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Really fascinating that Pete Sampras was coached out of the two handed backhand and that is widely regarded as the catalyst to his ascension to dominance for a

by xrd 3y ago

Really fascinating that Pete Sampras was coached out of the two handed backhand and that is widely regarded as the catalyst to his ascension to dominance for a decade. "He was spotted by Dr. Peter Fischer, a pediatrician and tennis enthusiast, who coached Sampras until 1989. Fischer was responsible for converting Sampras's double-handed backhand to single-hand with the goal of being better prepared to win Wimbledon" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Sampras https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Sampras Sampras really changed tennis, making baseline players almost obsolete, and I always rooted for Agassi because his game seemed so much more interesting, more about precision than raw power. My how times change.

lapcat 3y ago
It worked in that Sampras won Wimbledon seven times, but he never won the French Open. And Federer only won the French once, when he didn't have to face Nadal in the tournament. Most impressive IMO was Wawrinka's win in the French over Djokovic. (And I should note that Wawrinka appears to have a lot of brute strength in his right arm.) The backhand was IMO the weak part of Pete's game. Of course his serve was monstrous, overhead was monstrous, net game was good, court movement was off the charts, running forehand incredible. His running forehand provided a lot of cover for the backhand. And as a serve and volley player, he didn't need the backhand as much as other players.
notacoward 3y ago
Maybe, in addition to that, different things work for different people. Some people rely on power, some people rely on reach and mobility, some people rely on technique and smart shot-making. It seems entirely possible that a one-hander suited Sampras specifically even if the two-hander is better for most people. I know there are some insecure people here who want to believe there's only One True Racket Sport and One True Way to play it, but personally I believe in (literal) different strokes for different folks.

by xrd 3y ago

lapcat 3y ago

It worked in that Sampras won Wimbledon seven times, but he never won the French Open. And Federer only won the French once, when he didn't have to face Nadal in the tournament. Most impressive IMO was Wawrinka's win in the French over Djokovic. (And I should note that Wawrinka appears to have a lot of brute strength in his right arm.) The backhand was IMO the weak part of Pete's game. Of course his serve was monstrous, overhead was monstrous, net game was good, court movement was off the charts, running forehand incredible. His running forehand provided a lot of cover for the backhand. And as a serve and volley player, he didn't need the backhand as much as other players.

notacoward 3y ago

Maybe, in addition to that, different things work for different people. Some people rely on power, some people rely on reach and mobility, some people rely on technique and smart shot-making. It seems entirely possible that a one-hander suited Sampras specifically even if the two-hander is better for most people. I know there are some insecure people here who want to believe there's only One True Racket Sport and One True Way to play it, but personally I believe in (literal) different strokes for different folks.