An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
The book selection for this week is “Winning Doubles: Strategies, Key Concepts, and Shot-By-Shot Playbook for Players at All Levels.” It was written by Scott Perlstein, who is a veteran tennis instructor in California. I believe Perlstein may be the originator of the doubles playbook concept for tennis. The book is dominated by pictures of doubles positioning while still packing a wealth of information as supporting text.
As we were exploring the four types of balls approved for sanctioned tennis competition last week, I stumbled across a YouTube video containing screen shots from the 2012 version of the “ITF Guide to Products and Test Methods.” One of the pages depicted in that video illustrated notional bounce paths for three of the four types of approved tennis balls. That image also contained a note that the Type 3 tennis ball is also permitted and recommended for play at High Altitude. It is a complete mystery why the ITF would make that recommendation.
Overthinking tennis is the hallmark of this site. Tennis equipment and gear is in my wheelhouse. Consequently, the “Tennis Channel’s Bag Check” promotional clips always command my rapt attention. A well-equipped racquet bag is essential in tournament tennis. Those necessities in the bag might be the difference between winning and losing a match.
Last week women’s professional tennis player Taylor Townsend released an essay titled “You Ain’t Never Been No Little Girl, Taylor Townsend” on The Players’ Tribune. It is a powerful account of her personal journey in tennis. The essay also provides some insight into the machinations of the USTA Player Development Program when Townsend was a rising junior. It also reflects less than positively on the culture of the USTA encapsulated by the Player Development Program.
Feed in Consolation through the Quarterfinals (FICQ) should be used for all National Level Amateur Tennis Tournaments. For anyone not familiar with that tournament format it is a close approximation of double elimination. A player who loses a match in the quarterfinals or earlier could still finish as high as 5th in the tournament. Players who lose in the semifinals play a match that decides 3rd and 4th. That is a significant match for a Bronze Ball in a National “Gold Ball” event.
One of the most worrisome part of the ongoing USTA Tournament restructuring has been the repeated theme that tournaments have to adapt to “consumer preferences.” On the surface, that isn’t a bad thing if that decision is backed up with valid data that accurately captures consumer preferences specific to tennis tournaments. It is apparent that the USTA has decided that shortening the length of matches in general will lead to increased participation. I have yet to see tennis specific research that backs up that assertion. Additionally, while shorter formats may be better for local level tournaments, that same sentiment doesn’t translate to the National Levels of Competition.
I recently submitted an email with lengthy feedback and observations specific to National Level Senior Women’s Tennis to the USTA Adult Competition Committee. (ACC) The talking points contained in that message echo themes that have appeared on this site over the past two years. When playing the Westwood Senior Championships a couple of weeks ago, I was struck at how pervasive the concerns over the impacts of recent tournament changes and implementations are within the Senior Women’s Tennis community.
Tennis books were a prominent fixture on the bookshelves of my childhood home. Before this post, I would have sworn that there were many titles by Vic Braden in that collection. It is a false memory. Braden only published one book that roughly corresponds to my junior tennis days. However, his philosophies on tennis permeated the foundations of my tennis belief system.
Type 1 and Type 3 tennis balls were officially codified in 2002. Approval for the new ball types actually came at the 2001 ITF annual meeting which was held in Cancun, Mexico. From this I came to the obvious conclusion that tequila was heavily involved in the decision. Currently there are exactly two ITF approved Type 1 balls and zero Type 3 balls.
Every tennis player should consider installing a set of rain guards on your vehicle in anticipation of the fact that eventually it will rain. Alternatively you can wait until you are sweltering in your car during a lengthy rain delay to order them for the next tournament. Don’t be like me.