Topic: Clay Monster's Limitations

[Tennis4you]

Thanks!

[Alison2006]

anybody has any ideas as to what must the clay monster do to get a u.s. open title? and finally, can he ever win this title?

i hear roger just said in an interview that if he(roger) doesnt win it, he expects nadal to win it.

is that possible?

Rafa needs to have a better 1st Serve (and better 2nd Serve) As I have mentioned before (but my views are not taken well by many because I don't support Rog, but I am cool with that ) Got over that long ago  

Perhaps he should have a new coach (Which I have mentioned before.....but got a load of abuse (on another forum not here) for that comment.......It made sense to me at the time...after all here is Rafa  on the hard courts but no Coach ie: Uncle Tony    Yep he needs a break (fair enough).....but I don't agree with the Part-time coach thing......(Just me and my view)...I don't like the fact Tony is not with Rafa at Queens Club.....he has Lopez's old coach there instead.....I don't agree

Tony is there at all the warm up tourneys for FO but not around for the warm up for Wimbledon or US Open  

Just my views from my side  

good post allison. i am inclined to agree but i also think the tony/nadal association is a match made in heaven. tony will always be by nadal`s side. family thing is so important to nadal. he gets true and honest support.

that said, there may be some drawbacks. uncle tony barely knows how to play tennis but he has been instrumental in molding nadal`s character and his game. it was him who told him to hit with his left hand when nadal was like 3-4 years old as it provided some advantages. it may not be a bad idea to get some coaching/help with the volley and the serve. djokovic is getting some expert advice on the net game form mark woodforde. hewitt worked for 3 months with darren cahill before the french open. some sort of part time help with the serve and the net game may work.

and the clay monster does need a little more assault minded approach to the game when playing on hard courts. you just cant log in 3-4 hours time and again on hard courts and expect to win titles. and besides, he hates these hard courts anyway as they hurt his knees and his feet. and they inhibit his movement.

Sorry I missed this Hercules

I agree about the "Family" thing is so important to Nadal 100% , I also agree about Rafa getting some help with his volley (although I am quite happy with his volleys from what I have seen)  

I think someone to help with his Serve  is very much needed

He also needs IMHO to shorten the points ie comming to the net sooner

I hope he sticks with Uncle Tony (for Clay), but needs extra help away from Clay

Who could help him with Serve??

I am convinced had he a better 1st serve he would have won Wimbledon this year, I really hope Uncle Tony and himself are working on this area of his game

[Clay Death]

anybody has any ideas as to what must the clay monster do to get a u.s. open title? and finally, can he ever win this title?

i hear roger just said in an interview that if he(roger) doesnt win it, he expects nadal to win it.

is that possible?

Rafa needs to have a better 1st Serve (and better 2nd Serve) As I have mentioned before (but my views are not taken well by many because I don't support Rog, but I am cool with that ) Got over that long ago  

Perhaps he should have a new coach (Which I have mentioned before.....but got a load of abuse (on another forum not here) for that comment.......It made sense to me at the time...after all here is Rafa  on the hard courts but no Coach ie: Uncle Tony    Yep he needs a break (fair enough).....but I don't agree with the Part-time coach thing......(Just me and my view)...I don't like the fact Tony is not with Rafa at Queens Club.....he has Lopez's old coach there instead.....I don't agree

Tony is there at all the warm up tourneys for FO but not around for the warm up for Wimbledon or US Open  

Just my views from my side  

good post allison. i am inclined to agree but i also think the tony/nadal association is a match made in heaven. tony will always be by nadal`s side. family thing is so important to nadal. he gets true and honest support.

that said, there may be some drawbacks. uncle tony barely knows how to play tennis but he has been instrumental in molding nadal`s character and his game. it was him who told him to hit with his left hand when nadal was like 3-4 years old as it provided some advantages. it may not be a bad idea to get some coaching/help with the volley and the serve. djokovic is getting some expert advice on the net game form mark woodforde. hewitt worked for 3 months with darren cahill before the french open. some sort of part time help with the serve and the net game may work.

and the clay monster does need a little more assault minded approach to the game when playing on hard courts. you just cant log in 3-4 hours time and again on hard courts and expect to win titles. and besides, he hates these hard courts anyway as they hurt his knees and his feet. and they inhibit his movement.

Sorry I missed this Hercules

I agree about the "Family" thing is so important to Nadal 100% , I also agree about Rafa getting some help with his volley (although I am quite happy with his volleys from what I have seen)  

I think someone to help with his Serve  is very much needed

He also needs IMHO to shorten the points ie comming to the net sooner

I hope he sticks with Uncle Tony (for Clay), but needs extra help away from Clay

Who could help him with Serve??

