Jimmy Connors vs. Miloslav Mecir...1988 Key Biscayne Semifinal

[don_budge]

Some of the coaches like to toss around the name of Miloslav Mecir now and then. This relatively obscure and low flying under the radar player...perhaps underrated due to his lack of flamboyancy. Which sort of makes him flamboyant...in his own way. But heres a match to access his skills by and here is an article to boot. I thought that it was quite interesting...certainly not your run of the tennis mill perspective.

the match...Cliff Drysdale and bottle's fav Virginia Wade commentating...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUZf4hATHyM

the article...

http://catch22review.com/2012/03/20/the-hypochondria-of-miloslav-mecir/

[don_budge]

Mecir forehand grip?

Just curious...any ideas?

[stotty]

Mecir the master...

Just curious...any ideas?

Apparently eastern...

My favourite ever player to watch is Mecir...could watch him play all day.

Gattone, The Big Cat…was the nickname given to Mecir by an Italian journalist. The name stuck.

Younger members in the forum may not be familiar with Miloslav Mecir, but I would urge young players and coaches to take a look. There is much to learn from him…so much. Despite never winning a slam, the impact he had on the game over his short 8-year career was immense.

Mecir had no coach or mentor and was considered something of a loner on the tour. His grasp of English was poor, and if he ever gave an interview, I never saw it. He was impeccably behaved on court and frowned upon attention seeking behaviour from others. Mecir was the last tour player of any note to play with a wooden racket.

For me it's his backhand up the line which was exceptional...the disguise magnificent. His forehand was unusual with its short backswing. He would push it around innocuously and very slowly at times (see the opening rally in the clip I pasted). His movement is legendary (go to 4:30 on the clip...he gets it and plays it two-handed!). Has there ever been a more composed player?

The following clip is nearly 7 minutes. It shows many of his finest qualities. Worth watching from start to finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_34nkKIUXc

Thanks for opening this thread...terrific.

[klacr]

I barely remember Mecir but I'm very familiar with and a big fan of one of his players he coached. A crafty player named Karol Kucera. Anyone else remember him. I could watch him play all day. Very similar.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[bottle]

Haptic

How could I live for 73 years without learning the word "haptic?" No wonder I have occasionally under-performed in my tennis. One hesitates to quote only one phrase from an article this filled with notable phrases, but here it is: "...especially his forehand always appeared to be based on the wisdom of the body stored in the haptic memory."

haptic. "relating to or based on the sense of touch."

What should we call the rare language of an article such as this? Epic, cultural, intellectual, free-associative and international? Pretty learned for sports writing if I ever dared to think that of myself-- here's something to compare with.

Mecir's minimal, always stable forehand is certainly worth study if nothing else for how a Gattone can caress the ball. (Italian for big cat, I think.)

In the most main of the many videos here, what a psychic episode by Jimmy Connors at the end of the second set. That he then was able to win is disgusting-- sort of the precursor of his ugly sucky match with your friend Aaron Krickstein.

I thought the referees should have given the match to Mecir right then rather than just a point.

I do think that Virginia Wade would be an interesting person to know. I'm not sure she has the best broadcasting voice but neither do I, so I shouldn't talk on the radio or TV but elsewhere might be okay.

The half-hour VCR that one of her students made, VIRGINIA WADE'S CLASS, is a hoot. The beginning of it resembles the beginning of TRIUMPH OF THE WILL by Leni Riefenstahl when Adolf Hitler descends through the clouds.

It includes an appearance by Sigmund Freud and a man trying to pick up a tennis ball with his racket but breaking the strings until they're a fishnet surrounding a yellow fish-- obvious humor-- but then there's the greater subtlety of Ginny and the movie-maker playing for a really good bottle of champagne.

Ginny hits crosscourt. The movie-maker has to hit down the line.

And there are really provocative insights into serve and one-hand backhand.

And a sixties-ish scene at the end where Ginny's class is seated on the ground and holds hands and sings "OM."

