From the Trenches at Junior Tennis Tournaments

watergirl said:

Tennis 5 - I don't know - I'm just quoting what someone who was there said. They sent me the proposal to see what I thought. My first thought was how confusing.

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Thanks again for posting it.

I think there might be more parents here with little ones, as this is a big deal for juniors, age 12-18, and I am not hearing much noise.

Shame if they are allowed to get away with this.

Does anyone remember -

A few years back, USTA dropped its national competition for 12-year-olds.
The problem is that those kids became 18-year-olds and they lost two valuable years of national competition!!!!
Although it was too late for those kids, the USTA realizing they made a huge mistake, and reinstituted the 12s competition.
OUR BAD THEY THOUGHT.



This is the institution that we are dealing with it.
They made that change, and uh, for lack of a better words, they screwed that group of kids. Was it their kids? Had they paid for their tennis? Spent hours driving them to practice?
No. So, they messed up that group. OOPS.
Now, they are trying to mess up a lot more.

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treeman10 said:

Found this if you want to read endlessly on these changes:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/66587625/...n-2013-and-Beyond-2011-SAM-Discussion-Draft-3

The folks that were so worried about the school schedule and tournaments should be dancing in the streets. Per this document, it seems they did all this to silence that complaint.

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I've seen this before, but I didn't post as it is from August 11.
Folks, good read, but it is not the official document that is being considered right now.
The official document is posted here on this thread by Watergirl on page 2.

I thought it was a laugh that they were talking about protecting "traditional education"
in this draft document #3 ( link provided in post above),
"support the importance of a traditional American education and does not require students to short change their academic careers"
when the Player Development kids go to school online.
But, supposedly, that has become a backlash too for Patrick,
as those kids are struggling in college, and of course, they were never suppose to go to college......
as the USTA poured all this money into the players to be pros.
What a disaster.

watergirl - thank you for posting it. That was the EXACT same email that I received. Let's put it this way, there has been a large amount of out cry to the sections so the more people who complain the less chances these things will take place.

.........................

tball2day said:

It's a typical business model - this is the executive summary that was the motivation behind the proposal being considered. So this actually answers why they did it (in their minds).

This is important to understand the changes, whether you agree or not, it's their justification.

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Their justification....

Or their way to hold onto their jobs by showing the Player Development (PD) kids at Carson, Boca, and NY are performing.

Of course, they are performing at the national events in the future, as they get the wc.

The powers to be at the USTA are not elected.

It is not like the President, or Congress, or the Senators.

If I find out they are corrupt, I can vote for someone else.

I can't vote these people out.

I just gave an example a few posts back about what they did to the 12's a few years ago back.

Was it good for those juniors?

Now, they are cutting out competition again?

Justification?
Or protecting their jobs at the expense of hundreds of juniors,
(actually it is thousands, when you count 12-18, Boys and Girls) who are not part of their system.
What a joke this is all becoming.

Thank you for posting this, watergirl. We can no longer deny the writing on the wall---it looks very ugly---and we must all make our decisions accordingly.

In one month the first National Open of the season starts. A player who comes in 4th place gets fewer points than somebody who made it to the consolation quarters the year before. You finish better and you get fewer points.

TennisFan2Day said:

In one month the first National Open of the season starts. A player who comes in 4th place gets fewer points than somebody who made it to the consolation quarters the year before. You finish better and you get fewer points.

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Well with the new quotas in place for 2014 ........
only a few kids will actually be in a National Open.

Europe, the kids have plenty of competition.

The U.S. eliminates competition. Eliminates play.

In 2014, except for a few kids per section, no one will ever leave their section again..

Really motivating to a kid. To play the same kids over and over and over again.

But, done slowly, taking away opportunities.

Now is the time to call your sectional office.

Oh, and ignore the few folks who tell you to stop complaining, they are on the inside of the system, or more realistically kissing up to be on the inside, or super silent as they are trying to get their little kid into the system (sound familiar).

started to post and changed mind....oops.

tennis5 said:

Well with the new quotas in place for 2014 ........
only a few kids will actually be in a National Open.

Europe, the kids have plenty of competition.

