. He understood the wooden racket like only a vintage player can. You can see Fred's racket and the strings he played with in the Wimbledon museum. The modern player would be mortified at the thought of playing with such an antique. I would love to give the finalists of this year's US Open one of Fred's rackets each to play the final with. That would be fun to watch.

Amen. Great find with the interview. Listening to the elders gives perspective.

[stotty]

No...it was an error from the article itself. I posted the article in post #378. I thought it was a pretty good catch...and I still do. The Kinsey brothers played in the 1920's. I was aware of them because of my familiarity of Tilden. He discussed them in his book "Match Play and the Spin of the Ball" written in 1925. The Kinseys won the National Doubles Championship in 1924.

In that case, well spotted, old boy. I should have known. You have a mind like a bear trap.

You have to listen to people like Fred. He was a vintage player who witnessed the classic era and the start of the modern era. He understood the wooden racket like only a vintage player can. You can see Fred's racket and the strings he played with in the Wimbledon museum. The modern player would be mortified at the thought of playing with such an antique. I would love to give the finalists of this year's US Open one of Fred's rackets each to play the final with. That would be fun to watch.

[bottle]

No...it was an error from the article itself. I posted the article in post #378. I thought it was a pretty good catch...and I still do. The Kinsey brothers played in the 1920's. I was aware of them because of my familiarity of Tilden. He discussed them in his book "Match Play and the Spin of the Ball" written in 1925. The Kinsey's won the National Doubles Championship in 1924.

Kinseys. You don't need the apostrophe.

[stotty]

don_budge...Just Another Student of the Game

Interesting that I caught an error in the article. It should read the "Kinsey brothers" and not the "Tinsey brothers".

It may not have been an error. I cut and pasted the article and for some reason, when I saved the post, it generated double apostrophes and joined words together, etc. I had to unpick all the scramble so the article became readable.

Oddly enough, I watched of the men's closed county championships final just recently. One of the finalists had an accomplished skill set. He could volley quite and had good hands and feel. He was intelligent the way he went about his match play too. The irony was he lost. He lost to a far more brainless player who just had so much power. And that's my point and why I posted Fred's interview. A player can be as thick as two short planks yet win by virtue of brute force. This is where the game went pear shaped.

I watched the replay of Shapovalov v Tsonga the other day. I think the key thing in that match - as you said yourself in a post about Shapovalov - is his ability to wait and be patient. He doesn't pull the trigger too early. He reached a whole new level in that match. He looks a really difficult customer to play against. I hope he progresses well and goes deep into the tournament.

[don_budge]

don_budge...Just Another Student of the Game

Interesting that I caught an error in the article. It should read the "Kinsey brothers" and not the "Tinsey brothers".