Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

Page 4...time to bring me back

This thread had regressed to page 4. Time to come back. Back to consciousness. Traditional Thoughts...not to be confused with Conventional Thoughts.

I have crossed the threshold of 1.00 posts a day. After skipping 465 days from the day that I joined to my first post. I never even knew that I was don_budge for 465 days. It was milestone for me...I have been looking at it for some time. Never consciously posting for numbers...only for content. 1,445 posts later as of this one.

I am at 1.02 posts a day. I wonder if I can reach 2.00...without posting for numbers. I wonder if I can live to be a million! God bless everyone...and have a super day!

for clarity's sake...

[don_budge]

Stevie Wonder's Innervisions...Misstra Know It All

My mother's maiden name was Wonder's. I could have been...oh never mind.

Live...I just love the people in this one. Sister's singing backup vocals. So cool...I love this song. The drummer reminds me of my old best friend...Winston. He was about 6' 8". Cool as can be. HFCC 1972. He took me under his wing...down to the hood. To play ball with the brothers. I quit the tennis team that year...to hang out. Detroit...just like I pictured it. Dum bum bum ba bum bum. Oou...oou...oou oou...oou...You know damn well he's got the super plan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wx9RuI4rRY

or the studio version...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwPsFz85gGw

Misstra Know It All...Stevie Wonder

He's a man
With a plan
Got a counterfeit dollar in his hand
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Playin' hard
Talkin' fast
Makin' sure that he won't be the last
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Makes a deal
With a smile
Knowin' all the time that his lie's a mile
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Must be seen
There's no doubt
He's the coolest one with the biggest mouth
He's Misstra Know-It-All

If you tell him he's livin' fast
He will say what do you know
If you had my kind of cash
You'd have more than one place to go oh

Oou...oou...oou oou...oou...

Any place
He will play
His only concern is how much you'll pay
He's Misstra Know-It-All

If he shakes
On a bet
He's the kind of dude that won't pay his debt
He's Misstra Know-It-All

When you say that he's living wrong
He'll tell you he knows he's livin' right
And you'd be a stronger man
if you took Misstra Know-It- All's advice oh oh

Oou...oou...oou oou...oou...

He's a man
With a plan
Got a counterfeit dollar in his hand
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Take my work
Please beware
Of a man that just don't give a care no
He's Misstra Know-It-All (Look out he's coming)

Dum bum bum ba bum bum,
Dum bum bum ba bum bum
Bum bum bum bum bum Say
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Can this line
Take his hand
Take your hat off to the man who's got the plan
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Every boy take your hand
To the man that's got the plan
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Give a hand to the man
Don't you know darn well he's got the super plan
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Give a hand to the man
You know damn well he's got the super plan
He's Misstra Know-It-All

If we had less of him
Don't you know we'd have a better land
He's Misstra Know-It-All

So give a hand to the man
Although you've given out as much as you can
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Check his sound out
He'll tell it all
Hey
You talk too much you worry me to death
He's Misstra Know-It-All

[don_budge]

Retorded Shoulder Servers...Yoga stretch for shoulders

The older I get...the smarter I get.

Here is a shoulder stretch that I have been doing with Esther...not Escher. But at any rate...if you elect to try this you will definitely want to pay close attention to your limits as attempting to do these exercises without listening to your body will be foolish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppToA1N0CgE

As Esther recommends I have been doing these exercises for about three weeks now with some nice benefits. Better posture being one of them...increased flexibility and strength in my shoulders being another. Better posture has a good influence on the appearance of your chest...if you know what I mean.

Proceed with caution and the attitude that Rome wasn't built in a day.

[don_budge]

In the Middle of the Night...To Pee or not to Pee.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. Out in the middle of nowhere...Frankie the American born chocolate labrador retriever deemed a nature call and as usual I decided to join him. There is something spiritually redeeming about getting up and going out into the darkness, barefoot and naked under the stars and the moon...to relieve oneself. A certain passion for freedom. A disdain for convention. A complete disregard for what others think. Piss on it. War Plans! The feel of the damp blades of grass under my feet. Frankie sniffing here...sniffing there. I hear him in the darkness...my beloved canine. Ever connected...to the master plan! Nature calls.

President Oblabla...I hate war. Play tennis...not war. To bomb or not to bomb? That's an easy one...isn't it? For a Nobel Peace Prize winner? In the middle of the night...a no brainer. Of course it is a most unfortunate incident...but fortunately it is none of my business. It never has been. Let's be sensible and sit this one out. Is it too much to ask? Of civilized man. Here in Sweden nobody is contemplating attacking anybody for any reason...in the middle of the night. Perhaps it is a bit more difficult to make peace...and not war.

