What Do You Think When You See Your Court Assignment?

[Cindysphinx]

You're in the line-up to play a match, set to play Court One. When the scorecard is exchanged, you see you've been moved to Court Three.

What, if anything, do you think about this?

Same question if you are moved from Court Three to Court One.

As a captain, I always wonder what players think about this sort of thing. Do they not care? Do they see a move "up" as a vote of confidence? Is a move "down" a vote of no confidence?

As a player when someone else is captain, I do notice where I am placed. For instance, I am playing Court One in my next mixed match. I am already grinding my teeth to nubs, hoping I can rise to the challenge. I feel much more relaxed if I am put on Court Three.

I have one really good 3.5 player on my 6.5 combo team. It has worked out that she plays Court Three a lot. No real reason, it has just been a way to get a reliable win. We have a match tonight against a very tough team, and I may well just put her on Court One, just as a way of saying "I don't think you're Court Three material."

Cindy -- who also has to fight off anxiety attacks if she is partnered with the captain or a superstar player who never loses

 

[volleyman]

As a captain, I tell my players: "Court number doesn't matter...a point is a point." I reinforce the point by moving folks around.

As a player, I don't care about which court number I play on. A point is a point.

In World Team Tennis, it is something of an honor to be picked for the last mixed doubles court, because that's where you can either claw your team back into contention, or slam the door on the opponents. But I personally don't sweat that either.

 

[ohplease]

As a captain, I tell my players: "Court number doesn't matter...a point is a point." I reinforce the point by moving folks around.

As a player, I don't care about which court number I play on. A point is a point.

In World Team Tennis, it is something of an honor to be picked for the last mixed doubles court, because that's where you can either claw your team back into contention, or slam the door on the opponents. But I personally don't sweat that either.

Agreed. Points are points.

 

[Topaz]

Agreed. Points are points.

I agree as well...on my team, you know going in that you will be expected to play on any of the courts. I believe it also makes things simpler, with less complaining. Also, those court #s can freak some people out (as in 'OMG, I'm on court #1!!!'), and if everyone moves around, it starts to not matter, and you just go out and play.

 

[dgrave2]

I think it also depends on what your team's goals are.. If you want to advance, I think court assignments can be a big deal. As for my team, we were newly formed so a bunch of us havent played together before, so I basically just took a stab at our lineup for tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes!

 

[robkat]

I think and would say.. " Put me anywhere, I came to play Tennis".

 

[fe6250]

It often seems to me that the 'real' top court is court #2 in USTA because of stacking. Captaining last year I always put my strongest team on court 2 because so many captains put their court 3 on court 1 and then I end up playing my strongest team against their weakest. Most of the time on 2 you got either the opponents 1 or 2 team.

I haven't had anyone really mind playing on one court or the other, but I've had some people who are psychologically uncomfortable with court 1 and 1 guy who WANTS court 1 every week. I usually accommodate these people as the rest don't care.

 

[JavierLW]

You're in the line-up to play a match, set to play Court One. When the scorecard is exchanged, you see you've been moved to Court Three.

What, if anything, do you think about this?

Same question if you are moved from Court Three to Court One.

As a captain, I always wonder what players think about this sort of thing. Do they not care? Do they see a move "up" as a vote of confidence? Is a move "down" a vote of no confidence?

As a player when someone else is captain, I do notice where I am placed. For instance, I am playing Court One in my next mixed match. I am already grinding my teeth to nubs, hoping I can rise to the challenge. I feel much more relaxed if I am put on Court Three.

I have one really good 3.5 player on my 6.5 combo team. It has worked out that she plays Court Three a lot. No real reason, it has just been a way to get a reliable win. We have a match tonight against a very tough team, and I may well just put her on Court One, just as a way of saying "I don't think you're Court Three material."

Cindy -- who also has to fight off anxiety attacks if she is partnered with the captain or a superstar player who never loses

I try to let my players know at least a week ahead of time where they are playing, and I try not to change things up on the very day of the match unless there is an injury or someone dropped out, etc....

Otherwise it's just kind of wishy-washy, and it's good for players to just be able to be focused on playing decent tennis and not have things mixed around at the last minute. Sometimes knowing what you are doing is better for that.

Probally more important than what particular position you are playing though is who your partner is going to be. Getting stuck with a new random partner on the day of the match isnt always a good thing to realize.

