Better Touch than FEDERER? You Decide.

[JohnR]

My best friend(A Head Teaching Tennis Pro) at a club in California called me up a year ago ranting and raving about this kid with once in a century type talent that he saw play in a pickleball tournament that some qualifying pros from the Parabas open had entered and he had went to watch.

I finally made it out to a tournament were he was at and when he stepped on the court I realized that neither I or anyone else could look away no matter what....and that was just warm ups. He's that good. Literally the match I watched him play was a semifinal and I thought for sure it had to be the best match of his life.....I commented to a gentleman named Michael next to me (who it turned out follows the sport closely) "How long can he keep this up" Michael looked at me with a funny look at said "Is this your first tournament? There is a reason they call him the Puppet Master, because he can play this good everytime and he does; and if its a rival and he wakes up in the mood to make an example out of someone he plays even better"

Went on to find out he basically has a cult-like following of die-hard fans (Remind you of anyone in Tennis?) and keeps his personal life so private that outside of his inner circle few individuals know where he is. I don't know this part for sure but someone at the tournament said that the Portland Trailblazers essentially said they would create a job title for him as Chief Strategic Analyst........going over game tapes, structuring a winning offensive system etc.....with a hefty pricetag attached to it and he responded back with only 7 words. "I Decline but I appreciate your offer"....We're talking a several million dollar type offer....The rumor goes they replied back with a substantial monetary increase in the offer and the response their organization got was "I appreciate your offer It's not about the money, right now I have to decline." Imagine the advantage a Pro Tennis Player would have with this Kid in his box going over opponent game-tapes picking out strength vs weakness matchups etc. He literally can pick opponents apart and develop a winning strategy everytime.....its just a matter of executing but the best chance of winning is always the optimum strategy; it gives a larger margin of error so when things don't go perfectly it doesn't mean sacrificing a 'W'.

Anyways I'm writing like a madman who has seen magic first hand but I didn't even know this kind of a strategic mind existed a year ago and now that I know I feel like everyone deserves to get a chance to see him to. It's like he always guesses right and always makes his opponents guess wrong. He was asked in an interview "What do you say to the people who say you must be telepathic?" Without breaking a smile he said "Nothing I'm talking to you" The interviewer was then in a position to ask the question themself, "Are you telepathic" He grinned and said "I recognize patterns really well."

Here is a little known video of him playing......Nobody will ever be as Classy as Roger....But this kid has the best touch I have ever seen EVER, and its not even close....Not to mention predicting the score. Watch it Beginning to End or there will be important missing pieces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhuX7iU-V2w

I'm going to post a poll for those who want to compare the two. Who has the better touch is obvious but I am interested to see how many people cling to old beliefs and who has the ability to adapt to change and see things differently.

Opinions?

 

[isabelle]

Mecir, Nastase, Rosewall, Panatta were classy too and what to say about King Stefan...he was just fantastic. There's a lot of players with a good touch in the past and (hopefully) in the future even if game is more brutal nowadays, guys try to hit the ball the hardest they can , it's a pity for the game

 

[JohnR]

Isabelle, As far as class goes I agree...Its as simple as when there are two players of equal class the one that will be remembered as having more class by most people will always be the better player. Being humble is more difficult to pull off when you have such an exceptional talent like Federer has...especially in his prime; it can't be faked for as long as he has been a true class act.

I'm telling you this pickleball kid doesn't have "Good Touch" he literally has "PERFECT TOUCH" Perfect touch meaning to the point where most analysts suspect that when he misses its on purpose to setup something later on in the match like setting a trap of through a false sense of positive reinforcement to direct opponents shots.....Think about even the possibility of that, being able to put the ball wherever you want and literally choosing to miss at times and it being perfect strategy in the context of the match.

I've watched Federer play live on more then one occasion in the middle of his career and it was impressive how he could win with so much finesse that it seemed effortless....he controlled the court with precision and coordination rather then relying on being a better long distance runner than his opponents or going for all or nothing on every shot.

Federer was and continues to be Artistic in his play
But this kid they call the Puppet Master is Magical.

Believe me I have seen them both live now and I say everyone needs to try and see both before they die.....but if I had to choose only one.

You have to see this kid live before you die.....put it on your bucket list....It was my first time seeing him and I felt as invested in the moment and a part of the moment as everyone else. I can't tell you how many times everyone in the audience was looking to their neighbor all saying "Did you see that" Just to make sure what they saw themselves actually happened!

 

[Riotbeard]

McEnroe...

 

[JohnR]

McEnroe...

Saying McEnroe tells me that clearly you didn't watch the video and I mean that in a good way. Puppet Master is the only name you'd be typing after watching it. Just like people who are voting Federer without even knowing who the other person is......Oh well its America Right...Land of the Free

 

[JohnR]

In a half court game of Volleying this kid wouldn't just beat Federer and McEnroe......He would do it effortlessly....He's levels beyond anything I have ever seen and I have seen all 3 players listed LIVE and in Person......Best Believe No one else is even close.

 

[Fiero425]

Mecir, Nastase, Rosewall, Panatta were classy too and what to say about King Stefan...he was just fantastic. There's a lot of players with a good touch in the past and (hopefully) in the future even if game is more brutal nowadays, guys try to hit the ball the hardest they can , it's a pity for the game

In the old era, I'd definitely have to put Nastase at the top of the list! He made shots no one else would even think of under the most excruciating pressures of a match! I learned the Bucharest backfire from him and shocked people with that shot over the shoulder through the 90's! :angel: :angel:

 

[britbox]

He's playing against two middle aged men and the pace of the game doesn't even compare to pro tennis.

 

[Kieran]

Which person am I meant to be looking at? They're all standing statically tippy-tapping a plastic ball gently over the net like four bored blokes on a beach, waiting for the bar to open...

 

[DarthFed]

Glad I'm not the only one who found this a bit amusing. This kid has more touch than Federer...in Pickleball. Gretzky has more touch than Roger in hockey, MJ had more touch in basketball. All comparisons are basically as irrelevant as the next.

 

[Riotbeard]

I played a decent amount of pickleball in college, and feel and touch in that game is honestly pretty different. Agreed that the pace is nothing compared to tennis. I didn't see anything too exciting in that video, other than pudgy hobbiests standing still and hitting admittedly impressive touch shots to each other. I also couldn't figure out who the puppet master is.

Anybody else glad that Federer doesn't go by the name puppetmaster or anything similar?

 

[shawnbm]

Roger Federer could walk out there with that equipment and beat those guys easily--first time out. So could Nasty, McEnroe, Novak and a host of others. This is a joke, right?