Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

Wrist bands...

No vanity sofa for the boys to take a bit of a rest between changeovers. Laver retrieves a couple of dry wristbands from his racquet cover. No suitcases or accessory bags.

God bless Mr.Budge...see how his chest is out over his front knee giving him the leverage for a powerful swing on the backhand. Look at those white pants with the shirt still tucked without a single wrinkle at the conclusion of his match. He never changed. Not a wrinkle.

Gave me a chance to brush up on my French....Merci Phil!

[gzhpcu]

How about Laver - Rosewall Roland Garros?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCsIEx7ykDY

or History of Roland Garros...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezUDvIzZmWg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwcrH1H-3Rk&feature=related

[don_budge]

ahem...

Ahem...

Re # 6,
what happened to Olof?
He was studying for a physics exam but he chickened out of calling me...I got the message from Gustav.

Or is it simply that, because of all the socialism, the standard of living has dropped so low in Sweden that nobody can afford new shoes?
The standard of living remains largely status quo but I see signs...struggling auto companies, inflated real estate prices, families living beyond their means on credit. Sound familiar? Some say it is the 51st state. The most obvious thing identified with socialism is the healthcare system...which all have access to. It isn't free...but nearly so. The people do tend to think that it is better to be part of the middle class with few sticking their neck out to become outlandishly rich. The object of the game is to not stand out...to become to obvious. Blend in with the crowd.

Now, Steve, you say you want to write, but your writing is too personal.
Wanting to write and having talent to write are two separate things. You, sir, are a creative writer and I am but a timid translator of Swedish research papers. I wish that I would have taken your lit classes when I was younger. I am just a hermit who lives in the woods with the other dumb beasts, trying to stay in touch with civilization by participating on this blog.

About Olof-- by using that name you mean to imply that he is "a stupid Swede," right?
Olof is anything but stupid. I believe that he could do anything he set his mind to. He could be the next "Olof Palme" if he chose to. He is one of the most handsome, smartest, talented young men you could ever hope to meet. My neighbor's wife met him at the Davis Cup match against Italy and she said, "He looks like one of those perfect boys that a older Italian gentlemen would keep for his amusement." That comment had her husband looking a bit perplexed. Olof could be "Larry" from Maughm's "On the Razor's Edge".

I'm glad you won his match for him, and I'd say, don't feel bad about beating up on a 15-year-old.
The kid actually took it quite well. He seemed to get a kick out of the "blast from the past". He mumbled something about "having to practice more" after our match as we shook hands. I sort of avoided his parents.

I'm 71 and recently, in a board game, beat a 7-year-old of Czech extraction who regularly beats his father. Pinned his queen, I did.
I wish that I could have seen the look on your face.

Afterwards, I started to feel guilty, too, especially since, when I wasn't looking, he went to his father, our host, and cried.
I wish I could of have seen the look on your face when the tears started to flow. You are killing me!

It's hard though when you haven't played chess in 18 years to throw the game.
Really?

If you don't mind me saying so...bottle, you are a real classic. Please continue.

[don_budge]

Amazing...

A white t-shirt, two racquets and a towel, spectacles and a wood racquet. Probably were drinking out of the can for the tennis balls. Savages. This is even before my time, but I can appreciate the tradition...anthropologically speaking. Look at that Parisian skyline...one lone tower. Maybe Ferdinand Celine was in the stands.

It's amazing how we have evolved from the savage to the civilized. Even in tennis. Beautiful. Keep 'em coming. How about a couple of Aussies at Roland Garros? You are a classic, my friend. Thanks Phil.

[gzhpcu]

For don_budge: parker versus drobny, Roland Garros.... 1947?

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=58331

[don_budge]

The French Open...one of tennis' great traditions.

There has been talk of moving from this "outdated" Roland Garros site...to accommodate the modern demands placed on tournaments.

Offensive in the "traditional sense":

Monfil's sleeveless purple outfit. In a word, garish.

Curtain calls to the victor...obvious grandstanding. Screaming women. This behavior is of course acceptable today, no questions asked, but to me it is...unnecessary and offensive to my taste.

The spin on the ball is unbelievable. The recent discussions on string are shedding some illumination on my dull, tradition oriented mind. A shame that equipment is playing such a large role in the play.

On the other hand...Roger's clothes matching the rusty red clay at Roland Garros is a nice touch. The guy is a class act, but who is going to deal him the knockout blow?

Nice to see some serve and volley from Isner, albeit a traditionally hopeless tactic on the clay...leave it to an American to try. It was a great try. Entertaining too. If only he could of disappeared Nadal. How many Americans are left in the draw now? Two? Traditionally not one of our best venues.

