Tennis is on the verge of a belated Moneyball revolution. In the northern spring, the Association of Tennis Professionals, which runs the men’s tour, is planning to open up ball-tracking data from every match to all its players and coaches.
The shift will do much to level an uneven playing field. Until now, millionaire players such as the “Big Four” men have had the opportunity to buy better-quality data analysis than their less wealthy rivals.
One might imagine that access to data would be a basic right for all leading professionals. In fact, anyone wanting to use the information gathered by Hawk-Eye, the leading ball-tracking provider since 2014, has had to pay a £150 ($263) processing fee per match. On top of that, tour rules say you can order data only from matches you played in.
In April, this will change. “We want to give players more equal access to this information,” says Ross Hutchins, the Association of Tennis Professionals’ chief tour officer. “We believe it will improve performance levels. We are looking to bring player and ball-tracking online from every ATP tournament. We’re hoping to make this happen by the second quarter of 2023, and then bring in wearable technology, such as heart monitors and GPS location devices, by the second half of the year.”
Despite the relatively large amount of money at stake, tennis must rank as one of the most backward major sports when it comes to sophisticated data analysis, mainly because there are few economies of scale.
Six-figure sums for data
If you are lucky enough to come from a grand-slam nation such as Great Britain or the United States, you can usually dip into your federation’s sizeable dataset. Otherwise, the only way to gain access to more than a tiny percentage of matches is to hire one of the big analytical companies, such as Golden Set Analytics (GSA), which used to charge Roger Federer a six-figure sum annually for exclusive access to its scouting and performance reports.
“In tennis, the teams are smaller than most other sports, and almost everything has to come out of the player’s pocket,” says Philip Mauerhofer, who runs a well-regarded analytics firm called Tennis Stat. “Unless you’re at the top of the game, adding more expenditure to your coaching and your physio and your fitness training is always going to be a stretch. So to have a trove of data available on every player would be a game-changer.”
Agent Patricio Apey welcomed the ATP plan. One of Apey’s clients – America’s Sebastian Korda – has been able to benefit from his close relationship with the United States Tennis Association, which logs all the information from its home tournaments and has a data-pooling deal with Tennis Australia.
But another of Apey’s stable – Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas – has had no such support. Tsitsipas thus needs to spend considerably more to gain the same level of tactical insight. As a top-five player, he can probably afford the difference. Those lower down the ladder are not always so fortunate.
“I’m cautiously hopeful that the governing bodies will see that making this information available to all players and their teams will only make the sport better,” Apey says. “Look at how sophisticated Formula One is when it comes to using data. Maybe in the future we will see cutting-edge analysts in the player boxes doing their work in real time and passing useful feedback to coaches and players during matches.”
Test run for courtside coaching
Tennis has many governing bodies, and at the moment only the Association of Tennis Professionals – as opposed to the grand slams and the Women’s Tennis Association – is committed to opening up its dataset. But the scenario Apey mentions is already here, even if it was used only on an experimental level at last November’s ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan, where coaches were allowed to advise their players during matches, as is becoming the norm on the ATP Tour, and at the two hard-court slams. They were also given an electronic tablet showing live data from the match as it progressed.
“It was challenging to use at first,” says James Trotman, the British coach whose player, Jack Draper, was eliminated in the semi-finals of that event. “There was so much data, whether it be the direction of the serve, the accuracy of the return, or the speed of each player’s forehands and backhands.
“I had to keep it simple, so I just focused on the first of those categories. There was one opponent who was always serving in the same place, so when it came to the tie-break I was able to tell Jack to sit on that return, which helped a great deal.”
Four years ago, Germany’s No. 1 Alexander Zverev said that “all the big guys are using data analysis, they just don’t like to talk about it” – and leading players are still coy about their data support. A rare exception is the world’s best player, Novak Djokovic, who allowed his former analyst, Craig O’Shannessy, to speak publicly about their work together.
The bigger your database, the easier it is to supply reliable scouting reports on every opponent. GSA says it has an automated algorithm that “scrapes” data directly from TV coverage, but for the smaller operators, many thousands of hours have been spent on hand-tagging matches. The going rate for a one-off scouting report from these lesser outfits is $US300.
