Topic: Rafael Nadal foundation for the Slamless and Greedy

[Start da Game]

vamos to the destroyer and gen. swish.....

affirmative general shanks, general swish, general lugburz, and general tennis fan.


general death the destroyer of dreams and good homes is here. carry on the fight generals so they we can show them----the nutless and the legless ejacuzees--- the light.

howdy herculeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

convey my greeetings to diana, dee, anny, mimi, machael (raferminator), kiedis and all the other glorious members of castle and my friends.......

and convey my 'warm regards' to ejacuzees, jokeson and aunt scooba....... 

[FedFanForever]

I'm sure General Clay Death the Destroyer has no room for excuses from the Nadal camp. Didn't CD advise them in late 2010 to play less hard courts and more clay? Didn't they tell CD to go "up s**t creek" and now look what's happened? 

[swish]

I'm sure General Clay Death the Destroyer has no room for excuses from the Nadal camp. Didn't CD advise them in late 2010 to play less hard courts and more clay? Didn't they tell CD to go "up s**t creek" and now look what's happened? 

I think it was back in 2008 or so. Nadal missed the memo.
 
 

[hercules]

 
greeting general swish. you are spot on general. i advised back in 2008.
 
clay warrior and his camp missed the memo.
 
 
look nole practices year around on clay to keep his knees and his joints healthy and his ground game sharp.
 
so can nadal who already has messed up knees. he wont listen so what can you do.

[Start da Game]

I'm sure General Clay Death the Destroyer has no room for excuses from the Nadal camp. Didn't CD advise them in late 2010 to play less hard courts and more clay? Didn't they tell CD to go "up s**t creek" and now look what's happened? 

I think it was back in 2008 or so. Nadal missed the memo.

his hardcourt activity is fine if he just plays the major(slams and masters) events.......the problem arises when he overloads his schedule and that seems to be happening every time in the first half of the season........

he complained pain right after roland garros.......he was involved in all of montecarlo, barcelona, madrid, rome and roland garros this year.........won 4 out of 5 in that stretch without much gap between the events........in my opinion that actually lead to his current injury........

more than the surface, it is his scheduling that lands him into trouble........in 2009, it was because of excessive hardcourt stuff and also clay as well........he played all of miami, montecarlo, rome, madrid and roland garros in pain that season.........

this year he did not get any younger and loaded his clay schedule with too many events as usual when there was no need to........he can't keep pulling off the entire clay swing year after year........in 2010, he made a very sensible decision of skipping barcelona and that allowed some breathing space........

next year if he just plays montecarlo, rome and roland garros, queens and wimbledon, he would easily take roland garros and wimbledon with a bit of an effort in the semis and finals........if he doesn't, another wimbledon passes by just like that........

[masterclass]

I'm sure General Clay Death the Destroyer has no room for excuses from the Nadal camp. Didn't CD advise them in late 2010 to play less hard courts and more clay? Didn't they tell CD to go "up s**t creek" and now look what's happened? 

I think it was back in 2008 or so. Nadal missed the memo.

his hardcourt activity is fine if he just plays the major(slams and masters) events.......the problem arises when he overloads his schedule and that seems to be happening every time in the first half of the season........

he complained pain right after roland garros.......he was involved in all of montecarlo, barcelona, madrid, rome and roland garros this year.........won 4 out of 5 in that stretch without much gap between the events........in my opinion that actually lead to his current injury........

more than the surface, it is his scheduling that lands him into trouble........in 2009, it was because of excessive hardcourt stuff and also clay as well........he played all of miami, montecarlo, rome, madrid and roland garros in pain that season.........

this year he did not get any younger and loaded his clay schedule with too many events as usual when there was no need to........he can't keep pulling off the entire clay swing year after year........in 2010, he made a very sensible decision of skipping barcelona and that allowed some breathing space........

next year if he just plays montecarlo, rome and roland garros, queens and wimbledon, he would easily take roland garros and wimbledon with a bit of an effort in the semis and finals........if he doesn't, another wimbledon passes by just like that........

Hi general shanks. It's hard to argue with a strategy that got him his 7th Roland Garros. But I think one less tourney wouldn't have hurt, probably Barcelona, but that is so difficult for him to skip. It's basically his home tournament. Madrid is an easy call for him to strategically exit early.

But usually his knee problems never start on clay. It's the hard courts that do him in and start aggravating the knee again. Then once aggravated, chronic tendonitis usually sticks around for awhile until treatment and rest. Now that he is older, he needs to be smarter with his scheduling.  I don't know how severe the knee is hurt this time, but from all accounts, he may not return till at least Cincinnati, which is not really a favorable tournament for him.