The U.S. eliminates competition. Eliminates play.

In 2014, except for a few kids per section, no one will ever leave their section again..

Really motivating to a kid. To play the same kids over and over and over again.

But, done slowly, taking away opportunities.

Now is the time to call your sectional office.

Oh, and ignore the few folks who tell you to stop complaining, they are on the inside of the system, or more realistically kissing up to be on the inside, or super silent as they are trying to get their little kid into the system (sound familiar).

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I think your accusations are going over the top, you need to chill

how on earth do you know what is going to happen in 2014 when we have just started 2012, we do not even know what is going to happen in 2013 am I missing something here? how do you know this? it seems you are the insider.

tennis5 said:

Oh, and ignore the few folks who tell you to stop complaining, they are on the inside of the system, or more realistically kissing up to be on the inside, or super silent as they are trying to get their little kid into the system (sound familiar).

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Here is a USTA hater who thinks you post too much garbagio. Your kid should be a great player if he doesn't whine half as much as you do on the court. Uncle.

Pro_Tour_630 said:

I think your accusations are going over the top, you need to chill

how on earth do you know what is going to happen in 2014 when we have just started 2012, we do not even know what is going to happen in 2013 am I missing something here? how do you know this? it seems you are the insider.

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ProTour,

I do need to chill

That being said, it is in this thread, please go back to page 2.

Thanks to watergirl for posting.

If anyone else has heard anything, can they post here, as we have no specific thread for this.

BSPE84 said:

Here is a USTA hater who thinks you post too much garbagio. Your kid should be a great player if he doesn't whine half as much as you do on the court. Uncle.

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My kid is a decent player.

Many of my complaints are not for my son's age group,
but for the 12's and 18's.

There is an ignore button somewhere here, where you can block me,
and you wouldn't be subject to my disclosures on the changes upcoming.
I understand if all my comments don't benefit your son.

Good luck.

tennis5 said:

My kid is a decent player.

Many of my complaints are not for my son's age group,
but for the 12's and 18's.

There is an ignore button somewhere here, where you can block me,
and you wouldn't be subject to my disclosures on the changes upcoming.
I understand if all my comments don't benefit your son.

Good luck.

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oh believe me, my kid is affected all right... i, unlike you though, focus on what i can do to make him the best player he can be in the hope that everything else will resolve itself... and I don't believe posting a whine here every five minutes will do anything for that.

BSPE84 said:

oh believe me, my kid is affected all right... i, unlike you though, focus on what i can do to make him the best player he can be in the hope that everything else will resolve itself... and I don't believe posting a whine here every five minutes will do anything for that.

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What a great post! Tournaments, rankings, USTA rule changes, or Wayne Bryan's self serving rants have minimal impact on my kids development.

BSPE84 said:

oh believe me, my kid is affected all right... i, unlike you though, focus on what i can do to make him the best player he can be in the hope that everything else will resolve itself... and I don't believe posting a whine here every five minutes will do anything for that.

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As a parent why do you perceive this as "whining"?

Most parents are grateful to those that advocate for our kids.

BSPE84 said:

oh believe me, my kid is affected all right... i, unlike you though, focus on what i can do to make him the best player he can be in the hope that everything else will resolve itself... and I don't believe posting a whine here every five minutes will do anything for that.

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Letting folks know about upcoming changes is a "whine", so be it.

You state - "i ....focus on what i can do to make him the best player"

I have zero to do with my son's tennis game.

I don't coach him, or talk to him about his game after his matches...
That is his coach's job.

If he wants to be the best player, that is up to him, not me.

I do think there is an ignore function somewhere here.
Until you can figure out how to block me,
I will just stop responding to your posts where you quote me.

Good luck with your son.

tennis5 said:

ProTour,

I do need to chill

That being said, it is in this thread, please go back to page 2.

Thanks to watergirl for posting.

If anyone else has heard anything, can they post here, as we have no specific thread for this.

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this is a "PROPOSAL" as in things might change who knows, Is this written is stone I emailed this to my development head and I will hear from him soon and report back.

chalkflewup said:

What a great post! Tournaments, rankings, USTA rule changes, or Wayne Bryan's self serving rants have minimal impact on my kids development.

