Got invited to a USTA team. I'm excited. That's OK, right?

[Govnor]

I know USTA League is a bit of a divider here, but I've never done it before, so it's a pretty big deal to me to finally get to play on a team. I've never done that in my life (USTA/Club/school etc).

Questions! Are there a set amount of matches for the summer league schedule or does it depend on the size of the league? Is it always 2 singles courts and 3 doubles courts? Do the team captains provide Gatorade and Banana's?

 

[beernutz]

I know USTA League is a bit of a divider here, but I've never done it before, so it's a pretty big deal to me to finally get to play on a team. I've never done that in my life (USTA/Club/school etc).

Questions! Are there a set amount of matches for the summer league schedule or does it depend on the size of the league? Is it always 2 singles courts and 3 doubles courts? Do the team captains provide Gatorade and Banana's?

The answer to all three questions is 'it depends'.

What specific kind of league is it? If you look on page 5 here you can see that there are many different formats depending on the league: http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/2014_USTA_League_Regulations_Final_8_23_13.pdf

 

[edathompson2]

I know USTA League is a bit of a divider here, but I've never done it before, so it's a pretty big deal to me to finally get to play on a team. I've never done that in my life (USTA/Club/school etc).

Questions! Are there a set amount of matches for the summer league schedule or does it depend on the size of the league? Is it always 2 singles courts and 3 doubles courts? Do the team captains provide Gatorade and Banana's?

It probably depends on the size of the league. Usually 10-12.

Yes. Except at VERY high (5.0+) and low (2.5) leagues. They can have 1 singles and 2 doubles because there is not allot of players at those levels.

League can be a blast. I've made a ton of new friends because of league play. Captains tend to be the worst people. Too competitive. They'll do almost anything to win. Take them with a grain of salt. Try to play for many different captains. Don't grow the "us" vs. "them" mentality. It can happen.

 

[beernutz]

It probably depends on the size of the league. Usually 10-12.

Yes. Except at VERY high (5.0+) and low (2.5) leagues. They can have 1 singles and 2 doubles because there is not allot of players at those levels.

League can be a blast. I've made a ton of new friends because of league play. Captains tend to be the worst people. Too competitive. They'll do almost anything to win. Take them with a grain of salt. Try to play for many different captains. Don't grow the "us" vs. "them" mentality. It can happen.

Over 55 leagues are 3 doubles matches.

 

[Govnor]

The answer to all three questions is 'it depends'.

What specific kind of league is it? If you look on page 5 here you can see that there are many different formats depending on the league: http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/15/2014_USTA_League_Regulations_Final_8_23_13.pdf

Thanks, Looks like it will be 2+3 on the format. Doesn't mention Gatorade and Banana's anywhere though.

 

[Govnor]

It probably depends on the size of the league. Usually 10-12.

Yes. Except at VERY high (5.0+) and low (2.5) leagues. They can have 1 singles and 2 doubles because there is not allot of players at those levels.

League can be a blast. I've made a ton of new friends because of league play. Captains tend to be the worst people. Too competitive. They'll do almost anything to win. Take them with a grain of salt. Try to play for many different captains. Don't grow the "us" vs. "them" mentality. It can happen.

Thanks for the insight! Hopefully it'll be a fun team, I think they just got bumped, so I think they really wanted to add extra people to the team to help out.

 

[jrxl]

That's great that people are excited about USTA play. I wish some would join our club! It is like pulling teeth to get people on our 4.0 team.

 

[struggle]

Thanks, Looks like it will be 2+3 on the format. Doesn't mention Gatorade and Banana's anywhere though.

Don't know about your area, but my teams tend be "drinking teams with a tennis problem" so we have alot of fun. My two teams are 5-0 thus far so good chance we'll take our drinking teams to state(s).

Being from a smaller market, we have good teams advance but rarely win at the state level. Not sure we'd want to travel (advance) farther anyhow.

Hope you end up with a compatible crew, it can be lots of fun.

 

[struggle]

That's great that people are excited about USTA play. I wish some would join our club! It is like pulling teeth to get people on our 4.0 team.

Maybe reach out to other teams/clubs. I play on teams at three different facilites (two are private sister clubs and one public park, but it's a 12 clay court facility).

 

[BMRSNR27]

It probably depends on the size of the league. Usually 10-12.

Yes. Except at VERY high (5.0+) and low (2.5) leagues. They can have 1 singles and 2 doubles because there is not allot of players at those levels.

League can be a blast. I've made a ton of new friends because of league play. Captains tend to be the worst people. Too competitive. They'll do almost anything to win. Take them with a grain of salt. Try to play for many different captains. Don't grow the "us" vs. "them" mentality. It can happen.

Have you tried to do it? I wouldn't judge until you have.

 

[OrangePower]

Thanks, Looks like it will be 2+3 on the format. Doesn't mention Gatorade and Banana's anywhere though.

The custom might be different in each area, but around here (Norcal), it is customary for the home team to provide some refreshments. Typically sodas, beer, some snacks. Some ladies teams get pretty fancy with food items, most men's teams concentrate more on the beer part!

Some club-based teams have the club provide the refreshments, but on most teams the captain just asks each player to being something for the home matches.

Captains tend to be the worst people. Too competitive. They'll do almost anything to win. Take them with a grain of salt.

Wow, just wow.

Captaining is a lot of work and effort for no reward. Most captains end up doing it because no-one else would step up to do it.