 I think he needs more than practice and 2 matches to get his ground game back in shape for a major. General Hercules says that Rafa needs about 15-20 matches on clay to be ready for Roland Garros.  On hard court, I think he needs a bit less, perhaps 10 matches.  So if he can possibly get 4 to the semifinals in Cincinnati, and not get knocked out early at the US Open, he might have a chance by the time the semifinals of the USO roll around. But the draw could really make a difference for him there.

 Alternatively, he could just get extra rest, and skip the US Open series entirely, and return for Davis Cup in mid-September and the Asian swing, China Open, Shanghai, and then exit early in Paris, and be relatively fresh for the WTF.  Then next year, skip the Australian Open (it's way too taxing), and go to South America and play on clay there, Central America, all the way to the European clay season and Wimbledon. Skip the American slow hard court masters (IW and Miami).  I think if he stays on clay as long as possible, he can play 4 or 5 years longer.  If he keeps messing with the hard courts and all the other things that distract him from his best natural surface singles game (doubles, golf, etc.),  I see him retiring within the next year or two.

Respectfully,
masterclass

[Start da Game]

concurred general masterclass........i have always maintained that he tank or better not set foot in indian wells and miami at all........those two big mandatory hardcourt events right before clay seem to be hindering his preparation for the clay swing and he is forced to play a packed schedule adding extra unnecessary events like barcelona, madrid........

when he overloads his schedule, no matter what surface it is he will have pushed himself to the limit.......it's all in scheduling events with good spacing and rest between events....... 

[swish]

Definitely the hard courts don't help at all.
 
The knees however started acting up around Wimbledon in 2007, in the finals.
This was after the clay season and the wimbledon warmup event.
 
It may be more related to getting rest than the surface but with no rest and playing on hards is just too much.
 
Everyone knows he will play till he drops, even meaningless events and exibitions.
Nadal just loves to play and won't respect his limitations, that has been the deal with Rafa since day one.
 
 

[Start da Game]

Definitely the hard courts don't help at all.
 
The knees however started acting up around Wimbledon in 2007, in the finals.
This was after the clay season and the wimbledon warmup event.
 
It may be more related to getting rest than the surface but with no rest and playing on hards is just too much.
 
Everyone knows he will play till he drops, even meaningless events and exibitions.
Nadal just loves to play and won't respect his limitations, that has been the deal with Rafa since day one.
 
 

exactly....

[monstertruck]

I'm sure General Clay Death the Destroyer has no room for excuses from the Nadal camp. Didn't CD advise them in late 2010 to play less hard courts and more clay? Didn't they tell CD to go "up s**t creek" and now look what's happened? 

I think it was back in 2008 or so. Nadal missed the memo.

his hardcourt activity is fine if he just plays the major(slams and masters) events.......the problem arises when he overloads his schedule and that seems to be happening every time in the first half of the season........

he complained pain right after roland garros.......he was involved in all of montecarlo, barcelona, madrid, rome and roland garros this year.........won 4 out of 5 in that stretch without much gap between the events........in my opinion that actually lead to his current injury........

more than the surface, it is his scheduling that lands him into trouble........in 2009, it was because of excessive hardcourt stuff and also clay as well........he played all of miami, montecarlo, rome, madrid and roland garros in pain that season.........

this year he did not get any younger and loaded his clay schedule with too many events as usual when there was no need to........he can't keep pulling off the entire clay swing year after year........in 2010, he made a very sensible decision of skipping barcelona and that allowed some breathing space........

next year if he just plays montecarlo, rome and roland garros, queens and wimbledon, he would easily take roland garros and wimbledon with a bit of an effort in the semis and finals........if he doesn't, another wimbledon passes by just like that........

Hi general shanks. It's hard to argue with a strategy that got him his 7th Roland Garros. But I think one less tourney wouldn't have hurt, probably Barcelona, but that is so difficult for him to skip. It's basically his home tournament. Madrid is an easy call for him to strategically exit early.

But usually his knee problems never start on clay. It's the hard courts that do him in and start aggravating the knee again. Then once aggravated, chronic tendonitis usually sticks around for awhile until treatment and rest. Now that he is older, he needs to be smarter with his scheduling.  I don't know how severe the knee is hurt this time, but from all accounts, he may not return till at least Cincinnati, which is not really a favorable tournament for him.

 I think he needs more than practice and 2 matches to get his ground game back in shape for a major. General Hercules says that Rafa needs about 15-20 matches on clay to be ready for Roland Garros.  On hard court, I think he needs a bit less, perhaps 10 matches.  So if he can possibly get 4 to the semifinals in Cincinnati, and not get knocked out early at the US Open, he might have a chance by the time the semifinals of the USO roll around. But the draw could really make a difference for him there.

