Love this video that made a huge splash recently on Facebook etc. I don't know of a tennis lady that doesn't get a chuckle out of it.
But as we all know it's not all fun and games out on the courts or behind the scenes. There's a little pain behind the humor. Our club lets the members/ladies put together teams. Some teams vote players in (soriety style), most teams are captain's choice. Other clubs/tennis facilities put teams together for the players. It's a lose/lose situation for the professionals. Let's be honest, they make $ from being on every one's good side. I beg for a solution to the madness. Nothing good comes from middle aged recreational athletes making judgement calls about others peoples abilities.
So ratings based on your Spring USTA tennis performance come out here in NC in mid November. Literally, by mid September people are jockeying for position, "making new tennis friends", creating firestorms to see what shakes out etc. based on what they think is going to happen. If you don't know already, there's some boot leg way to find out what your early rating is by going in to USTA through an Atlanta Team link because they have access to "early ratings". Now, these are not for sure ratings just early indicators.
The usual definition of a "friend" is one whom one knows, likes and trusts. I maintain this rarely exists on the tennis court. I rarely play tennis for fun. I need the competition to make it fun for me. You have to find a group that thinks the same as you. Losing is never fun. Losing with friends is no different. So I never understand the "we want to have a team of friends, that just wants to have fun together". USTA leagues are not for fun. They are serious competition. If you want to play tennis for fun - call your friends or make sure you join other leagues that are supposed to be "social tennis".
My almost 75 year old mom recently was asked to not return to her paid round robin court time at her club because according to the b%^&*& in charge, "she wasn't up to their standard of play". Really? So a lady with 2 knee replacements awaiting hip replacement surgery can't show up to play for fun? Nice - ladies, nice. I don't want to be one of those ladies.
My own words of tennis wisdom that I love to share, "if you don't get picked for a team maybe it's because the other players don't think you are as good as you think you are".............
Which brings me to my solution. Join me in being confident in your abilities and if you're not then maybe you need a lesson, more practice, or more play time. Be comfortable being a free agent. It's like that old game where you line up 2 rows of people and you see who is comfortable being picked. I was always the picker. It my younger years, I would never have been comfortable on the sidelines waiting to be picked. I've changed. I've matured. I'm comfortable that I'll get picked. Wait till ratings come out to form teams. People will move down and some will move up. Be patient - wait to be picked. It's humbling - but worth it. And if patience isn't your strong suit, be a captain and do the picking. It's that easy.
Side note - USTA Fall Combo sucks. Am I saying this because I"ve gotten my a$% kicked? Absolutely - but......the USTA created this type of league play to foster relationships between levels and build a teaching sort of environment. This is not reality folks. Combo is only fun if you are under rated. Trust me - I know - I've been there.
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