Went to a D-1 Men's Match Tonight...

[rosheem]

U of Illinois vs. Notre Dame.

Sat courtside between 1st and 2nd singles courts.

My impressions:

Parabolic.

Those kids are so young. And little.

I would be ten times better by now if I could play with those kids every day.

Louder noise on contact. Sweet spot. Always.

Higher speed to spin ratio than expected.

Serving DOWN into box.

Not much running. Just quickness. If an angle is opened, the next shot ends it.

I can do this. But it certainly would help if all you old USTA veterans would cooperate and hit me some nice parabolas. I am a potential parabolic baseline basher living in a linear limbo land of lobs and line drives.

[sejsel]

"Parabolic" vs. "higher spin to speed ratio than expected" almost calls for some further elaboration.

Interesting read altogether though. Keep on keepin' on!

[rosheem]

That's just my way of making simple things seem even more complicated.

By parabolic, I just meant that they hit with even more arc and net clearance than I thought.

I actually wrote "higher speed to spin ratio".

By that, I just meant that they hit the ball harder than I expected. Of course, they put a ton of topspin on every shot, but what impressed me was how hard and clean they hit the ball.

Most people who see this type of tennis for the first time would probably come away with the opposite impression...that they hit the ball with MORE spin than expected. For me it was the opposite...they hit the ball with more pace than I expected to see.

[sejsel]

That's just my way of making simple things seem even more complicated.

By parabolic, I just meant that they hit with even more arc and net clearance than I thought.

I actually wrote "higher speed to spin ratio".

By that, I just meant that they hit the ball harder than I expected. Of course, they put a ton of topspin on every shot, but what impressed me was how hard and clean they hit the ball.

Most people who see this type of tennis for the first time would probably come away with the opposite impression...that they hit the ball with MORE spin than expected. For me it was the opposite...they hit the ball with more pace than I expected to see.

Of course, my typo - I meant the same , higher speed to spin ratio, and that vs. parabolic sounds as a contradiction in terms of absolutes, but then agan, life can be seldom seen in such terms.

It is always good to be reminded of the fact that harder struck ball doesn't always necessarily transfer into "faster" ball.
Speed to spin ratio (or capability flatten out strokes at need), tied to many other things does often become an issue at the age of 15-16 and whether former junior succeeds in transfer to successful touring seniors.

These juniors do practice more or less on daily basis, under the watchful eye of their coach(es). I can only wish I had more practice time myself, and having chance to incorporate what I know, only on daily basis.

Practice makes perfect, remember?

Last 4 lines in the quote are really nice description of how a person evolves even as an observer of the game.
Really a '"neverending story" (or rather a process)...