An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
When the USTA established three age-based playing divisions for each NTRP level, there were consequences to the decision. One of the more subtle effects of dividing a single draw into three smaller brackets is that significantly less tennis is played. The numbers don’t lie.
The USTA decision to divide NTRP tournament play into three separate age divisions has a pretty significant side effect. I originally planned to write about the theoretical possibilities today, but the Trophy Husband alerted me a real example in an upcoming Level 5 tournament in San Angelo, Texas. Not to bury the lead, but this is proof positive that I do occasionally listen when he drones on about his own tennis life.
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Last Friday I wrote an essay highlighting how early entries into tournaments encourage other players to also participate. That post ended with a call to action for the tournament community to enter tournaments early and often. As it turns out, it is unlikely that I will be entering any NTRP tournaments early this year. The reason is fragmentation.
The Arthur Ashe biography by Raymond Arsenault was slated for review this week. In fact, I started reading it just over two weeks ago after realizing that it is a lot longer than the books I typically review on this site. For a variety of external factors, I have yet to progress past the midpoint of the book. However, I have already had one significant “Aha” moment to share.
Reilly Opelka continues to amaze me with his ability to get fined for violating obscure ATP rules. After the finals of the Dallas Open last week, he was penalized for wearing his hat during the award ceremony.
I recently decided that a contributing factor to my plantar fasciitis issues is directly related to weight gain over the past year. One of my personal objectives for 2022 is to reverse the that trend and get back down to “playing weight.” I made zero progress in January. Clearly that was the fault of the scales that I was using to weigh myself. Stick with me on this one.
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The highest ranking ITF tennis official resigns, Novak Djokovic grants his first interview on his vaccination status, and Alex de Minaur denies paying for a fake Covid vaccine certificate.
People respond to incentives that are placed before them. It is a part of human nature. Anyone who is intent on building participation in tennis tournaments should periodically invest time to brainstorm potential ways incentivize players to enter more tournaments. Today I am sharing the results from my own brainstorming session on this topic.
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There is a very simple thing that the USTA and the broader tennis industry organizations can do to build tournament participation: Notify prospective players about upcoming tournaments. It is an obvious statement yet it is something that isn’t being effectively done. That needs to change.
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One of the best way for individual tennis players to support tournament play is to enter tournaments. Paradoxically, I have heard players complain that no one entered a tournament that they themselves didn’t enter. I have even done the same thing myself. In addition to actually entering tournaments, players can maximize the chances that other players participate by throwing in their entry early. Timing matters. Waiting until the last minute to enter a tournament is almost the same thing as not entering at all when the goal is boosting participation.
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