Borg's speed.

[hockeyscout]

I was watching some video of Borg - boy, he sure was naturally quick wasn't he? I am interested in hearing what the rest of you think. Best mover of his generation?

[johnyandell]

Yes what an athlete! Although McEnroe's explosiveness forward is underrated. He may have been "quicker" in his own way...

[rocklin6977]

It's a subject ripe for video analysis.

[stroke]

Borg was a competitor in the 70's show called "Superstars" that pitted atheletes from different sports competing in events/sports. The competitors could choose events other than their own sport(i.e., Borg could not choose tennis). Borg ran a 9.8 second 100 yards(without spikes and maybe? starting blocks), which was of course a very good time in the 70's. I think the world record was 9.1 at the time. McEnroe has brought Borg running in this Superstar competivion at times, and how fast Borg was.

[hockeyscout]

Borg, yes, fastest player of his generation. Superb within his peer group of tennis. Agreed.

But ... this was an eye opener for my two daughters.

Check this out ... it is a race, Gretzky versus Borg - Pele.

https://twitter.com/gretzkyfacts/status/610523794575196160

BTW: Gretzky quote: "I wasn't naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for!"

Wayne was the slowest player of his generation.

Zero speed.

Google it, "Gretzky speed."

PS:

Pele was 41 in that video but you can see his first three steps we're pretty fair for an old man. Its to bad they did not do agility, cone, stop - start and lateral drills because this is where Gretzky is superior to Borg (well that, plus first step, third step and 20 - 40 - 60 and 100 yard speed).

PPS:

Tennis will undergo a major change by the years 2021 - 2025. Proper movement equals deadly power. It'll be a whole new game soon. Watch.

[don_budge]

The Great One…Cheated

Check this out ... it is a race, Gretzky versus Borg - Pele.

https://twitter.com/gretzkyfacts/status/610523794575196160

BTW: Gretzky quote: "I wasn't naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for!"

Watch.

Gretzky cheated…blatant false start. Half a second before the starter gun.

[stotty]

Gretzky cheated…blatant false start. Half a second before the starter gun.

Well noted....

Ice hockey players aren't renowned for having much of a rule book, which is probably why Borg stopped playing ice hockey and opted for tennis.

[hockeyscout]

Borg made a good decision to play tennis. Hockey was super competitive in Sweden in the 70's and 80's, and I am not sure he'd have the propensity for speed and lateral quickness required to play the game at an Olympic level. And, yes, it is a tough sport with no rule book and Borg is a bit light, frail and top heavy, not an especially good combination for a hockey player. So, yes, it was a superb choice for him, I agree. Hockey isn't for everyone.

[lobndropshot]

Wayne is the greatest athlete of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But what is your point? All you ever do is brag about the athleticism it takes to be a hockey player. I am sick of it! Your like a Floridian in North Dakota who brags about the weather back home.

[don_budge]

Björn Borg vs. Wayne Gretsky...

Check this out ... it is a race, Gretzky versus Borg - Pele.

https://twitter.com/gretzkyfacts/status/610523794575196160

...because this is where Gretzky is superior to Borg (well that, plus first step, third step and 20 - 40 - 60 and 100 yard speed).

PPS:

Tennis will undergo a major change by the years 2021 - 2025. Proper movement equals deadly power. It'll be a whole new game soon. Watch.

Borg made a good decision to play tennis. Hockey was super competitive in Sweden in the 70's and 80's, and I am not sure he'd have the propensity for speed and lateral quickness required to play the game at an Olympic level. And, yes, it is a tough sport with no rule book and Borg is a bit light, frail and top heavy, not an especially good combination for a hockey player. So, yes, it was a superb choice for him, I agree. Hockey isn't for everyone.

Wayne is the greatest athlete of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But what is your point? All you ever do is brag about the athleticism it takes to be a hockey player. I am sick of it! Your like a Floridian in North Dakota who brags about the weather back home.

Björn would have fared much better on the ice with Gretsky than Gretsky would have fared on a tennis court with Borg. If tennis was played on an ice court with ice skates…Borg wins hands down. Take that hockeyscout…put that in your pipe and smoke it. hmphh!

