CAMELOT FANTASIES

it is time to start thinking about the favorites for the Wimbledon crown general:



I think Andy is back in the picture he has lost 8 in a row to nole. at some point in time he will find a way to reverse that at least temporarily.


Federer also has the game to derail nole on grass.


so here are my 2 picks for the Wimbledon crown this year:



1. Andy
2. Roger

Good picks general.  I'd like to see Roger take a record eighth, but I don't know why I have a funny feeling someone new will win it (other than the previous winners).

Oh well, back to bed for me..  3:30 am here.   Nice to chat with you general.  Take care.

Respectfully,
masterclass

the famous flume trail that circles lake Tahoe also has steep drop but it is less narrow and less technical.


I will post some pictures of that trail next time here.

Quote from: Clay Death on May 13, 2015, 08:05:39 pm

nobody in my family had ever fallen before so this was a shock.



I am the only one who falls and that is usually in the mountains when I am riding mountain bikes.



at least twice I have fallen on the road when riding bikes. once time I crashed at high speed when I was out on a training ride.



I fell in front of an oncoming car. a lady was driving.


she stopped her car just in time. I was also not wearing a helmet. I hit my head hard against the road which would knock me out for a few seconds.


 I may have told you about this. I broke my wrist that day and it has never been the same since.

Yeah, it really sounds awful general. 

My youngest girl just rode her first two wheel bike by herself a couple of days ago.  She learned her balance pretty quickly - about an hour.   I pushed her and off she went. 
She wears a helmet - it's required here for kids.   I hope she has better luck than yours, but I expect she'll fall a few times as well.

Respectfully,
masterclass

your girl will love bikes. they are a lot of fun but you will have to keep an eye on her when she rides.



I am still not wearing helmets on my training rides. just a bad habit.




I was about 4 when I first got on a bike. it only took me a few seconds before I fell off.


I fell off from a horse also the very first time ever I got on one. it was in Oregon a few years back.

fognini took out Dimitrov today.


it was 6-0 in the deciding frame.

fog is going to be famous.

Andy retires to rest up for RG.

Rafa gets it done in straights and so does Federer.


Berdych needed 3 sets to remove Fognini from the facilities.

I agree Lady TT.  Nadal-Isner should be interesting.  They made it the earliest match - 12 pm.  Not sure if it helps anyone or not.

But what I don't want to see is this:



You don't see him, but Nadal is actually returning from the fourth row in the stands.    He ended up winning the tiebreaker anyway...

On one hand this is Isner, so I can't blame him too much, if he returns from downtown Rome tomorrow.  But he also did this sort of thing against Murray on his weak second serve, when most players these days are about a meter inside the baseline looking to hammer his second serve.

In my opinion, Rafa really needs to get closer to the baseline, especially on clay.  He's sending the wrong message ("I am afraid"), and it is tactically weak - his return tends to land shorter from so far back, especially considering his current fitness, and it gives the server more time to prepare for the return, and risks getting beat by shorter angled spin serves).   On return he needs to hit the ball on the rise more, taking a shorter back-swing.  He doesn't need to use the full topspin cyclone of death on return, which requires the massive swing which can only be safely hit when the ball is on it's downward arc.  He has a decent half-volley. He shouldn't be afraid of taking the serve on closer to the baseline and giving the opponent less time, similar to what Murray is doing.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Wow, what a graphic. That's pretty bad. I do wonder why Rafa plays so far back, but I guess it's just years of playing defense and falling back into what's comfortable. But considering that it does cause his balls to fall short, I'm surprised that he isn't working to improve that. I guess he just likes swinging as freely as he wants to, but it's definitely a tactical error.

Not that I'm advocating firing Toni, that's never going to happen anyway, but I think one of the problems is that the Rafa/Toni dynamic has changed so severely. It was one thing to be obedient as a child, but as Rafa has gotten older, I don't think he feels it necessary to listen to Toni as much as he used to. He has gained his independence from Toni, but he could still benefit from adding someone new to his team.

same here general masterclass.


I will say Rafa gets it done in 3. 2 would be better but 3 works too.

at least it will keep him out there to work on solutions which is good going forward.

a few tough battles will actually come in handy for him.



right now he needs work: both match play and practice.

Yep. I'm glad it was a straight setter. He needed that.