I do not suppose the influencers and thought leaders throughout the tennis ecosystem spend sufficient time strategizing competitively. In any other case, perhaps we do not give it some thought utterly sufficient. As a proof of that, the aggressive type of the children may be very totally different from that of the adults. I’ve not too long ago warmed to the concept in a wholesome tennis ecosystem the aggressive method needs to be a single idea. In different phrases, there needs to be just one.
One of the essential points the USTA has to cope with is the excessive dropout price as gamers come out of the youth ranks. I’ve written about this problem in “Tradition Conflict,” (because the title suggests) describing the issue as one in all tradition. Because it seems, the distinction in aggressive type might be a very powerful reason for that cultural distinction.
The junior competitors system focuses on the event of gamers in numerous classes primarily based on age and competitors ranges. Gamers progress from native competitions to divisional, regional, and eventually nationwide competitions which are pushed by performance-based abilities. This program is designed to encourage ability growth and supply clear steps for development. It’s intense, nearly singularly targeted on requirements and outcomes.
Some minors will attain a stage of efficiency that results in an expert enjoying profession. Some will go on for a couple of extra years all through the collegiate sport. In any case, that is the place their journey on the trail of a bit of competitors ends properly as they attain the top.
Certainly one of my new tennis learners asks senior gamers to clarify the best way to compete for seniors with out mentioning the NTRP system. Typically, that evokes a confused response as a result of the NTRP program has change into inextricably linked to senior tennis. Most individuals cannot think about a method to compete that does not revolve round it.
The NTRP program was not initially meant to be a part of the aggressive panorama of senior tennis. Somewhat, it was developed as a device for leisure gamers to assist match opponents of the identical ability stage for enjoyable gameplay. The thought was to encourage participation by making tennis extra accessible to a wider viewers. Sadly, the construction of the USTA Leagues main as much as the Nationwide Championships has turned it into the de facto construction of aggressive senior tennis. Adopting the NTRP system in match play was not the top of the performance-based method to senior competitors, however an acknowledgment of what had already occurred.
I’ve written extensively about how the NTRP system is the antithesis of a real aggressive method. As a substitute of encouraging gamers to realize the best stage of efficiency attainable, it encourages gamers to fastidiously handle and plan their NTRP rankings to enhance their and their groups’ possibilities of advancing to the Nationwide Championships. Sadly, that may create a detrimental feeling for gamers who’re rated precisely as they’re pressured to compete in opposition to gamers who needs to be rated within the subsequent stage of the match. That creates a delicate temptation for different gamers within the aggressive ecosystem to deal with their rankings the identical means.
The absence of a aggressive method excludes adults who’ve achieved the next stage of efficiency than different gamers of their group. Ending happens after they surpass the NTRP rankings of different gamers of their space. Worse nonetheless, the erosion of competitors and league play on the larger finish of the NTRP spectrum is proof that the useless finish is tilting downwards to cut back NTRP classification. Quickly, we’ll all be 3.5s or out of tennis altogether. That may in the end cut back participation.
The neglect and underestimation of gamers within the senior tennis ecosystem has taken a toll on all gamers. The answer really begins with a holistic imaginative and prescient of a single, unbroken path of competitors that begins on the younger and extends “until dying do us half.”
Because the USTA all the time reminds us, tennis is a lifelong sport. Sadly, the failure to assist a profitable senior aggressive method implies that for a lot of of our greatest and most engaged gamers, that’s merely not true. We have to higher outline the aggressive panorama of seniors and allocate assets to make it a actuality. Ignoring this essential facet of the aggressive ecosystem is hurting senior tennis in every single place. Figuring out and eliminating useless ends is essential.
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