Georgia Junior Tennis - Your Guide to Junior Tennis in Georgia

This week in Tennis

2010-06-06T21:39:00.000-04:00

As usual it is extremely hot in Macon, I don't know how the players handle it. Alot of great tennis is being played as some kids are trying to earn a spot in the Southern Closed.

A couple of key dates for this week:
1) Challenger deadline is Monday (although the deadline will probably be extended as it was originally supposed to be closed on Saturday). My take on this tournament is that it offers a great opportunity to jump on some points for next years Qualifier. What I don't understand is why someone who ages up between now and next June would play in their current age group rather than try to get points for next June, unless of course they are trying to collect another trophy.
2) Southern Closed deadline is Friday.
3) Southern Open Clay court deadline is Thursday

Stay cool in Macon.

Georgia Rankings posted today

2010-05-18T21:39:00.001-04:00

Earlier today the latest Georgia rankings were posted. I noticed that these rankings didn't remove the points earned from last years qualifier. There should be a new ranking list published that removes these points and that is what should be used for the selections.

Things to keep in mind:
1) If you play up, your lower age ranking isn't used for the selection. So if you signed up for 16's and you are #5 in Georgia in the 14's and #70 in Georgia in the 16's, your 16's ranking is all that matters.
2) Southern ranking doesn't help you get into the qualifier
3) Southern ranking is used for seeding
4) You must play in the qualifier to have the chance at being endorsed for the Southern Closed
5) You must play in the Qualifier and Southern Closed to have the chance of being endorsed for super nationals (unless you receive a waiver which is very difficult)
6) You must play in the same age group throughout the entire process. You can't play 14's in qualifier, then 16's in southern closed.

Stay tuned for more updates leading up to the Qualifier.

Georgia Qualifier, Who gets in?

2010-05-17T21:40:00.006-04:00

The deadline for the Georgia Qualifier closes on May 17th. The standing list will be posted on Tuesday May 18th and this is the list that is used to determine who gets into the Qualifier. Keep in mind that for ages 12-18, the top 64 ranked (GA Rankings) players that enter will be accepted. For 10U it is the top 32 players. Southern Ranking doesn't help you get accepted into the GA Qualifier.

The standings list posted on May 18th is also used to determine which age a player can play in for the Challenger (Rome tournament between Qualifier and Southern Closed). If you are ranked in the top 30 in Georgia you must play up for 12, 14's and 16's. This rule doesn't apply to the 10's and 18's. The points earned in the Challenger will go towards your entry for next years qualifier so it is an excellent opportunity to get a jump start on next year, especially if you age up before then.

Looking alittle further ahead, between now and the end of the qualifier, any points you earn will help you to get into the Southern closed. Keep in mind that you must play in the GA qualifier to have a chance to be endorsed for the Southern closed.

Click Here for more info. on the Georgia Qualifier

2010 USTA Georgia Yearbook

2010-03-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

The 2010 yearbook has been posted to the USTA Georgia website. A smaller version of the yearbook will be sent in the mail. Click Here to view the digital version.

Nation's largest tennis center coming to Georgia?

2010-03-05T20:10:00.000-05:00

There are discussions going on to build the nation's largest tennis center in Rome Georgia. The complex would have 74 courts including 14 quick start courts.

If this were to go through it could potentially bring many larger tournaments to Northern Georgia and would make it easier when attending a tournament. Many players have been to Mobile where they have 60 courts, and it is nice not having to run around from facility to facility, especially if you have more than 1 player to watch.

Click for further details

Preparing for the Georgia Qualifier

2010-02-14T10:02:00.002-05:00

While it may seem far away, parents and players need to start thinking about the Macon Qualifier. For many players, their ranking is right where it needs to be, but many others need several good tournaments before they are in a position to get into the Qualifier.

Qualifier Key Dates:
Deadline to enter: May 17th
Tournament starts: June 5th
Acceptance will be based on GEORGIA ranking that is published around May 19th

Seeding for the tournament s based on Southern ranking even though acceptance is based on Georgia raankings.

For 10's: Top 32 players that apply will be accepted
12's - 18's: Top 64 players that apply will be accepted

You don't necessarily have to be in the top 32 or 64 to get accepted as some players won't play and others will play up. For example, in the boys 14's you need to be around the top 75 to get accepted.

