1. Introduction................................................................................................................... 2
2. Forming a Team....................................................................................................... 2-5
3. Eligibility........................................................................................................................ 5
Membership........................................................................................................... 5
Ratings................................................................................................................... 5
4. Self Ratings.................................................................................................................. 5
5. Preparing your roster................................................................................................... 6
6. Match schedules.......................................................................................................... 6
What
about inclement weather........................................................................... 6
7. The captains' meeting................................................................................................. 7
8. The Season............................................................................................................... 7-8
Match
time/default times...................................................................................... 8
9. Playoffs.......................................................................................................................... 8
10. Wildcards..................................................................................................................... 8
Team
selection..................................................................................................... 8
Sponsorship.......................................................................................................... 8
11. Districts, Sectionals, Regionals,
Nationals........................................................... 8
12. Lineups........................................................................................................................ 9
13. Scorecards.................................................................................................................. 9
14. Rules............................................................................................................................ 9
15. Grievances.......................................................................................................... 10-11
Grievance
filed for a team forfeit...................................................................... 11
16. NTRP Complaints................................................................................................... 11
17. Using the Web/Emails............................................................................................ 11
18. Courtesy, Sportsmanship and other
Stuff.......................................................... 11
19. Glossary.................................................................................................................... 12
20. Appendix............................................................................................................. 13-15
What
is a Tie-Break............................................................................................ 13
NTRP
Guidelines............................................................................................... 14
Players
in Wheelchairs...................................................................................... 14
www.csratennis.com
site directory................................................................... 15
Adapted from
“Cliff Notes on League Tennis for Players and Captains”
INTRODUCTION
Here is a guide for you to use for USTA league
tennis. Our website, www.csratennis.com is loaded with
information, and occasionally we’ll refer you to it as we go along, but not
everything can be covered on our website. This handbook is not intended to
discourage you from contacting your level or league coordinator. Please feel
free to email us at LLC@csratennis.com
or by phone. Either way, we’re happy to help with whatever we can.
Thank you so much for playing CSRATA league
tennis. Enjoy your season!
PLEASE NOTE: This is a
guide to help you understand CSRATA league tennis. It is not a set of governing
rules. In case of any inconsistency between the guide and the governing rules,
the guide will NOT be the controlling factor. Any failure to comply with the
2. FORMING A TEAM
Congratulations. You are a captain. CSRATA
would be nothing without you. You have decided to be a captain because either
you know that you have what it takes to be a great leader of men/women, or no
one else would do it.
You need courts, players and inner
strength.
Courts: Some teams are based at private clubs while
other teams may choose a public facility as their home courts. Either
way, make sure you ask permission to host a team out of that facility. If your
team intends to have a team practice, your host facility will need to reserve
those as well. CSRATA has specific policies regarding matches
so make sure your team is set to go! Also, unless you purchase a
membership at a facility, you’ll be asked to pay a court fee each time you use
the court for practice – be prepared to pay these fees upon arrival at all
practices and/or matches. Please
take responsibility for seeing that all non-members pay their guest/court fees at
your team practice.
Each Adult league match consists of 5
individual matches, 2 singles and 3 doubles matches. (Our 2.5 and 5.0 teams
have fewer players and smaller teams, so they play only 1 singles and 2 doubles
matches.) All of our other league matches (Senior, Mixed Doubles, Combo
Doubles, and Super Senior) consist of 3 individual matches where they play 3
doubles positions. For a match played using five courts at one time, you can
generally allow 90 minutes for the match.
Coach: Some of your players may not think they need
to learn anything. How can you improve on greatness? But perhaps
you’re tired of seeing your name listed in the league standing anywhere but on
top! If your team does decide they are ready to improve and make a
serious attempt to win the season, or maybe just needs to fine tune the basics,
you’ll need to contact a tennis pro to establish the
dates, times and fees for your team’s practice.
Team Registration: This may be your
first adventure on our web site, and we think you'll find it quite easy.
