Rookie captain - any tips?

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by kylebarendrick

Top players that are also team players don't mind carrying weaker partners every once in a while. That's the only way weaker players get into matches without being fed to the wolves.

Now if it is every match, that's a different story...

Mmmm, nah. I don't agree.

If someone is asked to win on Court One, they ought to get to play with someone who can carry their weight (assuming such a player is available). If the strong player gets the partner she thinks she needs, then I needn't worry about her griping to me should she lose.

This may reflect my own bias/experience in that it rarely works to pair a weak and strong player. The match becomes keep-away. Neither the strong nor weak player can play her best, what with the strong player trying too hard and the weak player deferring too much.

Feeding two weak players to the wolves on Court Three can yield some amazing upsets, when the two weak players realize they will have to get the job done all by themselves.

[kylebarendrick]

Well, being a "strong" player that was partnered with a "weak" player on Sunday, I'd still disagree. We played on the 2nd line against a relatively weak team. I can't fault my captain for using this match as an opportunity to get my partner some playing time as well as a chance to win.

I took it as a challenge - especially when my partner cramped up at the end of the 2nd set. I don't have much use for prima donnas that only want the best partners.

[marcl65]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

Captains aren't entitled, IMHO, to the best partner. They're entitled to whatever partner makes sense for getting a team win.

Ditto!

Like Cindy, I often pair myself with the player the other teammembers don't want to play with, who often is the weaker player. I do it because I feel the team is better served by me playing with said player(s) than someone else playing with him or her. I do it because I'm willing to "take one for the team".

It's not all selflessness. There are plenty of other teams out there and I constantly see other clubs trying to recruit my best players. If they're unhappy with being paired up with a weak player then they're more likely to join the other club.

[JesseT]

These have been some good stories. Interesting to see the same issues crop up in so many diverse situations.

[catfish]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

It just sounds very subjective to my ears, Catfish. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind. It's just that subjective decision-making does leave a captain open to all manner of criticism from teammates who see it differently..

Many teammates (especially women from my experience) are going to criticize no matter what. Many times, the captain is the only one who knows who's been available and who hasn't, who's complained and who hasn't, etc. So the captain can certainly make a decision about who's a team player and who isn't based on their experiences as captain. I've found that many women's teams have players who will gripe about anything and players who have an inflated view of their own tennis ability. These players often talk behind the captain's back without having any facts. They just speculate and give opinions as though they are facts. I try to avoid these players, but there are plenty out there. Usually, the biggest complainers have never been a captain, and would never captain in a million years. I guess they are afraid that if they captain, players will do to them exactly what they are doing to the current captain.

Isn't calling a captain a "cherry-picker" making a subjective decision? So it's not OK for the captain to make subjective decisions but it is OK for the players to do so? Hmmh. The captain may be the most versatile doubles player on the team and is what you call the "cherry" but no matter what she does or who she partners with, some of the players will grumble that she's cherry-picking. Maybe these players who left teams and accused the captain of cherry-picking are the weak players on the team who the captain played herself with because no one else would play with them.

Every situation is different, I'm sure. But a team captain has to make decisions. That's part of the job. And making everyone on the team happy isn't always possible.