Let the Stacking commence!!!

[AutoXer]

Here is the deal. We have to win one line in our last match to win the league. We are playing the second place team. They need all three line to pull ahead of us on individual wins. If they win the match both teams would be 5-1. I assume Individual Wins is the 1st tiebreak. We are now at 13-11 in that category.

I am guessing they are going to play straight up cause they have to win 3 lines to pull ahead on wins.

Our best pair can't beat their best pair.

Our best pair should be able to win line 2 and line 3 should be a lock for them.

Should we put our best pair at 3, then next best pair at 2 and 3rd best at line1?

How would you stack the lineup for either team?

 

[JLyon]

if everyone has the same rating, then technically you are not stacking, it is all tactical, but it can also backfire on you if you're not careful.

 

[dizzlmcwizzl]

Usually Three - One - Two is the way to go if your opponent is better than you and playing straight up.

 

[ChipNCharge]

if everyone has the same rating, then technically you are not stacking

Well, the USTA allows players to play UP. So, a good 4.0 could be playing a bad 3.5 at line 1. In my opinion, putting a weak 3.5 at line 1 in a 4.0 USTA league is stacking.

 

[bcart1991]

Tough call. What if they call it the same as you do?

I usually play straight-up in a crunch. Nothing New On Race Day and all.

 

[AutoXer]

Looks like we are thinking our line 3 at 1, our line 1 at 2 and our line 2 at 3.

Thanks dizzle

 

[J_R_B]

Looks like we are thinking our line 3 at 1, our line 1 at 2 and our line 2 at 3.

Thanks dizzle

If I were the other team, I would plan for you to do that and stack my team, too.

 

[damazing]

Can you tell if the other team ever swapped it's lineups during the season? Some teams always play their best lines at other than line 1 from what i've seen.

 

[onehandbh]

Write out 3 lineup sheets. Put them in one stack so it looks like
you have just one lineup sheet. Put them in a binder or clipboard
to help hide the fact you have 3 lineup sheets and are picking
one of them.

When you do the exchange of lineups, make sure the other
captain gives you his lineup just before you give him yours.
You then, using a bit of deception, quickly pull out the
lineup you wrote that gives you the best matchups.

I don't advocate doing this, but I know a captain that does
this on a regular basis for pretty much every match.
Not good sportsmanship.

 

[goober]

Write out 3 lineup sheets. Put them in one stack so it looks like
you have just one lineup sheet. Put them in a binder or clipboard
to help hide the fact you have 3 lineup sheets and are picking
one of them.

When you do the exchange of lineups, make sure the other
captain gives you his lineup just before you give him yours.
You then, using a bit of deception, quickly pull out the
lineup you wrote that gives you the best matchups.

I don't advocate doing this, but I know a captain that does
this on a regular basis for pretty much every match.
Not good sportsmanship.

Pretty devious:twisted:

I don't see how you could carry this on for an extended period of time, people will catch on and the captain and team (by association) will get a very bad rep.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Write out 3 lineup sheets. Put them in one stack so it looks like
you have just one lineup sheet. Put them in a binder or clipboard
to help hide the fact you have 3 lineup sheets and are picking
one of them.

When you do the exchange of lineups, make sure the other
captain gives you his lineup just before you give him yours.
You then, using a bit of deception, quickly pull out the
lineup you wrote that gives you the best matchups.

I don't advocate doing this, but I know a captain that does
this on a regular basis for pretty much every match.
Not good sportsmanship.

This would never work against me.

I have my line-up sheet in my hand and ask if you are ready. When your line-up sheet is in your hand, we exchange. It isn't possible for you to pull a fast one.

Regarding the opening post, I would play 2-1-3. The reason is that I would have my weakest team on Court Three in case of a default. Also, I don't like to "sacrifice" a team unless it is truly necessary -- not good for morale.

 

[bodieq]

Our best pair can't beat their best pair.

Our best pair should be able to win line 2 and line 3 should be a lock for them.