So what should you be doing now to ensure your player gets in.
1) Determine about how many points you will need to get into the top 75 (Example: top 75 in Boys 14's is about 1,000 points)
2) Check which tournaments will drop off your ranking between now and May
3) Do your best to get the necessary points by focusing on appropriate tournaments. (For example, while a level 3 has more Georgia points for winning it, they are more difficult and you may be better off playing in a level 4)
4) Don't wait until May to get your points. Sometimes these tournaments get more competitive as players scramble to get their points. In addition, bad weather always seems to occur when you least want it to.

In looking ahead, you need to play in the Qualifier to have the opportunity to gain acceptance into the Southern Closed.

2010 Tournaments Feed In Consolation Changes

2009-12-31T09:43:00.002-05:00

It appears that most tournaments in 2010 will have a Full-Feed-In (FIC) through the quarterfinals with a 3/4 playoff. This looks to be the case for level 4 and level 5 tournaments as well.

I am not sure yet on the impact to points, but my guess is points will be awarded based on how far a player goes in the main/consolation draws rather than points for the main draw and then 20 or so points for each consolation match won. For example, if a player wins, loses, loses, they would have the same points as someone who loses, wins, loses which is much different than a MFIC.

I will post more on this when I find out the full details. Feel free to add comments if you have further insight.

Ranking when 2 players have the same points

2009-12-20T09:45:00.001-05:00

I have always wondered how it is determined who gets ranked first when 2 players have the exact same number of points. Then my son was in a situation where another player had the same southern points as he had, and the other boy was awarded the last seed in a tournament, and my son was not seeded.

So, what is the tie break procedure for players with the same point totals on the Standings/Rankings list?
1. A player whose best event has the highest number of points, second best, third best, etc through 8 events (Southern is 6 events).
2. Total Bonus Points earned in all events played during the computation period
3. Best random draw number

It is amazing that 1 point could be the difference between getting into a tournament or not, or being seeded.

New USTA Ranking Search Functionality

2009-12-11T21:08:00.001-05:00

The USTA rankings system added some new functionality this week. You can now perform a search for a specific USTA member number and for certain dates. USTA continues to roll out new functionality that I feel makes the experience much better.

I would like to see the following enhancements added to the list in 2010:
1) When looking at a players record, being able to click on the tournament name to go that tournament's results.
2) Within the rankings, being able to input dates to see how the rankings change. For example, it would be nice to be able to search from mid-June forward to see how the rankings stack up for next June's qualifier.
3) Aggregated results: It would be nice to see an aggregated view of a players results. For example, how many tournaments they have won, how many 2nd place finishes, their tie-break record, record by tournament level, record in singles versus doubles, etc.

Anyway, USTA's enhancements are very psoitive and it wouldn't hurt to let them know you appreicate the functionality. There aren't many recreational sporting systems that embrace technology as well as the USTA does.

Click Here to go to rankings page.

Player's Sportsmanship is a Reflection of the Parents

2009-11-06T19:44:00.000-05:00

For some players and parents, their motto is "Win at any cost". If you have been around competitive junior tennis for any length of time, you have no doubt experienced poor sportsmanship. This can range from bad language to cheating, to more subtle sportsmanship such as the banging of a racket.

What makes it worse is that parents don't do anything about it and in some cases they even participating in it. In many cases a parent will say their junior player lost because they didn't play well, they give no credit to the opponent who may have played at the top of their game.

I don't understand how a parent can sit and watch their junior kick, scream, throw their racket, use bad language, or even yell at an umpire, and do nothing about it. Then afterwards they will come up to the opponent or the opponents parent and give an apology and act as if this is the first time it has happened.

The bottom line is that a junior player won't change unless the parents force them to change by removing their junior from a match or tournament, or even stop putting them in tournaments. Why wait for the USTA to give suspension points or suspend a player, when it is the parents job to do something about the situation long before the USTA has to suspend them.

Aging Up List

2009-11-04T12:47:00.000-05:00

Alot of players and parents like to know when a certain player is aging up. Unfortunately there isn't a list published by USTA that shows when a player will be aging up.

What can be done is look at previous years to determine when a player came off the rankings list. For example, if you are wanting to know when a player who is currently at the top of the Boys 14's in April 2009 will be aging up, you could look at that same player for the April 2007 Boys 12's to see if they were on the ranking list, then check May 2007 Boys 12's rankings to see if that player is on the list. If they are on the April list but not the May list, then that most likely means that they age up in May of odd years. If they are still on the May list, then look on the June 2007 list, and so forth.

