An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
Today I want to examine motivation within the context of junior tennis. This will not be news to anyone with kids in the proximity of the teenage years… these are entirely different beasts than adults. I say that with genuine affection.
I frequently talk about the adult tennis tournament culture in Texas. I have also touched on how playing tournaments with players from other regions opened my eyes to the fact that Texas tournament tennis is profoundly different from most of the other USTA sections. Today I am exploring what I believe to be one of the primary drivers for why that is the case.
Yesterday I made the assertion that there seems to be a lot more USTA league players than tournament players. While there is still a lot of territory to explore in this area, what I really want to focus on at the moment is exclusive to tournament play. Specifically, I want to examine the motivation that drives players to play tournaments.
Based on my personal exposure and experience I perceive that there are a lot more league players than there are tournament players. At the same time I think that the majority of tournament players also play leagues. This leaves a small sliver of players who play only tournaments.
I can’t decide if I am more disappointed or relieved that no one called me out for the “Damn You Autocorrect” item in my training plan indicating that I would watch matches by Chris “Every” in addition to Steffi Graf to study their technique. Probably everyone knew who I meant anyway.
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To pin a thumb tack on this moment in time, I am in the middle of what is shaping up to be a broad and sweeping arc examining the return to organized competitive play following the COVID-19 shutdown. In my home USTA Section, Texas, sanctioned tournaments are allowed to resume July 1.
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In physics, critical mass is the smallest amount of material needed for a chain reaction. The concept of critical mass is a useful analogy for participation in tennis tournaments. Enough players have to enter an event in order for it to be held. Additionally, players typically will not enter tournaments if they assume or are concerned that the draw might not make.
Today I am returning my attention to the post COVID-19 protocols implemented a couple of weeks ago at the “$Prize Money Austin UTR Open @ Austin Tennis Academy. ” Earlier this week I wrote about the ball hygiene practices implemented during that tournament in “Tournament Ball Safety Protocols.”
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Yesterday I wrote about how the financial and liability structures of the USTA and UTR was very likely a dominant contributing factor in the decisions the organizations made about the suspension of tennis tournament play under COVID-19. Today I am exploring how the independent nature of UTR creates an agility advantage for UTR event organizers.
It is striking to step back and realize that only tennis tournament activity that is going on right now in my geographic region is under the banner of UTR and other events that are not sanctioned by the USTA. There is a very obvious explanation for this. At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis the USTA National Office suspended play tournaments as well as other events such as leagues and team tennis. UTR never suspended play. But why?