An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
I have been reading Warren F. Kimball’s book The United States Tennis Association: Raising the Game almost all year. It has been an invaluable resource for me as I have explored the purpose and culture of the USTA. This book has frequently been listed in my resources/citations section of my posts. It is a fabulous account of the early history of the USTA and the development of tennis in the United States.
This week’s Rules of Tennis topic focuses on the exceptions to the “no coaching” rule. Those special cases are codified directly into the ITF Rules of Tennis. Fundamentally, there are two situations when coaching is allowed. The first is during certain team events. The second is if a sanctioning body receives approval from the ITF to allow on-court coaching at specified events.
I have worn glasses since I was about ten years old. I will never forget the day that my first pair of prescription lenses arrived. The first stop after we picked them up and had them fitted at the optician was one of the local tennis centers. We had hit balls for a few short minutes when the umpire who gave birth to me excitedly called me up to the net to tell me that I was playing really well in the new specs. From my side of the court, I didn’t notice much of a difference.
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In “A First Glance at the USTA Adult National Tournament Calendar” which ran a couple of weeks ago, I commented that I had submitted a question to the AdultTournaments@usta.com email address. I also indicated that I would be surprised if my query elicited a response. Well… I was surprised. A reply was received.
The USTA sent an email out to a subset of adult members this week announcing the publication of Adult and Senior “Shadow Rankings” for 2020. These rankings lists are being used to give players a feel for how the new system will work. At the same time the USTA is using these rankings to evaluate whether there should be any changes to the rankings tables across the 7 Levels tournament framework.
Earlier this week, a player posted an image of a flyer that was included in the tournament packets at the Texas Master’s Championships. That one sheet of paper illuminates what is likely to be imminently forthcoming once the full tournament calendar for the Texas Section is announced. The flyer reveals the apparent plan for continuation of NTRP Mixed Doubles in Texas. It also provides an early look at how the existing tournament structure will be slotted into the USTA consolidated framework in 2021.
I have to confess that Late to the Ball: A Journey into Tennis and Aging was undoubtedly an influence on my conscious thought when this site was launched. I first read this book back in 2017, shortly after it was initially published. My initial journey through Late to the Ball at that time invoked a mixture of awe, annoyance, and jealously.
For the most part, coaching is not allowed during a tennis match. This is one of the things that makes the sport so compelling to me. When two players are engaged in a tennis match, it is up to them to figure out a solution to every problem their opponent throws at them. A tennis player has to figure everything out for themselves when competing. I like that.
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Last Wednesday the USTA sent out an email to Adult tournament participants entitled “Upcoming Shadow Rankings: What You Need to Know.” That email contained what is believed to be an error in the first sentence, indicating that the communication was to inform the recipient about “2020 USTA Junior Tournaments Shadow Rankings.” The first paragraph also included verbiage about “players and parents.”
Throughout my musing on the new USTA tournament structure coming in 2021, people keep whispering to me that the changes are going to be really good for driving increased participation in Senior tennis. I have been struggling to understand the logic behind that expectation. Until yesterday. When I started bouncing the new 7 tier National points schedule across various playing scenarios, I had an epiphany. There is a chance the new system will be fabulous for Senior tennis.