The wife and I picked up a couple of rackets and have been playing a few games, just for fun. We suck.
The toughest part is the serve, for me. I'm working on form, keeping my wrist loose, pulling my arm back at the same time as I throw, flexing the legs, aiming for the center of the box, not looking at the sun OH GOD THERE'S A SHITLOAD OF STUFF GOING ON
I'm not the best multitasker, so that sucks for me. Once a rally starts, though, I kick my wife's ass. We get break points pretty much all the time.
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited June 2010
Don't worry about serving until you at least get your forehand down. Learn the forehand, learn the proper wrist rotation, and then worry about a simple serving motion.
The thing about a simple serve in the beginning is that (at least for me when I was being taught as a kid) you constantly fight yourself from wanting to spin the ball because you're trying to put some power behind it so you hit it flatter, but once you overcome that hurdle you'll have a very nice serve that generates enough spin to land smack dab in the middle of the service court and should easily clear the net.
Djokovic has a nice service motion to watch, as does Justine Henin (Henin's is actually better because she's so small she has to generate spin with her motion).
There's something lucky about being ranked #82 in this tournament, apparently.
Noff on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited June 2010
Venus is actually the better of the two sisters so I'm sad she left (I don't like Serena at all, her father would probably call me a racist because he's crazy like that). And grass is her best surface.
In 2004 there was a big russian surge of female players dominating the top 10, and now it looks like it's a wave of eastern european females (and males too, for that matter).
Zvonareva better not freak out like she did at the US Open last year, that really made me not root for her.
Really looking forward to the Federer/Berdych match tomorrow, can Berdych break through to a SF spot and live up to that talent? And if Tsonga can just crush Murray with his forehand and make all of the UK sigh with anger....
The Soderling/Nadal match should be good too, because if Soderling plays the exact same way as he did at the FO, he might win.
Really looking forward to the Federer/Berdych match tomorrow, can Berdych break through to a SF spot and live up to that talent? And if Tsonga can just crush Murray with his forehand and make all of the UK sigh with anger....
Those are my boys too!
Does Berdych have the game to do it? Fuck yeah! Does Berdych have the head to do it? Mmmmm.....can just having the game be enough, please? ;o)
Tsonga has played some ropey matches, but the one area he's been very solid in is holding serve and I really like players able to hold serve when they go vs Andy. I fully hope he can come up big, play short rallies and make Murray look stupid....yet again.
About the WTA semis, Zvonareva should absolutely trash Pironkova on ability, but well, she's a headcase and if there is one thing Pironkova has shown so far in the tournament it's balls of steel, so I'm staying away from predicting that one.
Serena vs Kvitova will be superb tennis and one to watch and enjoy. I fully believe that Petra can win this tournament.
This is a tense 4th set. 3 games all right now, still on serve. Berdych almost lost it just now though, but he managed to turn a 15-40 into deuce, then advantage Fed, then finally coming back. Maybe it'll make it to tiebreak.
BOOOOOOM!!! Federer is out, not in GS semi for the 2nd time in a row.
Nadal on his way, if Tsonga does Murray, this slam is the start of a new era in tennis.
I don't know if he is just looking for some excuses after the match or something like that. I think he was 100 percent ready.
Even if he wasn't ready, well, too bad. That's part of the game; if you work yourself way too hard in your early matches, chances are you're going to have trouble down the road.
joshofalltrades on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
Federer, for as good as he is, has always been a bad loser. When he lost to Safin in the 2005 AO SF, he blamed blisters on his feet.
When he lost to Nadal in the 2005 FO SF, he made some excuse about the lighting and the refs not delaying the match to the next day (he has since had to stop giving excuses to losing to Nadal because he's the only guy who consistently beats Federer).
He said something about losing to Blake in the Olympics in 2008 too.
In 2009 against Djokovic in Miami he didn't say anything, he just smashed rackets like they were pencils.
And yesterday he blamed his legs. Federer's not as bad as Serena when she loses, where she never gives her opponents any credit, but he still has a bit of an ego about losing. Granted he's more than earned the right to have that ego, but still.
