 Posted 10/5/2008 11:01:00 AM
Every two years, the state high school tennis coaches are
surveyed on potential rules changes.
This year’s survey period recently ended with more than 200 coaches
voting.
No decisions on which new rules to propose have been made yet by the leadership
of the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association and the Indiana Coaches
of Girls Sports Association.
But here are some of the results of the survey:
> Eight teams should advance to the IHSAA State Finals instead of four.
Agree 135 60.3%
Disagree 48 21.4%
No opinion 41 <...
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Posted 10/5/2008 11:00:00 AM
It’s hard to calculate the value of tradition, but in the
span of 24 hours this weekend, two traditional boys’ tennis powers won
sectional titles in eerily similar fashion.
First, on Friday afternoon in Fort Wayne, Homestead extended its state-record streak of consecutive
sectional championships to 30 with a scintillating 3-2 victory over rival Canterbury. Homestead
has four sophomores among the varsity seven.
Canterbury seemed on the verge of ending Homestead’s long
dominance, but Austin Overlander rallied from a 3-5 deficit in the decisive
third set at No. 3 singles to preserve the victory for th...
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Posted 9/12/2008 11:58:00 AM
Sectional tournaments begin in just three weeks, which means the tennis season is more than halfway completed. It zips by faster than a Roger Federer forehand. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind as the season winds down:
1.) The junior varsity is the future of the program. At this time of year, programs should pay special attention to the JV players and look for ways to keep those players motivated and improving. I always try to play an intrasquad JV doubles tournament and an intrasquad JV singles tournament in the closing weeks of the season. The kids enjoy the competition, and the results help show who has made the biggest strides this season.
2.) My athletic director sent out a memo this week to all of our school’s coaches with some useful tips. He reminded us to not forget about our weakest players on the team. He encouraged us to take a few minutes to offer encouragement or provide instruction to those beginning ...
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Posted 8/27/2008 9:43:00 AM
A little more than a week into the new high school tennis season, many coaches are still
trying to settle on a varsity lineup. I am finding this to be an especially
difficult challenge this fall because my Delta High School team is so
inexperienced – 3 seniors, 1 junior, 12 sophomores, and 8 freshmen.
Many of the
young players are going through that stage in their development where they are
showing flashes of tremendous potential but are having trouble finding
consistency from day to day. It is
normal for young players to suffer breakdowns before they achieve
breakthroughs.
I have never been a big believer in
“challenge matches” – the term for those practice matches that most high school
tennis coaches use to determine their team’s lineup. I have never quite understood why so many
coaches put so much stock in challenge matches.
I cannot imagine the basketball
coa...
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Posted 5/1/2008 10:34:00 AM
This time
of year many tennis coaches have to decide whether to gamble or play it
safe. The lineup for the IHSAA
postseason tournament (sectional, regional, semi-state, state) must be
submitted to the IHSAA from each school by May 7.
Tennis is a
unique sport in that whatever lineup (1-2-3 singles and 1-2 doubles) is used
for the first round of sectionals must be used all the way through the state
finals. Coaches are permitted to use
alternates, but cannot move a Top 7 player back and forth between singles and
doubles.
The purpose
of this rule is to prevent “stacking” – which is using a lineup where the 1-2-3
singles players and/or the 1-2 doubles teams are not lined up in proper order
of playing ability.
For many
coaches, strategy becomes a guessing game as they try to figure out which teams
they mi...
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Posted 4/22/2008 12:18:00 AM
In the last few years, I have become a big believer in
the importance of developing a theme to serve as a unifying force
during each season. This year's theme for the Delta High School girls'
team is "Lay It On The Line," which appears on our uniforms,
sweatshirts, and T-shirts. A shortened version of the theme serves as
our team chant at the end of practice or match huddles.
As a longtime yearbook advisor, I am accustomed to
working with students to create themes. For tennis, I usually work
with seniors and assistant coaches to develop possible themes. We
settled on "Lay It On The Line" for the double-meaning of giving a
total commitment to improvement as well as the imagery of a well-struck
tennis ball catching the line for a winner.
With a young team of 17 sophomores and freshmen among
our 24 players, I felt a theme that stressed making sacrifices and
giving ...
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