So what kinds of insight can a big company provide? “A lot of added value is obtained from using data richer than anything the human eye can detect,” says Ben Depoorter, GSA’s vice-president of player analytics. “Hawk-Eye’s ball-tracking system generates millions of data points. And the insights that show up are not always what you might expect.
“Contrary to most expectations, Djokovic is outstanding with his backhand on fast returns hit towards his feet, and weaker on loopy balls that land short but with more of an angle, because he likes to hit on the rise. People come in with set ideas about what works – and the only way to disprove their preconceptions is with data.”
Source: The Telegraph, London
Moneyball Comes to Tennis
/in Ask the Pro, Goss /by RobTennis is on the verge of a belated Moneyball revolution. In the northern spring, the Association of Tennis Professionals, which runs the men’s tour, is planning to open up ball-tracking data from every match to all its players and coaches.
The shift will do much to level an uneven playing field. Until now, millionaire players such as the “Big Four” men have had the opportunity to buy better-quality data analysis than their less wealthy rivals.
One might imagine that access to data would be a basic right for all leading professionals. In fact, anyone wanting to use the information gathered by Hawk-Eye, the leading ball-tracking provider since 2014, has had to pay a £150 ($263) processing fee per match. On top of that, tour rules say you can order data only from matches you played in.
In April, this will change. “We want to give players more equal access to this information,” says Ross Hutchins, the Association of Tennis Professionals’ chief tour officer. “We believe it will improve performance levels. We are looking to bring player and ball-tracking online from every ATP tournament. We’re hoping to make this happen by the second quarter of 2023, and then bring in wearable technology, such as heart monitors and GPS location devices, by the second half of the year.”
Despite the relatively large amount of money at stake, tennis must rank as one of the most backward major sports when it comes to sophisticated data analysis, mainly because there are few economies of scale.
Six-figure sums for data
If you are lucky enough to come from a grand-slam nation such as Great Britain or the United States, you can usually dip into your federation’s sizeable dataset. Otherwise, the only way to gain access to more than a tiny percentage of matches is to hire one of the big analytical companies, such as Golden Set Analytics (GSA), which used to charge Roger Federer a six-figure sum annually for exclusive access to its scouting and performance reports.
“In tennis, the teams are smaller than most other sports, and almost everything has to come out of the player’s pocket,” says Philip Mauerhofer, who runs a well-regarded analytics firm called Tennis Stat. “Unless you’re at the top of the game, adding more expenditure to your coaching and your physio and your fitness training is always going to be a stretch. So to have a trove of data available on every player would be a game-changer.”
Agent Patricio Apey welcomed the ATP plan. One of Apey’s clients – America’s Sebastian Korda – has been able to benefit from his close relationship with the United States Tennis Association, which logs all the information from its home tournaments and has a data-pooling deal with Tennis Australia.
But another of Apey’s stable – Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas – has had no such support. Tsitsipas thus needs to spend considerably more to gain the same level of tactical insight. As a top-five player, he can probably afford the difference. Those lower down the ladder are not always so fortunate.
“I’m cautiously hopeful that the governing bodies will see that making this information available to all players and their teams will only make the sport better,” Apey says. “Look at how sophisticated Formula One is when it comes to using data. Maybe in the future we will see cutting-edge analysts in the player boxes doing their work in real time and passing useful feedback to coaches and players during matches.”
Test run for courtside coaching
Tennis has many governing bodies, and at the moment only the Association of Tennis Professionals – as opposed to the grand slams and the Women’s Tennis Association – is committed to opening up its dataset. But the scenario Apey mentions is already here, even if it was used only on an experimental level at last November’s ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan, where coaches were allowed to advise their players during matches, as is becoming the norm on the ATP Tour, and at the two hard-court slams. They were also given an electronic tablet showing live data from the match as it progressed.
“It was challenging to use at first,” says James Trotman, the British coach whose player, Jack Draper, was eliminated in the semi-finals of that event. “There was so much data, whether it be the direction of the serve, the accuracy of the return, or the speed of each player’s forehands and backhands.
“I had to keep it simple, so I just focused on the first of those categories. There was one opponent who was always serving in the same place, so when it came to the tie-break I was able to tell Jack to sit on that return, which helped a great deal.”
Four years ago, Germany’s No. 1 Alexander Zverev said that “all the big guys are using data analysis, they just don’t like to talk about it” – and leading players are still coy about their data support. A rare exception is the world’s best player, Novak Djokovic, who allowed his former analyst, Craig O’Shannessy, to speak publicly about their work together.