So it is...returning from a nocturnal mission. I pass the little office on the right at the top of the stairs...foregoing the bedroom a meter further on. The computer with all of it's mystical allure draws me to her. Tennisplayer.net is calling my name. When I wake up in the middle of the night...many times I cannot resist looking on. To see what you guys are up to in the middle of the night. The Americans. How long will you put up with it? But of course it is not the middle of the night there. It's broad daylight. There is absolutely no excuse for not being able to see. The obvious.

Wake up! Just say no! He will be taking to the television...just stick your head out the window and shout at the top of your lungs...I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!!!

[lobndropshot]

It took its toll on him today...I won 4 games out of 7. What great fun it was...pretending to be a tennisplayer again. Getting him to chase the ball forwards is my strategy and anytime that I can I just love to send him sprinting back towards the baseline chasing a lob over his head. Drop shot and lob technique. Do this a couple of times to your opponent and you will see the discouragement etched on their face. Imagine that!

OOOOOOOOoooo yeah! Lobndropshot AKA the yoyo!

[tennis_chiro]

Doubles...old style.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/fr...ionship-finals

Fabulous. But remember, Hoad and Rosewall were just 19 and 20 years old.

don

[stotty]

Hoad, Rosewall...

Doubles...old style.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/french-international-tennis-championship-finals

[don_budge]

Underspin...

Finally, I think, a recreational player should put first interest in recreational tennis and relegate tour tennis for once to its proper place.

Well I cannot claim to have vanquished any 4.5 level players lately. But today I had some very interesting practice outdoors for the second time on the clay...the red clay of Sweden. The weather here finally turned...it has been a very cold spring. I love cold weather.

My message goes out as usual to anyone that wants to listen...hacks, losers or tour professionals. It is only food for thought and I would never think of asking whether or not anyone agrees or not. In fact in all of my 1,119 posts I have never said...I agree with you, or I disagree with you. I have never said "in my opinion"...except one time when I was joking I said "in my humble opinion". That is simply not the point of this forum...at least I don't think that it is. The point is to discuss...or rather to put your view out there as clearly and in any style that you choose...for others to ponder. It is never my intention to ruffle feathers...maybe just a bit of irony perhaps. It's allowed.

My practice partner is named Mats and he is 35 years old. I would say that he is at least two inches taller than my 6' 1"'s and needless to say his is 24 years younger. He is in pretty darned good shape too...he goes to the gym and plays several times a week. He told me that he used to be one of the elite juniors in Sweden and by that I took it to be top 50 or so....he certainly had accumulated enough points to win some pretty good level championships.

He has a huge ATP forehand (not certain if it is a 1 or a 2 or a 3...or exactly version it is) but he crushes it. He hit the lines so hard a couple of times today that I swear they were pounded into the ground and a bit more stable after his play. Mats likes to play a lot of topspin off of the backhand as well. We practice in a format where we start the rally off with a groundstroke. Usually the first shot is to the forehand but as the practice session progresses the first ball is usually played just a little less kindly than in the beginning of the session. We tend to get a little competitive...and aggressive off of the forehand. More and more the ball seems to gravitate to the backhand with the first ball.

So when Mats hits to my backhand, most of the time the ball is going to be a slice to his backhand and in this way I try to dictate the tempo of the game and slow it down so that my 59 year old legs don't lose the match for me. He destroyed me the first two games to 15...but I was working on him with what amounts to a bit of a rope a dope. My slices gradually started to turn into balls that I was cutting the bottom of the ball and the ball actually backs up on his side of the court which sort of neutralizes his huge top spin if he is in less than optimal position. Many times my severely sliced backhands are out right winners. Mixed in with this little devil, I can hit a very acute angled soft drop shot to the forehand which again completely neutralizes his ATP cannon. Another variation of my slice is low, short and wide to his forehand which again is very good at neutralizing his forehand...and yet another variation is deep into his forehand corner either driving or sort of lobbing deep. He seems to have more trouble generating his potential power and spin after I have worked on his head with all of the variations.

Keep in mind that the basis of this attack is the backhand down the line from me...ala John McEnroe as I am left handed. I can play it down the line in the same variety of ways with variation of depth, spin and speed. The key to the whole deal is consistency and placement. I rarely miss. He gets some short balls out of the deal that he absolutely eats up but all in all the strategy is one that I have used for my entire career.

