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re: Why do tennis players get old faster than any other sport
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:24 am to GonePecan
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:24 am to GonePecan
The hard courts are very tough on the knees and ankles. They lose their speed quickly after about age 26. There are some exceptions. Agasi and Conners played well into their 30's and remained competitive, but it is hard to remain at that level. It takes massive conditioning.
1
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:26 am to Sophandros
quote:
And those guys were the outliers. The overwhelming majority of basketball players, just like tennis players, peak in their 20s.
Jordan. Dirk Nowitzki. Kobe Bryant. Jason Kidd. Kevin Garnett. Paul Pierce. Steve Nash.
You can call these guys outliers, but if I list about four or five more the word "outlier" is no longer going to apply.
In tennis, you have Andre Agassi. He won a major at 33. That's it. He is THE outlier. You will never ever ever see a guy win a major in tennis at the age of 35. But you will see basketball players excelling at age 35. Not peaking, but not far from their peak.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:28 am to bobbyray21
The difference is you aren't very relevant in Tennis if you are outside of the top 10.
You can be very relevant in other sports outside of the top 10.
You can be very relevant in other sports outside of the top 10.
This post was edited on 7/19/12 at 11:40 am
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:32 am to ELVIS U
quote:
The hard courts are very tough on the knees and ankles. They lose their speed quickly after about age 26. There are some exceptions. Agasi and Conners played well into their 30's and remained competitive, but it is hard to remain at that level. It takes massive conditioning.
Exactly. Here is an illustrative 30 second clip of Nadal: Nadal sliding on a hard court
You can only slide around on a hard court for so many years until bone starts coming up on bone. And I was super lazy in pulling up that clip. Djokovic slides WAY more on a hard court than Nadal.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:33 am to barry
quote:
The difference is you aren't very relative in Tennis if you are outside of the top 10.
You can be very relative in other sports outside of the top 10.
You don't know what the word relative means.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:38 am to bobbyray21
Most of these players youre mentioning have all lost a step or two as they have gotten older. A player like Ray Lewis/Jon Vilma can make up that lost step because they are students of the game and know the tendancies of the offense. Their football iqs are high. Same goes with basketball players.
You cant make up a lost step or two in tennis like that. Once its lost, youre done
You cant make up a lost step or two in tennis like that. Once its lost, youre done
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:40 am to bobbyray21
quote:
You don't know what the word relative means.
Thats supposed to be relevent
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:40 am to GonePecan
quote:
I know speed and quickness play a big part in tennis, but so do they in football, basketball, etc.
there are no "role players" in singles tennis.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 11:45 am to GonePecan
Professional Tennis Players also start their serious competitive career at a much younger age than most athletes.
If you aren't at least the best (#1 ranked single player) in your state by the time you turn 17, chances are you are not going to make it as a professional tennis player.
My point is the wear and tear on the body is more intense at an earlier age than say football, baseball, soccer, and golf.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 12:04 pm to bobbyray21
Damn, my knees and ankles hurt after watching that clip. Found this one after looking at that one. Look where Nadal comes from to make this shot. LINK
Posted on 7/19/12 at 12:32 pm to GonePecan
quote:
Damn, my knees and ankles hurt after watching that clip. Found this one after looking at that one. Look where Nadal comes from to make this shot. LINK
But that's on clay. That doesn't put nearly as much pressure on the joints. If tennis were played exclusively on clay, methinks more guys could play into their 30s.
Here is some vintage Djokovic hard-court sliding for ya: Djokovic vs. Murray Aussie Open Semifinal -- 39 shot rally
Posted on 7/19/12 at 12:34 pm to Deactived
quote:
You cant make up a lost step or two in tennis like that. Once its lost, youre done
Agreed. Same thing for running backs. Ain't no such thing as a high IQ running back. You can't fake the funk. You lose a step, you're done.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 12:46 pm to bobbyray21
quote:
But that's on clay. That doesn't put nearly as much pressure on the joints. If tennis were played exclusively on clay, methinks more guys could play into their 30s.
i grew up playing on clay and its not much different than the hard courts. yea you slide around and all on clay but that slide still has to come to a stop
Posted on 7/19/12 at 1:06 pm to bobbyray21
quote:
Top notch analysis.
Says the guy who picks a smorgasbord of outliers.
And my NFL four year average was THE ENTIRE LEAGUE, not just running backs.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 1:07 pm to bobbyray21
quote:
You can call these guys outliers, but if I list about four or five more the word "outlier" is no longer going to apply.
Those guys you named either are or are fringe HALL OF FAMERS.
By definition, they're outliers.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 1:09 pm to bobbyray21
quote:
But that's on clay. That doesn't put nearly as much pressure on the joints. If tennis were played exclusively on clay, methinks more guys could play into their 30s.
On this, we agree.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 1:11 pm to Deactived
quote:
i grew up playing on clay and its not much different than the hard courts. yea you slide around and all on clay but that slide still has to come to a stop
I also grew up playing on clay.
It's a softer impact than hard courts when you're moving around.
Posted on 7/19/12 at 1:33 pm to Deactived
quote:
Most of these players youre mentioning have all lost a step or two as they have gotten older. A player like Ray Lewis/Jon Vilma can make up that lost step because they are students of the game and know the tendancies of the offense. Their football iqs are high. Same goes with basketball players.
You cant make up a lost step or two in tennis like that. Once its lost, youre done
I dunno Fed just won a Slam. Aggasi and Sampras both won Slams when they were over 30.
I think the problem is the 5 sets. I think the older vets can hang in the best of 3 set tournaments. I can't even imagine playing 5 sets...
Posted on 7/19/12 at 1:38 pm to Sophandros
quote:
Says the guy who picks a smorgasbord of outliers.
No one has EVER won a slam past 33. There is no outlier.
How many people have dominated football or basketball past 33?
Posted on 7/19/12 at 1:39 pm to FourThinInches
quote:
I think the problem is the 5 sets. I think the older vets can hang in the best of 3 set tournaments. I can't even imagine playing 5 sets...
The women play best of three and they fizzle out at or around thirty.
The issue, though, is that most of them have been playing professional tennis for 10-15 years by then. That's the wear and tear on your body, the travel (which wears on you more than you might think), and just the general burnout that you get from doing the same job over and over again for over a decade.
And, as someone else mentioned, the length of the season needs to be addressed again.
But again, for every sport, athletes peak in their mid-20s and then start going downhill.
It's not that tennis players get old faster than anyone else--heck, by the time they're in their mid twenties they've been pro for a decade--rather, it's the PERCEPTION because the top players in tennis tend to hang it up at the "young" age of 30 or so, whereas the top players in other sports hang around in the pros for a bit longer for a large number of reasons. In some sports, your role diminishes. No problem. Your coach can scheme around you, etc. Not so in tennis.
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