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Essential Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

I am guessing that most recreational tennis players are already familiar with Ian Westerman through his online site, Essential Tennis. He is a prolific producer of instructional videos, blog posts, and podcasts. Soon there will be another offering to add to the list. I recently received an advance copy of Essential Tennis: Improve Faster, Play Smarter, and Win More Matches. Based on that first look it may be the best packaging of Westerman’s message yet.

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Ball Strikes FoxTenn Sensor

On By Teresa Merklin

Last weekend in a semi-final match in Estoril, a ball struck one of the on-court sensors used by the FoxTenn line calling system. Sebastian Korda hit a ball that tipped the net cord and went almost straight up. Before the ball struck the ground it came into contact with one of the black boxes installed at the bottom of the net that houses the sensors/cameras. That unlikely occurrence presents an interesting case study of the rules.

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Ice Massage

On By Teresa Merklin

I’m not going to lie. My life was better before ice massage became an essential part of my daily routine. Between the injury to my foot and chronic tenderness in my elbow, I am starting to develop personal preferences and opinions in the best form factors to use for ice massage. This is what my life has come to.

Excuse Me- Your Points-Per-Round is Showing

On By Teresa Merklin

The USTA’s point-per-round philosophy is readily apparent when examining the ranking points tables for single group round robin tournaments. The fact that tables is plural isn’t a typo. Two tables were in effect for different time periods in 2021. Both the original tables and the changes that were made reflects a misguided dedication to a points-per-round philosophy. The USTA is making the problem much harder to solve than it needs to be.

Team Tennis and Ranking Points

On By Teresa Merklin

The very last rankings point table in the USTA Adult Tournament Ranking System document is for Team Tennis events. In the Adult context, I am guessing that people generally associate Team Tennis with USTA League play, but that isn’t what we are talking about here. I suspect that most Adult Tournament players are not even aware that Team Tennis is a valid tournament format and that it is actively used.

ONE Unfortunate Misnomer

On By Teresa Merklin

A couple of years ago, the USTA unveiled a new unified adult tournament framework. One of the breathless exhortations about it touted “ONE nationwide points-per-round ranking system.” It is a perplexing statement because neither the current nor any of the legacy ranking systems are in actuality points-per-round systems. The misnomer may be at the root of misunderstanding on how an effective ranking system should be structured within the USTA.

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The Fein Points of Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

Paul Fein is a USPTA teaching professional with an Elite rating. He is also an accomplished tennis writer with a litany of award winning tennis articles and best-selling books. In addition, Fein is an excellent Senior tennis player with a history of high national rankings. Fein recently published hit latest book filled with his copious wisdom on how to elevate a player’s competitive level. The book is also packed with first person perspectives from other renowned tennis coaches and pros.

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Settling the Score

On By Teresa Merklin

Sometimes two players disagree on the current score during a tennis match played without an on-court official. The correct procedure to resolve the dispute is to roll back the score until they reach agreement on the score at a previous point in the match. Play is resumed from there. In fact, if a roving official is summoned to the court that is usually how resolution is achieved. If the score was previously announced by one player without objection from the other, that is generally regarded as a point of agreement.

New ATP WTA Live App

On By Teresa Merklin

The ATP and WTA tours have partnered to create a new app that provides tennis schedules, scores, and news. I loaded it to my phone over the weekend for a test drive and instantly fell in love. All serious tennis fans should load have this app loaded on their mobile devices. It make it so much easier to watch and follow professional tennis on both tours.

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