Should we put our best pair at 3, then next best pair at 2 and 3rd best at line1?

How would you stack the lineup for either team?

Tell me if I'm reading this correctly: they have the best pair and their normal line 3 is also better than yours.

...it sounds like to me your team doesn't deserve to win the league-division. The other team sounds like they have more overall depth on their roster and they probably deserve to win league so they can be a better representative in playoffs/districts, etc.

 

[ProgressoR]

i thought stacking was illegal?

 

[goober]

i thought stacking was illegal?

NO it is not illegal because technically it does not exist. USTA treats all lines the same. People and teams have superficially imposed that line 1 is equal to #1 doubles and therefore the best team.

There have been a couple threads about this, but generally most people agree if the USTA wanted people to play random lines they could probably start by naming lines something else other than 1,2 and 3.

 

[autumn_leaf]

i thought stacking was illegal?

maybe you're thinking college. there was an argument about my team's lineup since one of our players that played flight 6 singles got bumped up to flight 4 singles and the other team argued about it (it was the quarter finals for the conference). even though the player deserved to be at flight 4 because he had a good win record and beat our flight 5 and 6 in ladder matches he was forced to play at flight 6 because that's where he was for most of the season.

 

[rainman007]

in my opinion, play it straight up.. IF they win all 3 courts they are the better team and tell them congratulations.. If you can muster any 1 of the 3 then you get 1st place.. if you cannot get 1 of 3 then maybe they deserve to get 1st??
i can see you still having a better team if you lose 2 of 3 but all 3??

you may win all 3 that would feel better and give confidence heading into state..

just my opinion

 

[JavierLW]

Usually Three - One - Two is the way to go if your opponent is better than you and playing straight up.

Yes but he's in the unique position where he only needs one match.

3-2-1 would make more sense in that case.

But given that you dont have a 100% chance of winning any position (or at least you shouldn't), I think if you do the math on it according to probability theory, going straight up is about the same as stacking...

 

[rainman007]

oh, and how are you 13-11 in individual wins and 4-1 overall currently?

 

[rainman007]

4-0 i mean

 

[Larrysümmers]

would having points based on courts help matters. like a win on 1 is 5 points win on 2 is 3 points and win on 3 is 2 points? or something like that. or would doing that just make it more complicated?

 

[JavierLW]

There have been a couple threads about this, but generally most people agree if the USTA wanted people to play random lines they could probably start by naming lines something else other than 1,2 and 3.

Sometimes they have numbers above the physical courts themselves.

Court #1
Court #2
Court #3
etc....

It doesnt necessarily mean that one court is better to play on then another.....

Numbers are just that.

 

[AutoXer]

oh, and how are you 13-11 in individual wins and 4-1 overall currently?

Our team has 13 individual wins and the other team has 11 individual wins.

 

[slice bh compliment]

You put your best against theirs, your second best against theirs and your third best against theirs.
May the best team win.

If they beat you, they deserve it.
If you win, you deserve it and you can leave the match knowing you won without stacking. Cheers!

 

[rainman007]

You put your best against theirs, your second best against theirs and your third best against theirs.
May the best team win.

If they beat you, they deserve it.
If you win, you deserve it and you can leave the match knowing you won without stacking. Cheers!

I agree with this.. Its ok at state to mix your lineups so your not predictable but playing it straight up will probably suprise them anyhow.. you never know where people are gonna put people.. if it ends up each other straight up you only need 1 court.. in our state the top 2 get to goto state anyhow..

how did the outcome go?

 

[Todd6060]

Regarding the opening post, I would play 2-1-3. The reason is that I would have my weakest team on Court Three in case of a default.

If I'm stacking I make sure not to exchange lineups until all players from both teams have arrived.

 

[kylebarendrick]

I'd go with the theory that many captains don't like putting their best line at #3 since defaults are taken from the bottom up. With that in mind I'd put my best team at #3 if I only needed one win.

