Thanks again Ian for having me on, was an absolute pleasure. Keep up the great work, breaking barriers, motivating us all (young & old) and uniting the tennis community! 🍻
Ian, I’m 70 and took up Tennis two years ago with my wife after retirement. A former Navy Seal, that life has had it’s challenges, find I’m loving tennis for the motivation to remain healthy, have fun and learn a new sport for me. My wife, also 70 is enjoying the challenge tennis is giving us. Both of you are a joy to watch your u-tube lessons. Have a great day, and remember, you have to “walk the dog” everyday all your life.
61yrs old. Started tennis 2014. Practice alone almost daily. Do body weight exercises almost daily. Fighting old left knee surgery and now sciatica daily. Happy to say now playing best tennis of my life. Goes to show what can happen with a plan and some determination to follow it through. Thanks to ET and playyourcourt for all the free resources and inspiration. You have helped hundreds of thousands of people or more to enjoy tennis and enjoy life. Much appreciated. What you're doing is valuable beyond words.
Outstanding video, it just flew by. Nate is super impressive, lots of excellent points. I'm 55 and a former professional soccer player who started getting serious about tennis five years ago. My biggest challenge hasn't been fitness or injuries, but something Nate said - managing expectations. I'm just not going to be as good at this as I was at soccer, but that doesn't mean it can't be just as fun. Nice work Ian and Nate!
Pumped to hear you enjoyed the video! With your background I can imagine managing expectations can be tough. Keep identifying small gaols and pursuring them. The little wins will help build confidence and get you where you want to go! With the soccer background and excelelnt footwork from it you'll be "kicking" butt in no time. Sorry could'nt resist the pun. Thanks for watching and the support!
I played soccer as well in Germany. Managing expectations is so important because tennis is a lifelong sport soccer is not always easy to get 22 guys together lol good luck
Very helpful video, insightful, particularly for older player like myself (just turned 60) who struggles with some injuries while trying to work at improving my game by practicing and playing more. Thank you!
I found this conversation to be very enlightening. As a much older player who stalled out a year ago with a frozen shoulder and other injuries, it really hit home for me. My expectations are above my current playing level, and it gave me permission to be OK that I am not still continuing to up my game, but be happy that I can still be playing at my age.
I am 60 and never played competitive tennis till about a year ago. I now wish I had started years earlier. I played recreational tennis off and on much of my adult life but never used a racquet that I hadn't purchased at a box store until 2 years ago. Trying hard to get to 4.0. Thanks, Nate and Ian. Love your content.
That is the beauty of tennis my friend, it's never too late to start playing, and legitimately turn it from a past time to your passion. Stay with it, you'll get to 4.0! Thanks for watching and supporting our channels!
Yep, 57 and still trying to play 3-4 times a week. Fortunately, it’s been mostly managing soreness as I’ve gotten older than specific injuries. Love the shoutout to us old guys! 😜
Great stuff, thanks definitely gonna be dissecting this video carefully for myself. I also watched both parts of Nate's comeback to Competitive tennis, also great content!
You both are awesome guys and superbly accomplished. Both are incredibly underrated, involved in channels that are undervalued as well. I can relate to you boys in many ways, besides the fact that I didn’t go the coaching route (too self-absorbed…LOL) and have no talent whatsoever, lol. Would love to see you guys training/hitting/playing together. No need for luck. You both will do great. Cheers, MM
I enjoyed this. As someone who started playing in my forties and twenty odd years later I still have to manage my expectations. Obviously it is important to try to win but the greatest pleasure is to play when everyone is playing well and there are good rallies win or lose. It is a great social sport which can be played at any age. My problem after so many years I don’t know whether I am right or left handed!
lol, love it David. I imagine a scene from The Princess Bride" movie where if losing you reveal your fighting with the non-dominant hand. Thanks for watching!
