Tricky sticky straits of tennis
View(s):Ever since tennis began nearly two centuries ago, it has propagated in well over 200 countries, covering the globe. Today, its existence is in three participatory indulgences. One feels they are fierce, for their existence and domination.
Glittering career
At the apex of the pyramid is professional career ranking road, it is global sizzling performance oriented showcase of the game. An attractive exhibition of the finest skills and big income to the professionals. They remain to be the news of the tennis world.
ATP and WTA players, with their athletics and skill, make the global ranking status most appealing. The big names of ATP and WTA and its long list ever-growing stardom seekers are mega attraction of the sporting world. For the players, it is not only the prize money they earn, but also the many avenues it opens up to support their life. Sometime I think making it big here is more of a lottery win than well-planned carrier path. Not mentioning pitfalls will be an error on my part. Those who made it in the past 50 years belong to the rich and famous.
Players name branding
Major tennis racquet makers had their racquet models named after prominent players from way back in the 1920s. In the 1960s ‘Spalding’, a company, produced wooded racquets with the name of Pancho Gonzales, an icon of lawn tennis. Other Grand Slam title winners have their names on tennis racquets, clothing and even perfumes, Gabrielle Sabatini’s cosmetic line up and confectionary of Maria Sharapova, ‘Sugar-Pova’.
Players’ income shot up only after the formation of professional bodies. ATP and WTA firmly established ‘prize money’ as the norm in 1972. Now it stands in millions of dollars.
Sports good branding
Manufactures of the famous tennis shoe ‘Green Flash’ of England lost ground from 1950s to others and now ‘Nike’ is dominant. Singapore sports good shop owner Tony S. once voiced, if a brand cannot sponsor top end player, they better put the shutters up. Implying top end tennis players to be the best billboards in commercial world. Such is the standing of a good player in commercial world.
Junior startup
Second is the startup road for juniors to reach local rankings without global impact. Popularly labelled as development tennis is a schooling and is today a household topic. It is vast and ever-growing in 212 countries. With millions onto this bandwagon, a mega money-spinner for coaches, equipment manufacture, event organisers and all types of media. Luring aspirants from five-year-olds to 25-years of age. In fact, this segment has drowned all other areas of tennis in many countries. It is a limited time activity. As one critic points out, making it big in professional tennis from junior days is less of a chance than winning billionaire lottery.
Schooling to excel in sports has always been an accepted activity. Into this educational pursuit, tennis has entered and proving to be very effective providing scholarships in greener pastures. Pursuit into the age-group national ranking in tennis has taken unprecedented turn in popularity. Good, if it is, talent search to improve national standard in countries. So far, reading the end effects of this is far from satisfactory.
In tennis, well planned development strategy will not bring out the talent if competition maturity is not addressed in equal intensity. The absence of competition maturity in development is the root cause of many failures. Academy tennis conveniently sidestep this as it is an expensive pursuit for them accommodate. Most of the successful academies have the sponsorship of mega commercial systems. The USA and some European countries are the best. They have the events at their doorstep.
With overwhelming domination of juvenile and junior rankings, in many countries, it is drowning open tennis standard or better said reducing the national tennis standard. None of it is a professional career path, meaning junior road stops between 16 and 18.
Recreational club tennis
The third is the original recreational sporting pursuit for adults since 1840s. That which made tennis household conversation topic in social gathering of yesteryears and even today. It was and is for all the goodness sport can offer to man, to provide a healthy body. Recent health survey named tennis as the best sport for all ages by medical science and especially for longevity. Pursuit in recreational tennis presents an eternal challenge in many countries in finding appropriate opponents. Good opponents are good exercise providers. No one seem to get this right making tennis based exercising a myth.
In Sri Lanka after the deterioration and dismantling of ‘Tennis Club’, the effective delicate interweaving goodwill and social tennis structure has withered. The Tennis Club was the bastion of the game globally. At present, it is in the extinction list.
Future
If tennis is to exist in a country, club segment must survive. Often membership of this segment has the integration of three generations. With current hot weather in the tropics and indoor tennis in wintering countries are financially difficult for a tennis club. Covered courts have become prerequisite for participatory recreational tennis worldwide. That is the road to take.
–George Paldano, European and Asian competition player; coach German Tennis Federation; national coach Brunei and Sri Lanka; Davis Cup, Federation Cup coach, coached ATP, WTA and ITF ranked players in Europe and Asia; whatsapp +94775448880–