An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
50 years ago today, Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Civil Rights Act into law. In celebration of that fact I am using this “Tennis Hits the Books” Thursday to run a revised review of the best tennis related book on Title IX. While the law had a seismic impact on educational and athletic opportunities for women, there is still significant opportunity to improve compliance and enforcement.
In an officiated tennis match, the chair umpire cannot delegate ball mark inspection to a line umpire. The rules are explicit that only the chair umpire may perform that duty. The ITF Rules of Tennis stipulates that the umpire is also supposed to physically climb down from the chair to actually make the inspection.
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A quick first step is essential to competitive success in tennis. Some baseline capability for speed is an inherent characteristic of a person. It is similar to being tall. While these core attributes cannot be modified through training, a player can develop additional skills that mitigate and enhance their natural abilities. For example, a short player can work to increase vertical leap capacity and consequently “play taller” than their natural height.
An eloquent case for best-of-five tennis matches. The USTA has announced that Russian and Belarusian tennis players will compete in the US Open. A new John McEnroe documentary is scheduled for release in September.
Happy Father’s Day! To commemorate the annual celebration of fatherhood this year, I am sharing the story of the Trophy Husband. I hope that the Trophy Husband and all the other tennis playing dads out there enjoy their special day. By that I mean, please grill something for us before you head to the courts today.
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Yesterday I took a cut at creating a survey to collect data on player sentiment and preferences associated with the USTA tournament ranking system. The questions were designed in an attempt to collect useful data that might help as the USTA considers potential updates to the regulations. This post introduces that survey and shares my thought process. If you follow this site for the tennis related musings of an overthinking engineer… this content will resonate with you.
The email from the USTA contains a link and the following text: “Thank you for playing in the USTA National Women’s 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85 & 90 Clay Court Championships in March. Would you please take a moment and share your experience?” I didn’t complete my survey until this week because I actually got tripped up by one of the questions.
Before reading this book, if I had been asked to write a wikipedia-style biography of John Lloyd, it would start out something like this: “John Lloyd is a former professional tennis player who is best known for once being married to Chris Evert.” When Lloyd recently released this autobiography, my first thought was concern that it might be filled with sordid and salacious assertions about Chrissie in an attempt to cash in and sell more copies. As it turns out, those worries were completely unfounded.
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Ball mark inspection by the chair umpire only applies to tennis matches played on clay courts. Additionally, the rules stipulate the times when ball mark inspection is allowed to occur. The clay court inspection procedures also provide the foundational philosophy underpinning modern electronic line challenge systems.
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Tennis players are conditioned to think of tennis competition and practice in even numbers. Singles and doubles matches, and consequently drills, are typically designed for two or four players. One of the best practice session formats is actually three players on a court engaged in continuous rally using two on one court positions. All players should seriously consider adding two on one play to their training toolbox.