In some cases this may not work for several reasons:
1) The player may not have been playing back then
2) The player could have moved here from a different state or division (you can check other states/divisions)
3) If a player hasn't played in their age group in the last 12 months, they will be removed from that age group even if they haven't aged up. (For example, if a 12 year began playing ONLY 14's when they were 11 years old, they will be removed from the 12's before their 13th birthday). You can look at their tournament history to figure this out.

So for a player wondering how many other players will be aging up before the next big tournament, you can use the above methodology to get a sense of who may be aging up.

Deadlines for Tournament Entry

2009-10-27T15:16:00.002-04:00

Have you ever noticed that alot of parents sign up their junior player at the very last moment before the deadline. Now I can certainly understand waiting until the last day or so because personal schedules can change or perhaps another reason (e.g. weather forecast if the deadline is within a couple of days of the tournament).

I see this happening more in tournaments where there is an unlimited number of entries that will be accepted or the tournament doesn't have many entries (level 4's and 5's). For larger tournaments such as Level 1's and 2's, this doesn't happen as much, but you do tend to get a large number of entries on the last day.

I personally like the approach that national tournaments take which is usually an 11:59 AM deadline. My recommendation however would be to have a deadline of 8pm.

On a related note, have you ever noticed that the list of players under the competitors list sometimes has more than what was originally under the applicants list. This has to do with late entries or in some cases it can happen because a player has a credit from a past tournament due to a rain-out or tournament cancellation. In these cases it would be nice if the Tournament Director entered those entries before the deadline. Anyway, I do feel that some parents try to cheat the system by signing up after the deadline but before the competitors list is published.

I would say the biggest reason that a parent signs their junior player up at the last minute is to see who else is playing in that tournament which can impact seeding and potentially outcomes. Depending on the answer, parents sometimes choose to not have their child play in the tournament or perhaps sign them up for a less competitive tournament. I can say from experience, going into a tournament thinking you child should win it isn't the best plan.

Acceptance into Tournaments

2009-10-07T21:24:00.007-04:00

Depending upon the type of tournament, not all applicants will be accepted. Most local level 5 tournaments will accept everyone. In some cases they may limit the draws to 16 players, but will have more than 1 draw for that age group.

Higher level tournaments such as level 1 thrugh level 3 tournaments can definetly be more challenging to get into. These tournaments also tend to be more competitive in that there is typically a higher caliber of player because many of the lower ranking players don't get accepted.

So what can you do to have a better chance of your child getting into a tournament, PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.

It amazes me how some parents are shocked when their child didn't make it into a tournament. They may be applying for a Bullfrog (level 2 Southern) and wonder why their child who is top 50 in the state didn't get accepted.

Important things to know:
1) Acceptance into most tournaments are based on Southern Rankings.
2) The main exceptions to this rule are the Georgia Qualifier (Based on GA Ranking), Southern Closed (Based on GA Ranking) and National Tournaments (Based on National Ranking).
3) Georgia Rankings don't mean much except for the GA Qualifier and Southern closed where Georgia receives a quota based on the age group. Typically around 20 players for the 10's and around 40 players for the 12's through 18's.

When trying to figure out if your child will be accepted into a tournament, you should plan way ahead. For example, you can look at the previous years tournament and see if there were any alternates. Look up the first alternate on the Southern rankings list that came out just prior to that tournament, and that will give you a gauge on where your child needs to be to get in. It can definetly vary some, bit it will give you a good idea.

Keep in mind that each tournament is different. A Bullfrog in Macon or Raleigh will be more competitive than a Bullfrog in Little Rock or Jackson Mississippi.

For the GA Qualifier and Southern Closed, take a look at who made it and who didn't. For the GA qualifier, the top 64 ranked players in GA that apply will be accepted (top 32 for 10's). This typically means that your child needs to be in the top 80 to make it, this is because some kids will play up, and some kids won't enter.

The other thing to keep in mind is that depending upon your southern ranking in a lower age group, you can use it to help get into an older age group. For example, if you are in the top 40 in the Southern rankings in the 10's, that can help you to get into the 12's even if you don't have any points in the 12's.

Draws of 64: Must be in top 80 in younger age group in southern rankings, up to 8 will be taken. If a player qualifies on their own, they they don't count towards the 8.