Gretsky's first step? Compared to Borg's? Hard to say from the video. He blatantly cheated…and laughed about it afterwards. I get the point…but it's very convoluted. Hockey is not tennis and any relationship is very remote and barely applicable. Many hockey players tend to be sort of hard headed…they used to call them knuckleheads on account of the number of times a fist landed on their noggins. There aren't too many what you might call knuckleheads in tennis. They rarely use their fists…the game is more of an intellectual challenge.

Wayne Gretsky…however appears to be something other than a knucklehead. Not that I know him…or care to. He has a very attractive daughter from what I understand. What's not to like?

https://www.google.se/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=gretzky's+daughter&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&ei=b1X-VbTBM4Sr8wfg2YSAAg

[hockeyscout]

Wayne is the greatest athlete of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But what is your point? All you ever do is brag about the athleticism it takes to be a hockey player. I am sick of it! Your like a Floridian in North Dakota who brags about the weather back home.

And he is the slowest hockey player who beat the fastest tennis player. And, 42 year old Pele faster than Borg on three steps after five years out of the game. Footwork is so important in tennis. Its not bragging. Its just good fundamentals. I don't think their is enough emphasis on it.

[lobndropshot]

So?

[hockeyscout]

So?

Its really frustrating for a hockey coach to watch tennis players move. That's all. Sorry if I drone on and on about it. I am big on fundamentals. To many people see tennis as a unique sport with its own set of rules. It isn't. Tennis is screaming for new influences and dynamics. Sadly, its awful to watch right now. I'd rather watch the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA kids because they can play ball. If I have to see anymore of Ryan Harrison I am going to fall asleep. How can you be top 100 in the world and such a terrible mover (the guy could not play college football). Its really time for a change in this sport because barely anyone has the movement required to serve and volley anymore, or the confidence in their legs to do it.

[don_budge]

"To many people…"

Its really frustrating for a hockey coach to watch tennis players move. That's all. Sorry if I drone on and on about it. I am big on fundamentals. To many people see tennis as a unique sport with its own set of rules. It isn't. Tennis is screaming for new influences and dynamics. Sadly, its awful to watch right now. I'd rather watch the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA kids because they can play ball. If I have to see anymore of Ryan Harrison I am going to fall asleep. How can you be top 100 in the world and such a terrible mover (the guy could not play college football). Its really time for a change in this sport because barely anyone has the movement required to serve and volley anymore, or the confidence in their legs to do it.

I'm proud to admit that I am one of those. But that's not to say that the insights of a hockeyscout are unwarranted…it's just that the head butting is unacceptable according to tennis etiquette…which of course he would know next to nothing about.

Tennis is a unique sport. It has gone through a complete transformation as I have written rather extensively about much to the chagrin of the modern day tennis enthusiasts. I am no sentimental wistful thinker either. I am a hard core realist…as well as being what you might call avidly Fundamentally Correct (FC). I am Experienced…as Jimi Hendrix may have said.

I remember my own introduction to the sport…I never touched a racquet until I was fourteen and by the age of nineteen I played number one singles at a four year university. But by then I had played a couple of sports rather enthusiastically and I continued to have a passion for basketball for a number of years. It seems that my involvement in other sports helped me to develop the skills that are required to play all court tennis. It seems to me that it would have been very difficult to pick up the game so quickly if I had not had those skills. There are of course crossover skills involved.

What makes the game so unique is a quite a number of things but first of all there is the individual nature of the game in which one opponent is pitted against another. But in the same breath…doubles is (or perhaps I should say was) an integral part of the game. It is also a great team sport. You see…in doubles there are skills that need to be developed specifically to play doubles but these same skills enhance the singles player as well.

The scoring system is of course unlike any other that I can think of. The game is never over until the last point has been played. There is always the chance that a player can come back from the most woeful of consequences or circumstances. Even the counting system is unique…love, 15, 30, 40, game. Name me one other game where love means nothing in the end…except between most men and women. The psychology of playing to such a unique scoring system is a long developmental process.

The court is beyond comprehension as well. Looking at those lines and having played between them…they have a mystery all of their own. It's amazing what can happen between them when you have a couple of people batting a ball around. The infinite number of things that can happen. After spending so much time on the tennis court I swear that I have seen it all. Some really remarkable things happen in terms of ball behavior…people behavior for that matter. The court…the tennis court. The metaphysical perfection…looking down from an airplane high in the sky and seeing those lines…eight sets of lines. It gives me a feeling that everything is alright in the world…even though you are suspended high in the sky. Golf courses make me feel much the same way…looking down on them.