 

[norcal]

Captains should be most competitive, they make match up decisions strategically...and like he said a lot of work for little recognition...our captain is still chasing a couple guys for money lol.

 

[kevrol]

Captains should be most competitive, they make match up decisions strategically...and like he said a lot of work for little recognition...our captain is still chasing a couple guys for money lol.

No doubt. Sure there are some captains that take crap way to seriously but like norcal's captain I've been stuck for $ have to spend the afternoon of the match trying to find someone else to play because a guy forgot to tell me about a work trip. It's a friggin thankless job. Hell, we've played 5 matches this season. I've played once because I want to be available in case something happens at the last minute and someone can't play.

 

[GlennK]

Thanks, Looks like it will be 2+3 on the format. Doesn't mention Gatorade and Banana's anywhere though.

As mentioned earlier, home team normally brings refreshments for after the match. Unfortunately for the non-drinkers, that means only beer for our men's league.

However, this sounds like you are looking for your drinks/food during the match. In that case, bring your own.

 

[Govnor]

Thanks everyone. I was joking about the Gatorade and Bananas....

What is some of the strategy that goes into picking the line ups? I seem to recall reading on here that some Captains do put a lot of effort into that part??

 

[schmke]

There are several aspects to picking line-ups and a lot depends on the make-up and goals of the team.

Many (most?) teams are just looking to have fun and play tennis and will spread playing time around relatively equally based on availability of all the players. For a given match, they'll more or less play their best players on court 1, and down from there.

Those teams, and captains, that are trying to be more competitive and have designs on going to playoffs will expend more time and energy trying to get the most advantageous line-up. This may mean playing the stronger players more, and looking at the opposing team and who they are likely to play on which court in order to get desirable match-ups, or match-ups that can help ensure a team win (typically winning 3 of the 5 courts), even if one or two courts are "thrown" and may not be competitive matches.

Some will go so far as to get team reports from me to look at the make-up of their team and scout opponents to see who their strongest players are and which court they typically play on.

 

[Govnor]

These sneaky captains!!!

 

[edathompson2]

O.K., that was a bit harsh on my part. But to be fair, none of you disagreed with what I said. You just defended the actions.

From my perspective, the worst people to deal with are the captains. Sorry, it's just been my experience. I'm just preparing the guy. If he knows that going in, it won't catch him off guard.

One of my friends is a captain. I hear about all the emails to each other ,grievances filed, and straight up bad mouthing each other.

That may not be the case in most places but I always ask when I go to sectionals and all the other players talk about the crappy backstabbing stuff that happens between captains.

 

[TobyTopspin]

Congrats. It's always great to feel wanted.

I enjoy leagues. You'll have a great time. Just don't take it too seriously and have fun! That's what it's all about.

 

[Govnor]

Congrats. It's always great to feel wanted.

I enjoy leagues. You'll have a great time. Just don't take it too seriously and have fun! That's what it's all about.

Thanks!! To be fair, I think they may have been a little desperate, but that's OK, I'll take it!!

 

[TobyTopspin]

Thanks!! To be fair, I think they may have been a little desperate, but that's OK, I'll take it!!

Don't worry about that. You just need to get your foot in the door.

I have a friend, who is a solid player, who wanted to play with this particular team. The team thought they were higher level players than this guy, but they needed the extra body due to availability issues so they threw him a bone and asked him to join.

After a few practices and a couple of matches the team found out this player was much better than they anticipated and also a good guy. He's a regular on their teams and social hits now.

Sometimes you just need a start.

Again, good luck and have fun,
TobyT

 

[schmke]

Don't worry about that. You just need to get your foot in the door.

I have a friend, who is a solid player, who wanted to play with this particular team. The team thought they were higher level players than this guy, but they needed the extra body due to availability issues so they threw him a bone and asked him to join.

After a few practices and a couple of matches the team found out this player was much better than they anticipated and also a good guy. He's a regular on their teams and social hits now.

Sometimes you just need a start.

Again, good luck and have fun,
TobyT

Exactly, make the most of the opportunity.

When I was forming my team this year I'd passed over a player because I'd seem him play last year and he was solid but not spectacular. I still had him join us for a practice and discovered he had improved, and he's been a solid contributor to the team.

So he made the most of his opportunity and I'm glad I kept an open mind.

 

[Cindysphinx]

O.K., that was a bit harsh on my part. But to be fair, none of you disagreed with what I said. You just defended the actions.

From my perspective, the worst people to deal with are the captains. Sorry, it's just been my experience. I'm just preparing the guy. If he knows that going in, it won't catch him off guard.

One of my friends is a captain. I hear about all the emails to each other ,grievances filed, and straight up bad mouthing each other.

That may not be the case in most places but I always ask when I go to sectionals and all the other players talk about the crappy backstabbing stuff that happens between captains.

You only hear about the bad captains.

Kind of like how you only hear about the bad drivers. Or parents. Or teachers. Or bad pretty-much-anything.

 

[dizzlmcwizzl]

@ eda

I find captains come in two flavors ...

The first is those that do it because they love captaining. Sometimes they can be a little different. It takes a special person to want to put up with all that BS ... for little more than a USTA monogrammed clipboard. Now sometimes special people are difficult to deal with ... but that is part of what makes them special.

The other type of captain are the folks that do it because no one else will and they are next in line. My observation is that they are normal ... however their skills as captain can vary wildly as they are not as passionate about the clip board.

Personally I prefer the captains that do it because they love captaining. I want to win and they consistently are the captains most interested in putting our good teams.