I Found the Problem in Tennis
by Doug Yurchey


Hard court tennis has been criticized for an absence of rallies. The server serves and the point is over. The power serve and game have dominated tennis for decades. A short ground stroke is hit and the point is over. Where are the rallies that we see on a clay court? The new, powerful racquets have eliminated long rallies and have given the serve WAY TOO MUCH IMPORTANCE. In the early days of tennis with heavy wood racquets, it took all your might just to get the ball over the net. The ball was difficult to control. It was hard to hit with pace. Now with the new graphite racquets, a flick of the wrist sends the ball screaming over the net. Sweet-spots have increased with the large frames. Swinging volleys were not taught decades ago because wood racquets could not handle them. THE PROBLEM WITH TENNIS IS NOT THE NEW, LIGHT, SPACE- AGE, RACQUETS! There is nothing wrong with laser-like shots. Action is exciting. Tennis at high-velocity is thrilling. Returning high-speed bombs is an amazing art. Please, do not slow down the racquets. The game has drastically changed because of big prize money; the super athlete; and innovations in racquet technology.

But, there is a huge problem. There is no longer any time to reach the shots. Players cannot cover the LARGE - WIDE court when faced with booming ground strokes and serves. To some people, tennis has become all power; all serve and little finesse. Critics have complained and tennis now ranks below golf, hockey and poker; unfortunately for tennis fans. Some think the answer is changing the composition of the court; the ball and of course those wicked racquets. THE REAL PROBLEM IS THOSE DAMN, OBSOLETE, OLD-FASHIONED, TRADITIONAL COURTS. The tennis court is too big!

That pattern of lines, that we call a tennis court, dates from a time when the game was played in SLOW-MOTION. The tennis patent is from 1874. The ball was not struck hard back then. Players wore too much clothes. Those primitive racquets looked more like rug-beaters. Early players could not DREAM of the fast-paced game of today. Imagine the first tennis courts. In the very old days, there was all the time in the world to reach the ball. Courts were made LARGE. Today, we are trapped playing on the same pattern of lines that were never meant for SPEED. That is the problem.

Dimensions of the ROVAL court

The answer is ROVAL. Single courts of the future will have NO LINES. The dark color is the IN area. The light color in the center and around the court are OUT areas. Only on the serve, the inner soval (service-oval) is IN. Serves must clear the 'plex' and strike the soval to begin the point. During the point, the soval is OUT. The ROVAL court is actually longer and wider than a singles court. But, so much court has been taken away that there is considerably less area than a normal singles court. The soval is also smaller than the service-square so serves have to be spun in. Players serve from the ends of the court; there are no foot faults. As long as players begin outside of the ROVAL court, then it is OK to step into the court. Lets are played. Instead of a net, there is a slightly smaller PLEX. This is a very thick slab of white Plexiglas, curved on the top and perfectly straight across the width of the court.

LET'S CREATE A COMPLETELY NEW RACQUET SPORT. We should hit tennis balls on a court that accommodates shots from the powerful racquets. One solution is to redesign the 19th Century court to fit the weapons of the 21st Century. Sounds illogical that a smaller court will result in more rallies...but, winners and aces will be very difficult to come by. You cannot hit to the corners because there are no corners. The middle island, during rallies, is to be avoided. The ROVAL court is all one, large, wide line that curves in on itself.

Could ROVAL be a racquet sport where women could challenge men? This New Tennis or alternative eliminates the big serve and the powerful ground-stroke winner. The game becomes a matter of FINESSE. Men might dominate the power game; but women could have the upper hand in the game of finesse and touch. I could see Justine Henin-Hardenne winning against Max Mirnyi in ROVAL.

There are 2 extra feet beyond the baseline that is IN in ROVAL. A good play would be to drop-shot to either the 9 foot area of court to the left or to the right, then lob over your opponent's head to strike that extra 2 feet of length.

ROVAL is a court that is elegant, lineless and will appeal to the viewers. Doesn't tennis, after all this time, require a tweaking? Could this be the innovation to revitalize the grand old game of tennis? Isn't this what is needed? Even John McEnroe has suggested that 'maybe we should move the service line in 3 inches.' Love to hear your thoughts, comments or questions. dugko@surfside.net - (818) 407-8877.

THe ROVAL 'net'

STREAMLINE SCORING

A futuristic court should have a futuristic, new SCORING method. I just could not see playing ROVAL and using the old-fashioned, normal, 15-30-40-game. The classic scoring is another 19th Century tradition. The oval court HAD to have an accompanying Scoring System just as bizarre. It's not easy to create a unique and never-been-thought-of before Scoring System; have it work and even have some advantages over classic scoring. Let's break from tradition and try Streamline Scoring? Every point is worth one more than the previous point. Each game is worth one more game than the previous one. There are no deuces, ads or tie-breaks.

THE FIRST POINT OF A GAME IS WORTH 1 POINT.
THE SECOND POINT OF A GAME IS WORTH 2 POINTS.
THE THIRD POINT OF A GAME IS WORTH 3 POINTS.
THE FOURTH POINT OF A GAME IS WORTH 4 POINTS.

Games are played to 7 points. Games may go to a deciding fifth point. The fifth point is not worth 5 points; it is simply game-point.

THE FIRST GAME OF A SET IS WORTH 1 GAME.
THE SECOND GAME OF A SET IS WORTH 2 GAMES.
THE THIRD GAME OF A SET IS WORTH 3 GAMES.
THE FOURTH GAME OF A SET IS WORTH 4 GAMES.
THE FIFTH GAME OF A SET IS WORTH 5 GAMES.
Sets are played to 11 games. Sets may go to a deciding sixth game.

If a player wins the first 4 games in a set, the set score is 10 - 0. If the one with zero wins the fifth game, the score is 10 - 5. Sets are played to 11 so the winner of the next game wins the set. This seems unfair: the one who won only 2 games could win the set, but the one who won 4 games could lose the set. In Streamline Scoring, it is important which points and games you win. The later ones have greater value. This concept builds excitement and the importance of the NEXT points and games ACCELERATES.

In regular tennis, different points have more weight. A 30-30 point means more than a 15-love point. A tie-break point has much more value than a 30-30 point. It is the same for each player. Streamline Scoring has a methodology similar to double-or-nothing. The advantages are: There is little chance for blow-outs. No one wants to see a 6-0 set. Viewers want to see close matches. Streamline Scoring favors the player who is behind. They are always in the match and can come back. The one who is winning is always in a precarious position.

There ARE more things to think about using this NEW SYSTEM; the value of the next point, the game score, the value of the game you are playing and the set score. We are not used to this new type of point counting. It seems confusing. But, with a little practice, we can adjust to it. We can even play Streamline Scoring NOW, on regular courts. The server should begin serving on the AD side to remind you that the first point is worth one and therefore odd. The second point is worth 2, which is even, and should be served on the deuce side.