Fiend at Court Unplugged
When I wrote “TennisLink vs PlayYourCourt” earlier this week, I leveraged the classic business analysis technique “Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat” (SWOT). In the interim, I have been thinking a lot about where the attributes and characteristics of how the USTA engages players in tennis would fall in a SWOT categorization. Specifically, I am wondering if the NTRP system is a strength or weakness of the USTA an an organization.
Before I delve too deeply into this topic, I believe that there is some evidence to suggest that the USTA has either intentionally, or perhaps unconsciously, already slotted the NTRP as a competitive strength. From the outside looking in, it appears that the NTRP system is deeply ingrained within the USTA organization.
I have previously mentioned that in my day job I am currently working on a tiger team that was assembled to develop a new business innovation strategy. In that capacity, it has become apparent that some of the most significant challenges are deeply rooted in the culture of the organization. Culture eats strategy for lunch. It may not always be apparent, but I have great empathy for those at the USTA that are embroiled in the strategic initiative to right the ship.
I have previously observed (and have written about) how the culture of tournaments is completely different than the culture of leagues. In every tournament draw, only one player wins their final match while in league there are many more positive outcomes available. In general “winning” is more accessible in league play than it is in tournaments.
In the context of league play, some teams and captains seem to regard winning as an entitlement. I have settled into the word “enterprising” to characterize captains who are particularly adept at working the system to field predominately winning teams. There is a very fine line between really good captaining and unsportsmanlike bending of the rules. Another word for that is cheating.
As I think about the league culture and the cult of the enterprising captain, I can’t help but to wonder about the role that the NTRP system has in that ecosystem. When the NTRP system is in use, there is actually an incentive for players who are on the border between two levels to not play to the best of their ability on certain occasions. The NTRP system creates an incentive for individual players to under perform. Another word for that is tanking.
The general tournament culture is players trying to consistently play the best tennis possible given athletic constraints. Still, in NTRP tournaments, I do occasionally detect that same whiff of entitlement. One example is being not welcoming, or downright hostile, to newly self-rated players who are playing very competitively at that level.
The NTRP system is not specifically mentioned in the USTA press release which enumerated the strategic priorities and the organizational restructuring announcement. The press release does conclude with the statement that the USTA is seeking to drive the growth of tennis at every level. I take that to be a generalization rather than an NTRP reference.
Still, it is apparent that the USTA is doubling down on the commitment to the NTRP system. I believe that the NTRP individual nationals was created as an inventive for adults to play NTRP tournaments. From my analysis of the participation data in the intervening time, I believe that was a failed initiative. The recent USTA announcement of the Adult tournament structure is tripling down on NTRP, dividing the NTRP into three new age bracketed levels.
This weekend I will be examining the NTRP system as implemented in tournaments to determine if that system is a strength or weakness of the USTA. Spoiler alert: Right now I am thinking the answer might be both.
- USTA Announces Sweeping Plan to Reorganize and Prioritize Its Structure, Events, and Activities to Grow the Game and Service the Broader Tennis Industry, USTA Official Press Release, hosted on Open Court website, viewed 8/2/2020.
- 2021 Adult Tournament Changes, USTA National Webinar, undated.
- USTA Adult Tournament Changes for 2020, USTA National Website, viewed 7/25/2020
Love tennis and love your blog. The level some team will go to cheat is incredible. My 55&Over, 8.0 Men’s team just pulled a big upset at Sectionals and earned a ticket to Nationals. In doing some prep work on the other teams in our draw we noticed the team from So. Cal had 18 players, 10 of which were self-rated – an astounding number. Even more shacking was that of the 8 players who they played in playoffs, all 8 were self-rated … a statistical improbability (1,000 – 1 chance). Naturally, the team was undefeated during the season and through playoffs. The USTA’s stance is basically if you do not have video of a player holding up a grand slam trophy, they are unwilling to intercede.
Very sad on many levels.
Keep up the great work!