All you have to do is access
When
prompted, you should choose:
Section - Southern
District -
Area – GA - CSRATA
League - Choose the
league that you are registering for play!
Flight – choose the
flight you are registering for play
Name your team - A
good way to do this is captain/co-captain – facility
Home Court - Choose
the court which you call home. If you choose “independent,” a public facility
will be assigned for scheduling purposes. To choose a home facility, select
other facility. Please ask permission to host a team out of that facility.
Facility Abbreviation USTA Code Telephone
The
Club at
Fermata
Club FC 922412616 (803) 979-2421
Houndslake Counrtry Club HCC 919359379 (803) 648-1690
Springlakes Community Tennis Ctr SL 921409193 (706) 863-5245
Waynesboro/Burke WB 920581819 (706)
554-5101
Woodside
Plantation WP 921893624 (803)
641-7974
The email address is very important. It’s our main form of
communication. It allows us to be in touch with you throughout the season. We
frequently send out emails to all captains and co-captains, keeping them in the
loop about deadlines, rules, general information. We also use email addresses
to reach individual captains when questions arise about matches, or grievances,
etc. You may also receive emails as reminders to confirm a scorecard that your
opponent has entered. It is your responsibility to keep that email address up
to date. There is a link on the www.csratennis.com
site under “Membership” called UPDATE MEMBER INFO that lets you update your
email address at any time.
If you want to be captain, but don't use
email, be sure you have a co-captain who does, so your team receives all the
information that other teams are getting.
To reward our captains, no local league fee is
charged when registering a team – only the TennisLink fee (currently $3.00). To
implement this, there is a limited period, generally for one week, when
captains can register a team on TennisLink. During this period, the roster is
limited to one player, the captain. After this limited period, players can
register for your team.
!!WARNING! WARNING!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!!
DO NOT have players register for your team
unless you are sure you have enough players to meet the minimum roster deadline
(the minimum number to field a player at every position in a team match).
CSRATA considers your registration to be a firm
commitment to bring a team to the league, and we do our scheduling based on
these firm commitments. If you are just hopeful that you will have a team, or
you think you will probably have a team, you may risk the
And if you did have enough players to meet the
minimum roster deadline, and find out that the players you were counting on are
all moving away, injured, pregnant, or deciding to go elsewhere, LET US KNOW
RIGHT AWAY. If we have not started scheduling, we can drop your team
easily and will thank you for letting us know. Teams that drop out after
the registration deadline are subject to serious grievance action, because we
may have to redo an entire schedule, forcing all the teams left in your flight
to deal with undo stress and confusion.
Format:
An individual match is best 2 of 3 sets. The 3rd
set is a 10 point tiebreak. A team wins the Match when it wins at least three of
the five individual matches played in the Adult League, (two of three for 2.5
and 5.0 and all other leagues: Senior, Mixed Doubles, Combo Doubles, Super Senior).
Players: USTA regulations require a minimum of
eight players on an Adult League team (five for 2.5 and 5.0, six for all
other leagues: Senior, Mixed Doubles, Combo Doubles, Senior) but the minimum is
not enough. USTA regulations allow you to default two of these five individual
matches (one of three if you are a 2.5, 5.0 or other league: Senior, Mixed
Doubles, Combo Doubles, Super Seniors, but that is not much fun. Your opponent
may be delighted to have such an advantage, but more often the other team is
disappointed because they had a full line-up of players who wanted to play.
Local league rules state the maximum number of individual matches forfeited by
a team for the season cannot exceed the number of team matches plus one.
So, what number of players is just right? The
maximum is 14 players for adult men and women leagues and 12 for all others
(senior, mixed, and combo).
CSRATA does allow for participation on more than one team in the
same league during the same season (example: a
player with a 3.5 rating may join both a 3.5 and 4.0 Adult
league team). However, no accommodation in scheduling is
made for players on more than one team.