I very much like another Lipton (I think) video where the 30-year-old Virginia Wade beats up on the 20-year-old Martina Navratilova.

The announcers for that one: Pancho Gonzalez and Chris Schenkel.

Other wisdom from the past, specifically from Mercer Beasley, coach of Ellsworth Vines (and paraphrased here by me): The secret of the volley is that the ball hits the racket. The racket does not hit the ball. The volley is a forward block.

[stotty]

Funny bottle mentioned Mecir's haptic forehand. I was watching the clip of Mecir playing Lendl with a friend. We both agreed that Mecir's, at times, pushy forehand was effective. He hit it with depth and found spots on the court that made it difficult for opponents to do anything aggressive It was a clever shot.

We mused how Mecir might get on today. Would his forehand paceless forehand neutralize and frustrate players like Nadal or Djokovic or could they penetrate that "lifeless" ball in a way that Lendl couldn't back then?

I remember Kucera, Klacr. The "Little Cat' they called him. Not quite as good as the Big Cat, but good....good to watch.

[don_budge]

The Haptic Forehand...of Miloslav Mecir

Apparently eastern...

His forehand was unusual with its short backswing. He would push it around innocuously and very slowly at times (see the opening rally in the clip I pasted).

Thanks for opening this thread...terrific.

You are most welcome licensedcoach...I had you in mind. Among other things. You know me...full of ulterior motives.

But I am not convinced that his grip is eastern...even you have observed his backswing has some continental characteristics and the article is quoted by bottle as saying it is haptic. Did you know that haptic is derived from an old Swedish word that means...continental?

From the article:

It’s one thing to admit that the Mečíř moment in tennis is equivalent to the dark and bitter poetry of Ovid, once he was exiled to the Black Sea—and make up the nexus between creativity and regional enforcement, like a dove escaping in flight from the rib cage of a dead carcass; it’s quite another to inquire why a forehand in tennis, especially in the preliminaries of a point, which Mečíř liked to sedate almost to a standstill, had never looked so shy and becalmed before.

As the door handle is the handshake of a building in many Mitteleuropean novels and stories [5], so too Mečíř’s forehand is a tactile ingredient concealed in vision. Often arching on the top, it could be inviting and courteous, or forbidding and aggressive, like the hand of a bronze Buddhist goddess. Everything in Miloslav’s playing betrays an intimate contact with the body—the body knows and remembers.

To put it in terms of architectural experience, Mečíř was always an archaic farmer, seeking not to move (and, seemingly, not moving at all), but he wanted his adversary to work as hard as a primordial hunter. In the Slovak tradition of making a living as a response to traits passed down from generation to generation, tennis skills are learned through incorporating the sequence of movements refined by habit, not through theory or tactical drills. Mečíř’s craft, in this light, presents kinship with that of the mason or the stone cutter, and especially his forehand always appeared to be based on the wisdom of the body stored in the haptic memory.

[stotty]

Time

But I am not convinced that his grip is eastern...even you have observed his backswing has some continental characteristics and the article is quoted by bottle as saying it is haptic. Did you know that haptic is derived from an old Swedish word that means...continental?

It's quite difficult to find out what players use which grips. There's great disagreement on the Internet even over someone like Laver. Most people seem to have Mecir's forehand grip down as an eastern grip. His racket is slightly closed as he prepares so we can assume it's a little further than continental perhaps.

Grips are unique to each individual to an extent, anyway. We all have slightly different shaped, and sized, hands...and finger length...and then elect to use either a large or smaller grip size. Some players with relatively small hands will, oddly, opt for a large grip and vice versa. It all has a baring on the way our shots look and what we can do with a ball...even if the hand characteristic differences between us are but slight.

Mac's grip on the backhand is most odd...

