Gamesmanship

We just returned from backtoback tournaments so we're swamped with videos (THANK GOODNESS), but I wanted to take a moment to add to this very new and very exciting blog, lol. I'm stepping slightly away from the theme of this blog (for a moment) to share something with you because it happened recently and, actually, it happens ALL THE TIME. Hopefully, this will be of interest to you and you may have some thoughts that you'd like to share with others...The specific details don't actually even matter but I need YOUR advice on what to say when parents approach me for MY advice: How should they handle it when their player is the victim of gamesmanship?

Hmmm...So what is gamesmanship anyway? I don't know officially, but here's what I think it is - when Player A deliberately does whatever it takes to 'get in the head' of Player B - kind of like a form of mental manipulation - and then Player B is so distracted and disturbed that Player A wins the match (which was the intention).

A good tennis parent supports their tennis players by letting them solve the problem of how to win the match. But when gamesmanship enters the equation, all bets are off...and parents wonder how to best guide their players. I've heard the whole range of approaches, from "we'll probably stop playing competitive tennis" to "my player will have to toughen up to play this sport" to "this is part of life and if the other player resorts to this kind of behavior, I'll advise my player that they'll just have to start dishing it back".

I just shake my head and say that I'm really sorry about it but they are not alone. Seriously, this happens ALL THE TIME...What are your thoughts on this??? Remember THE VERY LAST THING we want to do is generate any controversy whatsoever. If you include a name in your post, it will be promptly deleted. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

Different Perspectives

As you may recall, we're collecting anonymous responses to address possible ways that we might work together to improve junior tennis. With respect to sportsmanship, we received very interesting comments that can be summarized as follows:

• PLAYER'S Perspective: "Players should be more honest and have better attitudes."


• PARENT'S Perspective: "Referees should not put up with bad behavior on the court."


• PRO'S Perspective: "Officials must penalize bad behavior."

HIGH-TECH TENNIS Perspective: Winning the Sportsmanship Award at a junior tennis tournament seems so much more important in the long run than winning the tournament itself. We think the good person has so much more to offer the world than the good tennis player. If it were up to us (which is absolutely is not), we'd like to see the Sportsmanship Award included at each and every tournament. Further, we were encouraged when we recently read about a league that requires players to rate their opponent's sportsmanship after each match. What a novel concept!

We encourage every player prior to the beginning of the tournament to do their best to win the Sportsmanship Award. This generates some interesting responses, ranging from "I'll try my best," to "That'll never happen!"

Obviously, our opinion is just that and others have a very different take on this. Consider the player who gave this response: "Why would I want to waste my time on that? I'm going to win the tournament!" And don't even get me started on Andre Agassi's father smashing and destroying Andre's Sportsmanship Trophy...Talk about destroying his spirit.

So what do YOU think about this topic? We are very interested in initiating a dialog and hopefully learning from each other. Remember that THE VERY LAST THING we want to do is generate any controversy whatsoever. Please share your thoughts but do not include any names or your post will be promptly deleted.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, we hope you enjoy this topic, and we can't wait to see YOU!!! Cheers! :)

Sportsmanship

Our research clearly shows that the topic of Sportsmanship is an overwhelmingly important topic so we will begin with this. Further, a recent article by Bill Ozaki points out that sportsmanship is alive, well, and growing stronger.

But what exactly IS sportsmanship all about? Well, it's certainly about more than a hand shake, though our cameras have seen the players who shake hands in a sincere manner (and the ones who don't) at the net when the match is over. And we're DEFINITELY not addressing the huuuge topic of cheating in junior tennis in this post...We'll save that little gem for a future post, lol.

Some people define sportsmanship as the "golden rule" of sports - in other words, treating the people you play with and against as you'd like to be treated yourself. You demonstrate good sportsmanship when you show respect for yourself, your opponent, and all referees and officials.

And, it's not only important to behave well on the court...it's also good strategy. We've learned that players should always react in the same way, whether they win or lose the point, the game, the set, or the match. Smart players know better than to let their opponent see their reactions.

Finally, a big part of good sportsmanship is having a good reputation. So why not strive for the reputation of a gracious player who is always pleasant and always fair (my hero Roger Federer comes to mind here). Our cameras have seen players like this and they are admired by fans and opponents alike. So good sportsmanship is one thing - and bad sportsmanship is quite another. We'll address that little gem in a later post as well...lol.

So what do YOU think about this topic? We are very interested in initiating a dialog and hopefully learning from each other. Remember that THE VERY LAST THING we want to do is generate any controversy whatsoever. Please share your thoughts but do not include any names or your post will be promptly deleted.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, we hope you enjoy this topic, and we can't wait to see YOU!!! Cheers! :)

Anonymous Research Project

Over the past 18 months, we've been conducting anonymous research in an ongoing effort to answer this open-ended question:
"My One Suggestion To Improve Junior Tennis Is..."

We've created this blog to share the information with you and we hope you find it as interesting and as thought-provoking as we did. Let's generate a dialog about potential ways that we can work together to
improve the sport of junior tennis.

NO NAMES PLEASE.
If you post a comment that includes a name,
it will be promptly deleted.
THE ABSOLUTE LAST thing we want to do is
generate any controversy whatsoever.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

We attend 25+ tournaments each year and we've got LOADS of observations. We've also got responses from tennis players, tennis parents, and tennis professionals.....and we'd love to hear from YOU
so please share your thoughts!

If you're not part of the solution,
you're part of the problem.

HIGH-TECH TENNIS chooses to be part of the solution.