Author: ethomasparham

“HOO– RAH! “

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION, D. INTERNATIONALSLeave a comment

From today’s NEW YORK TIMES (Adam B. Kushner )

American players are doing better than they have in a generation. Both the men and the women are winning tournaments and crowding the top 20. 

American tennis associations have done a great job of making sure the best kids got access to top coaching during the past 15 years. Tennis is an expensive sport. Few families can afford the costs of elite development. Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Amanda Anisimova, Coco Gauff — all needed help and got it in various forms. Title IX also means the government must provide the same amount of opportunities for women’s sports as men’s sports, which has built a culture of women’s sports over the last 50 years.


Tech Tics

On By ethomasparhamIn HUMOR/ ODDS AND ENDS, J. EMERALD ISLELeave a comment

Losing can be hellish. I envisioned Hell as sports losing. Seated in a black, damp room, hell was being forced to repeatedly hear the sound of a second tennis serve hitting the net. Alernately silence is hell , as a 2 foot golf putt is “pulled”.

Lately I have wondered about some issues unrelated to sports. So, at 85 years I googled my symptoms:

“…characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements. These are typically preceded by an unwanted urge…”

NOTE: With an impressive list of personal health issues , I am sensitive to sufferers.

The quote above appeared under the definition of Tourette’s Syndrome.

Reflecting on my symptoms, while similar, I realized the problems developed in concert with my attempts to use new technology. Daily, while trying to find a password, add a new skill or remember an old one, I would turn into Mr. Hyde : Angry, screaming, retching. violent unsolicited jerking, blinking and throwing things.

Eventually I realized I was and am experiencing a new syndrome I have decided to define as

“Tech Tics”.

THE CHALLENGER ROUTE?

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION, D. INTERNATIONALS, E. SPORTS COMMENTARYLeave a comment

‘Challenger level is about survival’: brutal reality of life below elite tennis

Clips from THE GUARDIAN by Ervin Ang

“The cities, conditions are not the best, different from when you play the best tournaments. The Challengers are tough. Sometimes I get very upset because you go a long way to win 30 matches and you’re still outside the top 100. It’s way too much.”

The life of a player can be far from fancy. Casual fans may look toward Carlos Alcaraz’s lucrative sponsorship deals with envy, but those on the fringes of the top 100 and beyond live a starkly contrasting reality. The less glamorous side of the sport involves endless travelling, cost cutting to make ends meet and battling bouts of loneliness.

Kevin Clancy, a sports psychologist who worked with Ireland’s top players, believes tennis and golf are the most psychologically demanding sports. He says: “It’s roughly about 20% of the time that you’re on court and hitting the ball, so there’s 80% of the time where you’re doing a lot of thinking.

“Tennis is a sport that mentally could beat you up really, really badly. For players at Challenger level, it’s about survival. They need to play more tournaments and have that constant pressure of, ‘I need to perform and get points’.

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“These players are playing in front of a man and his dog in the middle of nowhere. It’s really tough from a psychological perspective.”

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 “It’s not just forehands and backhands, it’s how much can you suffer? How much can you travel? How much can you sleep in different beds every week? We take almost as many flights as pilots. It’s a lonely sport.

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For all their sacrifices, a juicy financial return is far from guaranteed. In 2024, Nikoloz Basilashvili returned from an elbow injury and earned $63,183 in prize money. But after subtracting flight costs and paying his coaches, the Georgian said he made a net loss of about $120,000.

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“You are mostly alone and you don’t really have a lot of friends to talk to. I don’t know if there is any other sport like this, to take a flight on the same day you play a match and then next week you are in another city. 

Whoa, Nelly

“WHOA, NELLY!”

THE HOOK, THE STINGER, AND THE DTL

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION, The Little Green Book of Tennis Reviews1 Comment

One of nine people are left-handed. Baseball pitchers and tennis players seem to have an advantage, if left-handed. In tennis the “hook ” serve from a southpaw spins wide to the backhand return of right handers. Lefty Nadal added ” the stinger ” as a second tool to pressure the same effect. ( see link to THE CIRCLE STINGER–https://littlegreenbookoftennis.com/2020/02/28/tennis-tactics-the-circle-stinger-65/

The return to counter the hook and the stinger was the “down the line return “. AI (ChatGPT)

( The next link–https://chatgpt.com/c/6894c0a6-cc94-8327-a93f-c63a68bc3c6b) compares records of FEDERER, NADAL, AND DJOKOVIC ! Pretty close !!!

The Joker seemed better than Rodger at the DTL return.

Last night Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov upset Fritz and Zerev. Tonite the classic battle looms : Ben has the lefty hook. Khachanov has a great two handed backhand.

Let the games begin!

https://chatgpt.com/c/6894c0a6-cc94-8327-a93f-c63a68bc3c6b

THE HIDDEN TRUTH

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTIONLeave a comment

The Hidden Truth

AI makes data accessible.   Please acknowledge 1.  What is the % of International players playing in the starting singles and doubles positions on the top fifty ranked men and women’s tennis  American college tennis players :  NCAA 1 and 11, NAIA, and JUCOS.  2.  Assuming the starters get the lion’s share of scholarships, what is true % of tennis scholarships awarded to Americans?

THE REST OF THE STORY 2

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION1 Comment

College tennis faces an uphill battle

Like most Olympic sports in the post-House world, tennis has a murky future

Pete Janny
July 21, 2025

Kent also cited the foreign influence on college tennis, and he believes the financial stressors in 2025, like revenue sharing, may lead to an even larger proportion of international players on rosters. According to an NCAA report released in 2022, 61 percent of men’s tennis players and 66 percent of the women are from outside the United States, marking a large increase from the 38 percent and 50 percent, respectively, reported in 2006-07. The 2025 national championship-winning Wake Forest men and Georgia women both follow this trend; 63 percent of the Wake Forest men are internationals, along with 58 percent of the Georgia women. 

August 5th, 1999 From TENNIS WORLD by Beth German:

“The NCAA is also to be blamed for not keeping tennis specific numbers. It is impossible to find out how many international players take roster spots, scholarships or Graduate from college.”

*****( COMMENT ON THESE “EXCERPTS”) 

I support the Pete Janny article, adding this:  He, as others in the past ( the USTA, ITA , etc),  have cited the % of internationals on American college tennis rosters including all members of all rosters.  Above it is 61% for men, 66% for women.  

While acknowledging a significant increase, it doesn’t give a complete picture of the real situation.  

Technology makes research easier.  Embedded below is a “jackleg “ effort I made —studying the top college teams in 2025.   Bottom line:  All divisions (NCAA 1, 11, NAIA, JUCOS, men and women averaged about 90% of starters.  And most probably “scholarshipped “ players.  Only NCAA 111 (non- scholarship ) and NCAA 1 women were less than 90%.

Wake Forest featured 11 of 12 international singles and doubles participants .  Georgia’s Women 10 of 12.  

Admitting readily my amateur study is questionable, most of my coaching “veterans” concluded,  “…that’s about right. “

For 50 plus years any allotment or quota that saved scholarships was dismissed by a lawsuit feared;  a threat based on “ discrimination based on national origin. “  Ironically the current administration is taking a strikingly similar position on EDUCATION.  Is higher education awarding too many of the best slots to brighter international students ?

How would the current judiciary rule on that? Just saying!

For the MISSING CHART click on the link below or MILESTONES https://littlegreenbookoftennis.com/2025/02/25/milestones/

Scroll to THE REST OF THE STORY,  then on down to THE MISSING CHART.