Draws of 32: Must be in top 40 in younger age group in southern rankings, up to 4 will be taken. If a player qualifies on their own, they they don't count towards the 4.

Draws of 16: Must be in top 20 in younger age group in southern rankings, up to 2 will be taken. If a player qualifies on their own, they they don't count towards the 2.

The last thing you want to do is wait until the last minute to try and build your points. If you do, you will end up chasing points all over the state and more than likely, you will end up getting rained out (See Murphy's Law :-))

Anyway, the main point is to plan ahead.

2010 Tentative Georgia State Championship Tournaments

2009-10-07T20:19:00.002-04:00

Looks like a few tournaments have been changed for next year.

- A spring tournament was added in Rome right after Valdosta
- The State Futures Satellite was moved from June to July
- The Junior Winter Open is being moved from Rome to Savannah/Hilton Head and will become the GA/SC open

Click Here to see the tentative schedule.

2010 Southern Tournament Schedule

2009-10-06T20:12:00.005-04:00

A limited Southern Schedule has been posted. Right now it only shows levels 1, 1A and level 2 tournaments. There doesn't appear to be any major changes this year.

Click Here to view the 2010 Southern Tournament Schedule.

How Much is too much?

2009-10-05T19:55:00.001-04:00

Have you ever noticed that some kids seem to play a tournament almost every weekend? While this may seem extreme, some kids do thrive under this routine. I personally think that a young player could get burned out or injured if they don't take some rest. This could be applied to practice, lessons, conditioning, tournaments, etc.

I am definetly not a doctor, but I do know that our bodies and minds need some time to heal. Tennis is a very demanding sport on our bodies and mind, and without proper rest, too much can have a negative impact.

This is definetly an area to discuss with your childs coach. The last thing you want is for your young player to get injured or burned out. You should be looking at tennis as a long-term enjoyable sport. I have seen some kids thrive in the younger age groups (10's and 12's) and then disappear from the sport in the older age groups because of an injury or burn-out.

Sometimes kids just need to be kids, and while tennis can definetly be a very positive influence on a child, it shouldn't be the only one.

My Child Doesn't seem to be getting better, what should I do?

2009-10-02T13:52:00.000-04:00

All players seem to hit their peak at some time or another, and when this happens we start asking why aren't they getting better. There could be many reasons for this including their practice routines, their academy, their coach, etc.

There are definetly different levels of ability and in all levels a player may find that they just aren't improving.

It is very easy to blame a coach or an academy for a players leveling off, but more importantly are we looking at the player themselves. An academy or private lessons can only do so much for a player. The next level really comes down to hard work that the player puts in themselves. Hitting against a backboard or ball machine, setting up matches, practicing serves for 15 minutes a day or doing some conditioning on their own will go a long way.

Unfortuntely I think that too many parents think that they must do more lessons, more academy days, more paid conditioning sessions to really inprove. I think that a player needs a balance between an organized training program (academy, lessons, etc.) and a self-motivated training program.

Playing Up

2009-09-22T21:55:00.000-04:00

How do you know when it is time for a player to play up in age? There really isn't a single best answer, as it really depends on the individual. My recommendation is to speak with a players coach to get their input.

Definitions:
1) Playing Up: When a child plays in an age group that is higher than what they are required to play. For example, a 13 year old playing in the 16's.
2) Aging up: This is when a player actually has a birthday that bumps them into the next age group. Aging up occurs during the month of their birthday when they turn 11, 13, 15 or 17.

Here are a few guidelines to consider:
1) Players Record: If a player's record is around 50%, then they are most likely playing the right level. If a player is winning 75% of their matches, then they are either playing in too easy of tournaments, or they should play up in age. If a players record is 25%, then they are most likely playing in too difficult of tournaments.
2) Aging up soon: If a player is aging up soon, it can be a good time to test the waters of playing up before they age up.
3) Don't make excuses: If a player plays up it can be tougher to compete. I don't recommend that parents make excuses such as "my son just turned 14 and he is playing in the 16's, so no one is expecting him to win."

While it is difficult to play up, winning can be more fulfilling. Just keep in mind that when a player plays up, it can increase the pressure on their opponent if they are playing an older player. Players need to learn how to deal with the pressures of playing opponents that are playing up and they are expected to beat them. This will also happen when your player has to play someone that is playing up.

