An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
This is the penultimate post on the rules of wheelchair tennis. Today we are discussing the fact that if a player is unable to propel the wheelchair via the pushrrim, then it is permissible to use one foot to move the chair around the court. This cannot possibly be more efficient than pushrim propulsion. That is probably why it is generally allowed.
Since early January of this year, the Fiend at Court has covered the wheelchair section of ITF Rules of Tennis in a segment that runs each Wednesday. That march through the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis has been mostly sequential, though there has been a little jumping around to group related topics for a single post. Today I am covering a couple of topics that are loosely related only in the sense that we have largely already touched on both topics.
Every Wednesday the focus of this site returns to its foundational roots, the ITF Rules of Tennis as published in the USTA Friend at Court. We are currently in the midst of an exhaustive and sequential examination of the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis. Today we are exploring rules that require the player to power and operate the wheelchair without mechanical assistance. However, there are some pretty obvious exceptions to that rule.
Today we are considering rules on the construction of the wheels used in Wheelchair Tennis. Coverage of this particular section marks the approximate mid-point of our foray into this Rules of Wheelchair Tennis. In addition to learning a lot about this adaptive version of tennis, it is a pleasant surprise to note that examination the Wheelchair Tennis rules sheds light on the spirit and intent behind many of the conventional Rules of Tennis.
There is a elegant simplicity to the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis. The ITF Rules of Tennis are constructed in a way that makes it clear that everyone plays tennis under the same basic rules. The adaptations of those rules for Wheelchair Tennis players are codified in a separate section that only addresses those modifications. As we have been working through our sequential examination of the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis addendum, each section typically overrides or adapts a rule on the books from the main body of the ITF Rules of Tennis.
Long time readers of the Fiend at Court may recall that I rejoiced when this steady march through the ITF Rules of Tennis reached the section titled “Player Loses Point.” I am nothing, if not an expert, in the art of losing a point. Now that this project is in the midst of the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis, it comes at no surprise to discover that there are some unique ways in which a wheelchair player can lose a point.
As we continue to work through the Rules of Wheelchair tennis, the final adaptation for delivery of the service presents a perplexing conundrum. While some wheelchair players can execute a conventional tennis serve, sometimes physical limitations make that action an impossibility. There is a rule adaptation that accommodates that situation.
There are a handful of adaptations in the Rules of Wheelchair tennis regarding the serve. Most notable of these is that that the service motion starts from a stationary position. However, the player delivering the service is permitted one push to build momentum before striking the ball.
The recently released 2021 Friend at Court includes three new USTA comments against the ITF Rules of Tennis. Since this site is currently in the middle of exploring the section of that contains the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis, it makes sense to cover these comments now. This requires a little backtracking. All three of the new USTA comments are in the main body of the ITF Rules of Tennis rather than the wheelchair section.
The first change that appears in the 2021 USTA Friend at Court comes courtesy of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). It is a seemingly inconsequential note appended to the Forward of the ITF Rules of Tennis. This makes it high time to revisit the relationship between the USTA and the ITF.