 

[AutoXer]

Well we won 2 lines and won the match. We decided not change what got us to this point and played straight up.
Here we come State

 

[vandre]

Well, the USTA allows players to play UP. So, a good 4.0 could be playing a bad 3.5 at line 1. In my opinion, putting a weak 3.5 at line 1 in a 4.0 USTA league is stacking.

you mean like having a 2.5 play #1 singles in a 3.0 league???

 

[polski]

If you have a legitimate 3.5 playing on your 4.0 team, you are not stacking. You are simply giving up a line.

 

[Cindysphinx]

If I'm stacking I make sure not to exchange lineups until all players from both teams have arrived.

Our rules require line-up exchange 5 minutes before match time. Failure to exchange is loss of toss and one game on all courts. Failure to exchange by the time the match is set to begin is a default on all courts.

So you do have to exchange on time, even if no one but the captain has arrived for the other team.

 

[tennislefty]

after all my years of captaining,,the motto is ..if you can take 2nd dubs, your odds of taking the match are best.

 

[Todd6060]

Our rules require line-up exchange 5 minutes before match time. Failure to exchange is loss of toss and one game on all courts. Failure to exchange by the time the match is set to begin is a default on all courts.

So you do have to exchange on time, even if no one but the captain has arrived for the other team.

What happens if one of the #1 doubles players doesn't show up? The default has to be moved to either #2 singles or #3 doubles, and I assume the defaulting captain gets to choose which one. But they've seen your lineup and can use that to their advantage in deciding how to rearrange their lineup to win 3 of the remaining 4 matches.

 

[decades]

just turn all your ringers loose.

 

[tennislefty]

where we are, the default is always bottom up, if a team has to default agaisnt another its always 3rd court dubs or 2nd singles

 

[slick]

Technically speaking I think the first tiebreak is actually the team with the least matches lost, followed by least number of sets lost, followed by least number of games lost. Of course in this case it won't matter because matches won will be the inverse of matches lost but if you were to tie in matches it would then go to least sets LOST as the next tiebreak.

 

[brad1730]

Have you stacked previously in the season? If so, then they will more than likely anticipate it from you again. IMO, stacking works best when it comes as a surprise.

What I would do? If I haven't stacked before, I would place #3 at #1 and give it up. I would place normal #1 at #2 and try to take it, and place #2 at #3 and try to take it.

If I've stacked before, I would anticipate a stacking on their side (especially if they've done it before in the season), and I would play it straight. They'll do the stacking for you.

 

[Cindysphinx]

What happens if one of the #1 doubles players doesn't show up? The default has to be moved to either #2 singles or #3 doubles, and I assume the defaulting captain gets to choose which one. But they've seen your lineup and can use that to their advantage in deciding how to rearrange their lineup to win 3 of the remaining 4 matches.

Our rules say that Court Three gets defaulted. If a Court One player doesn't show up, the players on that team on the lower courts move up. So their Court Two players now play Court One.

Neither captain gets to re-arrange their line-up once the line-ups have been exchanged.

That said, it is the responsibility of the non-defaulting captain to see to it that the rules are followed. If she doesn't care or wants to do things differently, she can propose something.

There was one time when I was playing Court Two and a Court Two opponent did not show up. What should have happened was that the opposing Court Three pair would move up and play against me. Rather than doing that, we just let them stay on Court Three and play against our Court Three pair. The reason was that my Court Three pair hadn't played many matches that season, so I wanted them to get to play. Opposing captain was fine with it, so that's what we did.

 

[cll30]

You put your best against theirs, your second best against theirs and your third best against theirs.
May the best team win.

If they beat you, they deserve it.
If you win, you deserve it and you can leave the match knowing you won without stacking. Cheers!

You can set your own lineup by putting the strongest players at #1 and the next best at #2 etc., but you have no control over how the opposing team sets their lineup and you have no way of knowing in advance how your opponent will place their players.