I am 41 years old and I play my best tennis now, beating guys 10-15 years younger than me. The difference is that I follow more your strategy play, I play smarter
This is a lot like me, I am 38. I started when i was like 6 but never played competitive tennis until about 28 when i played in a 3.5 league. Back then my goal was to become a 5.0 player, still is even! I am now a higher 4.5 player as my regular season record was 10-1 in 4.5 matches. But just like both of you I have to turn my body off for some shots because i know it isn't worth getting an injury for. I can see the 5.0, but i know it is still just out of reach right now, I even know what i need to work on since i was a coach for about 7 years. It is just a lot of effort!
Ian your speed and quickness are still tremendous assets! You can and should be playing the best tennis of your life right now because you've talked about your mindeset being much healthier than your younger 'prime'. My ball-striking is as good or better than it was in my 20s and my variety/tactics/mindset are all improved with age. At 52 my movement hasn't held up nearly as well as yours, but until I get my right knee back to where it needs to be for winning singles play I am still holding my own in doubles at the 4.0 level in the highly competetive So. Cal USTA league play (formerly a 4.5 level mainly singles guy).
I think it would be very helpful, especially to older players, to cover nutrition/hydration. I play in the Baton Rouge area and that is one of our biggest concerns especially during the summer months. In this environment our primary considerations are usually centered around nutrition, hydration, grip type, extra clothes and extra gear to combat the amount of sweating. I haven't noticed many videos that cover that information nor videos of match play where that is a main concern.
You're welcome. And, for the record, I love all of your content. I frequently share your videos with the people that I play. Keep up the excellent content!
Great Idea Chad, being from the East Coast as well I know exactly what you’re talking about. Summers are humid & hot! My big focus in the summer is to 1. hydrate the day before, day of the match is too late. 2. Eat healthy carbs the night before and eat super light the day of match. 3. Have new grips on all your rackets so you can change between them as necassary. 4. Rosin bag 5.Change shirts AND your socks between sets . Dry socks are a godsend. Hope this helps, thanks for watching!
Very true! There is always something "in season". Right now it's oysters. Next will be crawfish. It's really difficult to maintain a good balanced diet in this area.
I have been enjoying your content for years and when you both began the new track of pursuing the player side it connected with me. One hurdle I have that I can’t seem to find access to is the competition that gives me the feedback to my efforts and training. The UTR seems like a great system for that feedback but as a 40+ player looking for flexible competition there isn’t any tournaments or people that want to play at this level and desire to improve. USTA doesn’t fit my interests for competition. If you have any info or suggestions that would be great to see a video on.
I am 47 and still fit, but the problem i find with tennis is tendonitis issues - your tendons lose flexibility as you age (over 40) and tennis is pretty hard on tendons (lots of force going through them and shock from hitting the ball). It's particluarly tough if you want to improve and therefore are changing your stroke. However like most things you can manage it, for me I have 2 days a week I do various excercises and can mostly stay on top of it. I wouldn't want to be an older coach however, you are probably carrying a load of niggles and if you play properly you risk aggrivating problems and then you can't do your job. Must take a lot of the fun out of it.
When I look around my environment, most players take matches way too serious without preparing with anywhere the same passion. Then they are dissappointed to lose matches versus players THEY rate weaker. So my main challenge is to find guys that like to train intentionally, work on their weaknesses, play recreational tournaments, etc. In my town (40.000 residents), there are only two other ambitious players and one of them is far above my level and the other still way better, so I have to invite guys to come to my place or travel through the state and play in other places. That is working, but takes way more time, unfortunately.
@@EssentialTennis I do. And some of my club mates are annoyed by my frequent requests when I try taking them to my journey. This experience sort of pushed me to look for alternatives and so I had to become member of another club that is like 35 miles (54 Km) away and takes me 1 hour to get there. Good part is, I got connected to several good players and can play in different teams (male, 30+, 40+) for that club during indoor season while my local club hasn't registered any team.
