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A Case Against NTRP Ratings Expiration Putting It All Together: My Daily Plantar Fasciitis Prevention Routine Tennis Beyond the Headlines: March 31, 2025 A Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Gift Idea A Great Gift for Grads… and Tennis Players Basket Case: The Gift of Tennis for Easter Improve Your Tennis IQ: The off-court workout for on-court skills

It’s not the Cardio, It’s the Relationships

“Tennis is a healthy sport” is one of the primary talking points when promoting tennis. It is a statement that is backed up by independent research. If you were to ask people why that is the case, it is likely that the reasons listed will center around cardiovascular exercise. The fact that tennis also contributes to health by developing personal relationships tends to be overlooked and underappreciated.

The Gift of Relationships in Tennis

Heading into New Year’s Eve last year, I shared 12 “Gifts” that people can give themselves to jumpstart their tennis life. Each item on that list is essentially a tennis related life hack shamelessly adapted from a cybersecurity career development webinar that I once delivered. In 2022, I am taking an in depth look at each one of those items on first Friday of each month. The “Gift” for March is relationships in tennis.

How NTRP Tournament Fragmentation Hurts 18+ Players

The USTA decision to divide NTRP tournament play into three separate age divisions has a pretty significant side effect. I originally planned to write about the theoretical possibilities today, but the Trophy Husband alerted me a real example in an upcoming Level 5 tournament in San Angelo, Texas. Not to bury the lead, but this is proof positive that I do occasionally listen when he drones on about his own tennis life.

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How Fragmentation Hurts Tournaments

Last Friday I wrote an essay highlighting how early entries into tournaments encourage other players to also participate. That post ended with a call to action for the tournament community to enter tournaments early and often. As it turns out, it is unlikely that I will be entering any NTRP tournaments early this year. The reason is fragmentation.

Enter Tournaments Early, Enter Tournaments Often

One of the best way for individual tennis players to support tournament play is to enter tournaments. Paradoxically, I have heard players complain that no one entered a tournament that they themselves didn’t enter. I have even done the same thing myself. In addition to actually entering tournaments, players can maximize the chances that other players participate by throwing in their entry early. Timing matters. Waiting until the last minute to enter a tournament is almost the same thing as not entering at all when the goal is boosting participation.

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Leagues without Nationals

When the USTA first formalized NTRP based league play, the organization simultaneously self-imposed a requirement to conduct a series of National Championships. It has been an implicit part of the system from inception. That is probably why people look at me like I am crazy anytime I suggest that USTA Leagues would do just fine without National Championships. There is a pervasive belief that if the USTA eliminated League Nationals that participation would plummet. I’m not so sure.

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