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BSPE84 said:

oh believe me, my kid is affected all right... i, unlike you though, focus on what i can do to make him the best player he can be in the hope that everything else will resolve itself... and I don't believe posting a whine here every five minutes will do anything for that.

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glade to see the reality check posters back

Pro_Tour_630 said:

this is a "PROPOSAL" as in things might change who knows, Is this written is stone I emailed this to my development head and I will hear from him soon and report back.

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I definitely repeating myself here...

I was told that there were vehement objections to it, but they planned to go through with it.

My sectional said this was the proposal they were voting on.

Is your development head the section head?

tennis5 said:

I definitely repeating myself here...

I was told that there were vehement objections to it, but they planned to go through with it.

My sectional said this was the proposal they were voting on.

Is your development head the section head?

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I just got this from my section head as I figured:

There is a proposal from the uSTA National Jr Comp Committee to change the USTA National Jr Tournament Schedule and calendar and some draw sizes. This will be voted on in March at the USTA Annual meeting. This proposal includes adding one more Level 4 and one more Level 3 tournament to each usta section. 12s draw sizes should still be at least 128 and the NE quota could be increased and will not be decreased.
the final proposal is not yet available and even then until anything is voted on and passed it carries no credibility.


Everyone can go home now chill pill time

Pro_Tour_630 said:

I just got this from my section head as I figured:

There is a proposal from the uSTA National Jr Comp Committee to change the USTA National Jr Tournament Schedule and calendar and some draw sizes. This will be voted on in March at the USTA Annual meeting. This proposal includes adding one more Level 4 and one more Level 3 tournament to each usta section. 12s draw sizes should still be at least 128 and the NE quota could be increased and will not be decreased.
the final proposal is not yet available and even then until anything is voted on and passed it carries no credibility.
Everyone can go home now chill pill time

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Interesting. Your email matches exactly with parts of the description posted in this thread. Your email fails to mention all of the items that people on this thread are concerned about. Your advice is to wait until after the “proposal” is voted on and passed before we begin to worry about it.

Sounds like weird advice to me. Most people would want to get involved in the process before it is passed and set in stone.

Folks,

Pro Tour's advice is :

the final proposal is not yet available and even then until anything is voted on and passed it carries no credibility.

Everyone can go home now chill pill time

Well, you can listen to him...
a guy who adamantly pushes the Quickstart agenda .....
Whether it is good or bad.
( And to be fair... I think it is great for a 5 year old, but a 9 year old?)

Or me, a whiner or complainer per some of the board.

Folks, I hope that you listen to yourself, and neither of us.
Verify the truth and spread the word.

PLEASE READ THE DOCUMENT YOURSELF AND ASK YOUR SECTIONAL.

I PULLED OUT SOME, BUT NOT ALL.


My notes are in red, and I pulled in the order of the document:


SECTIONALS
The proposal increases the number of Sectional Level 3s
from one (1) to two (2)
and
increases the number of Level 4s from three (3) to four (4),
while eliminating the Level 5 ranking tournaments.

In comparison, the number of national Level 3s has
been reduced and access to the national Level 3s and 4s
is achieved only through sectional play by way of a sectional quota.

Moving the USTA National Clay Court Championships to the Memorial Day weekend
and making it a 64 draw; ( later in the document, it states again)
USTA National Clay Court Championships: All divisions - singles draw of 64; doubles draw of 32
( now that is the final change for 2014 - 64 draw - different month, May - Clay courts.
The change for 2013 is just reducing the draw size to 128 for 16's and 18's, but not the Month)


Not many comments about the 12's , but this:

Reducing the number of national tournaments sanctioned in the 12s division,
as well as reducing the USTA National Championship draw sizes in this division.
( there are no details how they are reducing national tournaments and what the new draw sizes will be)

Back to the 14- 18"s
USTA National Winter Team Championships - Level 1, a Gold Ball tournament
where the 16 top players in the country in the 18s, 16s and 14s divisions
are waterfalled so that each team is comprised of players in all three divisions,
( later it says)
Selection shall be done using wild cards and the most recently published National Standings List.
The Committee has yet to determine the number of wild cards and will be making this decision prior to the submission of call items.
( 16 kids for a Gold ball? And some are wild card in?)