The bigger your database, the easier it is to supply reliable scouting reports on every opponent. GSA says it has an automated algorithm that “scrapes” data directly from TV coverage, but for the smaller operators, many thousands of hours have been spent on hand-tagging matches. The going rate for a one-off scouting report from these lesser outfits is $US300.
So what kinds of insight can a big company provide? “A lot of added value is obtained from using data richer than anything the human eye can detect,” says Ben Depoorter, GSA’s vice-president of player analytics. “Hawk-Eye’s ball-tracking system generates millions of data points. And the insights that show up are not always what you might expect.
“Contrary to most expectations, Djokovic is outstanding with his backhand on fast returns hit towards his feet, and weaker on loopy balls that land short but with more of an angle, because he likes to hit on the rise. People come in with set ideas about what works – and the only way to disprove their preconceptions is with data.”
Source: The Telegraph, London
Annual Senior Club Championships. Entries Close Feb 12
/in Club Championships, Club News /by RobEntries are now open for the Senior Club Championships in February. Dates are as below
These are the dates and events:
Saturday February 18 Noon. Womens 40+ Singles Mens 40+ Singles Mens 60+ Singles
Sunday February 19 9AM. Womens Combined 100 Doubles Mens Combined 100 Doubles ( Hilton Mace Trophy)
Saturday February 25 Noon. Womens 40+ Doubles Mens 40+ Doubles Womens 60+ Doubles Mens 60+ Doubles.
Sunday February 26 9AM. Combined 100 Mixed Doubles.
ALL EVENTS ARE ROUND ROBIN FORMAT. Minimum of four (4) entries needed for event to be held.
ALL EVENTS WILL COMMENCE AT NOON ON SATURDAYS AND 900AM ON SUNDAYS.
Enter below.
Denis Crowley
MLTC Club Captain
6 Gadgets Which Improve Your Tennis (Maybe??)
/in Ask the Pro, Goss /by RobIf you want to get better at tennis and improve your fitness, these gadgets maybe a starting point?
Tennis is a very physical sport. For example, the tennis serve represents a complex movement that requires muscles throughout the entire body to rotate in unison to deliver accuracy and power.
Whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned veteran looking to get just a little bit better, there are a handful of tech gadgets you should check out.
These gadgets can track and analyze your swing, keep track of the score, and measure the speed of your serves, among other things.
1. Sony Smart Tennis Sensor
2. Zepp Tennis Swing Analyzer
3. Babolat Pop Tennis Wristband
4. Ball Coach Pocket Radar
5. Hit Zone Air Suspension Tee
6. Scoreband Play Wristband
Read more –>
Don’t overthink each point | AskThePro
/in Ask the Pro, News /by RobI know this sounds pretty crazy, but you should not be trying to think while you are playing a point.
This idea goes against what our mind is telling us as well as what it is trying to do. We will usually have the tendency to try to work things out in our head during the exchange of shots in a point. Unfortunately, this will have a negative impact on all of the practice and training we have done, and it may cause us to make errors due to indecision.
It is much better to just play the point once it starts. [Just focus on bounce hit: Whisperer]
Before the point, choose one technique idea and one strategy idea to remind yourself how you would like to hit the ball and play the point.
After the point is over, assess what has just happened and repeat the one technique, one strategy idea. You may have to make some adjustments based on what the last point was like, but try to keep things simple.
On the changeovers you can have a little more detail in your own self-coaching, but overall, try not to over analyze.
Letting your body react automatically and instinctively gives you the best chance to execute your shot and play the point the way you want to. To do this, we need to have less going on in our head.
Don’t think during the point!
Steve Annacone, USPTA Pro
Badge 2023 Entries Now Open. Web sign up.
/in Badge, Club News /by RobEntries are now open on our website for 2023 Badge.
We have a selection panel of 5 for Men’s Teams and 4 for Ladies Teams.
Selection will be based on last year’s Badge results, UTR ratings and Club Championship results.
If needed, we may have trials also for members and particularly new members.
Updated 2023-Badge-League-Rules
Factsheets for Thursday & Saturday are linked below.
2023-BADGE-FACTSHEET-SATURDAY.pdf
2023-BADGE-FACTSHEET-THURSDAY-LADIES.pdf
Nominations for Badge will close in early February 2023.