The disguise of my backhand is also the other deal breaker...as I can hold off at the last split second before hitting the shot that I hit the bottom of the ball where it backs up...two balls came back over the net today. I love that when that happens. He was joking that I play ping pong tennis. My topspin forehand is 90 percent of the time trying to find his backhand or trying to make him play his forehand from as far as possible in his backhand corner...which leaves his entire forehand court open if I can reach his ATP cannon.

It took its toll on him today...I won 4 games out of 7. What great fun it was...pretending to be a tennisplayer again. Getting him to chase the ball forwards is my strategy and anytime that I can I just love to send him sprinting back towards the baseline chasing a lob over his head. Drop shot and lob technique. Do this a couple of times to your opponent and you will see the discouragement etched on their face. Imagine that!

[don_budge]

More from 1984 Wimbledon Finals...The Doubles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LyJ6BKKmSE&feature=endscreen

Just a short clip...of a 5 set doubles final...John McEnroe/Peter Fleming vs. Pat Cash/Paul McNamee. John McEnroe played this match the day before his thrashing of Connors. We don't get to see this anymore. Johnny was just warming up with the doubles final.

The tradition of the doubles...lost in the flood. Another indication that modern tennis has gone astray. The modern singles game is not conducive to stellar doubles play.

[don_budge]

My Original Response to Rick Macci...

Below are the original comments that I wrote to RickMacci in response to his comments to my comments to his video of Development of the ATP Forehand. I pared them down because...get this...I didn't want to appear to be argumentative. For me it is never a case of being right and being wrong. My only reason for ever writing anything is to state my case of how I feel...in my own style and in my own words. I know my tone...I have to live with it.

But at any rate...here are my original thoughts. I am not rebuking RickMacci and the ATP Forehand but I am suggesting that there is a whole other realm of tennis that is being ignored with the conventional wisdom that passes for tennis development these days.

Why am I sharing this with you now? It started with the traditional game of tennis. Scott's articles about the Kirsten Popp classical game and that morphed with a comment by stroke which further provoked me. Then Stotty and 10splayer said something and then it was off to the races...who cares if he flips or not? tennis_chiro had/has his doubts. It has something to do with the comments made about Tommy Haas at the Sony Open and it has something to do with the comment that gordonp has made about John McEnroe. It has a lot to do with the year of 1984 in tennis and that dubious Wimbledon final...and it has a lot to do with George Orwell and his vision. I am thinking critically about the USPTA and all the authorities in our lives that have led us astray. It may have had something to do with klacr's comments about modesty...probably not. I don't entertain thoughts like those. I only try to connect the dots...the three little dots. Just like dear old Ferdinand Celine...in his "Journey to The End of the Night".

I ran my thoughts by bottle...aka John Escher (multiple author of published books and our resident literary expert and former Ivy League English professor) and he agreed (I hate that word) with me that it was good form to abbreviate my remarks in the ATP thread and to not appear to challenge RickMacci. But in the end (and this is the end my friends) we are stuck with who we are. An old leopard cannot change his spots...although I maintain that he can change the grip on his tennis racquet. I swear...I will never be put in a box of somebody else's making. I get tired of tippy toeing around everyone's issues...except for my own. Of which I never tire...of course. You are there and I am here.

My original and traditional thoughts to RickMacci's response regarding the continental grip. Read 'em and weep...I say. With all due respect.



Thanks Rick...I enjoyed your comments.

At the highest level since the speed of the game is at an all time high and the spin of the ball is at an all time high, having the ability to naturally grab the ball with the racquet face slightly closed with a semi western or western( because the grip orientates the the racquet face) is much easier.

Rick Macci...
"let me explain...there can be little adaptions or flairs because depending upon how you are holding the racquet...western, semi, eastern...hopefully no more continental forehands out there..."

Thanks for your answer Rick. I totally understand your skepticism. But I watched John McEnroe and his continental grip based game dismantle Mats Wilander and his heavy topspin, strong gripped and standard issue two handed backhand in the Senior Tour Finals at London and he was asked after the interview if he thought that his style of play would be effective in the modern game of tennis and his answer was..."Yes"...if I am not mistaken. McEnroe himself thinks his approach to tennis is still relevant.