LEVEL 1A
USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 16 and 14 National Masters.
This new tournament will have singles draws of 16 (Compass Draw)
and doubles draws of 8 (single elimination), and shall have the 14s and 16s played at one tournament location. Participants who play the tournament to completion shall be selected into the subsequent USTA National Championship, provided they submit a timely entry. Players shall be selected as follows:
• Up to 4-6 wild cards using the same wild card committee process as is used for a USTA National Championship;
• 10-12 players from the most recently published National Standings List;
( 4-6 wild cards for a 16 draw?, 40% of the kids are in on wild cards?)
• Remaining vacancies and alternates selected using the most recently published National Standings Lists.
The Committee has yet to determine the exact number of players selected as wild cards and from the National Standings List


LEVEL 2 - USTA National Selection Tournaments.
( We did have 4 - Thanksgiving, Feb, May and July 2nd,
this is cutting it back to 2, but with same draw size of 32 )

• USTA National President’s Day Tournament
• USTA National Thanksgiving Tournament
Three concurrent tournaments shall be sanctioned for 3-day date blocks
over the President’s Day weekend and Thanksgiving weekend.
The draw sizes shall be 32 singles with an FIC format and 16 doubles single elimination.
One tournament shall be sanctioned on hard courts, one on clay courts, and one on indoor hard courts.



LEVEL 3 - USTA Regional Tournaments - Level 3.
( We have 4 Regionals Labor Day, Columbus Day, January, and July 9th,
here it appears to be cutting back to 3 times a year,
and players must play in their own region... sorta of defeats the whole idea of a national tournament
and getting out there an playing juniors from different parts of the country?)

Four concurrent USTA Regional Tournaments - Level 3 shall be held three times
each year concurrent with the USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 16 and 14 National Masters and USTA National Grand Masters.

The draw sizes shall be 32 singles with an FIC format and 16 doubles single elimination.
Each time a concurrent segment of USTA Regional Tournaments -
Level 3 is held, one will be sanctioned in each of four Regions.
Players must play in their own region and shall be selected based on the same sectional quota formula used for the
USTA National Championships.


TWO-YEAR PHASE IN
In an effort to:
• give the Sections and Districts sufficient time to go through a process similar to that undertaken by the Junior Competition Committee and make adjustments, if necessary, to their own tournament calendars;
• allocate time in the Active programming calendar to re-program tournament selection processes for the 2014 tournaments; and undertake an educational and marketing campaign to educate our constituents, the players, parents and coaches;the proposed changes shall be phased in over two years with only those listed below becoming effective in 2013:

Effective January 1, 2013:
( The only two big changes for 2013 appear to be reducing the 18's and 16's Clay and Hard court draw size to 128,
and also reducing the July 9th regional to 32, this was 64 and was quite useful to get points as you age up.).
• USTA National Grand Masters to be added to the National Junior Tournament Schedule and held October 2013.
• The USTA National Doubles Tournament will become the USTA National Doubles Championship with the draw and selection as described in the proposal, and a Level 1 national ranking tournament with the top finishers receiving a gold, silver and bronze ball.
• The Boys’ and Girls’ 18 and 16 USTA National Clay Court Championships and The USTA National Championships (hard courts) shall be reduced to a 128 draw size.
• The July 2013 USTA Regional Tournaments shall be singles draws of 32 and doubles draws of 16.

All remaining changes will become effective January 1, 2014.

Tennishacker said:

As a parent why do you perceive this as "whining"?

Most parents are grateful to those that advocate for our kids.

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You need to consider the source. This is the same person who wasn't aware the SoCal Sectionals, the oldest tournament in the US, is a National Level 3; she then spread misinformation for days and whined about how "unfair" this was .

My kid was at Carson for a couple of years. Here's a newsflash, there is nothing fair or logical about what USTA does. Never has been, never will be. So what?? We all get it, time to get on with it and quit whining... The irony is, that's what we try to teach our kids but some parents here don't exactly seem to get it either.