USTA official policies encourage a player to
play up if he or she believes that his current rating is incorrect.
If you have a 3.0 self-rating but think you
are too good for a 3.0 team, the DNTRP three strikes program will think so
too. This National program evaluates every player's
rating after every match, and if your scores indicate three times that you are
too good to be playing on a 3.0 team, you will be disqualified and all of your
previously played matches will be forfeits.
Sometimes, due to unfortunate circumstances
(injury, job transfer, or alien abduction), a player
may request to be deleted from a team roster if he/she has not been
listed in a lineup. CSRATA will issue a partial refund of league
fees to players who request removal by the drop deadline which is 2 weeks after
the commencement of the league season.
3. ELIGIBILITY
Every player on your team must meet two
eligibility criteria: membership and rating.
MEMBERSHIP
At the start of the season, all your players
must have USTA memberships that extend at least through the end of the local
league season, including all local playoffs.
If you have players whose memberships have
expired, or will expire before the end of the season, the computer will tell
you so when you or they try to join a team. Until your player’s
membership expiration date is valid, you will not be able to add him to your
roster, and he will not be able to play for your team.
Players may join or renew their membership
online and then immediately proceed with team registration (this is the number
1, best idea!). They may also call 1-800-990-USTA and renew their memberships
by credit card. Do not wait until the last minute to add someone to your
team, and do not play him in a match unless his name appears on your team
roster on TennisLink; otherwise, the match will be disqualified.
RATINGS
Computer ratings are published twice a year -
once before the fall season (usually early-mid August), and then the final year
end ratings are published in November. If you disagree with your computer
rating, you will have an opportunity to appeal. Details of the process are
available on the CSRATA website. If you appeal, DO NOT register
for a team until your final rating has been confirmed.
So, what is a valid rating for League
Play? Basically, computer ratings are valid for a three-year period (two
years for players 60 and over) or until another computer rating is generated.
If you don’t have a valid computer rating, you
can still play league tennis. Read on…
4. SELF-RATINGS
NTRP, National Tennis Rating Program, is a
classification program that identifies and describes levels of tennis ability.
The NTRP is used to assure equitable competition in USA League Tennis.
New players and players with expired ratings
will enter the program by rating themselves using the NTRP General and Specific
Characteristics of Various Playing Levels. For a description of the
general characteristics of levels of play, see appendix A, or check it out on
the web at http://www.usta.com/leagues/custom.sps?iType=931&icustompageid=1655.
If you’re not sure what level you should be
playing, you might want to ask a pro to hit with you to help you determine
your NTRP level. Or if you play with someone who’s already in the league and
you’re beating them, you probably want to rate yourself higher than the level
they play. Of course, if they are the ones beating you, you should
probably rate yourself at a lower level. Either way, hitting with a
teaching pro is the best way to help you decide.
The opportunity to self-rate is presented when
a player registers for a team. When a player enters his or her name on a
roster, the computer checks for a valid rating, and finding none, will take the
player directly to the self-rating program. After the player has self-rated, the
player can place himself on a team roster.
5. PREPARING YOUR ROSTER
Roster When you have registered the team you have
been given a specific number for your team. Share this number with your team
members. This number is specific for each season, league, level and captain. Tell your players to go to the website www.csratennis.com and register to play
on your team. There is a player registration fee for each member. This fee
covers your league fee for that season plus membership to the CSRATA.
6. MATCH SCHEDULES
We do the initial scheduling. We will group
your team with other teams at the same skill level, and if your division is
very big, we will divide it into flights. The number of matches you have
depends on the number of available weeks in the season and the number of teams
in your group. You can find the number of matches based on the number on teams
in a flight on www.csratennis.com on
the “Schedule” page.
The master schedule is prepared by the LLC
using the TennisLink Scheduler program. The schedule includes the date,
time and location for each match and assigns that match a specific match
number. This official schedule will be published on TennisLink 5-7 days prior
to the start of league play and MUST be followed by all teams. NO
RESCHEDULING! No changing the date, time or location of a match.