The history of the game is a long and colorful history as the game has traditionally been a game for the elite…white people. Perhaps only since the game went into the "Open" era has it really been available to the masses. Even nowadays it is very much an elite activity as much as tennis people look down their noses at the less fortunate…between the lines. The history of great players and great matches is very ancient compared to the modern day sports that are the NBA, MLB, NFL and so on. I wouldn't care to watch any of those by the way…they are truly boring in every sense of the word. Boring and polluted by the influence of money…and scouts like yourself. It's all about money. Whereas tennis is not…at least not in my tennis DNA which is ancient enough to remember. But don't kid yourself…I'm hip to everything that goes on in the game on the surface and below the surface.

"To many people…"…I'm afraid not. It's more a matter of not enough people. I know that you think you are reinventing the game of tennis in your hockey skull. Apparently you have had some "success" at least financially speaking. I am also certain that success has come at a price…to you and those around you. I can feel the contentiousness. It's always going to be an issue. But fundamentals do not change. In the case of tennis the equipment changed and so radically did it change that it appears to have changed some of the fundamental thinking. But this is something of a "screwball" as well…it is mostly propaganda to feed a money machine and an attempt to create a cash cow. The coaching was actually hijacked in the process.

There is absolutely nothing new under the sun in the game of tennis. A game that was absolutely designed to be played under the sun…or on cloudy days…or on windy days. Or indoors in big stadiums as it is today. Such is the beauty of the game. One on one…man to man. Armed with racquets and their composite skill and intellect. May the best man win and remember…no cheating.

But all of this doesn't even scratch the surface. Above all the game is fun to play. Fun in a way that defies description. In many cases it is a family endeavor…it's all in the family. It's all in the game. You only need one other person and about an hour and a half and you have the best exercise that God gave man in terms of recreational activity. Come to think of it you can go hit against a wall and amuse yourself quite satisfactorily. Think of it…all one needs to do is carry a tennis racquet in their suitcase and you can go practically anywhere in the world and meet the nicest and most influential people in a matter of hours. If you just happen to play a beautiful elegant game you are an instant object of admiration. An instant success…and it isn't a matter of money either. It is one of intangibles. Human stuff.

Speaking of human stuff there is no other game that is so intellectually challenging and entertaining. To play the game tests the most intimate of criteria of a human being…it tests the intellectual, the physical, the emotional and even the spiritual if you elevate yourself to that level. Take this forum for instance…generally speaking the conversations are polite and well mannered with a minimum of "head butting". But as our very own klacr says…don't take my word for it. Or do…if you have any sense.

Name me one other sport. hockeyscout? I think that my coaching paradigm does a pretty damn good job in connecting the dots…the three little dots. Don't you? It's unique as well…in all of sports. You know the one. The book is Tilden…Gonzales is the model with the Budge backhand. Hopman is the coach. Roger Federer is the Living Proof. There is simply nothing like it. It is unique. One of a kind. It captures the essence…the essence of the game. Tennis.

[hockeyscout]

Yes, I am rich. I won't make apologies for it. I had a great work ethic, and I made smart investments.

Didn't John Yandell tell you to lay off it?

Look you're fighting with the wrong guy. I am not going to take shit from some flakey tennis bum with zero ethic, who support child rapists like Bill Tilden. Your track record is a joke. The past ten years have been a disaster for you, and you barely get in enough hours to make a living. You told me so. Thats embarrassing. I'd recommend retirement as the game plan for you moving forward don_budge. Your a low-talent person.

You offered to come to Ukraine and coach my daughter for free. I laughed. Why would I hire a guy who isn't in demand on the WTA Tour, and the Swedish Tennis Federation. I had one of my lawyers call the Swedish Tennis Federation to ask who you are, and they never heard of you.

Quit trolling, and being a keyboard warrior and go back to the drawing board and show the tennis world you are capable of developing a world class players instead of yapping on this message board.

Really, I do it every day.

You don't.

Big difference.

Good luck to your players. I wouldn't want to be them (hedging my development bets on you).