I am convinced had he a better 1st serve he would have won Wimbledon this year, I really hope Uncle Tony and himself are working on this area of his game

after the wimby final, the clay monster did say that the serve was the difference. i would take it a step further. a little better return would have also allowed him to gun the mighty roger federer. he pretty much knows what he needs to work on. we will see if he can make it happen. i just wouldnt expect much from him at this open as we do not know how serious the knee problem is.

[Alison2006]

anybody has any ideas as to what must the clay monster do to get a u.s. open title? and finally, can he ever win this title?

i hear roger just said in an interview that if he(roger) doesnt win it, he expects nadal to win it.

is that possible?

Rafa needs to have a better 1st Serve (and better 2nd Serve) As I have mentioned before (but my views are not taken well by many because I don't support Rog, but I am cool with that ) Got over that long ago  

Perhaps he should have a new coach (Which I have mentioned before.....but got a load of abuse (on another forum not here) for that comment.......It made sense to me at the time...after all here is Rafa  on the hard courts but no Coach ie: Uncle Tony    Yep he needs a break (fair enough).....but I don't agree with the Part-time coach thing......(Just me and my view)...I don't like the fact Tony is not with Rafa at Queens Club.....he has Lopez's old coach there instead.....I don't agree

Tony is there at all the warm up tourneys for FO but not around for the warm up for Wimbledon or US Open  

Just my views from my side  

good post allison. i am inclined to agree but i also think the tony/nadal association is a match made in heaven. tony will always be by nadal`s side. family thing is so important to nadal. he gets true and honest support.

that said, there may be some drawbacks. uncle tony barely knows how to play tennis but he has been instrumental in molding nadal`s character and his game. it was him who told him to hit with his left hand when nadal was like 3-4 years old as it provided some advantages. it may not be a bad idea to get some coaching/help with the volley and the serve. djokovic is getting some expert advice on the net game form mark woodforde. hewitt worked for 3 months with darren cahill before the french open. some sort of part time help with the serve and the net game may work.

and the clay monster does need a little more assault minded approach to the game when playing on hard courts. you just cant log in 3-4 hours time and again on hard courts and expect to win titles. and besides, he hates these hard courts anyway as they hurt his knees and his feet. and they inhibit his movement.

Sorry I missed this Hercules

I agree about the "Family" thing is so important to Nadal 100% , I also agree about Rafa getting some help with his volley (although I am quite happy with his volleys from what I have seen)  

I think someone to help with his Serve  is very much needed

He also needs IMHO to shorten the points ie comming to the net sooner

I hope he sticks with Uncle Tony (for Clay), but needs extra help away from Clay

Who could help him with Serve??

I am convinced had he a better 1st serve he would have won Wimbledon this year, I really hope Uncle Tony and himself are working on this area of his game

after the wimby final, the clay monster did say that the serve was the difference. i would take it a step further. a little better return would have also allowed him to gun the mighty roger federer. he pretty much knows what he needs to work on. we will see if he can make it happen. i just wouldnt expect much from him at this open as we do not know how serious the knee problem is.

At last another Poster who has Rafa's best interest at heart on this Forum    I love reading your post hercules  

I have been saying for flipping ages about his serve (but it got lost as no-one on here really cared about Rafa's game)

Thankgod for you  

[Clay Death]

anybody has any ideas as to what must the clay monster do to get a u.s. open title? and finally, can he ever win this title?

i hear roger just said in an interview that if he(roger) doesnt win it, he expects nadal to win it.

is that possible?

Rafa needs to have a better 1st Serve (and better 2nd Serve) As I have mentioned before (but my views are not taken well by many because I don't support Rog, but I am cool with that ) Got over that long ago  

Perhaps he should have a new coach (Which I have mentioned before.....but got a load of abuse (on another forum not here) for that comment.......It made sense to me at the time...after all here is Rafa  on the hard courts but no Coach ie: Uncle Tony    Yep he needs a break (fair enough).....but I don't agree with the Part-time coach thing......(Just me and my view)...I don't like the fact Tony is not with Rafa at Queens Club.....he has Lopez's old coach there instead.....I don't agree

Tony is there at all the warm up tourneys for FO but not around for the warm up for Wimbledon or US Open  

Just my views from my side  

good post allison. i am inclined to agree but i also think the tony/nadal association is a match made in heaven. tony will always be by nadal`s side. family thing is so important to nadal. he gets true and honest support.

that said, there may be some drawbacks. uncle tony barely knows how to play tennis but he has been instrumental in molding nadal`s character and his game. it was him who told him to hit with his left hand when nadal was like 3-4 years old as it provided some advantages. it may not be a bad idea to get some coaching/help with the volley and the serve. djokovic is getting some expert advice on the net game form mark woodforde. hewitt worked for 3 months with darren cahill before the french open. some sort of part time help with the serve and the net game may work.

and the clay monster does need a little more assault minded approach to the game when playing on hard courts. you just cant log in 3-4 hours time and again on hard courts and expect to win titles. and besides, he hates these hard courts anyway as they hurt his knees and his feet. and they inhibit his movement.