There is an exception to this rule…See your
local league rules VII regarding inclement weather and tournament play. CSRATA
has determined inclement weather to mean lightning, rain or severe
temperatures. You know a temperature of 32º or colder can be pretty cold
while 100º or warmer can be down right dangerous, not to mention HOT!
Please check CSRATA League Regulations for more details on the subject.
WHAT ABOUT INCLEMENT WEATHER?
The following list of pointers can be used in the event that
bad weather prevents you from playing your matches according to the schedule.
·
The
captains will make the call as to whether or not a match will have to be
canceled due to bad weather. There is no need to call CSRATA or the league coordinator in advance
of the match concerning the weather. The facility manager can give you
information concerning the playability of courts before the league coordinator
can.
·
Upon cancellation of team matches due to inclement weather,
the captains of the teams should immediately begin discussing rescheduling,
using CSRATA regulations (Section VII. Inclement
Weather) as guiding procedures. Please confer with the facility regarding
matches noting the make up policies of each facility. These make up policies
are listed on the website. YOU
MAY NOT RESCHEDULE A LEAGUE MATCH AT ANOTHER FACILITY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE
LLC AND THE FACILITY.
·
Matches can be made up individually or as a whole team. Many
teams find it difficult to reschedule matches as a whole team. However, others
find that rescheduling the whole team at the time the match is postponed is
convenient and insures the match will be made up in a timely manner – CSRATA regulations (Section VI.
Inclement Weather) state that matches postponed due to inclement weather must
be made up within 15 days of the originally scheduled match and
that the coordinator must be notified of the plans to reschedule the match.
·
Because
of the unpredictable nature of weather, a match may be called off by the league
coordinator before the scheduled day of the match, but only in very rare
cases.
7. THE CAPTAINS’ MEETING OR…NOT?
Generally, there will be a Captains' meeting prior to the
start of the fall league season. The fall meeting is especially important
as the Local League Coordinator will be advising and discussing new rule
changes at all levels.
8. THE SEASON
All captains will receive pre-season information and
instructions from the CSRATA via mail
or email on specifics for upcoming leagues. All
important dates for each League season are posted on the Web Page. Pay
attention to any deadlines for drop dates, playoffs dates, as well as dates for
post season championships.
The number of matches you have is determined
by how many teams are at your level. Smaller flights may have a double or
even triple round robin. Larger flights will play each opponent only
once. The nominal day and time for each league and level, as well as the number
of matches per season, can be found on the Schedule
webpage.
When you are the home team:
You bring the balls! Each time you are
listed as the home team on the
schedule, you need to bring each of your singles players and/or each of your
doubles teams an unopened can of balls.
Many teams provide refreshments. This is not
required, but it is always appreciated.
If there is some question about the weather,
go to the courts early and make sure they are dry. If it looks like the
weather is going to be iffy on match day, you may want to have a prearranged
time to contact the visiting captain to confirm the court situation.
But please know that matches can only be canceled by the captains one and a half hours (1.5) prior to the
match. Otherwise, the match must be played as scheduled.
If a match is postponed or interrupted due to
inclement weather, refer to CSRATA League Regulations, Section VII.
When you are the away team:
Contact your players. If your team is not
traveling together, be sure they all know where to go and when to get there.
Plan to get there up to 30 minutes early. This gives you extra traveling time
for traffic snarls, wrong turns, forgotten racquets, nervous bladders, etc.
Remember, matches are to begin at the scheduled time.
Once you take the court, you will have ten minutes to warm-up. After fifteen
minutes, if your opponent(s) aren’t there…it’s a default. You win, but
you don’t get to play. So please be on time. Your captain will
appreciate it, your teammates will appreciate it, and even the teams that are
scheduled to play after you will appreciate it!
