Wimbledon 2015

[adamntg]

Aye, you can see Nadal's mental strength shining like a beacon just now.

[Caledonian Craig]

Aye, you can see Nadal's mental strength shining like a beacon just now.

Obviously, not now but that is his massive problem now. At his prime his self-belief was second to none - that has gone now and it shows.

[dan cake]

Yes that plays a part but mental lapses don't help either. He has had them lots of times in key matches that have cost him wins. Australian Open Final this year springs to mind for a start, brain freeze in 2012 final when he led Roger in the final then the roof closed and he fell apart and then we had a semi at Wimbledon a few years back when he was leading Nadal and missed a sitter and he capitulated. Probably lots more as well. Talent-wise he is right up there but mentally he isn't in the same league as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

would love to be wrong but he just isn't as good as Djokovic unfortunately

[Caledonian Craig]

would love to be wrong but he just isn't as good as Djokovic unfortunately

As a complete package I'd agree as Murray's mental lapses disadvantage him. When mentally solid he has shown he can beat Djokovic ie US Open Final, Olympic semi and Wimbledon Final.

[fringo]

Seems weird that they have a rest day on a Sunday when majority of folk are off and can watch it.

[Caledonian Craig]

Seems weird that they have a rest day on a Sunday when majority of folk are off and can watch it.

Serves two purposes really. It allows the schedule to xcome together now as all players now play on the same day until the end of the tournament having had at least one day's rest. Also being as this is a grass court tournament it gives the courts a day of rest so to speak,

[fringo]

Serves two purposes really. It allows the schedule to xcome together now as all players now play on the same day until the end of the tournament having had at least one day's rest. Also being as this is a grass court tournament it gives the courts a day of rest so to speak,

Yeah but a Sunday ? Better off on Monday.

[Govanhill Jacobite]

would love to be wrong but he just isn't as good as Djokovic unfortunately

As he has proved in the past he has, and Scottish head on, I think he will win it Edited July 5, 2015 by Govanhill Jacobite

[Caledonian Craig]

Yeah but a Sunday ? Better off on Monday.

Just tradition really. I mean at one time there were no sports events played on a Sunday (even football) and Wimbledon have proudly hung on to that tradition as they have to insisting the kits are all white.

[euan2020]

novak djokivic is the main reason murray hasnt won more grand slams

always makes you wonder about the rumours about tennis players

Novak was always the 4th player in the world - it was a mixture of Federe, Nadal, Murray, then boom Navak comes out with a 3-4 consistency that was not shown previously

[Flora MaDonald]

always makes you wonder about the rumours about tennis players

Novak was always the 4th player in the world - it was a mixture of Federe, Nadal, Murray, then boom Navak comes out with a 3-4 consistency that was not shown previously

That seemed to coincide with him giving up dairy products (he says, tanning a carton of milk).

[Caledonian Craig]

Yes he went on a gluten-free diet and worked to get fitter much like Andy did.

[biffer]

always makes you wonder about the rumours about tennis players

Novak was always the 4th player in the world - it was a mixture of Federe, Nadal, Murray, then boom Navak comes out with a 3-4 consistency that was not shown previously

Djokovic won a major tournament at a younger age than Federer did

[Toepoke]

Just tradition really. I mean at one time there were no sports events played on a Sunday (even football) and Wimbledon have proudly hung on to that tradition as they have to insisting the kits are all white.

Aye, the final 2 rounds of the Open used to be on the Saturday, then it went Wednesday to Saturday for a while (when I started watching it).

Wimbledon womens' final used to be on the Friday while the mens' semis were going on next door on Number 1 Court.

[phart]

Yes he went on a gluten-free diet and worked to get fitter much like Andy did.

#marginal gains

[phart]

always makes you wonder about the rumours about tennis players

Novak was always the 4th player in the world - it was a mixture of Federe, Nadal, Murray, then boom Navak comes out with a 3-4 consistency that was not shown previously

I always laugh at the amount of pseudo-science that comes out when folk talk about how they get better. "Gluten free" Djokovic is up there with "Higher Cadence" Armstrong.

[MacWalka]

I always laugh at the amount of pseudo-science that comes out when folk talk about how they get better. "Gluten free" Djokovic is up there with "Higher Cadence" Armstrong.

I can understand the "gluten free" bit to a point. Mainly because a personal trainer I knew turned out to be gluten intolerant and once he cut it out, he said he felt so much more energetic and his digestion system was a lot better.

He did have a big explanation about how most folk are gluten intolerant to a point and that some people are really intolerant to it leading to poor digestion and feeling sluggish.

Whether that would translate to the improvements that Novak seen, I don't know but am cynical that it would alone.

[min]

I can understand the "gluten free" bit to a point. Mainly because a personal trainer I knew turned out to be gluten intolerant and once he cut it out, he said he felt so much more energetic and his digestion system was a lot better.

