An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
Heading into New Year’s Eve last week, I shared twelve “Gifts” that you can give to yourself to jumpstart your tennis life. Each item on that list is essentially a tennis related life hack shamelessly adapted from a cybersecurity career development webinar that I gave in 2019. I will be revisiting one of those items in more depth on the first Friday of each month this year. In January, I am focusing on the “Gift” of Time.
As the “Australian Summer of Tennis” gets underway, it is the perfect time to shift our attention to books about the rich tennis heritage from “Down Under.” There is no better place to start than with the most recent biography of the man whose name adorns the side of the stadium where the culmination of the Australian Open is contested.
Ever since New Year’s Day rolled around I have been eagerly anticipating the release of the 2022 ITF Rules of Tennis. As a blog that started with a rules oriented focus, it just kind of feels like the right thing to do. The ITF finally got around to posting the new document on their web site yesterday morning. After electronically comparing the differences between the 2021 and 2022 documents, I can confidently assert that there are no material changes to the ITF Rules of Tennis in 2022.
The USTA Player Development Program produced a document in 2013 that continues to serve as a focal point for players to assess and track their tennis training. The “Player Development Journal” consists of three major sections. The first is an overview of the various playing styles so a player can understand the aspects of their own game. The second part is template pages for practice evaluation. The last section provides forms for post-match assessments. The “PD” (as insiders apparently refer to it) is available for free public download from the USTA at the link provided at the end of this post.
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The Australian Summer of Tennis is underway, more positive COVID-19 tests following the exhibition in Abu Dhabi, and Billie Jean King’s “All In” headlines a recommended reading list for business leaders.
There has been a lot of discussion over the discrepancies and growing pains associated with the USTA National Tournament unified framework and rankings system that was unveiled in 2021. Per USTA Regulations, each player is responsible for regular review of their own player records. Additionally, each player is responsible for notifying the “USTA Adult Tennis Department” if there are any errors or inaccuracies in their player records.
New Year’s Day is when I traditionally sit down and map out my tournament plans for the year. My first stop is always the USTA schedule for the “National” Level tournaments. Since these tournaments can last up to a week, it is really important to get that time blocked off on my calendar. It is also a good jumping off point for thinking about how scheduling and publicizing tournaments has evolved in the internet era.
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The Fiend at Court household celebrates New Year’s Eve in a somewhat unorthodox fashion. I am not a big fan of large parties, and staying up late. As an engineer who regularly deals with risk management on a professional basis, I cannot suppress the observation that New Year’s Eve is a terrible night to be out on the roads. All the amateur drunks are out at approximately the same time. What could go wrong? Hence we celebrate each new year quietly… and much earlier in the evening.
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One of my goals for 2022 is to be more on top of the upcoming release dates for new tennis books. There are four books coming soon that I am tracking for review once they are published. I am kind of surprised that there aren’t any more tennis titles than that coming up. Perhaps there are some forthcoming great tennis books that are still pending publication announcements.
I have previously observed that the word “grievance” is used a lot in the USTA League Regulations. I frequently cite this as evidence that something has gone terribly wrong with the spirit and intent of the league system. It is supposed to be fun. It is not supposed to be litigious.