An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
Earlier this week USTA Texas Posted a challenge on Facebook “Tell me you’re a tennis player without telling me you are a tennis player.” The resulting comments were active and spirited. Some were better than others. As I continue to wander about in the house I grew up in, I have come to the realization that this house tells the story that a tennis player lives here, even in the absence of racquets and balls.
I have tried to exercise curbside pickup to the greatest extent possible since the onset of the COVID crisis. A significant driver of that practice is an abundance of COVID caution. However, I have to confess that I don’t really enjoy shopping. I have been ready for curbside pickup to go mainstream my entire life.
I have no recollection of the first time that a tennis racquet was thrust into my hand. However, I do recall the exact point in time that a tennis racquet came into my life. It unceremoniously appeared in the front seat of the family station wagon one afternoon as my mom retrieved me and my brother from my Grandparents.
I am suddenly and unexpectedly spending a lot of time in the house of the Umpire Who Gave Birth to me. She took a tumble shortly before Thanksgiving and has been in the hospital until yesterday. There is a whole lot more to the story. The trivial side effect of that development relevant to this blog is that I am finding all sorts of tennis artifacts in her house. In fact, I am probably going to be writing a lot in the future about some of these found objects.
We have spent the previous two days contemplating the USTA League rules and ethical considerations of a captain having two teams in a local league Championship. Today we are kicking it up a notch and contemplating the same scenario at the Sectional level. A berth to the National Championships is on the line.
Christy Vutam is to be congratulated. As outlined yesterday, she captained both the Champion and the Runner-Up Women’s 4.5 teams in the Dallas Fall League. It makes a great backdrop for discussing edge cases in the USTA league regulations and operating procedures.
A couple of months ago, I posted a series on “The Ethics of Captaining Multiple USTA League Teams.” That topic was prompted by a spirited discussion in the Facebook group of the Texas Tournament players about a proposed rule change in the Austin CTA to limit people from captaining two teams in the same league. That proposal had already been voted down twice.
Last weekend the Fiend at Court posted a series of articles with gift suggestions and considerations for tennis players. Mia Poorman submitted a comment to one of those posts with a reminder that people should also consider their local tennis pro shops as a source of valuable guidance when purchasing tennis equipment. Additionally, Mia’s comment serves as a reminder to us all that tennis pro shops are generally locally owned and operated businesses. She raises a valid point.
It has been a very long time since I have been to a public live ball drill, primarily due to how the situation with COVID-19 has significantly altered my playing logistical patterns. I just had the realization that I am in a rare window of opportunity to rant about player behaviors that drive me nuts at tennis drills. For a limited time, I can comment publicly without anyone I have been around recently recognizing themselves and taking exception.
The USTA recently made some enhancements to the League Registration process that should make it easier for new prospective players to find an appropriate team. Those changes are described in “USTA League Registration Improvements.” Today I am providing a guide for helping prospective players decipher the “Captain’s Note” descriptions that are a part of the new system.