Latest Posts

Finding the Sweet Spot of Failure Failure is (Sometimes) the Best Option Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness The Psychology of Rules Versus Requests Child’s Pose Tennis Beyond the Headlines: September 30, 2024 Why is it (almost) always the Singles?

Marketing Tennis Tournaments: USTA vs UTR

On By Teresa Merklin

Last September I played The Metroplex Senior Major Zone in Arlington, Texas. The host facility is less than 30 miles away from my permanent residence. The tournament is played at a tennis center where I frequently schedule practice sessions. My husband incessantly reminded me that I needed to get my entry submitted as the deadline drew near. It’s what he does. You know who never reached out with any communication about that upcoming tournament? The USTA.

Women’s Winning Doubles

On By Teresa Merklin

This week’s book selection is “Women’s Winning Doubles” by Pat Blaskower. I plucked it off my shelf as the obvious next selection in the ongoing series of the tennis doubles books I own, yet never bothered to read. As much as I want to claim that this book is a part of a well-planned narrative arc through this topic, that simply isn’t the case. This book is short. In related news, it’s been a busy week.

What Color are Your Balls?

On By Teresa Merklin

You can probably win a bar bet armed with the knowledge of how many types of tennis balls are approved for adult sanctioned play by the ITF. The correct answer is 4: Type 1 (Fast), Type 2 (Medium), Type 3 (Slow), and High Altitude. Appendix I of the ITF Rules of Tennis contains a table with the conformance requirements for weight, size, rebound, and deformation for each ball type. Today we are focusing on the conformance requirement for “colour.”

1 response

My Favorite Ball Machine Drill

On By Teresa Merklin

I have an absolute favorite ball machine drill. In fact, I use this pattern almost every time I work with a machine that supports shot sequences. It is super simple to set up and execute. This pattern reinforces positive footwork habits and the aerobic intensity can be modulated on the fly. It also emulates point composition that regularly occurs during my match play.

Michele Krause and Cardio Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

The USTA recently announced that they have retained Michele Krause, to help grow Cardio Tennis® in the United States. Krause is exactly the right person to hire for that initiative as she is the founder of the Cardio Tennis program. In her new association with the USTA, Krause and her consulting company will lead efforts in the development of a national Cardio Tennis strategy for promotion, education, training, and implementation. This is very good news.

Where Tennis Center Courts are Left Unlocked (Gasp!)

On By Teresa Merklin

When Southlake (Texas) Tennis Center expanded a few years ago, the courts were configured in such a way that a bank of three tennis courts could remain open to the public when the tennis center is closed. In fact, during the COVID shutdown we played on those courts on a regular basis. Once the rest of the tennis players in our area discovered (or remembered) that those courts were left open, they were always packed. I am not aware of vandalism ever occurring on those courts.

Tennis Court Breaking and Entering

On By Teresa Merklin

On a few occasions when the umpire I gave birth to was playing junior tennis, we would arrive at her playing site to warm up before an 8am match to find the gate locked. It’s annoying to not have the courts open to prepare for a match. I have witnessed tennis players, parents, and coaches scaling the fences in those scenarios. We never did, but mostly out of absolute conviction that we would injure ourselves if we tried.

The Tragic Irony of Padlocks on Tennis Courts

On By Teresa Merklin

The “Tragically Beautiful: Locked Tennis Courts” post from last weekend generated a couple of comments that sparked the realization that I had a lot more thoughts on this topic. First and foremost, is the fundamental truth that padlocking a court prevents people from playing tennis, but it does not prevent vandalism. A padlock is simply not a very effective security mechanism.

The Game of Doubles In Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

One of the oldest books on how to play tennis doubles was written by Bill Talbert and Bruce Old. It is a book that was NOT in my collection when I decided that it was time to immerse myself in the tennis doubles knowledge languishing on my bookshelves a few weeks ago. The doubles book selected in week one of that endeavor referenced Talbert’s book as the best previously written about how to play doubles. This blog is nothing if not a flimsy excuse for purchasing more tennis books. Fortunately, I was able to find a well worn and reasonably priced copy.

Real Tennis Balls

On By Teresa Merklin

The specification for the tennis ball are codified in Appendix I of the ITF Rules of Tennis. It is probably way more detail and information than most players need or care to know. What I first took to be a subtle anachronism describing the construction of the tennis ball led me to the stunning realization that the sport we call tennis is not real tennis. Additionally, we don’t play tennis with real tennis balls.