Cross Training: Bavly vs DeWitt

Better-than-their-appearance-would-indicate champs battle it out on the tennis court.

Edited by heavyspin - 08/02/2015 at 12:48am

How about now?

Heavyspin what is your rating in Tennis. Hard to judge from the clip, I would think 3.5 or 4.0?

jrscatman wrote: Heavyspin what is your rating in Tennis. Hard to judge from the clip, I would think 3.5 or 4.0?

I only wish it were catgut, heavy; I played with VS gut on a TAD Imperial racquet as a member (no. 12, last place), of the Cleveland Heights High School tennis team back in the days of '59.  The racquet cost $17.95, the gut around 15 bucks.  Had to sell a lot of beer and hot dogs at the old Cleveland Stadium to be able to afford that rig. 

The gut was very responsive but did not last long.  If you hit a flat first serve and a twist second serve plus flat groundstrokes with the ever present danger of hitting the back fence on the fly, you could quite easily bust a string, exerting a heavy toll on both game and pocketbook.  Eventually, I don't remember when, I gave up gut for the more durable but less combustible nylon.

I don't remember what racquet I used when playing that First Lieutenant.  It may have been a Slazenger and was definitely strung at around 55 lbs. tension with nylon to keep my hard but erratic flat forehands and backhands in play.

berndt_mann wrote: I would say, jrs, based on what I saw, that heavy is a good solid 3.5.  The video is too short to make a definitive judgment.  Larry's serve is solid if falling a tad short, forehand not too shabby, backhand volley not exactly textbook.  Can't tell from the video about his court coverage or his backhand drive or slice. I make these judgments as myself a tennis player from 1955-2000 whose highest estimated rating was between 4.0-4.5.  I lost in the finals of the 1968 Ft. Meade Singles Championship to a First Lieutenant whose game was steadier than mine, more consistent, and was definitely around a 4.5.  When playing public park tennis in Cleveland and Columbus, I could beat 3.5 and 4.0 players generally, but the 4.5 and 5.0 players especially made life difficult for me.

berndt_mann wrote: I only wish it were catgut, heavy; I played with VS gut on a TAD Imperial racquet as a member (no. 12, last place), of the Cleveland Heights High School tennis team back in the days of '59.  The racquet cost $17.95, the gut around 15 bucks.  Had to sell a lot of beer and hot dogs at the old Cleveland Stadium to be able to afford that rig.  The gut was very responsive but did not last long.  If you hit a flat first serve and a twist second serve plus flat groundstrokes with the ever present danger of hitting the back fence on the fly, you could quite easily bust a string, exerting a heavy toll on both game and pocketbook.  Eventually, I don't remember when, I gave up gut for the more durable but less combustible nylon. I don't remember what racquet I used when playing that First Lieutenant.  It may have been a Slazenger and was definitely strung at around 55 lbs. tension with nylon to keep my hard but erratic flat forehands and backhands in play.

This video might explain why people don't take TT seriously. These 2 players are advanced level TT players, but in Tennis they are intermediate level. By looking at them play Tennis average observer can determine their level of play.