Yesterday was my first time out on the tennis court in 2006. Along with two blisters and a three-set sweep, I picked up some alarming insight into my tennis game. I have old player skills.
In baseball, “old player skills” refer to the abilities where older players hold a relative advantage over younger players. The most obvious old-player skill is patience. According to Tom Tango?s research, a player?s walk rate peaks at age 38, on average, whereas speed skills like stolen base percentage and contact skills like strikeout rate, peak at ages 24 and 27, respectively. Bill James was the first to discuss old-player skills in his 1987 Baseball Abstract
[A]s a players age, …
…power increases as a percentage of value, not in every case but in most. Thus, power is an old player?s skill.
…he will tend in most cases to draw more walks. Thus, drawing walks is an old player?s skill.
…his batting average will almost always decrease. Thus, hitting for average is a young player?s skill.
…he tends to drive in more runs and score fewer. Thus, runs scored are a young player?s skill, and RBI are an old player?s skill.
Bill James also points out that most major league players reach the majors at age 22 or later. But most superstars reach the majors before that age. With apologies to Luis Gonzalez, not many Hall of Famers suddenly pop into existence at age 30.
While speed is a young player’s skill, it’s also critical for maintaining a majorleague career. Speed allows a player to play critical defensive positions without being an offensive star. If a player’s hitting abilities start to errode and he can?t play the field either, he doesn’t bring anything to the team.
As has been beaten to death over the past ten years, walks are good. So it would seem that a young player with a high walk-rate would be a great combination. It is, unless those walks come as part of a larger package ? the dreaded old-player skill set. A 25 year-old that plays like a 35 year-old will get old quickly — think Ben Grieve. He joined the aging curve on the downslope and rode it into oblivion. On the other hand, players with the stereotypical prospect flaws ? striking out too much, walking too infrequently, hitting doubles instead of homeruns ? they have the upward slope of the typical aging curve to help them out.
Ok, so back to my tennis game — that’s what this whole article is about, remember? My tennis skills include footspeed, quick hands at the net, consistency, and strategy. Except for the speed, every good old tennis player I know possesses exactly those skills. They can?t beat you with power or a crazy serve, but they?ll out-smart you, out-rally you, and out-think you. Add to the mix the fact that I didn?t reach the pros by age 22 and I?m almost assured of never being a superstar. What will I do without my dream? Will my tennis skills wither and die by age 30? Or perhaps the silver lining in this story is my blazing speed. Will it allow me to age well and keep up my high level of play for twenty-five more years? I hope so. After all, I plan on winning an over-70 tennis tournament. Half that battle is just staying alive.
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.