He did have a big explanation about how most folk are gluten intolerant to a point and that some people are really intolerant to it leading to poor digestion and feeling sluggish.

Whether that would translate to the improvements that Novak seen, I don't know but am cynical that it would alone.

I don't think it has alone. Prior to going gluten free, Djokovic had already won a major, half a dozen or so masters tournaments and was comfortably number 3 in the world - behind Federer and Nadal. As Djokovic approached his physical peak, the powers of the other tow started to wane and it's only natural he would improve his ranking and tournament performances. His change in diet certainly is a factor, but shouldn't be overplayed.

[phart]

I can understand the "gluten free" bit to a point. Mainly because a personal trainer I knew turned out to be gluten intolerant and once he cut it out, he said he felt so much more energetic and his digestion system was a lot better.

He did have a big explanation about how most folk are gluten intolerant to a point and that some people are really intolerant to it leading to poor digestion and feeling sluggish.

Whether that would translate to the improvements that Novak seen, I don't know but am cynical that it would alone.

Gluten levels have stayed the same in wheat since 1880 at least. Your PT might have had coeliac disease or some sensitivity which has recently been found but it works in a much more complex way than just gluten.

Here's a summary of the academic papers and their findings.

http://thehealthsciencesacademy.org/health-tips/gluten-free/

[phart]

I can understand the "gluten free" bit to a point. Mainly because a personal trainer I knew turned out to be gluten intolerant and once he cut it out, he said he felt so much more energetic and his digestion system was a lot better.

He did have a big explanation about how most folk are gluten intolerant to a point and that some people are really intolerant to it leading to poor digestion and feeling sluggish.

Whether that would translate to the improvements that Novak seen, I don't know but am cynical that it would alone.

If you take a look at the sports scientist blog i posted a few posts back you'll see them include a trend that shows world record times for track and field correlate up and down with what testing is used. The introduction of out of competition tests, especially in female sports increased times/distances to a point where no one is coming within touching distance of the records. Tennis has a lax testing procedure with silent bans , cover-ups etc. Like in cycling if you look there are lower ranked p[layers who popped whistle-blowing (disgruntled folk who couldn't make it, just like christophe Bassons and Paul Kimmage no doubt).

I'm that cynical it may be affecting my objectivity though,

[MacWalka]

If you take a look at the sports scientist blog i posted a few posts back you'll see them include a trend that shows world record times for track and field correlate up and down with what testing is used. The introduction of out of competition tests, especially in female sports increased times/distances to a point where no one is coming within touching distance of the records. Tennis has a lax testing procedure with silent bans , cover-ups etc. Like in cycling if you look there are lower ranked p[layers who popped whistle-blowing (disgruntled folk who couldn't make it, just like christophe Bassons and Paul Kimmage no doubt).

I'm that cynical it may be affecting my objectivity though,

I agree with you on that. I don't doubt that doping exists in every sport to some extent. The fact that relatively low-money sports such as athletics and cycling are known to be filled with various PEDs and techniques should logically extend that big-money sports such as football, tennis, American sports and probably even golf would be using too.

[MacWalka]

Gluten levels have stayed the same in wheat since 1880 at least. Your PT might have had coeliac disease or some sensitivity which has recently been found but it works in a much more complex way than just gluten.

Here's a summary of the academic papers and their findings.

http://thehealthsciencesacademy.org/health-tips/gluten-free/

The PT I know had a reasonable theory that even though humans have been eating gluten in it's current form for several hundred years, as a fraction of the human evolution cycle, it isn't very long for the human body to evolve to accept it fully. Similar to how we are born with an appendix but don't need it. It makes logical sense to me from that perspective. Again, I'll stress that I doubt gluten free diet would remarkably transform someone though it may give some benefits.

[phart]

The PT I know had a reasonable theory that even though humans have been eating gluten in it's current form for several hundred years, as a fraction of the human evolution cycle, it isn't very long for the human body to evolve to accept it fully. Similar to how we are born with an appendix but don't need it. It makes logical sense to me from that perspective. Again, I'll stress that I doubt gluten free diet would remarkably transform someone though it may give some benefits.

that's the same theory i hear Joe Rogan talking about on his podcast, i like theories, i especially like them that have been tested in double blind experiments like some of the ones contained in the link.

We don't need an appendix in the same way we don't need two kidneys, the Appendix isn't a vestigial organ though, although it was thought to be just like the Thymus was a few decades ago, before Jacques Miller cut it from mice and realised they produced T-cells for the immune system.

[biffer]

So if there are people implying something about Djoko, is the same true of Federer?

[MacWalka]

So if there are people implying something about Djoko, is the same true of Federer?

Federer is less likely in my opinion. His style is different, traditionally he puts opponents even more on the back foot and quite frankly has better shots to be able to do so therefore doesn't chase and run as much. He also seems to fade more in longer rallies and 5 setters compared to Novak.