Mecir has time...that why he appears so still...composed...almost non-moving...it's a gift...you can't teach it...it's what makes him so fascinating. I saw him beat Wilander at Wimbledon in the 80s so easily it was embarrassing to watch...6-3 6-1 6-3 I think the score was.

[don_budge]

Continental forehand grips...

It's quite difficult to find out what players use which grips. There's great disagreement on the Internet even over someone like Laver. Most people seem to have Mecir's down has having an eastern grip. His racket is slightly closed as he prepares so we can assume it's a little further than continental perhaps.

I don't think that there is much doubt that Laver used the continental grip. Even you observed the way he held the racquet with one hand...do you think he could of changed grips holding the racquet that way. I have seen McEnroe do the same thing. I prefer not to assume that Mecir's grip is one way or the other. I would prefer to know for certain and not just take your word for it. Know what I mean?

[stotty]

I don't think that there is much doubt that Laver used the continental grip. Even you observed the way he held the racquet with one hand...do you think he could of changed grips holding the racquet that way. I have seen McEnroe do the same thing. I prefer not to assume that Mecir's grip is one way or the other. I would prefer to know for certain and not just take your word for it. Know what I mean?

I agree. I will try and find out on both players. I have Laver's biography so it should feature in there. Mecir's eastern grip is Internet hearsay so cannot be relied upon. Let's investigate...

You can visibly see Mac and Laver changing or resettling their grips at times in some clips. Minuscule changes...but they seem to be changing....or resettling...not sure which.

[bottle]

A Great Discussion

From both admirable guys.

Diagnoses of grip most often are as shaky as a kitten locked by mistake for an hour in the Costco freezer room.

The shock of a lifetime for me was always hearing that Don Budge hit his backhand with an eastern backhand grip and then noticing the cover of his autobiography with its photographic portrayal of hand in continental grip to hit his famous sockdolager.

"sockdolager," Merriam-Webster online: something that settles a matter: a decisive blow or answer: finisher; 2., something outstanding or exceptional

[jbill]

That's a wonderful paraphrasing from bottle on Mercer Beasley's secret to the volley. I love it: "the ball hits the racket. The racket does not hit the ball. The volley is a forward block." Yes, and so many of today's pros and club players don't get this at all. Fortunately, I have a coach who teaches the volley exactly this way. Probably the hardest stroke in the game because the hitting hand always wants to do more than it needs to do.

And yes, Mecir is a fascinating player to watch. As the author of the article says he demonstrated a tactical style that contrasts so clearly with today's often unimaginative style of play demonstrated by most pros.

Thank you don_budge for bringing this great topic/player to the forum.

Jim Bill

[don_budge]

Ahemmm...

And yes, Mecir is a fascinating player to watch. As the author of the article says he demonstrated a tactical style that contrasts so clearly with today's often unimaginative style of play demonstrated by most pros.

Jim Bill

Well said...

[don_budge]

More Mecir...

And yes, Mecir is a fascinating player to watch.

Jim Bill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaLp7-W9MYk

I agree...he is a fascinating player to watch. As you may of noticed jbill...I have been experimenting with the continental grip as of late. The more that I watch Mecir I think that he is gripping his forehand with the continental grip. I see characteristics that I have become familiar with in his swing that indicate something to that effect. To say nothing of that beautiful forehand volley. I cannot say definitively but I believe it to be a distinct possibility.

What do you think? Anyone?

[stotty]

Mild eastern

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaLp7-W9MYk

I agree...he is a fascinating player to watch. As you may of noticed jbill...I have been experimenting with the continental grip as of late. The more that I watch Mecir I think that he is gripping his forehand with the continental grip. I see characteristics that I have become familiar with in his swing that indicate something to that effect. To say nothing of that beautiful forehand volley. I cannot say definitively but I believe it to be a distinct possibility.

What do you think? Anyone?

I cannot find anything too concrete about his grip. I'm going for mild eastern. Definitely not full continental in my view. We need that one good slow motion clip at close range to settle the matter...haven't com across one yet.