An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
I just took inventory of my “hot list” for future posts and realized that I have more than a 30 days worth of material. That’s a long time to stay off topic. Just as the USTA is re-imagining how that organization can be structured to better serve the tennis community, I find myself thinking through how to structure this effort into a more coherent flow.
The USTA player safety tips say to not play if you have been in close contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive, but not the actual player. Seriously.
I am in the middle of a six week structured improvement program inspired by one of Dennis Ralston’s books, Six Weeks to a Better Level of Tennis. During this time, I am publishing a status update on the effort every Sunday. This week as I reviewed the inventory of all the training activities that I had devised for myself as a part of this project, I came to the realization that I had not touched on the creation and practice of match routines that would directly lead into better footwork patterns.
The word “grievance” appears 196 times in the 2020 USTA league regulations. I feel like that is a reflection that something has gone sideways with league tennis. Today I am sharing a league match horror story. I think the events described in this account were precipitated by issues with the NTRP system.
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The existence of USTA league nationals creates a perception that some teams manipulate the NTRP system to get there. Nationals are also a powerful incentive which might induce some captains and teams to do exactly that.
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Manipulation of the USTA NTRP rating system may be rooted as a perception problem. Unfortunately, perception can manifest reality.
During my current tenure as a computer rated 5.0, I have been asked if I would be interested in joining a team as a 4.0 following a drill on no less than three distinct occasions. Some people observe my strokes in a semi-competitive environment and eyeball me at 4.0 to this very day. This illustrates the challenge in the NTRP self rating process.
When I returned to tennis after my brief 28 year hiatus from competitive play, I had no intention of competing within the NTRP framework. My initial match play was through age-group open tennis. Given my druthers, that is still by far my most preferred mode of play. I realize that I am very much in the minority with that preference.
Two weeks ago today, the USTA announced job cuts and the closure of the White Plains, NY offices. I have to confess that I initially missed the story. I am guessing that probably a lot of other people in the tennis community are also unaware that this happened. The announcement was not widely carried or reported.
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Weight, body image, and perceptions of fitness are touchy subjects in general and particularly for female athletes. It is no longer socially acceptable to comment on a player’s physique. On the other hand weight can be a loose approximation of overall fitness.