BSPE84 said:

Here is a USTA hater who thinks you post too much garbagio. Your kid should be a great player if he doesn't whine half as much as you do on the court. Uncle.

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RIGHT-ON!!!!!!!!!

BSPE84 said:

You need to consider the source. This is the same person who wasn't aware the SoCal Sectionals, the oldest tournament in the US, is a National Level 3; she then spread misinformation for days and whined about how "unfair" this was .

My kid was at Carson for a couple of years. Here's a newsflash, there is nothing fair or logical about what USTA does. Never has been, never will be. So what?? We all get it, time to get on with it and quit whining... The irony is, that's what we try to teach our kids but some parents here don't exactly seem to get it either.

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For someone who I thought would be blocking me....

My wording was that a Socal sectional win was not as big of a win as a national level 3, regional tournament.
The confusion was that I was referring to a level 5,
and the sectional in Socal was a level 3.
I shouldn't have ventured into Socal sectionals,
but the comment was in reference to BB's son win.

Congrats that your kid was at Carson...

Anything else?

I am trying to get information out there about the upcoming tournament schedule for 2014.
and I am met with a lot of deflection.... about whining.
Nice to distract from the main message of the 2014 draw reductions.

If I found someone to be whiny and irritating, the last thing I would do would be to continue engaging him/her in conversation. After I had voiced my opinion about her whinyness (?sp), I would avoid and ignore her. Believe me there are plenty of people on this forum who I think are totally off the mark. But there are also people who like to fight and think that they are never wrong. Tennis5 is well within her right to write what she wants and you are well within your right to complain about what she writes. But if it irritates you so much why would you drive yourself crazy by acknowledging her.

Maybe we can use this thread to discuss how National Junior Tournament Schedule should look like instead of making it a p!$$ing contest. Now that you saw the proposal what changes would you like to see?

I just realized something weird as I was thinking about the sign up this week for the level 2 for Feb.
We just all signed up for this, and we had a choice of 4 options
(that you had to pick from 1-4 numbered for priority) on the computer when you registered.

The level 2 below has the same draw size of 32 kids, but it will have only 3 locations?
That would mean the total draw size for the level 2's would be reduced from 4 locations to 3 locations,
and overall, you would lose 32 spots from the grand total for that age group.


LEVEL 2 - USTA National Selection Tournaments.
( We did have 4 - Thanksgiving, Feb, May and July 2nd,
this is cutting it back to 2, but with same draw size of 32 )

• USTA National President’s Day Tournament
• USTA National Thanksgiving Tournament
Three concurrent tournaments shall be sanctioned for 3-day date blocks
over the President’s Day weekend and Thanksgiving weekend.
The draw sizes shall be 32 singles with an FIC format and 16 doubles single elimination.
One tournament shall be sanctioned on hard courts, one on clay courts, and one on indoor hard courts.

tennis5 said:

If anyone else has heard anything, can they post here, as we have no specific thread for this.

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You asked for more information and I gave it to you. It seems you can not accept the truth

tennis5 said:

Verify the truth and spread the word..

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the truth is the proposal has not been voted on and may not pass and hold no credibility

justinmadison said:

Most people would want to get involved in the process before it is passed and set in stone.

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Who are you to be asked to be part of the process? Do you work for the industry? Do you own clubs and run 300 Jr programs? You are a consumer just like me, if you/I do not like the product we don't buy it. No one is forcing us to participate. I voice my concerns and opinions ( for or against) to the club owners who will be attending the March conference and they will hopeful get my message across. That is all you can do. Better yet go to the conference, setup a tent city outside and get tennis5 to join you. You will make a nice couple.

Wanting to be involved in the process and actually being in the process are two different things.

Pro_Tour_630 said:

The new changes for 10 and under are in full swing here in NE participation levels are very high, over 30 kids in one weekend signed up, green ball in U12 are record high over 15 in one weekend in one tournament. The new changes means less tournaments using green for U12 which is why the participation level is so high.

Overall the participation level for the month of january for 10 and under and green ball in U12 in year 2012 has been excellent.

