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Having watched Indian Wells and Miami, I am coming to the conclusion service speeds are getting slower, especially second serves. It’s hard to judge speeds watching TV, but average service speeds look slower than they were a decade or so ago? Are there any stats out there that bear this out? The average serve speed around the Sampras/Agassi era seemed quicker.
Second serves these days look like they are being rolled in quite slowly. Returners are sometimes four or five feet inside the baseline when taking on the ball, looking like they have plenty of time...yet they don’t always wreak much damage, which begs the question: how slow are the courts over there?
If I am right it answers a much broader question. That players only ever hone the skills most needed; less necessary skills they merely make adequate. Federer is the games’ best all rounder, but foremost he’s a baseliner whose transition and net game are average compared to past players who were great at it.
The courts specifically dictate what’s needed, players simply respond. The perfect player will always be like the holy grail...never to be found...human nature is to blame.
Second serves these days look like they are being rolled in quite slowly. Returners are sometimes four or five feet inside the baseline when taking on the ball, looking like they have plenty of time...yet they don’t always wreak much damage, which begs the question: how slow are the courts over there?
If I am right it answers a much broader question. That players only ever hone the skills most needed; less necessary skills they merely make adequate. Federer is the games’ best all rounder, but foremost he’s a baseliner whose transition and net game are average compared to past players who were great at it.
The courts specifically dictate what’s needed, players simply respond. The perfect player will always be like the holy grail...never to be found...human nature is to blame.
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