Sorry I missed this Hercules

I agree about the "Family" thing is so important to Nadal 100% , I also agree about Rafa getting some help with his volley (although I am quite happy with his volleys from what I have seen)  

I think someone to help with his Serve  is very much needed

He also needs IMHO to shorten the points ie comming to the net sooner

I hope he sticks with Uncle Tony (for Clay), but needs extra help away from Clay

Who could help him with Serve??

I am convinced had he a better 1st serve he would have won Wimbledon this year, I really hope Uncle Tony and himself are working on this area of his game

after the wimby final, the clay monster did say that the serve was the difference. i would take it a step further. a little better return would have also allowed him to gun the mighty roger federer. he pretty much knows what he needs to work on. we will see if he can make it happen. i just wouldnt expect much from him at this open as we do not know how serious the knee problem is.

At last another Poster who has Rafa's best interest at heart on this Forum    I love reading your post hercules  

I have been saying for flipping ages about his serve (but it got lost as no-one on here really cared about Rafa's game)

Thankgod for you  

i enjoy your posts as well alison. looks like the clay monster gets another day off before firing up his engines. he doesnt play until tuesday. he will be starting against some australian qualifier. should be routine deal for him. he just needs to take it one match at a time and get to quarters or semis and then get the hell out if the knee doesnt feel right. no need to risk a more serious injury for the sake of proving that he can play on hard courts. borg became an all time great by just winning at roland garros and at wimby. both surfaces are so much easier on the joints, knees, and the body.

[Clay Death]

anybody knows when/what time the clay monster steps on the court against that australian qualifier tomorrow. i dont see him on the sechule of play anywhere.

thanks for the info in advance.

[Alison2006]

anybody knows when/what time the clay monster steps on the court against that australian qualifier tomorrow. i dont see him on the sechule of play anywhere.

thanks for the info in advance.

I don't see him either on the schedule........Whats going on ?    ?

[Alison2006]

My spelling  

Anyway here is Tuesday schedule;

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/index.html

 

[Clay Death]

My spelling  

Anyway here is Tuesday schedule;

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/index.html

 

i guess we will find out more tomorrow. he must not be scheduled until wednesday.

[yellowball]

I just read this info about Rafa that I wasn't aware of before. Maybe everyone else already knows this, but it's news to me! It was a long article, but this is the paragraph that struck me.

************
Most important, he has jiggered his mental approach, even on clay. Surprisingly, Nadal was raised in Spain playing mostly on hardcourts, not unlike the ones at the United States Open. He dominated on all surfaces as a junior, much the way he has dominated professionally on clay.

***********

I can't give you a source on this info, it was on his website and no one had refuted it.

 

[Clay Death]

I just read this info about Rafa that I wasn't aware of before. Maybe everyone else already knows this, but it's news to me! It was a long article, but this is the paragraph that struck me.

************
Most important, he has jiggered his mental approach, even on clay. Surprisingly, Nadal was raised in Spain playing mostly on hardcourts, not unlike the ones at the United States Open. He dominated on all surfaces as a junior, much the way he has dominated professionally on clay.

***********

I can't give you a source on this info, it was on his website and no one had refuted it.

 

he was taught the game by his uncle on hard courts but that doesnt necessarily make him someone who grew up on hard courts. not the way we americans here grow up on hard courts and play our high school and college tennis on these very courts. and play most if not all of our tournaments on hard courts growing up.

it is should be more than obvious to everyone by now that his game is best suited for clay and that is where he is going to find most of his success.

i expect that he will win no less than 7 french opens and 2-3 wimby titles by the time he is done. that is a lost of slams he will be remembered and noted in history as an all time great. that said, he has to play his cards right.

[huntingyou]

Wizard I still believe he can win two GS on hardcourts, especially the AO since is the first big tournament after the winter break which means Rafa will be healthy and ready to play....I think his defeat against Gonzo was just bad luck since Gonzales can't even win small hardcourt tournaments. You'll see!