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Still nothing green or regulation in Middle States, only orange until 12U. The pros at our indoor club recently went to a UTSA Quickstart training and have come back all brainwashed. They talk about it being so great, but with little enthusiasm, as if they have been told they have to use it. They put out a statement in the club newsletter that ALL developmental tennis will use the format. Must have been promised funding. Doesn't matter, really, as their program has always been poor, as in not a "development" program, but more of a place where parents can drop off the kids for an hour while they work out. Sad, really. It's a great facility and lots of tennis interest, but the parents who want their kids to really learn to play do it on their own or with private coaches.

BMC9670 said:

Still nothing green or regulation in Middle States, only orange until 12U. The pros at our indoor club recently went to a UTSA Quickstart training and have come back all brainwashed. They talk about it being so great, but with little enthusiasm, as if they have been told they have to use it. They put out a statement in the club newsletter that ALL developmental tennis will use the format. Must have been promised funding. Doesn't matter, really, as their program has always been poor, as in not a "development" program, but more of a place where parents can drop off the kids for an hour while they work out. Sad, really. It's a great facility and lots of tennis interest, but the parents who want their kids to really learn to play do it on their own or with private coaches.

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Sorry to hear that, see all sections should be the same instead they are seperate entities . Anyway when we go down to Philly we should let the kids have a go at it.

So, I'm in Phoenix for a few months for work and decided to drop in on a local tourney today. I caught the 12U final and these kids could flat out play! Good strokes, good technique, good movement, and tons of confidence. And to my surprise, they were using Wilson Green Dot balls.

After watching nearly two sets, I have mixed feelings about the use of green dot for 12U in this case. These kids certainly did not need it, and I'd go as far as to say it wasn't doing them any good. The thing that was missing was variety. Sure, they were bashing their brains out and the ball would just not go long, and rallies were long (the first set took nearly an hour), but shots that would be clear winners with regulation were gotten back, and while there were plenty of short balls, not once did I see an approach and volley in nearly two hours of tennis. They simply wanted to bash from the baseline and were not doing the things that a slower ball supposed to help achieve - namely point construction and touch. I saw none of that.

I did see some back draw matches going on were it made more sense as those kids were not at the same level and the green just helped them keep it in play, but these kids were clearly above it. Does anyone know if green is mandated for 12U in Arizona?

BMC9670 said:

So, I'm in Phoenix for a few months for work and decided to drop in on a local tourney today. I caught the 12U final and these kids could flat out play! Good strokes, good technique, good movement, and tons of confidence. And to my surprise, they were using Wilson Green Dot balls.

After watching nearly two sets, I have mixed feelings about the use of green dot for 12U in this case. These kids certainly did not need it, and I'd go as far as to say it wasn't doing them any good. The thing that was missing was variety. Sure, they were bashing their brains out and the ball would just not go long, and rallies were long (the first set took nearly an hour), but shots that would be clear winners with regulation were gotten back, and while there were plenty of short balls, not once did I see an approach and volley in nearly two hours of tennis. They simply wanted to bash from the baseline and were not doing the things that a slower ball supposed to help achieve - namely point construction and touch. I saw none of that.

I did see some back draw matches going on were it made more sense as those kids were not at the same level and the green just helped them keep it in play, but these kids were clearly above it. Does anyone know if green is mandated for 12U in Arizona?

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I agree but we need some ( %25) green at U12 for the little kids (8-9) that want to play up. or the average 11-12 year old can benefit from green. not sure about Arizona but here in NE some of our 12 are with green, enjoy the sun I was going to scottsdale for business but now I am leaving for tampa .Let us know whey you are back.

BMC9670 said:

The thing that was missing was variety. Sure, they were bashing their brains out and the ball would just not go long, and rallies were long (the first set took nearly an hour), but shots that would be clear winners with regulation were gotten back, and while there were plenty of short balls, not once did I see an approach and volley in nearly two hours of tennis. They simply wanted to bash from the baseline and were not doing the things that the green ball is supposed to help achieve - namely point construction and touch. I saw none of that.

