An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
In late 2018 and early 2019 Julie Heldman appeared on a couple of podcasts that I regularly listen to. She was promoting her new book, Driven: A Daughter’s Odyssey. Julie Heldman is the daughter of Gladys Heldman, the promotor who drove the inception of the women’s professional tennis tour. Julie Heldman herself also played on the tour that her mother created.
Occasionally in senior women’s tennis I have encountered enthusiastic new umpires — apparently very recently removed from their own junior tennis — who want to enforce their ideas of genuine need for a bathroom break. In senior women’s tennis, I generally assume that my opponent isn’t faking it.
1 response
It is important for tournament players to have the things they need on court with them. Some basic first aid items are essential. A player who can self-treat medical issues does not have to use a medical timeout timeout to seek treatment. That could be critical if there is a subsequent injury in the match.
The TIA Forum revealed how some parts of the tennis industry regard consumer segmentation. Tennis players are divided into two groups, core and —wait for it — non-core. The dividing line between these two demographics is at the 10 playing occasions per year. In other words, anyone who plays at least 10 times a year is a core player.
Yesterday I described some of the factors that brought me to enter many of the Cat 1 tournaments that I have entered. Today I am enumerating the reasons that I don’t play a full state of Cat 1 tournaments every year. In what may be the most shocking revelation of this site to date, I have a life outside of tennis.
2020 was supposed to be a banner year for me in terms of playing Cat 1 Senior Women’s National Championships. I was already entered in two events, and one of my personal goals was to play at one, if not both, of the National Grass Court Championships. Stupid pandemic.
The pinnacle of my return to tennis has been the opportunity to participate in Category 1 National Championships. Competing at that level is an amazing experience. The atmosphere and camaraderie at these events is everything tennis should be.
The Fiend at Court spousal unit gave me a really thoughtful birthday gift this year. Per the usual, I asked him if he wanted to know what he was getting me in advance of the date or if he preferred to be surprised this year. It is a very workable solution for the apparent fact that I am hard to shop for.
Every Wednesday this site overthinks an excerpt from the ITF Rules of Tennis as published in the USTA Friend at Court. A systemic march through the rules of tennis was one of the founding objectives of this site. Last week the rule regarding recovery of condition was examined. This week we dive into the second sentence of the same rule which deals with medical conditions.
4 responses
One of my more rewarding projects in 2020 was making my own custom cargo bay organizer. I carry a lot of tennis gear in my car. This includes my tournament style racquet bag as well as additional gear that I like to have handy. I frequently refer to my vehicle as a rolling tennis locker.