Berdych played a great match, on par with Andy Roddick's performance against Murray last year in the SF. He had a game plan made up, he stuck with it, and served out of his mind.
It's just the perfect response to the shit the media has given him for this win. Tennis is scored in such a way that there are really no flukes. It didn't come down to the wire in the 5th set; Berdych just played better than Federer this time.
joshofalltrades on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
See, what I love about tennis is that it's a game that requires you to beat your opponent not once, but twice.
You have to win two more games than your opponent to win a set (barring tiebreaks which, even then, are set up in a way that you have to win by two), you have to win two sets to win most matches,
It's a game that says "ok, the fluke you just pulled? In order to beat me you have to do that twice"
And tennis players do not make a lot of money, despite having to be in better shape than baseball players (I'd say on par with basketball players, but below football player), and having the longest schedule in sports, you only get more money when you win more. The only guaranteed money is in things like signing apparel contracts or racket contracts (Federer is going to get $2 million a year for life from Wilson), but not in playing the actual sport.
So when a good player like Berdych comes and beats Federer, it's not a fluke. Berdych is going to be in the top 10 when Wimbledon is over, and has been a top 10 player before, he's a good player who might finally have his head and heart in it to win. And against someone like Novak, who will just quit playing because it's no big deal, he already won a slam, he has the potential to win the whole thing since he matches up well against Nadal or Murray.
One thing I think is weird: So Berdych winning was an upset, but it's not like he's some scrub. He was seeded 12th, right? I know Federer and Nadal are really really good, but are they that Bradmanesque?
It's really just kind of the last gasp for Federer's air of "I'm unstoppable". Wimbledon is Federer's favorite Grand Slam, and he just got sent home in the quarter finals at his home turf. It really wouldn't be called an upset anywhere else, but this is Roger's comfort zone.
joshofalltrades on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
The only thing I can think of is that Federer's best surface is grass, he's been, until yesterday, in 7 straight Wimbledon finals, and everyone but Nadal loses to him on a continuing regular basis. So either people can't accept that Federer might be losing a step (and for him that means winning only one slam a year), or that there are others out there who are reaching their full potential finally.
I'd love for Berdych to be one of those late bloomers in talent like Patrick Rafter was, where they reach only 3-4 years of great tennis.
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
Roddick has always looked like Stifler, and that both of their names have penis connotations is even funnier.
And Roddick has always looked that way, even as a baby (this is just amazing):
But Sam Querrey looks a lot like Kevin Bacon:
TexiKen on
0
Options
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
Berdych up 2 sets, the second set was nothing but great serving until the tiebreak, where it lookedl ike Berdych might have choked away the set but pulls through.
Hopefully Novak will just call it a match now, he doesn't really have a fighting spirit.
Berdych in the finals now, looks like Nadal has a head start on Murray.
Would be great to see two first-time Grand Slam finalists at Wimbledon this year but it's looking less and less likely.
joshofalltrades on
0
Options
AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Oh good, Serena's game is done. Now to cross my fingers that another women's match isn't playing so I can maybe watch Nadal-Murray match before it's over.
Posts
The toughest part is the serve, for me. I'm working on form, keeping my wrist loose, pulling my arm back at the same time as I throw, flexing the legs, aiming for the center of the box, not looking at the sun OH GOD THERE'S A SHITLOAD OF STUFF GOING ON
I'm not the best multitasker, so that sucks for me. Once a rally starts, though, I kick my wife's ass. We get break points pretty much all the time.
pipe dream
do it for the motherland novaaaaak
The thing about a simple serve in the beginning is that (at least for me when I was being taught as a kid) you constantly fight yourself from wanting to spin the ball because you're trying to put some power behind it so you hit it flatter, but once you overcome that hurdle you'll have a very nice serve that generates enough spin to land smack dab in the middle of the service court and should easily clear the net.
Djokovic has a nice service motion to watch, as does Justine Henin (Henin's is actually better because she's so small she has to generate spin with her motion).
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
In 2004 there was a big russian surge of female players dominating the top 10, and now it looks like it's a wave of eastern european females (and males too, for that matter).