NOTE: You must be a Financial Club Member to submit an entry to play Badge.
Click here to sign up on our web site.
Virginia Longfellow
MLTC Secretary
MLTC Seaside Results
/in Ask the Pro, Manly Seaside Championships, Whisperer /by RobCongrats to a number of our club members who did very well. Bede, Matthew & Milton were amongst the event winners.
Tony Vo [1]
Lochie Mortensen [6]
Bruce Hinchcliffe [3]
Sylvain Sommacal [8]
Adam Walters [3]
Joel Hieswanto [5]
Nicholas Tozer
Luka Drazic
Petar Vuceta
Daniel Curran
Jesse Gothelf [2]
Minhoon Lee
Matthew Curtis [6]
Eitan Smith [4]
Lachlan Ming
Matthew Baker
James Nicols
Scott Browne
Adam Tomka
Ethan Elliott
Patrick Jonathan Anderson
Michael Ian Ridley Taylor [3]
Zedrick Chan
Mahim Khan [2]
Cameron Edward Smith [3]
Eric Tripathi [8]
Jordan Smith [1]
Sam Wensley
Matthew Holl
Jay Andrijic [2]
Nathan Boniel
Ashton Mcleod
Damien Connelly [1]
Elton Richard Stoney
Wayne Pascoe [4]
Tim Sedgwick [5]
Kirsty White [1]
Payal Chandra [2]
Ashleigh eve Robson
Shelley Parsons
Amy Gray
Ashlee Narker [3]
Zarifa Ahmed
Linda Huang [2]
Natalie Gaft [5]
Ruby Quigley
Renee Mcbryde [1]
Kalina Aleksandrov
James Delohery [2]
Andrew Stevens
Ryan Ataii
Lochie Mortensen
Brett Harris [1]
Tony Vo
Aaron Tian [3]
Adam Tomka
Matthew Curtis [1]
Bede Kirwan
Arden Asilo
Geoff Asilo
Byron Waller [2]
Gavin Waller
Eitan Smith
Minh Vu
Joel Hieswanto [2]
Sam Wensley
Nicholas Connellan
Reagan Cooke
Matthew Holl
Chen Liang
Leroy Sze
Nicholas Tozer
Blake Smith [4]
Cameron Edward Smith
Paul Howe [3]
Eric Tripathi
Jay Andrijic [1]
Jordan Smith
Nicholas Turnham
Dimitri Vidin
Milton Da Rocha
Wayne Pascoe
Andy William Phelan
Clive Wilkinson
Manuel Radic [1]
Greg Westwood
Tim Sedgwick [2]
Matt Taylor
Michaela Haet [1]
Renee Mcbryde
Tyra Calderwood [2]
Ashlee Narker
Lia Koulias [4]
Sofia Thorne
Melissa Anderson [3]
Lucia Gonzalez
Kirsty White [2]
William Alan Yang
Ruby Quigley
Bede Kirwan
Lisa A Hartley [1]
Adrian Sturrock
Shelley Parsons
Tim Sedgwick
Linda Huang [2]
Adrian Correa
Tyra Calderwood [1]
Jay Andrijic
Susannah Su [4]
Luke Mcmillan
Hannah Taleb
Daniel Jankoski
MLTC Seaside Draws
/in Club News, Manly Seaside Championships /by RobDraw
MLTC Newsletter – 27th Dec 2022
/in Club News /by RobVale Basil South – I am very sad to inform our members of Basil South’s passing. Born in the UK, Basil joined the club in 2000, after retirement from a long and productive career in senior management at the Shell Oil Company. He played social tennis for many years on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and was a regular attendee at AGMs. Basil’s funeral is scheduled for this Friday at 2.15pm at Macquarie Park Crematorium.
Public Holiday Tennis Times
Sunday 1st Jan (3 courts 10am to 6pm)
Monday 2 Jan (3 courts 7am to 6pm)
Social courts 12-3pm other times please book online.
Best wishes,
Virginia
MLTC Secretary
www.manlylawn.com.au
MLTC Newsletter – 20 December 2022
/in Club News /by RobMerry Christmas everyone, thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed our Christmas party. It was great to see so many tennis members and guests filling the Clubhouse.
This newsletter includes information about the upcoming Seaside Tournament, New Members’ Court Times, Members’ court information, First Aid Officer.
