Putting the brakes on technology...

[gzhpcu]

In soccer over here they some clubs have started using gadgets to assess fitness levels to work out how long they should leave a player on the pitch...how long he can last at his optimum level before he depletes. I hope it won't get to the stage where soccer players are allowed to wear wristbands during matches and the data fed back to the bench. It would be a shame to lose that decision making side of the game to computers.

Nadal uses a Babolat racket to keep track of the number of forehands and backhands he plays in a match. He said that if he plays fewer than 60% forehands, I believe he said, then he knows he is not playing well. He is allowed to look at the results only after the match.

[stotty]

Wristband technology...

In soccer over here they some clubs have started using gadgets to assess fitness levels to work out how long they should leave a player on the pitch...how long he can last at his optimum level before he depletes. I hope it won't get to the stage where soccer players are allowed to wear wristbands during matches and the data fed back to the bench. It would be a shame to lose that decision making side of the game to computers.

[gzhpcu]

Better get used to it. It isn't going to go away, it will get more extreme.

You will like this, for example: http://www.gizmag.com/cicret-bracelet/35109/

Soon virtual reality wrap-around glasses, direct brain-internet interface, and much, much more...

http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...internet-link/

It is called progress.

[hockeyscout]

Ed does not exist if you have this.

Believe it or not some guy is probably bored with it.

[GeoffWilliams]

Ed does not exist if you have this.

[hockeyscout]

I really believe a phone makes my dick soft, serious. Put that radiation next to your balls all day, drink red bull, Coke, Pepsi, Coffee with cream - sugar and wonder why you're not a stallion when it counts.

[GeoffWilliams]

When you wait in line at Peets for coffee, every single person has their nose and eyes locked on their smart phone. Online, emails, all of them.

[hockeyscout]

http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-te...in-2015-1?r=US

Houston…we have a problem. This one isn't going away either. Stephen Hawking has gone on record warning us that AI (artificial intelligence) may be the end of us. I am going out on a limb here…I have been saying that for at least ten years.

Put the brakes on technology??? Naw, let's just ride this one over the cliff. We're hooked. We are so smart…aren't we now?

In a word…SINGULARITY.

I bought a phone, a nice Samsung Galaxy! I turned it off on the 25th and put it in my drawer. Today, I took it out and charged it LOL. God, I hate phones. Its like an invasion of my privacy. Its also a distraction when I spend time with my kids. Nothing in life drives me more nuts than people who are always staring at their phones.

[don_budge]

The curse…Modern Life

http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-teenage-brain-2015-1?r=US

Houston…we have a problem. This one isn't going away either. Stephen Hawking has gone on record warning us that AI (artificial intelligence) may be the end of us. I am going out on a limb here…I have been saying that for at least ten years.

Put the brakes on technology??? Naw, let's just ride this one over the cliff. We're hooked. We are so smart…aren't we now?

In a word…SINGULARITY.

[don_budge]

Technology...

With every invention comes a curse...

[don_budge]

Technology…washing machines and tennis lessons

I've been watching tennis for ages, and I like today's tennis. Yes, different from the days of wooden rackets, but much more athletic and longer rallies. (excluding the long, boring rallies between Borg and Vilas...) Watching Federer, Nishikori, Nadal, Wawrinka is always entertaining. I think our memories are imperfect, and we often look back at "the good old days" and forget that people at that time were probably also complaining about the same thing. Today's tennis has evolved, but I like it.

This is a familiar argument. It is not so much in many cases that our memories are imperfect…but they are also selective. People in modern times are mesmerized by the technology it seems. What about that "Human Touch"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsQTVcCh9Ks

We had bought a washing machine a year and a half ago. The warranty was for a year. Today we found out that it was broken and cannot be fixed. Fortunately the store that we bought it from is going to replace it free of charge. I'm going to say that we must have spent 350 dollars on it. Phewwy…modern technology.

In the States I had bought a used washer and dryer in 1981 for 300 dollars. I sold them with the house in 2004 when I packed it in and headed for Europe. I wonder if I had brought them with me…

My lessons are a performance. They make me feel like a rock star. The students seem to get off on it too. I do love to teach. I love to watch them improve from week to week. I use a big mirror. I have yet to use a camera…not that there is anything wrong with them. I should probably use them…but we are on a budget. So am I. I rely on the human touch…even in 2015. I am not teaching robots. Even if I am…I try to bring them back and get them in touch with their humanness. Empathy and communication. Eye contact. Voice. Demonstration.

[don_budge]

Technology...

Speaking of players being compared across eras…I just heard Mats Wilander say that Novak Djokovic is the best returner of all time. He said that he is better than Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors.

I have no problem with the Agassi comparison as Agassi played with a racquet that was 108 square inches big. This is a little known fact about Agassi…that he played with such a huge racquet.

But the Connors comparison I have some really serious problems with. Connors played virtually his entire career with a Wilson T2000 which is only a bucket of bolts compared to the fastidious racquets that the modern player uses. Hands down to Connors. You cannot even imagine Djokovic with a T2000.

[don_budge]

The clock…and the sadness…and the future

This is sad. Tennis is cannablizing itself. Speed kills! The clock will not be turned back. What to do?

Perhaps the saddest aspect of the whole debacle is this…you can no longer compare the players of the past with the players of today. Modern tennis is a different game by definition than classic tennis.

