Tennis Pro Swaps Racket for Railgun

kleptonin writes "David Kinnaird, a young professional tennis player from Scotland, has given up the world of tennis for the world of competitive online gaming. His reason? He believes that it will be far easier for him to make a living shooting virtual people in the face rather than smacking some balls around." From the article: "The worlds of pro-tennis and pro-gaming are close, said Mr Kinnaird, because both require players to live and breathe their discipline. The excellent hand-eye co-ordination that helped him to become a good tennis player would make him a better gamer too, he said." Here's hoping he knows what he's getting into. Just a little bit more smack talk in online gaming than in tennis.

Comments

Fame a Factor?

[christian.elliott]

What I'm wondering is how much his fame as a Tennis Player played in his acquisition by 4 Kings (the Gaming team). Is he really good enough to play competitively, or did they just throw him on the team because he'll get them media coverage (as is happening now).

I for one will be interested to see how he makes out at the CPL and alike. Will he be successful? Will this be a break for competitive gaming? We'll have to wait and see.

Staying slightly On-Topic, if anyone didn't catch the 60 minutes special on Fatal1ty and Professional gaming, check it out. I found it quite interesting.

Re:Fame a Factor?

[Flaming Babies]

It probably didn't hurt, but I'm guessing it wasn't much of a factor.
It's not like this guy was a big , or even a little, name on the pro tour.
It's nothing more than an interesting side note for his bio, IMO.

Re:Fame a Factor?

[AKAImBatman]

IIRC, Thresh was an asian kid who basically wiped the floor in the original Quake. A friend of mine claims to have met him online once. He says that the guy came barrelling in from a tower overhead, rocket jumps from one side of the structure to the other, firing a rocket downward at my poor, hapless friend in mid jump. The guy was good.

He later went on to work for PC Gamer, but he never really seemed to "get into" that job.

Fitness

[steveo777]

He'll soon change his mind when he notices the loss of energy and strength. When you work out all the time and suddenly stop there is a massive difference. You won't stay awake easily, and you'll start relying on coffee or other caffiene products. Muscles will start to atrophy without constant use, and consequently, your matabolism will plummet. Now you're storing all the energy you eat.

Athaletes that quit cold turkey tend to turn into fat guys a lot quicker than they think.

Re:Fitness

[hal2814]

Or he could just continue on a workout schedule. That's what my dad did when he left baseball. He kept on working out and cut down significantly on his diet. The workouts were less rigorous but they were good enough. This tennis guy will face a challenge going from tennis pro to pro gamer but he can do if he continues with proper exercise and nutrition.

Lots of baseball players manage to stay in shape after retirement. I imagine a tennis pro can do the same. The biggest weight gains I've seen are off of retired bodybuilders and American football players who previously had to have massive caloric intake to keep up their muscle mass. They just can't seem to adjust to eating a lot less food.

Re:Fitness

[Swordsmanus]

Ehh...I'd say it's good for a gamer to stay in moderate shape at least. It might help with personal reflexes, alertness, concentration, etc. At least, most of the really skillful gamers I know personally and know of aren't in horrible shape. Only a few are slightly overweight. The rest either don't work out much but are not overweight, or they work out at least once a week, though usually more than that. Even Fatal1ty, who probably plays more than most of us, isn't a fatass.