[Clay Death]

so he has been jogging around the central park from what i hear. bad move as far as i can see. in order to protect those knees from further damage from exposure on hard courts, you engage in cycling and spinning. and then you still do your sport specific and game specific exercises on the court.

in fact, from what i have been hearing, lot of pros are turning to cycling and spinning in order to make sure they dont expedite the damage and natural wear and tear of those joints from a season that never ends and a season where better than 80% of the tournaments are to be played on hard courts and indoor surfaces.

grass is easy on the body but the grass court circuit is 2 weeks long.

[OSU Buckeye]

so he has been jogging around the central park from what i hear. bad move as far as i can see. in order to protect those knees from further damage from exposure on hard courts, you engage in cycling and spinning. and then you still do your sport specific and game specific exercises on the court.

in fact, from what i have been hearing, lot of pros are turning to cycling and spinning in order to make sure they dont expedite the damage and natural wear and tear of those joints from a season that never ends and a season where better than 80% of the tournaments are to be played on hard courts and indoor surfaces.

grass is easy on the body but the grass court circuit is 2 weeks long.

I would think that training in water would be the best low-impact stuff that they could do!  

[yellowball]

I want him to do what's best for his body so he can stay around a long, long time. I know he's trying to shorten points and he's changing next year's schedule a bit. I hope he and his team keep a close eye on that knee and don't allow further damage, but I would like to see him go deep in the Open...  

Tennis would lose a lot of it's appeal for me if Rafa was out of the sport, I look forward to his matches WAAAAAAY more than anyone elses. Some people talk about his "angry" look when he's playing. Personally, I love the sneer    

 

[Clay Death]

I want him to do what's best for his body so he can stay around a long, long time. I know he's trying to shorten points and he's changing next year's schedule a bit. I hope he and his team keep a close eye on that knee and don't allow further damage, but I would like to see him go deep in the Open...  

Tennis would lose a lot of it's appeal for me if Rafa was out of the sport, I look forward to his matches WAAAAAAY more than anyone elses. Some people talk about his "angry" look when he's playing. Personally, I love the sneer    

 

that sneer is just an act. the damn fool is actually just too nice a guy. he lacks the the ultimate killer instinct. i have heard him stay stuff like he is a good loser and the like.

its great that one knows how to be graceful when one loses but you also gotta have the killer instinct like roger has.

[Clay Death]

so he has been jogging around the central park from what i hear. bad move as far as i can see. in order to protect those knees from further damage from exposure on hard courts, you engage in cycling and spinning. and then you still do your sport specific and game specific exercises on the court.

in fact, from what i have been hearing, lot of pros are turning to cycling and spinning in order to make sure they dont expedite the damage and natural wear and tear of those joints from a season that never ends and a season where better than 80% of the tournaments are to be played on hard courts and indoor surfaces.

grass is easy on the body but the grass court circuit is 2 weeks long.

I would think that training in water would be the best low-impact stuff that they could do!  

fully agree. swimming would be the ultimate in terms of low or no impact. throw that in there with spinning ans cycling and you can take that vo2max higher without tearing yourself down.

[Clay Death]

anybody else heard this? johhny mac says that nadal has injured his second knee in the last couple of days.

if that really is true, he needs to get off these courts as soon as possible without damaging those knees any further.

i have been saying all along that this guy can do himself and those a knees a favor by dropping 8-10 pounds and take a little bit of presure off those knees and joints. he is too heavy at 190 pounds.

[Alison2006]

anybody else heard this? johhny mac says that nadal has injured his second knee in the last couple of days.

if that really is true, he needs to get off these courts as soon as possible without damaging those knees any further.

i have been saying all along that this guy can do himself and those a knees a favor by dropping 8-10 pounds and take a little bit of presure off those knees and joints. he is too heavy at 190 pounds.

I haven't heard this, when did he say this?? I flipping hope its not true......

[Clay Death]

anybody else heard this? johhny mac says that nadal has injured his second knee in the last couple of days.

if that really is true, he needs to get off these courts as soon as possible without damaging those knees any further.

i have been saying all along that this guy can do himself and those a knees a favor by dropping 8-10 pounds and take a little bit of presure off those knees and joints. he is too heavy at 190 pounds.

I haven't heard this, when did he say this?? I flipping hope its not true......

johnny mac said it during the blake/russell match. i just hope its not too bad. evidently he must have caught the clay monster during one of his practice sessions.

if the second knee is injured, he needs to get the hell out of here without risking further damage to the knees and get them taken care of.

he will obviously get to test the knees in his 1st round match tomorrow. i was just wondering if somebody else heard more on this.