The definition of the game change with the definition of the racquet.

You are right…the clock will not be turned back. What to do? Get out of the way. The future is coming hell or high water. It ain't going to be pretty either. so much for longing for the good old days. With all of our digital programming and mind control…it's shock and awe time.

[hockeyscout]

It's all about the money of course. hockeyscout outlines this…he claims to be my nemesis. But I don't have any nemesis. He doesn't know me. I am Quixotic…and beyond this sort of thing. don_quixote aka don_budge.

I am a sarcastic kind of guy. I was joking of course.

[don_budge]

Tennis Technology…and don_budge (aka don_quixote)

Thank you for the interesting and thoughtful post regarding the role of technology in the sport of tennis. Forty years of perspective gives you an advantage over younger tennis aficianado's. I found your post very provocative and I would like to reply conversationally to you.

I have an intersting experience I'd like to share: After 40 years in the deepest levels of the trenches, I retired a little over 4 years ago. I was burned out and needed a break from tennis.

My experience in tennis goes back quite a long ways as well. I actually began to play tennis in 1968…coincidentally the same year than tennis went "Open". Of course I had no idea at the time what the historical significance of that year meant to the game. As it is…the year is looming large. Big money entered to equation. Conversely I burned out on the whole tennis experience while playing competitive tennis in 1981 or so when the equipment changed from standard sized to over-sized. Actually I had a lot of rage to burn and you couldn't say that I burned out. My nerves were a bit frayed and I was getting on the establishment's nerves as I protested vehemently. I quit the game outright at the age of 40 and took my first golf lesson. Enter the world of golf.

The question is: How much faster can the game become and is that such a good thing?

When the game went "over-sized" the speed immediately changed the complexion of the game overnight. It wasn't a good thing in my opinion at the time. By changing the dimensions of the racquet and not changing the dimensions of the court a new game was actually created and one that only resembled the older classic tennis.

Here is a good example of the game right before it went "over-sized". The 1980 U. S. Open final between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. There was nothing wrong with the game. It certainly wasn't too slow. It was actually perfect. In the end it is all about money. There wasn't any consideration taken for tradition or tennis etiquette which implied that "one should never take unfair advantage over an opponent.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/showthread.php?t=2733&highlight=mcenroe+borg+1980+open

Baseball was and is faced with a similar conundrum and has chosen a different tact. If professional baseball were to submit to composite material and oversize bats the fences in the outfields would certainly have to be moved significantly back or the scores of the game would likely triple or more. Professional baseball has toed the line with regards to the equipment even though they have had their fair share of problems of performance enhancing drug problems. The record books were being worked over as a result of the drug use…another matter entirely. But another factor of speed and the need for speed.

As time has moved on the game has become more and more bereft of sublety, nuance, variation, sophisticated tactics and strategies. Maybe I'm a Luddite, but it just isn't that interesting to me now, compared to the tennis of the past.

My rally cry when he equipment was changing mirrors your comments exactly. I knew in my heart what was taking place. I knew it sucked and it personally hurt me. I cried "they've taken the art out of the game". It was interesting the responses that I would get at the time. Everyone turned a blind eye. They even turned their back on the sport…and of course me. It's human nature. People that saw that they had something to gain from something that would immediately enhance their skill jumped at the opportunity. I wouldn't consider you a Luddite at all…but I know that myself I exhibit some don_quixote tendencies.

It just wasn't that interesting so I tuned into the movie "Good Fellas" in which the points were longer, and there was some semblance of tactics and strategy, and some subtlety and nuance.

I like your metaphorical reference to the "Good Fellas" movie. American movies…full of violence and gore. Military glorification. American snipers. Since relocating from the USA…I have lost my taste for movies such as "Good Fellas". In fact I have lost my taste for movies in general. Culture is such an interesting phenomena. Tennis is a culture in of itself.

This is sad. Tennis is cannablizing itself. Speed kills! What is the latest data on participation and viewership? Is it up or down? Maybe I'm the exception. I hope so because I love the game. And yes, these changes in the game are driven by $. That's normal and natural. The manufacturers have a right to make a living. The clock will not be turned back. What to do?

It was sad JeffMac. Personally it was disillusioning to me on one hand. But then again I had looked the possibility of being drafted into the Vietnam War square in the eyes. I knew the score. It felt like the game was betraying itself and all that it stood for. As I mentioned….the game had gone "Open" in 1968 and it only took some 12 years before the powers that be had sold itself down the river. Coaching and equipment lamely followed the leader. Looking back in hindsight…I wonder how the players felt about it. But I know deep in my heart how they felt. Again…human nature. The real tennis studs at the top of the game were the last to capitulate. John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl…these true studs and incredible champions held out until the very last. It was a Darwinian survival of the fittest test of spirit and integrity. They held out until there place at the top of the game was going to be compromised. I often wonder what they were feeling deep down inside. Bjorn Borg in particular was effected…he retired right at the very point where he would have had to switch to remain relevant. Many years later on he made a comeback using his trusty wooden Donnay's which did not make any kind of logical sense at all. Was he making a point? Swedish style?

It's all about the money of course. hockeyscout outlines this…he claims to be my nemesis. But I don't have any nemesis. He doesn't know me. I am Quixotic…and beyond this sort of thing. don_quixote aka don_budge.

quixotic…exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical: a vast and perhaps quixotic project