An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
The section on Classification of Court Pace is found in Appendix I of the ‘ITF Rules of Tennis’ which is published as a part of the USTA ‘Friend at Court.’ It provides some basic information and references out to the ITF technical manual that provides excruciating details of the test procedures. Today’s post narrowly focuses on what is contained in the actual tennis rules. It is interesting but largely irrelevant to actual match play.
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A recent Wall Street Journal article recommended usage of a gyro hand spinner to increase wrist strength for tennis. It was in response to a question from a reader who was seeking tips to hit a one handed backhand better. The article claimed that the primary difference between a one and two handed backhand and essentially comes down to wrist strength. I think there is a lot more to it than that.
I tried something a little different this week to expand the breadth of news that appears on this site. This post highlights the tennis news stories that were just outside of the mainstream media from the past week that I found to be interesting or compelling. Please drop me a comment and let me know what you think.
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In the United States television broadcasts of the 2021 Roland Garros tournament (more popularly known as the French Open) was carried by a partnership between NBC and the Tennis Channel. For the first time in history, the addition of lights at Roland Garros enabled a night session at the tournament. The tournament organizers decided that the start of the night session would be 9pm time in Paris. From a media perspective, this should have created a viewing bonanza in the United States. Unfortunately, tennis fans will likely remember what happened this year as the Peacock disaster.
Last week the Umpire who Gave Birth to Me clipped out a column from my hometown newspaper titled “Where have you gone Conners, McEnroe, Agassi and Pete?” When exploring the fragmented nature of media coverage of professional tennis in the United States yesterday, I may have stumbled onto a possible answer to that question. The stars of American tennis didn’t leave the sport but rather the sport left the United States.
Televised tennis in the United States is not at all viewer friendly. Fragmented coverage is spread across whatever network happens to own the rights to the sport in any given week. It is a is a real problem for the overall tennis ecosystem. In order to increase participation in any sport, prospective players have to be exposed to it. Television broadcasts are an effective way to raise awareness and attract participation. All sports are filled with stories of how a player watched it in their youth that sparked their dreams to play at the highest level.
Over the past three months I have reviewed all the books in my personal collection on tennis doubles play. That is a total of nine volumes. Today’s post collects all those reviews into a convenient summary for someone who is seeking to find exactly the right book. Additionally, I have included my observations on the situations where each book excels.
Last Saturday was a banner day of watching tennis on TV. With a temporary lull in USTA League play, and a flare up of plantar fasciitis dictating lower impact activities, I spent the day watching the Ladies Singles and Doubles finals at Wimbledon. There were a couple of moments in both matches that caught my attention.
Jill Craybas made 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws starting at the 2000 US Open and ending with the 2011 US Open. She also represented the United States in both Fed Cup and Olympic play. According to Wikipedia, she is best known for upsetting Serena Williams at the 2005 Wimbledon Championships. I disagree. Jill Craybas should be remembered for the most epic assortment of fitness related tennis gear ever produced while filming a Tennis Channel “Bag Check” feature.
I am excited to announce that I am a USTA Tennis Champion! Over the next six months I will be participating in USTA sponsored challenges to promote tennis in North Texas. In the true spirit of this blog, I will chronicle my experiences. I am anticipating that some of the challenges may result in raucous adventures. Hilarity may ensue.
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