Even the announcers for this particular match were speculating about the court surface and how it would effect the fate of the match. Their rationale was that the surface was slower so that it should favor Wilander in that regard. But as it was the slower surface seemed to favor McEnroe ironically enough. It gave him a bit more time to maneuver Wilander around the court. In the end...Wilander was so thoroughly trounced that he ended up attempting to serve and volley. He said himself of McEnroe..."he has a way of making you feel terrible on the tennis court".

For the past several months I have been experimenting with the continental based ground stroke game, with the accompanying approach and volley game whenever possible, and I have had some very interesting results playing against much younger opponents using the current ATP style of play. Granted my experiment has been of a qualitative nature and not one supported by quantitative analysis but the results have been personally compelling. My conclusion is...I am not entirely convinced that the ATP Forehand is the only way to go here in the Modern Game of Tennis. Although you cannot argue with its' popularity.

I might add that I am a big admirer of the Federer technique as applied to the Modern Game of tennis and prior to my experiment with the continental grip I was pursuing my own play along those lines. I find the information that you are bringing forth on the ATP forehand to be very helpful and informative. It has only been recently that I rethought, retaught, relearned and retooled my game into its present continental gripped state.

The results that I speak of are of course personal in nature but I did try to document much of my experience in the two threads that I referenced. Due to their lengthy nature it is understandable if you didn't get a chance to peruse them. Your ATP Forehand video and the accompanying 3D Revolution thread provoked some rather curious thought within me. Albeit...my thoughts do not go lock step with the conventional wisdom that is taken for the basis of the technical philosophy for the Modern Game of Tennis as it stands today.

I understand everything that you have put forth so far and I have read Brian Gordon's articles about the same. Although Brian's stuff is far more technical and more difficult to interpret when discussing from a teaching point of view tennis technique...it is no less compelling. Brian even mentioned in a post that an explanation that I offered for the behavior of the biomechanics of the stroke were pretty good...even though they were so simple. Which is ok, I think...very technical material can be summed up quite simply sometimes thereby decreasing the risk of losing the students interest that are not so technically inclined.

So I have an idea for you and Brian to collaborate on in your spare time. Which I am certain is scarce...but what I propose is this. Measure quantifiably through the use of your electrodes and probes and computers the behavior of the wrist when it pertains to the differences in grip...western, eastern and the bane of modern coaches...the continental. Measure John McEnroe himself if that would be any help in furthering such a project or motivating one. He might be curious himself if this were to be proposed to him. Brian may find that this would be one of the most compelling studies ever done in tennis research. The Behavior of the Wrist and the Force that it Applies to the Ball as it Pertains to Different Grips on the Tennis Racquet. Do me a favor if you would...forward these thoughts to Brian. I wonder what his reaction would be. Would he altogether be dismissive or might he say to himself...Hmmm.

I cite the old rivalry between John and Björn Borg as the example and the possible corollary between the standard issue of Modern Tennis and possible alternatives. Borg was dominating the tennis scene at the time with his heavy topspin and his one and half handed backhand...in the waning days of classic tennis and along came McEnroe to challenge him...and his approach to tennis. He was very successful with it. Not that he altogether dispensed with the Borgian play...but it certainly proved that there was room for more than one interpretation. I wonder if the same might be true of today. Perhaps there should be an "American School of Thought" where more of an attacking style of play is incorporated into the game as well. Not that all American players would play in this style...just those that find it suitable given their physical, mental and emotional makeups. Perhaps there should even be some allowance for this in the composition of our tennis courts...make them less abrasive.

Thanks for all of your videos, drills and information that have been accessible to us in the general public via the internet. Thanks for sharing. Your contributions to the game of tennis are rather admirable...to say the least. Ever since the days of Bill Tilden and his masterpiece..."Match Play and Spin of the Ball", spin on the ball has been the game.

[don_budge]

The 1984 Wimbledon Finals...Tennis Warehouse discussion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Ypdrb4nIw

Some interesting discussion regarding the 1984 Wimbledon Final between John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=33174

Even in this discussion you can see that some people are in denial about the equipment.

[don_budge]

The Greatest Matches in Tennis History...

I find myself at least peripherally involved in three, four if you count my backhand experiment...of the greatest matches of all time...according to this source.

http://www.baseball-statistics.com/Greats/Century/tennis.htm

September 8, 1984...1984 U. S. Open: The Greatest Day

I was there with a coaches pass and did not miss any of the action. A freebie no less. Before Connors' match with McEnroe I was in the locker room and Jimmy kept asking his big black buddy..."Where's Patti? Where's Patti?" Jimmy appears to be an obsessively devoted man. Even before a big match he was really genuinely concerned for his wife. He went out and gave it everything he had. The first time that he used an oversized racquet in a Grand Slam Event. The result was much closer than the 1984 Wimbledon Final with the same.

