Why is Tennis NOT Popular in America??? (jogging, Knicks, Mets)
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Oh, Sampras' Wilson mid-size ProStaff from that era is a truly great racquet and is still sought after. I am lucky enough to own one that my grandfather bought 30 some years ago.........and not good enough to really get the most out of it. When you are sighting the ball well and your swing is technically solid, you fell like you are wielding Excalibur. When you are even a bit off, the small head size and heavy weight work against you. Hard to generate top spin with it too.
At any rate, the courts in my town were packed this weekend. Nice fall weather brought lots of people out to play.
I use this racquet still today and will respectably disagree that I have no issues generating as much topspin as I want with that racquet. (Low to High and hit out as hard as you want - so refreshing to hit the snot out of the ball, great stress relief.)
I use this racquet still today and will respectably disagree that I have no issues generating as much topspin as I want with that racquet. (Low to High and hit out as hard as you want - so refreshing to hit the snot out of the ball, great stress relief.)
Awesome!
I have failed to find a local place to get my Pro-Staff restrung, which it desperately needs. I have to wait until the next time I am 90 or so miles east. My hope is that the racquet is more "forgiving" afterwards. The issue with top-spin is probably more me, not the racquet. For me to get top-spin, I have to use one of those big headed modern racquets with the huge sweet spot and lots of play on the strings so I can control the ball with my less than consistent forehand stroke. I clunk this same shot with the Prostaff, I just don't see the ball coming in well enough to time the stroke with the heavier racquet and hit the smaller sweet spot.
Backhand side is a different story. I can sight and rip the ball from that side, and yes, the shot feels much better and is more effective with the Prostaff. I'm a righty that sets up like a lefty for this reason. If I have to hit a forehand, I want to move as little as possible to make sure I can set up my shot, and hopefully get a better angle. I can track down deep backhands well and get them to the baseline or deep corner. Leave one short on that side and I normally hit a winner.
When is spring coming!
Last edited by westsideboy; 02-14-2021 at 06:05 PM..
50+'ers are migrating to Pickleball, and ditching Tennis.
Played doubles with/against an 83 YO woman. I won't say she kicked my butt but I didn't kick hers either and I thought I was beginning to become a real tennis player.
Tennis got popular in the 70's with the running and outdoors boom, it was an easy sport to pick up and was an easy amenity to put into an apartment complex. As people matured and moved into houses, the sport had to stand on its own merits, and let's face it, tennis is extremely boring, not only to watch, but even to play. Hell, Bjorn Borg quit tennis at the top of his game as he could not bear to play it any more due to its boring nature.
Tennis is a hundred million times more fun than running.
Running after a ball, timing a precise swing and directing the ball over the net, within the lines and away from your opponent.
It is the most enjoyable individual sport in world history, and requires an equal combination of precision and athleticism.
You need more talent to play tennis than any other sport, but you also need money for membership, racquets, coach and eventually airfares etc.
Women's tennis seemed way bigger in the 90s.
Capriati, Graf, Seles, Davenport, Hingis, Kournikova, Williams (Venus/Serena beginning their careers in late 90s) were very popular in America.
The 2000s, doesn't seem like there are superstars in women's tennis, apart from Williams.....and Venus stopped winning slams many years ago, and Serena falling short too.
Women’s tennis is really bad at the moment. Serena is not really capable anymore of winning a grand slam unless she has a remarkably easy draw but more importantly there is just not any elite talent after Osaka. There is a ton of players with top skill but many lack either the mental fortitude or other aspects of their game to be elite. As a result you get a ton of sloppy matches That while they may seem good to the average person, someone who is an avid tennis watcher finds the flaws easily in today’s womens field. In the 2000s and 90s you more or less had only about 6 to 8 women who you knew were going to win the four grand slams each year. Right now you easily have probably 20 to 30 who can win any given grand slam which might sound like a good thing but it isn’t because it sort of comes down to who plays less bad most of the time
Women’s tennis is really bad at the moment. Serena is not really capable anymore of winning a grand slam unless she has a remarkably easy draw but more importantly there is just not any elite talent after Osaka. There is a ton of players with top skill but many lack either the mental fortitude or other aspects of their game to be elite. As a result you get a ton of sloppy matches That while they may seem good to the average person, someone who is an avid tennis watcher finds the flaws easily in today’s womens field. In the 2000s and 90s you more or less had only about 6 to 8 women who you knew were going to win the four grand slams each year. Right now you easily have probably 20 to 30 who can win any given grand slam which might sound like a good thing but it isn’t because it sort of comes down to who plays less bad most of the time
Exactly, all sports need rivalries.
And Barty has been #1 for 50+ weeks, not great for marketing.
The #1 ranked player gets free publicity, and if its not a popular player then the sport suffers.
Similar to men's tennis when Djokovic is ranked #1.....its mandatory that his image is on the posters and commercials for tournaments.....and men's tennis is more marketable when Nadal-Federer are front and center.
Spring is here! I got out to play last week. Need to go slow, very slow, as to not break or pop something.
..........and I popped something. My right shoulder never felt right after last fall, couldn't extend it over my head without pain. I tried to go slow, no serving, just hitting around, and the second time out I hit a rather ordinary forehand and *pop* I felt like half of my shoulder flew out with the ball.
So....I am learning to play left-handed. Surprisingly, I am not that much worse. I think it speaks more to my mediocrity on the right side, but the strokes all feel good and natural. My brain is a different story. It is going to take awhile to retrain my body to move the correct way to set up these shots. I find myself turning my back to my new forehand side and staying too open on my new backhand. Don't even talk about any kind of shots I have to move towards the net to hit, all those touch shots are gone right now, I will have to relearn them.
It has been fun so far. I think I could be better as a lefty. After just a few weeks, I am striking the ball well and finding I can actually put more pace and spin on it from the left side, just much more "make or miss" at this point.
If you can find tennis on TV at all, except for the Tennis Channel. Not even the Grand Slam tournaments are on network TV in the U.S. any longer, let alone the smaller tournaments.
The French Open is still televised on NBC. At least the later rounds are. And the U.S. Open toggles between CBS and ESPN. But you're correct in that you can't watch every single round on network television, but you couldn't do that in the 80s and 90s either.
Wimbledon was HBO for the early rounds and NBC for the weekends/later rounds.
French Open was USA/NBC.
Australian has been ESPN for a long time. Before the 90s, I'm not even sure it was televised due to the time difference. Many top players didn't even bother going Down Under.
U.S. Open was always CBS/USA.
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