The Rules of Tennis
The very last section in the ITF Rules of Tennis published in the USTA Friend at Court is “Player Analysis Technology.” Essentially that section of the rules indicates that player analysis technology that is approved must comply with the specifications in Appendix III. Flipping back and forth between the main body of the rules and the appendices is the rhythm of life when consuming the ITF Rules of Tennis.
Appendix III presents a definition of Player Analysis Technology. It is certainly important to understand what it is before diving into the associated rules.
Player Analysis Technology is equipment that may perform any of the following functions with respect to player performance information:
USTA Friend at Court, ITF Rules of Tennis, Appendix III
a. Recording
b. Storing
c. Transmission
d. Analysis
e. Communication to a player by any kind and by any means
The appendix immediately follows this definition with the statement that Player Analysis Technology may record and/or store information during a match. That information may only be accessed by a player in accordance with the Player Analysis Technology rules in the main body of the document.
Next week we will dive into the approval process for Player Analysis Technology devices. In the interim, I would note that the ITF maintains a list of approved Player Analysis Technology products on their web page. What the ITF does not publish is a list of devices and systems that are banned. That makes me sad.
When casting about for an example of a time when a Player Analysis Technology device was prohibited, I came across a bunch of news articles about an event that I had completely forgotten about. Specifically that Bethany Mattek-Sands evaluated Google Glass and made overtures about using them during matches at Wimbledon. That’s right kids… I had totally forgotten that Google Glass was ever a thing.
I should note that I don’t think that Mattek-Sands was seriously considering playing in the glasses in a professional tour level match. However, the publicity overtures did lead to a statement that Google Glass was not an approved Player Analysis Technology device. The reason it is disallowed is fairly straight forward since Google Glass can send and receive information.
I just came to the realization this morning that the total number of pages in the Appendices of the ITF Rules of Tennis exceeds the number of pages in the main body of the document. While our steady march through the main body of the rules is nearing completion, there is still a lot of material that has yet to be fully dissected in the Appendices.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
- Approved PAT Products, ITF Web Page, viewed 12/16/2020
- Evolution of Tennis Speeds Up, Carl Bialik, Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2013.
- Bethanie Mattek-Sands goes high-tech with Google Glass, Taylor Newman, USA Today Sports, June 24, 2013.
