Today's servers?

[gzhpcu]

If you watch the old clips of players past, none of them took a long time to serve. They would step up and do it. Why do today's players, like Nadal and Djokovic take so long?

[stotty]

It all started with Connors if you ask me. I blame Connors

[don_budge]

The difference is...

They would step up and do it. Why do today's players, like Nadal and Djokovic take so long?

You see...Phil, in the old days of classic tennis those players were "real men". They were not the media hyped, image is everything personalities that is being dished up to us nowadays. Those guys did their jobs with a lot of pride, no fanfare and at the end of the day they were regular dudes. Better tennis players as it were. Hoad, Gonzales, Roche, Rosewall, Newcombe, Smith and Nastase are clips in recent posts that are examples of what I am talking about. One bounce, maybe two...boom.

Today...and this is a knock on the whole deal, the big enchilada, the system...these guys are overpaid, self indulgent and generally speaking...spoiled rotten. They are merely soaking up some extra attention because in their minds they believe what is being written about them...the hype. The attitude that everyone should sit on the edge of their seats waiting for them to put the stupid serve in play, endlessly bouncing the ball is selfish and so obviously a cry for attention. What else could the reason be? Are they deliberating, are they trying to decide whether to rush the net or stay back after the serve?

Years ago...back in the days of "reality", the top athletes were generally making about ten times the money that the average cop or school teacher made. Even that was enough to alter the self image of athletes for them to believe that they were better than the ordinary man, or above the law. Today these guys are making a king's ransom...no wonder they are the way they are. They are the men of their times.

These guys take so much time to serve for the same reason the women are screaming and squealing every time they make contact with the ball...today, in modern times, it's all about "me"! It's rude, but nobody cares about manners anymore.

[gzhpcu]

Just watch Hoad - Trabert... Hoad steps up, bounces once then serves...
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=81817

[stotty]

Any evidence of anyone taking ages before Connors? I blame Connors ...

[tennis_chiro]

How much time do you really have between points?

There are two things I really object to with the extended bouncing of the ball.

First of all, you are not supposed to be allowed to stall and you are supposed to be ready to play in 20 or 25 seconds at most. This rule is clearly broken and needs to be enforced with a shot clock. Obviously, they will have a problem with when that clock starts, but they could give that discretion to the chair umpire, or to be more controversial, a separate official or one of the baseline linesmen near the server (probably too complicated). If you can wind your opponent with a tough point, you should be able to reap the advantage. An extra 5 to 15 second rest almost wipes that advantage away.

Second, when a player is bouncing the ball interminably and an indeterminate number of times like Nole, the receiver is forced to hold the ready position through the entire time. Take a hundred serves and an additional 10 seconds the receiver has to hold the ready position (and sometimes it seems even longer than that); that's 1000 seconds in almost an isometric exercise for the receiver. That's significant. And it certainly is not fair. Or within the rules or even spirit of the rules of the game.

I keep waiting for a player playing against one of these players to force the umpire to give them a warning early in the match for delaying the point by simply bouncing the ball until the umpire has no choice. Then that player walks up to the umpire and says, "What, exactly, is the rule?"...Umpire answers 25 seconds (in the majors, I think it is 20; or maybe it's the other way around). "OK, when do you start timing?"...the umpire answers..."OK, just so you enforce the rule exactly on both of us." I'd like to see someone make a really big stink in a match about this.

Rafa gets his warning and then speeds up. Nole continues way beyond any 20 or 25 seconds with his ball bouncing routine (although it is better than it used to be). Can you imagine what kind of scene Nastase would create with these guys.

In the same vein, can you imagine what Nasty would have done with a post-impact grunter! I would love to have seen it. Can you imagine the variety of groan he would have put up as the ball went over the net. I'm betting he would have adopted an orgasmic timbre to it. (Just imagine the "When Harry met Sally" routine: on the next court over, 'Can we play with their balls next time?') Then the umpire would give him a warning...and then Ilie would simply say, "but you let him scream after he hits the ball, and my shot just felt sooo good, I couldn't help myself"...oh, I never thought I would say I would like to see Ilie's antics come back, but in this case, I think they would be exactly the right remedy...

just a thought on a Saturday morning!!! Maybe we could get Ilie to make a comeback as a coach. Can you imagine him going down to talk to his player (woman, of course) and coaching her on how to grunt. Audibly for the camera,of course. What a great way to relax your player and get them to laugh and relax. Just think what a writer for SNL could do with this!!

don