 Alternatively, he could just get extra rest, and skip the US Open series entirely, and return for Davis Cup in mid-September and the Asian swing, China Open, Shanghai, and then exit early in Paris, and be relatively fresh for the WTF.  Then next year, skip the Australian Open (it's way too taxing), and go to South America and play on clay there, Central America, all the way to the European clay season and Wimbledon. Skip the American slow hard court masters (IW and Miami).  I think if he stays on clay as long as possible, he can play 4 or 5 years longer.  If he keeps messing with the hard courts and all the other things that distract him from his best natural surface singles game (doubles, golf, etc.),  I see him retiring within the next year or two.
Respectfully,
masterclass

Sadly, I think you're right.
Each part of the body is good for only so many clicks and it's common knowledge that his knees have taken a good thrashing already between the extensive practice required to play his style and the long, long, long, long, long, points he typically plays.

[Lugburz]

yes that is spot on in some hand.

But imo, you guys went too far with this, hence making very big deal out of this.
Are you really sure you want Nadal, to only participate on caly and grass events? To be only discussed as king of clay?
He needs to do smart scheduling yes, but to completely skip HC events its just asking for too much.

Yes, he has been having trouble with knees from the start, but that wasn't something as serious as many of the guys on tour experienced. Kinda have to involve Haas in this discussion(among the others), because if it fits to the current subject. I don't even need to make a list of injuries he has been having from the start of career. How many years he missed, how many possible slams he didn't win.
But yet again he's having his '3rd career', because he endured the pressure, and believed he can come back to top quality tennis once again.
Should that have been a different story if he skipped all clay seasons and focused only on fast surfaces, I don't know. His shoulder would have been on much lesser risk, but thats smth I definitely didn't want to see.

Bah everytime I mention Haas, it kinda stick with me to continue talking about it but, its stronger than me I guess 

So back to Nadal, luckily he didn't have huge injury breaks, and lets hope it stays that way.
Playing only on clay and grass, should bring him much more trophies, but its not everything about tittles and achievements. Its not smth I would wish for my player..

[hercules]

he can always cut back some of the hard court activity.
 
it saves the knees. it may come down to the choice of being able to play or not play at all.
 
i would choose clay in that situation. muster had to reinvent himself after a drunk driver ran over him and demolished his knee.

[Lugburz]

Ofc if it comes to the choice of to play or not, I'd go with clay as well. But I don't think its that serious.

I don't respect Nadal because of his achievements, I respect him for his athleticism and sportsmanship.
I don't like his game but I respect him, after all he contributed a lot to this sport.

Only nutcases fans want their fave player to beat all the records, in this case catching Sampras, Fed etc.. Ah those neverending discussions about breaking records and whatnots.
Lets just hope we can see our faves play as long as they can play, and be happy for it...

[hercules]

i have heard that nole practices on clay year around.
nadal just has to get off the hard courts for a while. they built him an indoor hard court in mallorca so he can practice there all year. precisely the wrong move if he wants to save the knees and play a little longer.

[monstertruck]

Ofc if it comes to the choice of to play or not, I'd go with clay as well. But I don't think its that serious.

I don't respect Nadal because of his achievements, I respect him for his athleticism and sportsmanship.
I don't like his game but I respect him, after all he contributed a lot to this sport.

Only nutcases fans want their fave player to beat all the records, in this case catching Sampras, Fed etc.. Ah those neverending discussions about breaking records and whatnots.
Lets just hope we can see our faves play as long as they can play, and be happy for it...

That's a pretty darn good post Luggy!

[FedFanForever]

CD - if Nadal continues to insist on the US Open hardcourts, then the Asian swing, then the European indoor swing he deserves what he has coming to him.

[hercules]

if he just starts practicing on clay all year long then that alone will go a long way in keeping his knees in reasonably good shape.

[monstertruck]

Because of his swing shape , he needs to practice specifically for each surface in order to get his timing. 
Lots and lots of balls. 
There's no way around it.
Straight from his camp a couple years ago.
Perhaps that's one of the reasons he plays dubs at some tourneys, just to get the extra hits in.

[FedFanForever]

if he just starts practicing on clay all year long then that alone will go a long way in keeping his knees in reasonably good shape.

I believe it when I see it.

[oracle86]

Just saw that the title has been modified. 

Slamless must be Andy.
Greedy is Roger, I guess.
Goldless is Nole???

Or is Nole Greedy and Roger Goldless?