- Joined
- Jul 5, 2013
- Messages
- 43
- Reactions
- 1
- Points
- 6
I have posted a similar thread at TT and I am being hit hard, but I insist here:
Â
A small group of 4.5 / 5 2015 players take a time machine (few of them as the machine is small) and goes back to 1930-1940. We carry our tennis bags with 2015 racquets, poly trings, dri fit clothes (not that it matters), light tennis shoes. We get into a hard court tournament or the French championships (grass is too weird for a 2015 player). [We play in between our coming and going to betting houses or trying to invest in the Bourse with the scarce data we remember from that decade]
So you face first time those players as they are on these videos. Would we get a GS?
Tilden´s video is sped up but Budge´s is not and they are clearly not scary. Serves are normal but indeed the foot on the ground is limiting. Backhands are horrible, no power at all without the help of the other hand. Tilden even slices some forehands. That continental grip is a killer. They saved energy and hit weakly with placement until the 70s I would say, whereas we now hit as strongly as we can but applying topspin to the ball. They even walk on the court instead of running.
One thing is clear: we find Big Bill with a ball boy and we beat the hell out of him.
https://youtu.be/gAM-ZgEHEZs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8eEfjxDeHM
https://youtu.be/a8jhKS-yMCs
Just read that Jean Borotra, one of the French Mousquetaires, a Wimbledon champion twice, 5 GSs (19 if doubles are included, which by the time were as important as singles) and competitor of Bill Tilden:
- Only played during weekends and tournaments.
- he took up tennis seriously at 21 years old
- Won Wimbledon for his first time only after having played tennis for 6 years in 1924.
Any 5.0 plays more than that per week and has played far longer than that. I think modern technique, training and racquets would compensate more than enough.
What do you guys think ? Please dont start with "give them the modern racquets and techniques and...". That is a different speculation. I say any of us, 4.5 or 5.0 of 2015 against those guys exactly as they look in the videos, with their long trousers and those racquets. On hard or clay (nobody plays on grass anymore). Who wins ?
Tilden vs Vines. This one seems not sped up.
https://youtu.be/Yl8Hl9NWDqk
Â
A small group of 4.5 / 5 2015 players take a time machine (few of them as the machine is small) and goes back to 1930-1940. We carry our tennis bags with 2015 racquets, poly trings, dri fit clothes (not that it matters), light tennis shoes. We get into a hard court tournament or the French championships (grass is too weird for a 2015 player). [We play in between our coming and going to betting houses or trying to invest in the Bourse with the scarce data we remember from that decade]
So you face first time those players as they are on these videos. Would we get a GS?
Tilden´s video is sped up but Budge´s is not and they are clearly not scary. Serves are normal but indeed the foot on the ground is limiting. Backhands are horrible, no power at all without the help of the other hand. Tilden even slices some forehands. That continental grip is a killer. They saved energy and hit weakly with placement until the 70s I would say, whereas we now hit as strongly as we can but applying topspin to the ball. They even walk on the court instead of running.
One thing is clear: we find Big Bill with a ball boy and we beat the hell out of him.
https://youtu.be/gAM-ZgEHEZs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8eEfjxDeHM
https://youtu.be/a8jhKS-yMCs
Just read that Jean Borotra, one of the French Mousquetaires, a Wimbledon champion twice, 5 GSs (19 if doubles are included, which by the time were as important as singles) and competitor of Bill Tilden:
- Only played during weekends and tournaments.
- he took up tennis seriously at 21 years old
- Won Wimbledon for his first time only after having played tennis for 6 years in 1924.
Any 5.0 plays more than that per week and has played far longer than that. I think modern technique, training and racquets would compensate more than enough.
What do you guys think ? Please dont start with "give them the modern racquets and techniques and...". That is a different speculation. I say any of us, 4.5 or 5.0 of 2015 against those guys exactly as they look in the videos, with their long trousers and those racquets. On hard or clay (nobody plays on grass anymore). Who wins ?
Tilden vs Vines. This one seems not sped up.
https://youtu.be/Yl8Hl9NWDqk