Rethinking Smartwatches

For the past few years, I have been playing tennis with the understanding that wearing a device that was capable of receiving communication was officially prohibited for USTA-sanctioned play. However, at 55+ Nationals last fall, the umpires were explicitly allowing players to keep their smartwatches on as long as they were in airplane mode which disables messaging. It’s high time to revisit this topic.

The rationale given by the officials at the 55+ League Nationals was that counting steps is linked to health insurance incentives for many players. It is also used for health tracking purposes. I had follow-up conversations with umpires at Intersectionals and the Women’s Grass Court Nationals asking if there was any official guidance or change of policy. They were all still working under the assumption that wearing smartwatches is prohibited during sanctioned play.

However, the umpire at the National Grass Courts indicated that no one is terribly concerned about coaching via technology for Senior level events. It simply isn’t a culture where people intentionally break or bend the rules. That official indicated that no one would be forced to remove a smartwatch in that setting unless their opponent complained about suspected messaging via that device.

The USTA Comment with the organization’s guidance comes in Section 30 of the Rules of Tennis. That section is specific to Coaching. Player Analysis Technology is in Section 31. When the wording of the comment is examined, it leaves room for interpretation to either allow or disallow a player to wear a smartwatch.

USTA Comment 30.1: A player may bring to the court written notes that were prepared before the start of the match and may read these notes during the match. While on court or during a match, a player may not receive information via electronic devices capable of receiving communications such as cell phones and smartwatches.

USTA Comment 30.1, 2022 USTA Friend at Court

By the letter of the law, smartwatches are not explicitly prohibited. A player may not receive information via an electronic device capable of receiving communications. A device that has communication features disabled is arguably OK.

I have grown accustomed to practicing while wearing my smartwatch. I am not a step counter but frequently use the heart rate data as a measure of effort intensity. That recently allowed me to suffer the indignity of having my watch ask me if I was having an indoor walk during what I thought was a high-impact tennis cardio drill. I guess that was all the effort feedback I needed on that day.

I am still in the habit of taking my watch off during sanctioned match play. That seems to be the best course of action to avoid controversy. The umpire I talked to at the Grass Court Nationals said that officials would not allow smartwatches at all during junior play. That is probably the context in which illegal coaching would most likely occur.

In any case, I now regard smartwatch usage as a gray area in the rules.

1. Friend at Court: The Handbook of Tennis Rules and Regulations, USTA, 2022