Sometimes, when your team shows up to play their match, the
courts you were assigned may be in use by an earlier scheduled match.
When that happens you should be prepared to send your team out as courts are
available. This is a suggested order in which to do so.
Adult
League Other
Leagues
1
Doubles 1
Doubles
1
Singles 2
Doubles
2
Doubles 3
Doubles
2
Singles
3 Doubles
A match tie-break (10-point tie-break) must be played in
lieu of the 3rd set.
MATCH TIMES/DEFAULT TIMES
Line-ups should be swap prior to the scheduled match time,
regardless of court availability. CSRATA
recommends swapping your line-up about 5 to 10 minutes before your scheduled
match time. That will give your players time to get to their assigned
courts without causing any delay.
*NOTE: Line-up swap times stand, regardless of court
availability. If no court is available at your scheduled time…your match
time will begin when a court becomes available. You’ll still have
10-minutes to warm-up and the fifteen minute default time will be in effect. (Ex. Your court becomes available at
9. PLAYOFFS
Sometimes when levels have been divided into
flights, there is the need for local league playoffs. At the end of their
scheduled matches, the top teams in each flight will need to participate
in local league playoffs at a neutral site.
Advantages: It gives a few of the teams (maybe
yours) an extra match or two. This is good. It gives a team that loses its
first few matches a reason to fight on, since finishing the season in the top
of your bracket may give you a chance to win it all in the playoffs.
Disadvantages: You may be the team that ends
the season in first place and then gets ambushed by one of the playoff teams.
Local league playoffs are part of the local
league season. In your local league playoffs you may use players who have
played only once, or even not played at all, as long as they are valid members
of your team, and were added to your roster before they played a match.
Sometimes a team might win both the Fall
and Spring season. Most of the time, the CSRATA
is eligible to send two teams at each level to participate in the District
championships. So, you’re probably wondering how we determine which “other”
team will represent CSRATA at the
State Championships. Well, in order to avoid any confusion, refer to CSRATA League Regulations VIII.
10. WILDCARDS
Sometimes wildcards are used to round
out the number of teams that advance to post season play. When the GTA
calls and offers us a wildcard, teams will be chosen by the CSRATA League
Regulations VIII.
11. DISTRICTS, SECTIONALS, REGIONALS, NATIONALS
The CSRATA Calendar, posted on our web
site includes the dates and locations of all post season Championships.
When the local league competition is over, the
winners from the Local League playoffs advance to DISTRICT competition. Think
of this as STATE competition. You will play against the winners at your level
from the other teams across the STATE. All winners will need to complete
a team entry packet listing the players that will be available to compete.
Remember that to be eligible to play at the STATE tournament for most leagues
(adult, senior, and adult mixed doubles), players are required to have played
at least two matches. (Only one may be by default. Check your CSRATA
League Regulations for specific requirements.) There is an entry fee for each
team that will be paid by CSRATA. However, your team will be required to place
deposits with the LLC for both the GTA and the CSRATA (player entry fees) to
guarantee participation at this championship level.-
12. LINE-UPS
There are several things to keep in mind when
you do your line-up…
13. SCORECARDS
A scorecard starts as a paper document. You
print a blank scorecard right from TennisLink. You will see that each
blank scorecard includes a list of eligible players for both teams. If your
opponent includes a name in their line-up that does not appear on that list,
ask some questions before you start the match.
Scorecards should be completed and exchanged
before the match starts. At the end of a
match, it’s a good idea to review scores with the opposing captains so any
discrepancies can be resolved before everyone leaves the match. Home captains should
enter the match results directly onto TennisLink within 48 hours of the
completion of the match. Once entered by one captain, the opposing captain must
confirm or contest within 48 hours. The computer record becomes the official
scorecard and the paper copy may be tossed in a drawer.
This system of captains entering their own
match results onto the web has been around for several seasons, and it's pretty
nifty. Don’t worry that it is too technologically challenging for you. The
program is very simple and the CSRATA coordinators will give you all the
help you need.