Pat Cash nearly upset Ivan Lendl using a Prince Magnesium. Chris Evert played in the best women's match that I have ever seen and lost in three sets to Martina Navratilova. I believe that Chris was using a midsize for the first time in a Grand Slam event. The match between Stan Smith and John Newcombe was excellent...Newc used a Prince Magnesium.

1984 was the year...that the worm turned in the world of tennis. I promise to tell you guys the whole unabridged story here one day. At the end of the day...or rather into the night it was getting quite chilly...there was a decision to be made. Buy a sweatshirt or continue to drink Dewars and soda. Any guesses? My buddy Duke and I ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe later on somehow.

July 8, 1984...The 1984 Wimbledon Final: McEnroe vs. Connors

You read my account here on the forum. I feel like I was there. Another hallucination no doubt. Well what the hell...dreaming's for free.


July 20, 1937...1937 Davis Cup: Budge vs. Von Cramm

Don Budge personally told me his account of the match over a festive dinner with champagne that he was throwing for the counselors at his tennis camp. It was the summer of '72. Thanks for the memories...J. Donald Budge! You are still the man and always will be. God bless you.

September 19, 1925...1935 U. S. Championships

Tilden's defeat to Johnston inspires him to seclude himself from the real world to obsessively develop a topspin backhand. Hmmm....sounds familiar.

[don_budge]

McEnroe's Thoughts on the 1984 Wimbledon Final...

An extract from his book...You Cannot be Serious

http://tennis-buzz.com/1984-wimbledon-john-mcenroe-defeats-jimmy-connors/

And John...you could not be serious with these comments without mentioning the racquet disparity. To say that "Jimmy was just a little flat that day" is evading the truth. Guilty of truthiness. Penalty point to McEnroe. He even got the score wrong...it was 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Notice the comment at the end of the article.

"Some people talk about my 6-1 6-2 6-2 destruction of Connors in the 1984 Wimbledon as my greatest match ever, but the truth is – between you and me – I thought Jimmy was just a little flat that day.
I was also having one of those days, when everything seemed to be going almost too right. I got out of bed in the morning feeling great, and in my practice session, the ball looked as big as a cantaloupe. Since I always manage to worry when things are going well, I stopped the session early – I was afraid of leaving my best stuff in practice.

But it just kept getting better.
In fairness, Connors had had a tough semi against Lendl, a four-set slugfest on a very hot afternoon,while I had won in three agaisnt that feisty Aussie whippersnapper Pat Cash. Cash was a tough serve-and-volleyer in that great Down-Under tadition, still a little green at nineteen, but a great athlete and a fine tennis player. I thought he was a comer – especially after he shouldered me on a changeover during the second-set tiebreaker. That, I felt, was a very interesting move: here I was, number one in the world, a two-time Wimbledon champ, one of the game’s grand old men at twenty five … This kid’s got the right attitude, I thought.

Meanwhile, my attitude had utterly changed. I had wasted too much energy at the French by getting angry, I realized; from the first match at the All England Club that year, I was determined not to do anything that would derail me from avenging Roland Garros – my only loss in fifty-two matches so fa in ’84 – and winning my hat-trick Wimbledon. I was on a five-match winning steak against Jimmy, and I felt confident I could make it six.
I just didn’t know it would be so easy.

The heat wave had continued, but I was hotter than the weather that Sunday afternoon. From the start, Connors just couldn’t find his rhythm, while I was serving unbelievably well – slicing it wide, popping it up in the middle, doing whatever I wanted. I hit seventy-four percent of my first serves in the match, with ten aces and no double faults. I had three -three – unforced errors in the match.

That’s the best I ever played

I said in the press conference afterward. It was also the best I’d ever acted at Wimbledon: The London tabloids dubbed me ‘Saint John‘."

[don_budge]

The 1984 Wimbledon Finals...Kyle LaCroix and George Orwell

As impressive and athletic as tennis is in its modern form, it will always be richer and deeper in its traditional form.

As a young boy I was inspired by the Wimbledon battles of Edberg and Becker. For me, that was my awakening. For some who are on this forum, Edberg/Becker may seem to be more modern or at least not as traditional or classic as it was to me, but I'm only 30 years old so it's all relative. Those guys were my Laver's, Rosewall's, Hoad's and Emerson's. I remember staring at the TV and saying to myself...

