Anyone speak French?

[stotty]

This is a stunning French film going back through the ages. The videographer was good. Slow motion black and white footage in perfect clarity...and he gets in close. My favourite is Segura...his double-handed forehand...his right hand high on the grip...the left hand then accompanies it below...see for yourself. Sedgman and others are in there...it's good stuff...rare. The good stuff starts around 4 minutes in.

http://www.ina.fr/sport/tennis/video/CPF04007731/tennis-professionnel.fr.html

I don't understand a word of French. I'd love to know what the commentary is about...anyone speak French?

[tennis_chiro]

Fabulous

Wow. The footage is so clear and the slow motion is wonderful. Pity they didn't show more actual play. I'd like to see how the modern strokes would fare on that slick surface. That indoor sports gymnasium looks like it is faster even than the wood I used to play on at the Armory in Harlem in NYC. Sept 1965 was just before the pressure was brought to get tennis to go open. After the Forest Hills in 67, Dave Dixon got 8 players to form the Handsome Eight (The "Handsome Eight" were Nikola Pilić of Yugoslavia, Butch Buchholz and Dennis Ralston of the United States, Pierre Barthes of France, Cliff Drysdale of South Africa, Roger Taylor of Great Britain, and John Newcombe and Tony Roche of Australia.) They competed with the more established tour which included Laver, Rosewall, Gimeno and Bucholtz. Gonzales was competing with that group occasionally at that time,but was mostly retired. Dixon sold his group to Lamar Hunt and the pressure mounted on the Grand Slams until tennis went open at the Roland Garros in 68. Sedgeman is talking about how they would like to add some of the amateurs like Ashe or Richey and the Frenchman Pierre Barthes, but one of the main topics seems to that the pros are better than the amateurs.

don

[stotty]

don,

Thanks for your input. I didn't know about the Handsome Eight.

The clips are great, aren't they? You can clearly see how the players are holding the racket. Look at Segura's left hand on his two-handed forehand, it's approaching an eastern forehand grip. Look how late he attaches the second hand.

Clear clips of players like Segura and Sedgman are very rare. We simply cannot gauge these players because there is so little footage of them.