How do you do it? You will need to log onto
14. RULES
There are four layers of rules that govern
USTA matches:
A LITTLE TIP: Study the CSRATA League
Regulations. Make copies and give them to each of your players. This is better
than having a player, who does not know the rules, interrupt a match in which
you are playing. This is also better than having the other captain throw a rule in your face and you haven’t a clue.
Friend At Court is a very nifty
little publication that includes lots of very valuable information, and is
written in a manner that makes it very enjoyable reading. A link, “USTA Rules
of Tennis,” to FAC on the USTA website is also available in several places in
the contents on the CSRATA website.
Players can purchase this from National USTA
by calling toll free, 1-888-832-8291, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m.
to
15. GRIEVANCES
A grievance is a complaint against another
player or team. There are specific guidelines that must be followed when a
captain files a grievance. These directions are available at the CSRATA
website.
Grievances generally revolve around
sportsmanship issues or a rule dispute.
Poor sportsmanship is inexcusable and can turn
an enjoyable match into a heated and extremely unpleasant encounter.
When sportsmanship is a problem, the match
should be played out whenever possible, and the grievance filed afterward. When
the Grievance Committee investigates a complaint of poor sportsmanship, it
frequently turns out that there was unpleasantness on both ends of the court.
The Committee does not care who started it. It is no justification to have
received the first insult. The best advice, very difficult to follow, is to
ignore the bad behavior, play the match, and then file the grievance. Captains,
remember that you are responsible for the behavior of your players. If you know
your player has a short fuse and a big mouth, don’t play him. His behavior
reflects on you and your team.
Disputes about rules are easy to settle before
they become grievance issues. Just know your rules. Keep your Local League
Rules and a copy of Friend at Court in your tennis bag. A word of
advice: if your opponent breaks a rule, and you continue to play, don’t think
you can file a grievance later (after you have lost) and have the match
overturned. Stop and settle the dispute. If you can't settle it, stop the
match. Do not be the captain who calls several days later and moans that “We
all knew the ball was going long, but their player caught it before it bounced.
I insisted that he had broken the rules, but they made us keep playing and we
lost the match.” Or, “She wouldn’t let me go to the bathroom and so I lost the
match.”
We have very official committees to deal with
both grievances and appeals, and you can find out more about who serves on
those committees at www.csratennis.com
in our Local League Rules IX.
GRIEVANCE FILED FOR A TEAM FORFEIT
When a card is entered showing a total team
forfeit during a league season, a grievance could be filed and the
team could be dropped from the standings. There is also a limit on
the total number of individual match forfeits during a season. If a grievance
is filed, the captain of the team will be notified and given the opportunity to
appeal a decision. This is not intended as a punishment for the forfeiting
captain or team. It is simply a way of leveling the playing field for the other
teams in the flight. See Local League Rules III.G for more information.
16. NTRP COMPLAINTS
Self-rate NTRP grievance complaints should be delivered
to the Local League Coordinator and will be administered by the USTA Southern Section.
These complaints allow action to be taken against self-rated players who enter
the program clearly below their actual skill level. See our Local League Rules
IX.
Otherwise, you should rely on the Dynamic
National Tennis Rating Program to take care of those players you are sure are
out of level. National USTA has developed the Dynamic
National Tennis Rating Program, with its Three Strikes component, to monitor
the playing level of all Adult League & Senior League
participants.
Dynamic NTRP ratings will be run by the
computer to determine if any players are “clearly above level” using the
current Disqualification Procedure Guidelines. Players will be
disqualified if they achieve the currently established “clearly above level”
status three times based on all matches reported in the national database for
Adult and Senior Divisions. This includes all match play in Adult and
Senior divisions in all sections. See section VI of the Local League Rules for
details.
17. USING THE WEB/EMAIL
CSRATA has rocketed into the computer age. You
captains provide much of the information yourselves, by entering your rosters
on line and by entering matches throughout the season. By entering the
information directly, it gets to the web quickly and accurately.