"That's what I want to be. That's the sport I want to play, That's how I want to play"

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

From the mouth of a babe. Not really. Kyle was a babe maybe in 1984. He may not even have been a twinkle in his father's eye. But...he understands. Kyle gets it. With tennis teachers like Kyle...the game will be in good hands.

Kyle grew up with Edberg and Becker. My father grew up with Laver, Rosewall, Hoad and Gonzales. I never grew up...it was McEnroe that had me spellbound. He and Connors and Borg.

You saw the match. You read what I had to say. McEnroe played splendidly. There is only one problem. Connors was cheated. Right in front of everyone and nobody said a peep. What a shame. This is what our sport came down to. One of the greatest champions of all time...one of the greatest tennis players of all time was cheated right out in front of everyone on center court in the finals of the 1984 Men's Singles Championships and nobody said boo. What a pity.

On a lesser level...I felt the same sting as James Scott Connors did on the afternoon at Wimbledon. I don't think that I was alone either. There must have been many that felt the same sense of outrage...the same sense of inequality during those times in the tennis world. When the smart money made a decision for the masses. When the royalty once again took matters into their control without consent or even approval. The decision was all dollars and cents. Tradition be damned.

Jimmy Connors refused to speak to Bud Collins after his 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of John McEnroe. Connors didn't even have a snowballs chance in hell against a younger opponent, at least as equally talented and who was using a racquet that was conservatively 14% bigger with state of the art graphite than his own antique Wilson T2000 made of stone age steel. It leads me to wonder...what were his motivations? The only thing that I can come up with is his reverence to the game. He worshipped those hallowed grounds of Wimbledon where he had been defined as a person and as a man. The new equipment struck him as sacrilegious...although he had the Wilson Pro Staff in the works. He just hadn't brought himself to use it yet. A blasphemy that his soul could not endure.

Psychologically we have this much on Connors. He was utterly devoted to both his mother and his grandmother. He has been married forever to Patti Maguire...they have two sons together. Whatever one might say about Jimmy Connors and his on court behavior or his public personna...privately he was a devoted man. Fiercely so...in a way that few of us can identify with. Most of us capitulate at the first sign of something better...ready to leave the past behind. The grass is always greener.

On McEnroe's side...it was the only thing to do. In the middle of his meteoric career it was the prudent thing to do. Not to lose anything of importance by being cheated out of it by a disparity in equipment. Once the players that had enough talent to make up the difference between theirs and Johnny's by switching to space age tennis racquets it was time for John McEnroe to make the switch. This is the genius of McEnroe...he didn't like it for sure. That much is for certain as he too grew up with traditional values and wood racquets...but he was forced to do it. The year before this championship he had met Chris Lewis, an unseeded New Zealander who had "cheated" his way to the men's singles final using the ultimate blasphemy in sports...the Prince Graphite. Nick Bolletieri was pimping the same racquet in a commercial during the 1984 Wimbledon.

Who was complicit in this travesty of justice? Well that is hard to say...but one has only to follow the money. But you can put Bud Collins and Dick Enberg on that list...and certainly McEnroe as well. Everyone as a matter of fact...which is not exactly a letter of recommendation for the species. The human species. It is survival of the fittest in the end...do whatever it is necessary to get a leg up on the competition. Bud Collins made only one remark about the equipment during the whole match and that is when he exclaimed...”McEnroe’s serve is just devastating, it practically tore through that steel racquet of Jimmy Connors”. This is the first and only mention of the Connors bucket of bolts equipment at 36.22 in the video...”the old style racquet that he has been using since 1967”, he continues. It was obvious that there was more than one reason for the disparity in the performance of the two American lefties.

In 1974...a mere ten years earlier at Wimbledon...Jimmy Connors used the same Wilson T2000 to bludgeon the diminutive "Muscles" aka Ken Rosewall in the finals 6-1, 6-1, 6-4. Ironically ten years later he was on the other end of the stick with McEnroe. 1984 was the year that tennis would turn the corner and classic tennis was replaced by "shock and awe" tennis with the ushering in of such speed demons as Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras. I saw it from the beginning...in the first days as a competitor playing against players of inferior talent with bigger racquets. The overemphasis of speed and exaggerated spin. This is what we are left with today. Forehands...forehands...forehands. Stotty says that the forehands of today are superior to those of yesterday. But what of the subtlety...volleys, serve and volley, half-volleys, touch shots, service tactics. Extinct as the dinosaurs.

