Adult tennis is dominated by league play. Historically, tournaments were the dominant form of tennis competition when the USTA pioneered sanctioned league play back in the early 1980s. Since that time, participation in leagues has skyrocketed at the expense of tournament participation levels. The tennis calendar is currently dominated by league play.
Tournament play is a vital part of the tennis ecosystem. It is a competitive outlet for players that perform above the level of competition available in their local leagues. For many players, an NTRP “promotion” means they are no longer able to compete locally. That situation occurs at much lower NTRP levels for people that live in less populous rural areas. The tennis ecosystem needs tournaments to keep the best players from running out of a place to play without sandbagging their way back down. Alternatively, they might just migrate to another sport just for the challenge.
While I consider myself a tournament player, it is an inescapable fact that I play significantly more league matches than tournament matches. Leagues have attracted a lot of players that have never played in tennis tournaments. In fact, those players might not even know that tournaments exist. The USTA and the tournament playing community should regard every current league player as someone who might enjoy tournaments.
Here is my typical elevator speech to league players.
You should consider competing in a USTA tournament. The atmosphere is so different than league play and it is a great way to develop your game to the highest levels. Tournaments extend your tennis contacts beyond just the players in your own local area. You are likely to meet people from all corners of the USTA Section and even across the country. You might even qualify for ITF international team competition and the World Championships. If you really want to expand your tennis horizons, tournaments are a great way to do that. I will shoot you some links to the registration pages for upcoming tournaments that are a good fit for you.
“You should play tournament tennis” elevator pitch.
There are two basic types of USTA Adult tennis tournaments. Some brackets are segregated by NTRP divisions and others are divided strictly by age. Probably at some point in the future the USTA will offer Adult tournaments with brackets divided by the World Tennis Number (WTN) that may look a lot like UTR tournaments.
I feel like I should have an elevator speech that is specific to age group open tennis. If you want to compete against the very top players in the world, age group open tournaments is where you will find them. I think that a lot of league players and even people who exclusively play NTRP tournaments don’t even know that age group open events exist or that they would be welcomed into that part of the tennis world.
The absolute best form of tennis is age-group open senior tennis. It is so inspiring and humbling to be around such talented athletes of all ages. As a community, senior tournament players are welcoming and helpful. Even when I get my clock cleaned by a much better player, it is an opportunity to gain some real insight into my own development opportunities. The entry fee to the tournament is less than what a playing lesson would typically cost from one of the top players. You really need to experience senior age-group open tennis at least once in your life. You might even get hooked on it like I have.
“You should play age-group open tournament tennis” elevator pitch.
What other elevatory speeches should we all be adding to our repertoires?