Another guideline (depending on the goals of the player) is to play up in order to earn enough points for a future big tournament (e.g. The Georgia Qualifying). The Georgia Qualifier is played in late May or early June. Entry for this tournament is based on a players Georgia ranking in the age group they want to play in. No players from the younger age group qualify unless they have enough points in the older age group alone.

For example, if a player turns 13 in March and they want to play the 14's in the Qualifier, they need to begin accumulating points in the 14's as early as possible which means they should start playing up as early as mid-June while they are still 13.

All in all, players should play just as hard when they are playing up. They shouldn't make excuses that they lost because they played up and they played an older player.

How does the point system work?

2009-09-22T21:51:00.000-04:00

If you new to competitive junior tennis in Georgia, you are probably wondering what points mean and they they work. Here is some basic information on the points system also know as Points Per Round (PPR). Please visit the PPR link in my helpful resources on the right side of the blog for the points tables.

Points are awarded to players when they win a match in a tournament. The amount of points earned is based on several factors including the level of tournament, how deep in the draw the player gets, if they beat a top player (significant points), whether they won in a main draw or consolation.

A player earns points when they win singles or doubles matches. Main draw points are earned based on how deep in the draw the player goes. Points are awarded based on the round, so if a draw has only 8 players, and a player wins their first match, then they would earn more points than if they won their first match in a draw of 64.

The players 6 best tournaments (singles as well as doubles) in terms of points are added up. For singles the full points earned are included, and for doubles 15% of the points earned are included. For example, if a player has 1,000 points for singles and 1,000 points for doubles, their total point value is 1,150.

Points are accumulated over a 12 month period. Early in each month rankings are posted based on the previous 12 months. So in June of 2009, points are based on July 2008 through June 2009.

Consolation match wins earn points differently based on the type of draw. For modified and compass draws, a set amount of points are awarded for each match won in the consolation draw. For Fill Feed-In draws (FIC), points are based on how deep the player goes in the consolation draw.

NOTE: Georgia point per round schedule is different than the Southern points per round. National points per round are also different.

Draw Types

2009-08-15T19:10:00.000-04:00

There are many types of tournaments and draws. Below is a quick reference that can come in handy when trying to decide on what tournaments to sign up for. You will notice that many acronyms are used for tournaments. Keep in mind that a "bye" doesn't count as a match; however, a walkover due to an injury, no-show, etc. counts as a match played and points will be awarded.

SE - Single elimination tournament. If you lose, you are out of the tournament.

FMLC - First match loser consolation. If you lose your first match, you go to the consolation draw. All players are guaranteed at least 2 matches.

MFIC - Modified feed into consolation. The first 2 rounds feed into the consolation draw. If your first round is a "bye" and you win your first match (played in the 2nd round) and then lose your 2nd match (played in the 3rd round), then you are out of the tournament. All players are guaranteed at least 2 matches.

FIC - Full feed into consolation. This means that regardless of when you have your first loss, you will feed into the consolation. Most tournaments that are FIC do so through the quarterfinals, if you lose in the semi's then you go into the 3/4 playoff. An easier way to look at it is, each player can lose twice before they are done with the tournamet

COMP - Compass draw. All first round players who lose go to their own draw, players who lose from that draw go onto their own draw again, and so forth. Players who win their first round and then lose their 2nd round, will go to their own separate draw. Typically each player is guaranteed 4 matches. In addition, players won't play the same player twice throughout the tournament.

Welcome

2009-08-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog about Georgia Junior Tennis. I hope that you find the information helpful and resourceful. If you have a son or daughter playing competitive junior tennis in Georgia, you will probably relate to many of the comments, questions and answers in my blog. The goal of my blog is to share my learning's and to help educate parents on competitive junior tennis in Georgia. Hopefully it will make your life easier, answers questions that you have and overall provide you with a more enjoyable tennis experience.

First off, I want to let everyone know that I feel tennis is a great sport for juniors. It is a life sport that can be enjoyed from age 3 until 100+. It allows kids to have fun, meet new friends, stay active, be more competitive and learn many lessons about themselves and life.

I truly believe that a persons true self is exposed when they are faced with difficult situations in life. Some of the difficult situations may happen to occur during a competitive tennis match. It is important to remember that tennis is about sportsmanship. Sure we all want to win and we want our kids to win, but at what cost.

Unlike many other sports, competitive tennis only awards those who do well. There are no participant trophies. The good news is there is a competitive level for just about any tennis ability. Choosing the right level tournament will make your child's experience and their opponents experience much better.