We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Tennis

G

GolfJunkie1965

New member
Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Handicap
36
Used to be a very high level tennis player. Played in college and on the challenger circuit. However now I'm older golf is the game. Always loved playing but time constraints made it difficult. Stopped coaching my daughters fastpitch softball team so now it's time to get back into playing!:clapp:
 
I love tennis but it's hard to find people to play here.
 
Its the sport I grew up playing and around most outside of basketball. Havent picked up a racket in over a decade.
 
We have courts very close by, so I'm hoping to get back into it once my kids get older. I played in high school and grew up on it, as my family were tennis fanatics. It's one of my favorite sports to play, just tough to find anyone to play with.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
That's the problem I always had. Trying to find decent players to practice with was hard. That is why I like golf. You can go out and practice on your own whenever you want.
 
JB said:
Its the sport I grew up playing and around most outside of basketball. Havent picked up a racket in over a decade.
Click to expand...

I was #1 on my HS team but quit the sport about 30 yrs ago only to start again because my community has six nice hard tru courts...didn't really take long to get back into, but injuries are more of a possibility now compared to when I as a 16-18 yr old......still hard to find players of equal ability - one o the reasons I quit so many years ago and took up golf (don't need partners for that).........still concerned that tennis would screw up my golf swing. In tennis, I seem to have a more loopy swing, but in golf, I'm trying to keep the swing tight and not much moving parts.
 
As I continue to get my health in order, this is on my list of regular activities. Thinking about joining a league.
 
JB said:
Its the sport I grew up playing and around most outside of basketball. Havent picked up a racket in over a decade.
Click to expand...

Same here. I only play once or twice a year now. Back in the day I played tournaments all summer and practiced until midnight under the lights. Man, I miss that!
It's tough to find people or time to play. Most of my old playing partners are out of shape or simply don't play anymore. Not playing an opponent on a similar level is frustrating and it's difficult to find good players unless you belong to a country club or league, both of which I have no time for unfortunately.
Now I just stick to hoops and golf!
 
JB said:
Its the sport I grew up playing and around most outside of basketball. Havent picked up a racket in over a decade.
Click to expand...

The next time I come to an outing we are going to have to play both tennis and basketball. I will make a friendly wager ( a drink) I can beat you in both :)
Notice I didn't mention golf...
 
Barberakb said:
The next time I come to an outing we are going to have to play both tennis and basketball. I will make a friendly wager ( a drink) I can beat you in both :)
Notice I didn't mention golf...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't make that bet if I were you. based on my background I like my chances. ; )
Then again, I have no idea how I will play.
Grew up with a parent that was a professional. Went to a tennis academy my whole life until 17. Burnt out fast. Its one of those sports that is incredibly fun, but very tough on the body.
 
Last edited:
I grew up playing as well. I played in college then after school I stopped. Picked it back up like 7 years ago. I played in men's leagues and the game frustrated the hell out me. I was losing to guys who I should beat and because if this I wasn't enjoying it all. So one night coming home from a match (after destroying frame Johnnie Mac style) I told my then girlfriend I am going to take up golf because I know I suck at that. Now the girl is my wife and I am obsessed with golf. We have a 2.5 daughter so I see myself picking up a racquet again to teach her.
 
JB said:
I wouldn't make that bet if I were you. based on my background I like my chances. ; )
Then again, I have no idea how I will play.
Grew up with a parent that was a professional. Went to a tennis academy my whole life until 17. Burnt out fast. Its one of those sports that is incredibly fun, but very tough on the body.
Click to expand...

Did you get burned out because of injuries or it just stopped being fun?

That's why I put 2 sports in there, that way if you beat me in tennis I can try to even it up in basketball :)
 
Barberakb said:
Did you get burned out because of injuries or it just stopped being fun?

That's why I put 2 sports in there, that way if you beat me in tennis I can try to even it up in basketball :)
Click to expand...

Just burned out. I got offers for both sports for college at smaller D1 schools. I actually quit tennis my sophomore year of highschool, but still got offers from quite a few. Had no desire to play. Basketball was always my 1st love. I had a stepfather that played at the professional level and a father that played at the college level. Both in the 6'3-6'6 height area. I got shafted and am only 5'11 and that hampered me too much.

I focused on basketball my last 3 years of high school and have some neat awards and such, but I wanted to go to a big school and sports were not part of the equation. After school I was (and still am) very career focused and over the years my body took a toll from those sports and the way I played them. I recently went back to my high school gym and saw that I still hold a couple of records which is fun (considering it was over 20 years ago), but when life takes over, the games I love took a backseat.

I look back now and think what could have been if I had focused on either one of them singularly or heck even golf singularly because of where we lived, the things available and the academy I went to.
 