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That's a shame. A lot of that has to do with the fear of losing and poor coaching. If you coach your player to develop their game, then you are developing it for its end product, which is years down the road. In doing so, the player will lose more than they win, but when they are 16-18, they will turn it around, and will have a real chance at a good college career if not better.

Annecdote from So Cal on the green balls. The 10U division at the Fullerton tournament( one of the big 2A events) this year has 23 players down from 53 last year. 12U was down around 10% from last year so the 10U players did not migrate to the 12's.

The Junior Competition Committee doesn't seem to want to help the masses just the elite - the same 32 or 16 or 8 players will get into the tournaments nationally and be the ones recruited for college (realistically maybe one will go pro and make it, if that) so what about all the other kids who love to play - they will play sectionals against the same kids tournament after tournament - some will get bored and drop out - those who might have wanted to get college scholarships won't get recruited and will probably lose interest in tennis - that is if they can even get into the sectionals - it takes points to get in but you have to get in to get points so not everyone can play in sectionals - On top of that we are encouraging (?) through QuickStart more participation but what about when those QS players get to be 14 will they still play??
Who is USTA helping in this whole endeavor

There appears to be two threads on the same subject, but as the original document is in this one, I am posting here.

I will not be responding to any derogatory comments.
It is a waste of my time, and detracts from the message.

I spoke to the head of my sectional office again today, and got a bit more info.

I didn't want to pepper him with a bunch of questions, and mostly listened..
(My thoughts are in the parenthesis, thoughts and questions I did not ask )

He said people are now actively complaining as the document is being emailed.

There is a vote in March, and each section gets to vote on the proposal.

Overall comments, the big sections are the most upset
( not sure why, but I didn't ask).

and the big sections have more votes than the small sections.
( that seems odd, I would think each section gets one vote)

The largest complaint was about the Hardcourt's draw size.
( I found this strange that people were more concerned about Kalamazoo than Winter Nationals,
when Winter Nationals (16) will have a smaller draw size than Hardcourts (64)).

He was not sure if it would be approved.
He said most of the sections are fighting it.

That's it.

I understand each section votes in proportion to their USTA membership which is the proportion places are allocated in the supernationals. So Cal for example gets 6% of the vote - southern gets a much larger proportion.

tennisforlife77 said:

Annecdote from So Cal on the green balls. The 10U division at the Fullerton tournament( one of the big 2A events) this year has 23 players down from 53 last year. 12U was down around 10% from last year so the 10U players did not migrate to the 12's.

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I was at the SoCal Fullerton 2A event over the weekend. Happend to watch a greenball match with one of the sections top young player, I think he just turned 9 years old recently. It was interesting to see how much power he was generating with this low pressure ball, and his ability to create solid winners. My question is why are so many against this ball? It seemed to me that the points were more constructed with the new ball at this level, this can only help with long term development.

itenispro said:

I was at the SoCal Fullerton 2A event over the weekend. Happend to watch a greenball match with one of the sections top young player, I think he just turned 9 years old recently. It was interesting to see how much power he was generating with this low pressure ball, and his ability to create solid winners. My question is why are so many against this ball? It seemed to me that the points were more constructed with the new ball at this level, this can only help with long term development.

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His arm will fall off.

andfor..Post the medical study? Or are you just spitting out garbage with no basis. You are the problem with USTA tennis!

itenispro said:

andfor..Post the medical study? Or are you just spitting out garbage with no basis. You are the problem with USTA tennis!

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That was a joke based on an earlier post/story.

itenispro said:

andfor..Post the medical study? Or are you just spitting out garbage with no basis. You are the problem with USTA tennis!

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Welcome, new poster! You sound like an old pro.

Andfor has explained that he was joking. Would be interested to hear more about what you think is the problem with USTA tennis

itenispro said:

I was at the SoCal Fullerton 2A event over the weekend. Happend to watch a greenball match with one of the sections top young player, I think he just turned 9 years old recently. It was interesting to see how much power he was generating with this low pressure ball, and his ability to create solid winners. My question is why are so many against this ball? It seemed to me that the points were more constructed with the new ball at this level, this can only help with long term development.

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I think most aren't against it, it's that the USTA mandates it.