Zvonareva better not freak out like she did at the US Open last year, that really made me not root for her.
Really looking forward to the Federer/Berdych match tomorrow, can Berdych break through to a SF spot and live up to that talent? And if Tsonga can just crush Murray with his forehand and make all of the UK sigh with anger....
The Soderling/Nadal match should be good too, because if Soderling plays the exact same way as he did at the FO, he might win.
Those are my boys too!
Does Berdych have the game to do it? Fuck yeah! Does Berdych have the head to do it? Mmmmm.....can just having the game be enough, please? ;o)
Tsonga has played some ropey matches, but the one area he's been very solid in is holding serve and I really like players able to hold serve when they go vs Andy. I fully hope he can come up big, play short rallies and make Murray look stupid....yet again.
About the WTA semis, Zvonareva should absolutely trash Pironkova on ability, but well, she's a headcase and if there is one thing Pironkova has shown so far in the tournament it's balls of steel, so I'm staying away from predicting that one.
Serena vs Kvitova will be superb tennis and one to watch and enjoy. I fully believe that Petra can win this tournament.
Is the Berd the word? Is the Berd the word?
Wait, you mean you haven't heard?
EDIT:
Man, they were on serve and Berd had to let it get to deuce on his.
Edit: One game away!
Federer
what is up
You better not cry bro
Nadal on his way, if Tsonga does Murray, this slam is the start of a new era in tennis.
I'm reminded of the scene at the end of The Princess Bride
"Good heavens, are you still trying to win?"
EDIT:
Ah, never mind. At least he got 3 games out of it.
Soderling has the first set on Nadal, but Nadal is up 3-0 in the second.
Even if he wasn't ready, well, too bad. That's part of the game; if you work yourself way too hard in your early matches, chances are you're going to have trouble down the road.
When he lost to Nadal in the 2005 FO SF, he made some excuse about the lighting and the refs not delaying the match to the next day (he has since had to stop giving excuses to losing to Nadal because he's the only guy who consistently beats Federer).
He said something about losing to Blake in the Olympics in 2008 too.
In 2009 against Djokovic in Miami he didn't say anything, he just smashed rackets like they were pencils.
And yesterday he blamed his legs. Federer's not as bad as Serena when she loses, where she never gives her opponents any credit, but he still has a bit of an ego about losing. Granted he's more than earned the right to have that ego, but still.
Berdych played a great match, on par with Andy Roddick's performance against Murray last year in the SF. He had a game plan made up, he stuck with it, and served out of his mind.
It's just the perfect response to the shit the media has given him for this win. Tennis is scored in such a way that there are really no flukes. It didn't come down to the wire in the 5th set; Berdych just played better than Federer this time.
You have to win two more games than your opponent to win a set (barring tiebreaks which, even then, are set up in a way that you have to win by two), you have to win two sets to win most matches,
It's a game that says "ok, the fluke you just pulled? In order to beat me you have to do that twice"
And tennis players do not make a lot of money, despite having to be in better shape than baseball players (I'd say on par with basketball players, but below football player), and having the longest schedule in sports, you only get more money when you win more. The only guaranteed money is in things like signing apparel contracts or racket contracts (Federer is going to get $2 million a year for life from Wilson), but not in playing the actual sport.
So when a good player like Berdych comes and beats Federer, it's not a fluke. Berdych is going to be in the top 10 when Wimbledon is over, and has been a top 10 player before, he's a good player who might finally have his head and heart in it to win. And against someone like Novak, who will just quit playing because it's no big deal, he already won a slam, he has the potential to win the whole thing since he matches up well against Nadal or Murray.
I'd love for Berdych to be one of those late bloomers in talent like Patrick Rafter was, where they reach only 3-4 years of great tennis.
I mean, those are the obvious ones
Anybody see anything else?
And Roddick has always looked that way, even as a baby (this is just amazing):
But Sam Querrey looks a lot like Kevin Bacon:
Hopefully Novak will just call it a match now, he doesn't really have a fighting spirit.
Would be great to see two first-time Grand Slam finalists at Wimbledon this year but it's looking less and less likely.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12