Talk About Tennis 2.0

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 10:22 pm It must be nice to be able to say that based on only one piece of data.
1. Parity. In 11 slams this decade, we have had 7 different winners. But sure, Iga has separated herself. The rest of the tour remains completely even.
2. It means nothing. You could go on to win, you could go on to lose. So, do you even play them?
3. So, Ons has no class? Two straight Slam finals, and you still only say it is form?

Ons had class, she proved it. This year, did 'other' win a single major?!

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 10:22 pm It must be nice to be able to say that based on only one piece of data.
1. Parity. In 11 slams this decade, we have had 7 different winners. But sure, Iga has separated herself. The rest of the tour remains completely even.
2. It means nothing. You could go on to win, you could go on to lose. So, do you even play them?
3. So, Ons has no class? Two straight Slam finals, and you still only say it is form?

Not to argue forever, just to close the loop..
The fact that winning warmup events doesn't prepare you to win the majors, is because you need to peak at the event you want to win - unless you are in the Serena,/Nadal class..it doesn't mean Toronto is not worth winning, just that you must remember the tradeoff..btw Chris Evert just said Garcia peaked too early, which is precisely, I think, what I have been saying on this subject ..
Every player and coach knows, I presume, their own body and mind, so they know what to do to peak at a given time .I am sure it is different for every player. I, for one, at my level, always play spectacularly well when I haven't touched a racket for a month .all my bad habits are forgotten! Tennis is played with the body, not the mind (btw a good book to read is The Extended Mind)

As for parity, there isn't any..the best player usually wins..the fault is with us, if we cannot figure out who that is!

I'm happy that at least the U.S. Open has the class and respect to use the actual real names of the winners instead of using their stupid 'twitter handles', which dehumanizes them.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 2:23 am Tennis is played with the body, not the mind

^ I completely disagree 100%. I've stated why on many occasions.
The mind controls what the body does. We see dozens of examples of this in every individual match.
Did Caroline Garcia suddenly lose her physical ability vs. Jabeur? Of course not - she faltered psychologically (either from the fact that she had done poorly vs. Jabeur in the past, or some other psychological reason(s)).

When I jokingly asked Patricia Hy a couple of weeks ago (former Canadian player in the 1980s who has wins over several top players) - when I asked her "Is tennis 95% mental, or 96% mental?" She replied ""100%!"
Most current and former players agree that tennis is an extremely psychological sport to play. Several even mentioned it throughout the past 2 weeks during U.S. Open telecasts.
Your utter and perpetual refusal to recognize the importance of the psychological elements of tennis is very puzzling for someone of your experience.

Deuce wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 6:04 am

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 2:23 am Tennis is played with the body, not the mind

^ I completely disagree 100%. I've stated why on many occasions.
The mind controls what the body does. We see dozens of examples of this in every individual match.
Did Caroline Garcia suddenly lose her physical ability vs. Jabeur? Of course not - she faltered psychologically (either from the fact that she had done poorly vs. Jabeur in the past, or some other psychological reason(s)).

When I jokingly asked Patricia Hy a couple of weeks ago (former Canadian player in the 1980s who has wins over several top players) - when I asked her "Is tennis 95% mental, or 96% mental?" She replied ""100%!"
Most current and former players agree that tennis is an extremely psychological sport to play. Several even mentioned it throughout the past 2 weeks during U.S. Open telecasts.
Your utter and perpetual refusal to recognize the importance of the psychological elements of tennis is very puzzling for someone of your experience.

if tennis were played entirely with the mind, I would be #1 in the world, which I am not.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 9:33 am

Deuce wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 6:04 am

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 2:23 am Tennis is played with the body, not the mind

^ I completely disagree 100%. I've stated why on many occasions.
The mind controls what the body does. We see dozens of examples of this in every individual match.
Did Caroline Garcia suddenly lose her physical ability vs. Jabeur? Of course not - she faltered psychologically (either from the fact that she had done poorly vs. Jabeur in the past, or some other psychological reason(s)).

When I jokingly asked Patricia Hy a couple of weeks ago (former Canadian player in the 1980s who has wins over several top players) - when I asked her "Is tennis 95% mental, or 96% mental?" She replied ""100%!"
Most current and former players agree that tennis is an extremely psychological sport to play. Several even mentioned it throughout the past 2 weeks during U.S. Open telecasts.
Your utter and perpetual refusal to recognize the importance of the psychological elements of tennis is very puzzling for someone of your experience.

if tennis were played entirely with the mind, I would be #1 in the world, which I am not.

btw that was a joke.. just making a point.

Deuce wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 5:54 am I'm happy that at least the U.S. Open has the class and respect to use the actual real names of the winners instead of using their stupid 'twitter handles', which dehumanizes them.

Did a tournament actually do that? Use twitter handles instead of names?

Owendonovan wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 11:59 am Did a tournament actually do that? Use twitter handles instead of names?

In their twitter announcements, yes.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 4:19 am As for parity, there isn't any..the best player usually wins..the fault is with us, if we cannot figure out who that is!

Yes - and/but it's too much to ask to figure out who will be the best on any given week or day. We don't have the information or knowledge. It's our fault if we can't figure THAT out. Predictions are a (slightly educated) guessing game. For some reason it feels good to guess right, like on a game show or gambling.

Marketing has become the driver behind almost every media contact made by a player. When your agent sits down to negotiate with Nike, Adidas, Yonex, Fila or New Balance the first question the corporate reps are going to ask is why they should sign your player to a multi million dollar contract. The agent will then present metrics of Player X's presence on social media, Twitter, IG and (sadly) TikTok to show that X million people click on their profiles and then send them out to the people on their TL's and they in turn resend them to their friends/family or whoever and the pattern gets repeated. It's not dehumanizing to post the Twitter, IG, or TikTok handle of a player who has just won a Major. It's money in the bank for all involved, including the Slam that gets publicity and maybe a person who sees the pic of a player says "maybe I'll watch next year to see if Player X is playing".

The above is true for every pro athlete in the modern world not just tennis players. It's okay to hate the game but right now it's the only game in town.