Man they left you out, not giving you some more height...

I have seen a few people that had all the talent in the world and probably could have made it at the pro level
but they didn't put forth the effort.

It's amazing how good those pros are, at any sport. But almost everyone of them puts in a ton of work.
Very rarely do you see people that make it on talent alone.
 
You got that right. When I was in middle school I was sent to a tennis academy school. We took classes until 11:30am and then went to tennis until 4:30pm. Then on weekends, traveled to tournaments. It was a long process, and I did that until early high school. I wanted to go to public school in high school so I did for my 1st two years and played both sports there, but I struggled keeping grades up, sports, traveling for both sports and still wanting a life.

So I was then sent to a different school that was a sports academy as well. I had to choose a sport to focus on and did so in basketball, because it gave me a life outside of the practice from 11:30am to dinner. Instead it was from 2:30pm to 5:30pm. No weekend travel until summer for JR Olympics and AAU. The funny thing is that there was a kid that was a local legend. His name was Bill Teal and he was 6'3 and played PG like I did at Gibbs High School. We had a pretty good rivalry, despite him basically being all world and a significantly better athlete than me.

He got a full ride to Arkansas and got in a lot of trouble before ever stepping foot on campus (rape conviction). There are many that said that kid, with some discipline could have been one of the best at the highest level. He had two other kids around him on that Gibbs team. Dwight Brown, who played at Seton Hall and dunked around the European leagues for a while and Pat Lawrence, who played at Miami and then went on to coaching at places like USF. Teal made those two kids incredible, but could not keep his nose clean.

I think about my team and how we were able to defeat them (1 out of 6 tries), but how that was considered glory. And think with just a bit more here and there could it have been different? Probably not, but I like how things turned out.

There are parks in my area that are filled with regional legends. Guys like David White, Bill Davis, Bobby Sweeny, Al Braithwaite, Matt Geiger, etc. Parks like Hurley Park on Saturday Mornings. These are all top flight D1 talent players that just did not get their shot. I think about going down there from time to time, but then once again, life gets in the way, golf gets in the way, etc.
 
It would be fun just to go down to a park like that and watch them play.
All that talent, at a park playing street ball is a great thing to see.

It's sad to see guys like that, with all that talent blow it. Guys like Bill Teal etc...
 
It sure is. I think back to the guys/girls I played tennis with that were really really good players. Most ended up at D1 schools and mostly UF, UGA and Stanford which are all great programs. I was by far the laziest in the group and never saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
 
JB said:
It sure is. I think back to the guys/girls I played tennis with that were really really good players. Most ended up at D1 schools and mostly UF, UGA and Stanford which are all great programs. I was by far the laziest in the group and never saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
Click to expand...

Why lazy? Was it because you were basically forced to? Watched my little sister do the same in softball is why I ask.
 
TNTCigarguy said:
Why lazy? Was it because you were basically forced to? Watched my little sister do the same in softball is why I ask.
Click to expand...

My parents didnt force me. Its what I wanted, or so I thought. THose were my friends and I enjoyed being out there instead of in a class room. I was just lazy in nature. My whole life I had to see an "end game" for me to work hard. Whether that be school, sports or career path. There was no end game, so I chose a different path.
 
Tennis anyone?

Tennis anyone?

Hard to believe there's no tennis thread here. Well now there is!

I played tennis in high school and then got back into it about 8 yrs ago and was getting pretty good. I got down to around a 4 - 4.5, and was also becoming quite a racquet hoe. Then 4 yrs ago my wife's kids started playing golf and I got a CC membership so tennis fell by the wayside, but it is still my second favorite sport to play.

I was watching Wimby last night and saw Rafa get his butt handed to him by a 19 yr old Australian kid named Kyrgios. I'm telling ya, keep your eye on this one. He will be a top 4 before too long. Between him and Raonic and a few others, there's some new blood on the horizon..
 
Oh, I thought any tennis threads would be on the first page with Wimbledon going strong right now (and the few big upsets that happened)..
 
thug the bunny said:
Oh, I thought any tennis threads would be on the first page with Wimbledon going strong right now (and the few big upsets that happened)..
Click to expand...

No worries. None at all. I think many of the THPers are working hard on Grandaddy Entries for a chance at the greatest event there is.
All expenses paid
Trip to CA
Golf at one of the best courses in the world.
Gear
SWAG
And so much more.

http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...t-1-2014-TheGrandaddy-The-Event-Of-A-Lifetime
 
I haven't played in 3 yrs but am trying to get back into it. Great exercise.
 
Congrats to Nole. World #1! And Fed back to #3, good job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top