Possible interesting matchup...Djokovic and Del Potro. Is the Argentinean ready for this?

Twenty years ago there were 22 Swedes in the draw...now there is just one.

[gzhpcu]

I can see the title of just one book, "Galaxies". Is there no end to you enquiring mind, Phil?

Just started Brian Greene's latest, "The Hidden Reality"....

[gzhpcu]

Next to my Walter Scott and Alexander Dumas novels....

[don_budge]

Don Quixote...

Please indicate where "Don Quixote" resides in your library. Is that a naked woman in the upper right hand corner? Hmmm...I will bet you that bottle is a great reader too. I would love to see his library.

Jag är bara nyfiken, gul. I am just curious, yellow.

[stotty]

I can see the title of just one book, "Galaxies". Is there no end to you enquiring mind, Phil?

[gzhpcu]

I just happen to read too Steve....a part of my library...

[don_budge]

Traditional thoughts...

tradi’tion n. body of beliefs, facts, etc., handed down to generation to generation without being reduced to writing; process of handing down.

There is a book...I don’t suppose any of you have read it. There wouldn’t be any reason for you to. Nobody reads books anymore. We read blogs. We play video games. We watch television. We try to amuse ourselves. But anyways...the book’s title is “The Golden Bough” by Sir James George Frazer. Time magazine wrote that ““The Golden Bough” describes our ancestors’ primitive methods of worship, sex practices, strange rituals. Disproving the popular thought that primitive life was simple. Revealed is the evolution of man from savagery to civilization. From the modification of the weird and often bloodthirsty to the entry of lasting moral, ethical, and spiritual values.”

I came across this book while watching the movie “Apocalypse Now”. Remember the old Vietnam war movie starring, among others, Marlon Brando...it was one of his most memorable roles in the twilight of his career. The movie itself is an adaption of an old novel by Joseph Conrad called “Heart of Darkness”. Brando, in the movie, plays a character whose name is Col. Kurtz and he is targeted to be assassinated by his own army, by a character who is played by Martin Sheen. In one of the epic moments in this film the Brando character is deathly ill, with perhaps a combination of malaria and his own delusional, paranoid thoughts and not least of all, the wounds that Martin Sheen has inflicted upon him...he is laying in his crude and filthy room dying, bleeding to death, whispering over and over, “the horror, the horror, the horror...” During the scene the camera shoots a shot of his bedside nightstand with a stack of book on it. It was here that I found this book.

Col. Kurtz is an epic character, both in the book and in the movie. This type of man exists in many of our own hearts when we begin to evolve and perceive the darkness that surrounds us. Watching the movie and reading the novel...I was curious as to where a man such as this acquired his thoughts, his perspective on life, and that is why I froze the screen of the movie and made a list of the books and attempted to glean from them what it was that compelled this man to behave the way he did. I wanted to understand Col. Kurtz. Men say strange things on their death beds...Kurtz was repeating “the horror” over and over. What will I say on my own death bed...”the Prince, the Prince...”? I don’t know, but I doubt it.

[llll]

OK Steve and Don,
I am going back to serve and volley....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0u59ArtoI

Don't have to run as much...

was this from monte carlo or rome??

[tennis_chiro]

The linchpin

What I never understood is why the arm should go down, then up, and not just up...
Doesn't seem like a core fundamental to me....

Whatever rhythm a server adopts (and I have some that I prefer over others, but that's less important), he must synchronize the "rock" of his weight transfer whether it is front to back to front (Agassi, Newcombe, Smith or my favorite: Stich), or back to front (Sampras) or whatever; he must synchronize the rhythm of that rock with the action of his hands in the toss. It is that "rocking motion" that hold the whole thing together. The server must be able to repeat it perfectly and indefinitely; otherwise the serve will break down under pressure.

This was a large part of the problem Sharapova was having with her abbreviated motion. Obviously, an abbreviated motion works great for Roddick and Gonzales and Nadal (I don't think it is any easier on the shoulder as is quoted for the usual reason for adopting it, but that's another story); but their rhythms are absolutely perfectly repeatable. When Sharapova switched to the short motion for a while, she lost the synchronization of her hands with the weight transfer and she was lost. She is almost back to where she started now.

Gonzales's little move with his hands gave him the synchronization that he needed between his hands and his rock; it "fit". Be sure your motion fits your motion to the rhythm of your "rock".

don

[don_budge]

Forward press...

Many golfers make a little move before they actually initiate their swing called a forward press. It sort of helps get things in motion from a static position...for rhythm's sake. Your inner Gonzales won't necessarily be identical to the real Gonzales...just a facsimile. It's all about you, Phil.