What is web scouting? If you are captain of a
seriously competitive team, you can do a lot of scouting from the comfort of
your den. Enter www.csratennis.com and
go to the League Standings page. You will find that there are links all over
the place and you can jump from team to roster to player to match to opponent
and back, just by moving your cursor around until that little hand appears. You
can find a player’s history back five years. You can look at old team rosters
as well as current rosters. When you have a list of match dates showing, click
on a date to see the whole line-up with scores. Click on a team name and you
will see their record to date, their schedule, and their roster, with ratings.
E-mail that is the
easiest and fastest way to get in touch with your coordinators. Please be sure you
identify yourself by team name, level and gender, so we can respond quickly to
your questions and comments. If you ask us a question and we reply that we need
more info, please include a copy of your initial email when you respond.
18. COURTESY, SPORTSMANSHIP AND OTHER STUFF
As a courtesy to others, please remember to use outer gates
when entering courts. Never walk behind a match while a point is in
progress.
Please leave the court once your match is completed.
No one should be on court or seated on court unless involved in actual match
play.
Turn those cell phones off while playing your match.
Not only are you irritating your opponents, you’re distracting players on
adjacent courts too. If it rings repeatedly during a match, you might be
called for a hindrance, and end up losing points!
Be aware, some facilities have a dress code.
Basically, men must wear shirts…and women too! Yeah, sports bras must be
covered. Also, the clay court facilities won’t allow running shoes on
their courts, so, please wear tennis shoes. You wouldn’t want to arrive
for a match and find you aren’t allowed to go on the court.L
No smoking on the courts….enough said!
No Cell Phones
That’s it. Go play. Go win. Go enjoy yourself
with USA League Tennis.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a guide to help you
understand CSRATA league tennis. It is not a set of governing rules. In case of
any inconsistency between the guide and the governing rules, the guide will NOT
be the controlling factor. Any failure to comply with the
Benchmark rated
player – A
player, who advanced to championship or was disqualified, by whom other
players’ NTRP ratings are calculated.
Benchmark
rating – A
computer rating determined by the USTA NTRP Computer Rating System for a player
using a combination of their dynamic rating and their rating derived at
championships.
Championship
level – Any
USA League Tennis Program competition held beyond local league competition or
playoffs.
DYNAMIC RATING – A rating associated
with a player that has the potential to change with every match played by the
player.
ELIGIBILITY – Qualifications to
play.
FLIGHT – A group of teams competing
at a specified NTRP level within a local league or Championship competition
where every team in that group plays every other team to declare a
winner. When flights are established, a playoff must be held at
Championship level to determine a champion in that NTRP level. Below
championship level, the playoff may be held to determine a champion in that
NTRP level.
FOOT FAULT – A fault called against
the server for stepping on the baseline or into the court with either foot
during delivery of the service.
FORFEIT – The results of a default
or disqualification.
GAME – The part of a set that is
completed when one player or side either wins four points and is at least two
points ahead of his opponent, or wins two points in a row after deuce.
GOOD BALL – Applies to a ball in
play that lands in the court (or on any part of a line
forming the boundary of the court).
GRIEVANCE – Written formal complaint
regarding an alleged violation of a regulation or procedure.
INDIVIDUAL MATCH -
Any singles or doubles match played as part of a team match.
LEAGUE COORDINATOR – Person
appointed or hired to implement and administer the Program.
LEAGUE PROGRESSION – Local league
team winners have the opportunity to advance through area, sectional and
national championships competition. The Mixed Doubles division culminates
with Regional Championships.
LET – A point played over because of
interference. Also, a serve that hits the top of the net but is otherwise
good, in which case that serve is taken again.
MATCH – The overall contest, usually
decided by the best two out of three sets with a 10-point tie-breakl in lieu of a third set.
