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The NTRP Championships Rules Get Weird Quadruped Alternating Toe Mobility Stretches Tennis Beyond the Headlines: February 24, 2025 For the Love of Competition Rankings Point-Chasers The Importance of Why Game, Set and Match: Secret Weapons of the World’s Top Tennis Players

USTA Announces League Referral Program

On By Teresa Merklin

The USTA blasted out a message to its membership Friday advertising a new league player referral program. Since I have been harping on the data management of the USTA all weekend, I will observe that there are USTA members in my orbit who miss this notice because the organization does not have their current email address. The message announcing the new referral program carried a link where a person may update their email address. It is a mystery to me how a person who did not receive the email can make use of that opportunity, but at least the USTA is trying.

Data Management and the USTA

On By Teresa Merklin

Yesterday I described the “additional information” collected from a player when entering a USTA tennis tournament. Despite the fact that the USTA already has both of those pieces of data, players are forced to type it in every time. It simply shouldn’t be required. At that point in the entry process, the USTA membership status of the player has been verified as has eligibility for the events entered. Event eligibility hinges on age or NTRP level. In other words, the tournament entry system has accessed a significant amount of personal data on the player up to that point.

USTA Privacy Policy and Information Sharing

On By Teresa Merklin

When a player enters a USTA tournament, the web interface collects “additional information” including an email address and phone number. There is a checkbox which must be selected to allow that information to be shared with the tournament organizer. The fact that the player has to grant permission for their contact information to be shared in that situation is a sign that the USTA considers that information to be personal information.

Marketing Tennis Tournaments: USTA vs UTR

On By Teresa Merklin

Last September I played The Metroplex Senior Major Zone in Arlington, Texas. The host facility is less than 30 miles away from my permanent residence. The tournament is played at a tennis center where I frequently schedule practice sessions. My husband incessantly reminded me that I needed to get my entry submitted as the deadline drew near. It’s what he does. You know who never reached out with any communication about that upcoming tournament? The USTA.

Women’s Winning Doubles

On By Teresa Merklin

This week’s book selection is “Women’s Winning Doubles” by Pat Blaskower. I plucked it off my shelf as the obvious next selection in the ongoing series of the tennis doubles books I own, yet never bothered to read. As much as I want to claim that this book is a part of a well-planned narrative arc through this topic, that simply isn’t the case. This book is short. In related news, it’s been a busy week.

What Color are Your Balls?

On By Teresa Merklin

You can probably win a bar bet armed with the knowledge of how many types of tennis balls are approved for adult sanctioned play by the ITF. The correct answer is 4: Type 1 (Fast), Type 2 (Medium), Type 3 (Slow), and High Altitude. Appendix I of the ITF Rules of Tennis contains a table with the conformance requirements for weight, size, rebound, and deformation for each ball type. Today we are focusing on the conformance requirement for “colour.”

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My Favorite Ball Machine Drill

On By Teresa Merklin

I have an absolute favorite ball machine drill. In fact, I use this pattern almost every time I work with a machine that supports shot sequences. It is super simple to set up and execute. This pattern reinforces positive footwork habits and the aerobic intensity can be modulated on the fly. It also emulates point composition that regularly occurs during my match play.

Michele Krause and Cardio Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

The USTA recently announced that they have retained Michele Krause, to help grow Cardio Tennis® in the United States. Krause is exactly the right person to hire for that initiative as she is the founder of the Cardio Tennis program. In her new association with the USTA, Krause and her consulting company will lead efforts in the development of a national Cardio Tennis strategy for promotion, education, training, and implementation. This is very good news.

Where Tennis Center Courts are Left Unlocked (Gasp!)

On By Teresa Merklin

When Southlake (Texas) Tennis Center expanded a few years ago, the courts were configured in such a way that a bank of three tennis courts could remain open to the public when the tennis center is closed. In fact, during the COVID shutdown we played on those courts on a regular basis. Once the rest of the tennis players in our area discovered (or remembered) that those courts were left open, they were always packed. I am not aware of vandalism ever occurring on those courts.

Tennis Court Breaking and Entering

On By Teresa Merklin

On a few occasions when the umpire I gave birth to was playing junior tennis, we would arrive at her playing site to warm up before an 8am match to find the gate locked. It’s annoying to not have the courts open to prepare for a match. I have witnessed tennis players, parents, and coaches scaling the fences in those scenarios. We never did, but mostly out of absolute conviction that we would injure ourselves if we tried.