(although I'll admit that the stronger key players on the team take these changes a lot better than the rest of my players, although Id still try to talk to them about it a few days ahead of time first)

(and dont get me wrong, Im not even touching what the difference is between playing 1 or 3, Im just touching the subject of making sudden changes at the last minute where my players show up and now they are told they are doing something different then they had planned)

 

[fe6250]

Agree on the pairings although I try to keep the same teams together all season with few variations. When it does happen, I try to give notice and give them a chance to play together first.

 

[catfish]

Agreed. Points are points.

Yes, I'm the same as you guys. Send me to a court, I don't care which one.

 

[OrangePower]

As a player, I've never cared what court my captain puts me on. I'm usually just happy to be playing At any rate, at least in my area, court number rarely correlates to relative strength.

I'm captaining a team this year and intend to assign the court numbers randomly. That way, the opposing captain can't try to predict who's going to play where via the team's match history on tennislink (and use that information to try and get favorable matchups).

BTW, I agree 100% with those that mentioned keeping doubles pairings constant throughout the season (as much as possible, anyway). I think playing with a regular partner is worth 3-4 points per set.

 

[10ispro]

The beauty of USTA combined leagues like mixed doubles is that so long as you put out a combination that equals the level at which you are playing--there is no such thing as stacking
an 8.0 team is an 8.0 team is an 8.0 team.

therefore it doesnt matter what court you are playing on b/c technically on paper everyone is equal.

Now putting out a 7.5 team and then 2 8.0 teams is different.

what I found funny was that the women's 4.0 teams around here, put the 3.5 women at singles and have all the 4.0 women at doubles. The Logic is that doubles is worth 3 points, singles are only 2 points.....

:roll:

 

[dgrave2]

Every captain has a different trick up their sleeve... so you have no idea what you will be up against on each court. Just because you are on Doubles #3 doesnt mean you are playing their weakest. Tennis is very unpredictable!

 

[Applesauceman]

My captain's goal is to play me wherever he needs to to ensure a team win.

Plus I agree with dgrave2, 3rd doubles doesn't always mean you're the weakest pairing or that that's your opponent's weakest pairing.

 

[fe6250]

I pretty much figure that on my 3.5 team I'm expected to WIN no matter where the captain puts me. On my 4.0 team, I'm expected to do my best and hope to steal one. SO - two teams, two different roles. I think it's healthy to understand your role on a team.

 

[LuckyR]

There are definitely individuals (it is rather common, really) who do not play well in front of crowds. In many/most clubs, there is more spectator area around court 1.

 

[Geezer Guy]

When I'm assigned to court 1 I'm pretty sure not to be playing against our opponents best matchup. I usually expect a fairly easy match.

When I'm assigned to court 3 I expect not to be playing against our opponents worst team. I figure this may be a competitive match.

When I'm assigned to court #2, I never know what to expect.

-----

I just went and checked my USTA league records in the last 3 years (comprising matches at both 3.5 and 4.0 levels).

Playing court 1 I'm 4 & 2.
Playing court 2 I'm 3 & 2.
Playing court 3 I'm 7 & 4.

 

[fe6250]

When I'm assigned to court 1 I'm pretty sure not to be playing against our opponents best matchup. I usually expect a fairly easy match.

When I'm assigned to court 3 I expect not to be playing against our opponents worst team. I figure this may be a competitive match.

When I'm assigned to court #2, I never know what to expect.

-----

I just went and checked my USTA league records in the last 3 years (comprising matches at both 3.5 and 4.0 levels).

Playing court 1 I'm 4 & 2.
Playing court 2 I'm 3 & 2.
Playing court 3 I'm 7 & 4.

That's why I usually put my best or at least most consistent team on court 2. I put my tough minded on court 1 as it seems to get them motivated. The remaing team ends up on 3 and usually I can put anyone there mentally EXCEPT the big Egos who feel they have just been slammed. Toughest matches are usually on 2 though - in my opinion.

 

[burosky]

I think this discussion has some relation to "stacking". Personally, I don't care which court I am assigned. It's all the same. There's no way to tell exactly what the other captain will do. Sure there could be patterns but that's just it - patterns. It isn't a guarantee that it will be repeated.

The only time court assignment will matter to me is when I'm assigned to a court that is inferior to the other courts. I mean if the other courts are in a condition where an ATP match can be played in (exaggeration) and I get assigned to a court with huge cracks, torn nets and barely visible lines (another exaggeration), I probably will say something.

 

[lostinamerica]

When my Captain assigns me a court I go to the court I am assigned.

 

[heninfan99]

Player: Why did you move me from court #1 doubles to #3?
Captain: Cause the other team is stacking and we need this to be competitive.
Player: Oh. Where's the food?