NET GAME – Play in the forecourt
close to the net.
NO-AD – A system of scoring a game
in which the first player to win four points wins the game. If the score
reaches 40-40 (or 3-all), the next point decides the game.
OUT – A ball landing outside the
boundary lines of the court or, on the serve, outside the boundary lines of the
receiver’s service court.
POINT – The smallest unit of score,
which is awarded to a player when the opponent does not make a good return.
What is a Tie-Break?
The set
tie-break determines the winner of a set which has reached the set score of
6-6. The winner is the first team to get to 7 points with a
2-point spread (i.e. the tie-break is not over at 7-6). A set determined by a
tie-break is scored 7-6 on TennisLink.
The match
tie-break determines the winner of the match in which one team has won the
first set and the other team has won the second set. The winner of the
match is the first team to get 10 points with a 2-point spread (i.e. the
tie-break is not over at 10-9). A match tie-break set is scored 1-0 on
TennisLink.
Singles
Doubles
In doubles, the procedure for singles shall
apply. The player whose turn it is to serve shall be the Server for the first
point. Thereafter each player shall serve in rotation for two points, in the
same order previously in that set, until the winners of the game and set have
been decided.
Rotation of Service
The player (or pair in the case of doubles)
whose turn it was to serve first in the tie-break game shall receive service in
the first game of the following set.
[Excerpt from USTA Rules of Tennis]
NTRP GUIDELINE
1.0 This player is just starting to play tennis.
1.5 This player has limited experience and is still working primarily
on getting the ball into play.
2.0 This player needs on-court experience. This player has obvious
stroke weaknesses but is familiar with basic positions for singles and doubles
play.
2.5 This player is learning to judge where the ball is going, although
court coverage is weak. Can sustain a short rally of slow pace with
other players of the same ability.
3.0 This player is fairly consistent when hitting medium-paced shots,
but is not comfortable with all strokes and lacks execution when trying for
directional control, depth, or power. Most common doubles formation is one up,
one back.
3.5 This player has achieved improved stroke dependability with
directional control on moderate shots, but still lacks depth and variety. This
player exhibits more aggressive net play, has improved court coverage, and is developing
teamwork in doubles.
4.0 This player has dependable strokes, including directional control
and depth on both forehand and backhand sides on moderate shots, plus the
ability to use lobs, overheads, approach shots, and volleys with some success.
This player occasionally forces errors when serving. Rallies may be lost due to
impatience. Teamwork in doubles is evident.
4.5 This player has begun to master the use of power and spins and is
beginning to handle pace, has sound footwork, can control depth of shots, and
is beginning to vary game plan according to opponents. This player can hit
first serves with power and accuracy and place the second serve. This player tends
to overhit on difficult shots. Aggressive net play is
common in doubles.
5.0 This player has good shot anticipation and frequently has an
outstanding shot or attribute around which a game may be structured. This
player can regularly hit winners or force errors off of short balls and can put
away volleys, can successfully execute lobs, drop shots, half volleys, overhead
smashes, and has good depth and spin on most second serves.
5.5 This player has developed power and/or consistency as a major
weapon. This player can vary strategies and styles of play in a competitive
situation and hits dependable shots in a stress situation.
6.0 to 7.0 The 6.0 player typically has had intensive training for national tournament
competition at the junior and collegiate levels and has obtained a sectional
and/or national ranking. The 6.5 and 7.0 are world-class players.
Players in
Wheelchairs:
Players in wheelchairs should use these general
characteristics to determine their NTRP skill level. The only differences
are as follows: Mobility: while players in wheelchairs may have skills
that would normally provide them a certain rating, the mobility factor suggests
that when competing against able-bodied players, they should participate at an
NTRP skill level that provides for competitive rather than compatible
play. Serving ability: Due to the nature of the player’s injury or
disability, a powerful serve may not be possible. In this case, it may be
more realistic to self-rate below 4.0 as service strength becomes key beyond
this level.