An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
The final discussion point in the Rules surrounding the use of Player Analysis Technology is over how the allowability of various devices is litigated. Last week we discussed that the ultimate authority over these devices is the ITF. There are detailed policies and procedures that define how the determination is made.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) asserts the authority over whether Player Analysis Technology is legal for use during sanctioned play. Section 31 of the ITF Rules of Tennis published in the USTA Friend at Court essentially boils down to specification of the policy and procedures. The definition of Player Analysis Technology is actually in an appendix to the rules, and was the subject of last week’s post.
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The very last section in the ITF Rules of Tennis published in the USTA Friend at Court is “Player Analysis Technology.” Essentially that section of the rules indicates that player analysis technology that is approved must comply with the specifications in Appendix III. Flipping back and forth between the main body of the rules and the appendices is the rhythm of life when consuming the ITF Rules of Tennis.
Perhaps it is a sign of the season. As I write this final installment on the “Coaching” section of the ITF Rules of Tennis published in the USTA Friend at Court, I have a Christmas carol stuck in my head. More specifically it is the lyric “He’s making a list, and checking it twice…” from Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
It is a generally accepted practice that players can bring written notes to the court during a match. This is captured in a USTA Comment within the ITF Rules of Tennis published in the Friend at Court.
Some of the case decisions in the ITF Rules of Tennis published in the USTA Friend at Court remind me of conversations with my kids as they desperately searched for loopholes in parental rules and regulations. This was typically an endless barrage of “What if… But what if…”
This week’s Rules of Tennis topic focuses on the exceptions to the “no coaching” rule. Those special cases are codified directly into the ITF Rules of Tennis. Fundamentally, there are two situations when coaching is allowed. The first is during certain team events. The second is if a sanctioning body receives approval from the ITF to allow on-court coaching at specified events.
For the most part, coaching is not allowed during a tennis match. This is one of the things that makes the sport so compelling to me. When two players are engaged in a tennis match, it is up to them to figure out a solution to every problem their opponent throws at them. A tennis player has to figure everything out for themselves when competing. I like that.
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It seems odd to find the rules for the warm-up in tennis relatively close to the conclusion of the main body of the rules. In the ITF Rules of Tennis, as printed in the USTA Friend at Court, the warm-up period is defined in the very last item in the “Continuous Play” section.
Our steady march through the ITF Rules of Tennis as published in the USTA Friend at Court has arrived at the point where we are entitled to a break. Specifically the break between sets.