Post-Practice Evaluation
Are you spending time during tennis practice sessions, or are you investing that time? The benefits of maintaining a personal player development journal.
Tennis Roundup: January 10, 2022
Novak Djokovic get his day in Australian court as his immigration status dominates tennis news heading into the Australian Open.
Houston (Texas) We Have a Problem
Yesterday I wrote about disparities in how each USTA Sectional awards sanctions Level 5 tennis tournaments under the new framework unveiled by the USTA in 2021. Some sections have a lot of Level 5 tournaments and the differences cannot be chalked up to higher levels of participation. In fact, Texas has one of the highest tournament participation levels yet relatively few Level 5 tournaments.
USTA Level 5 Tournament Landscape
One of the benefits of the new USTA National Tennis Tournament framework unveiled for 2021 is that the majority of local tournaments are now open to USTA members regardless of residency. Additionally, those events award ranking points toward the player’s USTA National ranking that impacts tournament seeding and selection into exclusive events. After the first full year of competitive play under the new system, disparities in how each USTA Section is awarding sanctions for tournaments in accordance with the new framework has become apparent.
1 responseThe January Tennis “Gift” of Time
Heading into New Year’s Eve last week, I shared twelve “Gifts” that you can give to yourself to jumpstart your tennis life. Each item on that list is essentially a tennis related life hack shamelessly adapted from a cybersecurity career development webinar that I gave in 2019. I will be revisiting one of those items in more depth on the first Friday of each month this year. In January, I am focusing on the “Gift” of Time.
Rod Laver: An Autobiography
As the “Australian Summer of Tennis” gets underway, it is the perfect time to shift our attention to books about the rich tennis heritage from “Down Under.” There is no better place to start than with the most recent biography of the man whose name adorns the side of the stadium where the culmination of the Australian Open is contested.
“Updates” to the ITF Rules of Tennis
Ever since New Year’s Day rolled around I have been eagerly anticipating the release of the 2022 ITF Rules of Tennis. As a blog that started with a rules oriented focus, it just kind of feels like the right thing to do. The ITF finally got around to posting the new document on their web site yesterday morning. After electronically comparing the differences between the 2021 and 2022 documents, I can confidently assert that there are no material changes to the ITF Rules of Tennis in 2022.
The USTA Player Development Journal
The USTA Player Development Program produced a document in 2013 that continues to serve as a focal point for players to assess and track their tennis training. The “Player Development Journal” consists of three major sections. The first is an overview of the various playing styles so a player can understand the aspects of their own game. The second part is template pages for practice evaluation. The last section provides forms for post-match assessments. The “PD” (as insiders apparently refer to it) is available for free public download from the USTA at the link provided at the end of this post.
3 responsesTennis Roundup: January 3, 2022
The Australian Summer of Tennis is underway, more positive COVID-19 tests following the exhibition in Abu Dhabi, and Billie Jean King’s “All In” headlines a recommended reading list for business leaders.
Action Required: The Deadline for Correcting USTA National Ranking Errors is January 15
There has been a lot of discussion over the discrepancies and growing pains associated with the USTA National Tournament unified framework and rankings system that was unveiled in 2021. Per USTA Regulations, each player is responsible for regular review of their own player records. Additionally, each player is responsible for notifying the “USTA Adult Tennis Department” if there are any errors or inaccuracies in their player records.