Tennis Etiquette was in vogue for many years as the commandment to live by when conducting yourself on the tennis court. Never take unfair advantage of an opponent. In the mid 1970's the decision was made to dispense with that nonsense and the Bad Boy's started to appear on the scene. The authorities sort of let the side show escalate and one wonders in hindsight whether it was on purpose to serve as a distraction from where the real crime was being committed.

By 1984 Björn Borg had been chased from the game by the equipment. Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl stood alone using the standard equipment of the past. It is no coincidence that they were on the top looking down...they were the big guns, the head honchos in the tennis world. They were the last to need the "help" of the oversized racquets.

There is a huge story in the 1984 Wimbledon Men's Singles Championships. These are the things that I see...and nobody else talks about. A history lesson for those too young to remember it. A lesson for all of us when it comes to trusting the authorities. In the end...McEnroe had it right. He flipped them off at every occasion. He felt obligated...to the past.

Speaking of the past...if anyone out there feels that modern tennis compares to the classic of say the year 1974 take a look at this.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Share/Event-Draws.aspx?e=540&y=1974

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Share/Event-Draws.aspx?Year=1974&EventId=540&Draw=md

If you are old enough to be familiar with the names in the draw of 1974 then you know the obvious. Each and everyone of the players in the 1974 draw knew how to play tennis. There weren't any one trick ponies back them. If you had a weakness in your game opponents picked up on it and exploited it. Mainly because the game was slower...because that is the way it was meant to be played. But I wouldn't be fooled if I was you about the speed. These guys were plenty quick and tough. Take a look at the doubles draw sheet as well. These guys were all playing the doubles as well. Connors was playing with fellow "bad boy" Ille Nastase and Björn Borg made his maiden appearance at Wimbledon...in the doubles that year. Even 40 year old Ken Rosewall was playing in the doubles. So much for the modern day "tough guy" tennis players. Plus they weren't in the habit of ordering the ball boys and girls around the court to fetch them a damn towel every time they wanted to towel off. I feel sort of bad for the modern day tennis aficionado's...they really don't know what they are missing.

[don_budge]

1984 Wimbledon Final...Bud Collins and John McEnroe (Jimmy Connors declines)

"That's what I want to be. That's the sport I want to play, That's how I want to play"

Not sure if this post is in line with the others, or if it even deserves to follow up the previous post by don_budge, but I had to get that off my chest.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Re: The above...it is all about the love and the respect for "The Game". It's what is inside the chest that counts! The Heart matters. In the end...it’s all about love. Not so much for each other or your fellow man or something like that. It’s about the love of the game. Hopefully we can learn to respect one another...and never take unfair advantage of an opponent. That is the line that separates the gentleman from the rest...from the beast. That is the line that makes a man a hero when it is his time to make a stand...when the bell tolls. But in the end...maybe that is not the way the beast is wired.

Just maybe Jimmy Connors was the hero...even though he lost. I always thought of him as somewhat of a Mama’s boy. But he has stayed married for some 37 years to one of the most arguably beautiful women on the planet, which is an eon...especially for a celebrity. Maybe most importantly though...he was true to the sport that he loved perhaps more passionately than all of the rest. He preserved her tradition...her honor right to the bitter end. He is a member of the human race and therefore not perfect. I was alway angry at him for the way that he used the crowd against my little buddy...Aaron Krickstein that night in New York City under the lights. But there is a reason for everything and he took a bullet for the game...for her. He used his body and his soul to shield her from wrongdoing. There is no truer love...in a game where love means nothing. He is in the end a hero in my book...with an asterisk beside the word because of that night in the Big Apple.

1984 Wimbledon Finals...The Interview with John McEnroe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Ypdrb4nIw

Yet another commercial for yet another midsized racquet. The die is cast...there is no turning back. This time it's from Head...is it Howard Head’s company? The originator of the Prince Racquet. If it is it only confirms that you have only to follow the money. The Head spokesman declares...”the new Director TXD, the choice is yours...you can play with it or you can play against it”. That sounds peculiarly close to being an ultimatum and of course it was. Jimmy Connors found out first hand what that meant although I suspect that he knew. He took a bullet for the game. He was going to be the last one to abandon ship. For a Mama’s boy he sure had a lot of balls.

