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Lining courts for 10 and under
play using the QuickStart Tennis
format isn't new, but here's
something that is: a study being
conducted by the USTA to
determine the effect of the
blended lines on regulation play
at tournaments.
The ITF recently commissioned
the USTA to do an impact study,
and to find out the impact
blended lines have at
lower-level sanctioned
tournaments.
"We want to find out what
players think, what officials
think, what spectators think,
how the lines look in photos,"
said Virgil Christian, the
USTA's director of community
tennis development. "It might
turn out they don't even notice
them."
The ITF commissioned the study,
which will run during selected
tournaments where regulation
78-foot courts are also lined
for 36-foot and 60-foot play. A
few stipulations apply: the play
surface must be acrylic, and the
USTA must obtain permission from
the appropriate circuit
organizers for the tournament,
such as the ITF Junior
Competitions Committee, ITF
Circuit Committees, etc. The
USTA must also track technical
information, including whether
there is any perceptible
difference in the pace of the
game when played on courts with
blended lines.
According to Christian, the USTA
is pleased with the acceptance
of the new lines, and has heard
much positive comment throughout
the year at 'town hall'-style
meetings for tennis organizers
around the country. The next
step, he notes, is to try to get
the lines promoted on an
international level since so
far, they are only being used in
the U.S.
"It's good for growing tennis,"
Christian said, "but it's unique
to this country. There are a lot
of countries that have never
seen this, never heard of this,
and the ITF really wants a case
study of how it's working." |
