An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
We have spent the previous two days contemplating the USTA League rules and ethical considerations of a captain having two teams in a local league Championship. Today we are kicking it up a notch and contemplating the same scenario at the Sectional level. A berth to the National Championships is on the line.
Christy Vutam is to be congratulated. As outlined yesterday, she captained both the Champion and the Runner-Up Women’s 4.5 teams in the Dallas Fall League. It makes a great backdrop for discussing edge cases in the USTA league regulations and operating procedures.
At some point in the near future I will most likely rebrand the Fiend at Court Tuesday content theme to “Tennis Technology & Training.” In the meantime, I am going to lean forward a little bit and talk about a training topic this week.
Last weekend the Fiend at Court posted a series of articles with gift suggestions and considerations for tennis players. Mia Poorman submitted a comment to one of those posts with a reminder that people should also consider their local tennis pro shops as a source of valuable guidance when purchasing tennis equipment. Additionally, Mia’s comment serves as a reminder to us all that tennis pro shops are generally locally owned and operated businesses. She raises a valid point.
It has been a very long time since I have been to a public live ball drill, primarily due to how the situation with COVID-19 has significantly altered my playing logistical patterns. I just had the realization that I am in a rare window of opportunity to rant about player behaviors that drive me nuts at tennis drills. For a limited time, I can comment publicly without anyone I have been around recently recognizing themselves and taking exception.
Tis the season where it seems that every blogger on the planet publishes a list of stocking stuffer recommendations. Some of those lists purport to be targeted directly to tennis players. The vast majority of those lists annoy me for a variety of reasons.
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.
1 response
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.