The royalty begin to gather around...gracing us with their appearance for the trophy presentation. They are acting all humble chatting it up with the ball kids...they would be horrified or disgusted if they would have to sit down and break bread with the commoners on a frequent basis. They come out of their hiding places for appearances...for pomp and circumstance. The Duchess of Kent is looking somewhat hot and attractive. I wonder...is she sexy?

Then it is on to the post match interview...a tradition of sorts...with none other than Bud Collins. Here’s Bud Collins and John McEnroe...and the post match chat.

“and they will be coming around the corner...John could you wait just a minute...while we talk to Jimmy. (Connors waves his hand at Bud...he’s not talking) Jimmy may I have a word....and Jimmy doesn’t want to speak...you seemed in a great hurry, congratulations champion!”

“well after the French I didn’t want to...I was up two sets there and I was playing really well so I just wanted to uh...I mean it was one of the greatest matches that I ever played. I felt like I was serving really well...I must have served at least 70 or 75 percent with first serves. I was just hitting the ball really solid...and uh, he seemed about half a step slow in his shots and I was just really taking advantage of it and I got a few breaks on let chords and just played like the best match I have ever played.”

“do you realize that you made a grand total of two unforced errors?”

“I didn’t know that...I am glad to hear that I finally have gotten into a match and played, uh, real solid. I got a few bad bounces on a couple of backhand returns I felt like I was going to hit pretty well..but uh, you know...i didn’t miss...obviously I must not have missed too many easy shots.”

“let’s go back to Paris for a moment...what did that defeat do to you from two sets down?”

“well I got a little tired there in like the fourth set...you know, I still had a chance at 4-2 in the fourth set, he hung in there pretty good in that match and I choked that a little bit and I just didn’t want the same thing to happen here.”

“choked?...choked?”

“I had a chance to wrap it up and wasn’t able to...today I played really consistently well from the start and I felt really good out there and real relaxed. I wasn’t letting anything bothering me and I think that it helped me a lot”.

“John McEnroe...you have not said boo during this tournament.”

“well...I said that I was going to let my tennis do the talking and that’s what I did.”

“does that help your tennis?...does that improve your tennis to avoid the hassles?”

“well it put me in a little bit more relaxed frame of mind and it’s what I decided to do so therefore I didn’t worry about it that much which was good...it doesn’t help in the long run to get involved in the controversies so I am just glad that I could stay away from it...and if I could I would like to say hello to my mother right now...and I hope that she is doing alright. this one’s for you.”

“I suspect that she enjoyed that.”

“I hope she did.”

“what’s the future for John McEnroe? do you know? can you tell?...will we see more outbursts? can you read the future for John McEnroe?”

“I can’t read it. I just hope that I get better as a player...and uh, improve upon certain things...that’s what playing sports is all about. to try and reach your potential. I just hope that I can just get better and better in the next couple of years and if not I am going to give it a hell of a try.”

“look at this face because it is the true world champion. John Patrick McEnroe Jr.”

“thank you very much.”

“we return you to Dick Enberg...”

“alright Bud...that was the first interview that John McEnroe has conducted for a television camera in two weeks. it was nice to hear the things that he said. obviously he has improved...even at that he remembered a couple of points that he could have played even better the perfectionist and the man shown in his post championship comments. first serve percentage...he was right on...seventy five percent of them...and when McEnroe serves that way who can possibly give him a solid match? certainly it was not Jimmy Connors today...John McEnroe in select company with Don Budge, Bill Tilden, John McEnroe...champion of Wimbledon 1984!”

It was a great interview by a great champion. We won’t be seeing the likes of him in the near future and it is too bad. Much is made of his behavior and his temper. What the hell...he’s Irish isn’t he? He never killed anybody. He was a classic. He learned to play with wood and he switched when the time was right for him. He didn’t lose any titles on account of principle. I love McEnroe. Perhaps my favorite player of all time. He’s a character...the American Volcano. He was a product of the times. A rebel. The napalm smoke from the Vietnam War had barely dissipated into the atmosphere. Revolution was in the air. That dissipated too.

There was another American on the scene on this particular day and he opted to not talk it over with Bud Collins. Jimmy Connors...I am dying to hear his side of the story. He made the correct decision in not talking. He had too much to say...the audience wasn’t ready for it. The truth. If you read between the lines of what was said it is even more telling. Often it is what has not been said that tells the real story and that is much the case here. Anyways...have a look. Think about it. It was 1984. What a coincidence...or not?

My thoughts to follow...stay tuned!