MANLY SEASIDE
After a three year absence the Seaside Tournament is back! From 26th December till finals on 31st December please come down and enjoy the tennis and have a drink. If anyone has their RSA and wants to help out behind the bar, let myself or Milton know. If anyone can spare an hour or two to supervise signing in of non members also let me know. [email protected]
Members Courts – a few reminders & updates – please read!
We do appreciate there are a wide range of levels at the club. Our aim is to offer a range of times for players to book courts to play with their own group and opportunities to mix in with others. Doing this helps club members feel welcome, encourages players to improve and creates a good club atmosphere. We thank everyone for their cooperation and understanding.
First Aid Officer – If anyone would like to volunteer for this position please let me know. The job entails keeping the first aid kit updated and organising a first aid course for members every other year.
Court Times
Monday Nil
Tuesday
3 courts from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm
2 courts from 3.30 pm to 7.00 pm
Wednesday
2 courts from 7 am to 9 am
Thursday
2 courts from 10 am to 1 pm during badge season
4 courts from 1 pm to 4 pm
3 courts from 4 pm to 6 pm
4 courts from 6 pm to 8 pm
2 courts from 8 pm to 10 pm
Friday
4 courts 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm
Saturday
6 courts from 11.30 am to 6 pm
(Social 1 pm to 4 pm)
Sunday
3 courts 8 am to 2 pm
2 courts 2 pm to 7 pm
Public Holidays 3 courts 7 am to 6 pm
Best wishes,
Virginia
MLTC Secretary
www.manlylawn.com.au
Tennis Intelligence: It Takes Pyramid Power | ATP
/in Ask the Pro, Whisperer /by RobToo often, the average player’s focus is on their “Hardware” — coordinating muscles to hit the ball. True, for most, just coordinating your body to consistently hit the ball week in and week out is difficult to say the least. It quickly becomes very frustrating when playing in the wind, changing court surfaces or against, what I will call, an awkward opponent. And escalates even faster as we age and our muscles lose strength and coordination.
Our Hardware skills pathway includes three essential skills which underpin any tennis stroke: ball watching, balance and rhythm. The basic Tennis Whisperer program teaches the development of the core supporting muscles to both enhance those skills and prevent injury. As an example, just improving your ability to “really see the ball” rather than merely trying to “watch” it during play can go a long way to improving your consistency — at any age and stage of tennis. These basic skills can be taught or refreshed at any age.
But Hardware is only one part of the equation. Hardware is very much about muscles, joints and physical traits. “Software” is brain perception, action and decision making. Software is what often gives a player a head-start on those who might be physically stronger, quicker or, dare I say, younger! And from time to time, a win against the ‘better hitter’.
Your neural system is the third part of this equation, and in basic terms, connects a player’s “Software” to their “Hardware”.
Software should be view as a “Pyramid”. At its base be more aware of your end of the court: basic court positions when returning serve or covering the net. And the positions change depending on the opponent and the conditions. For the more powerful opponent, it’s better to play further back when returning serve — not only to give yourself a little more time to watch the ball, but more importantly to ensure you’re moving forward into the shot to stay on balance. This is why Nadal, one of the best players in the world, plays so far back to improves his balance by moving forward into each shot.
Moving up the Pyramid, and still at your end of the court, where you stand in the court, particularly in dubs, has a huge impact on your ability to stay in the point. For example, at ANY level of tennis, Tennis Physics means that EIGHTY PERCENT (80%) of shots fall in a two (metre) circle around the middle T of the serve line. Merely standing in that circle guarantees you’ll get a shot at most balls — you might not make the shot but you’ll be in the point.
As the Pyramid narrows, and looking at the opponent’s end of the court, action and decision-making comes to the fore. Your focus is on the Hardware of the opponent. Do they have any “obvious weaknesses” — not just the weaker backhand side but where do they consistently return the ball? Any physical limitations in running down lobs? Are they comfortable hitting volleys or overheads? Are they comfortable moving forward, backwards, sideways? What did you learn from the warm-up? [You didn’t try to win the warm-up, right??]
Even further up the Pyramid, and still at your opponent’s end of the court, your focus is on the opponent’s Software. How can you identify and find a way to exploit their limitations? Where do they stand in the court, to return serve, at the net etc? Do they stand too close to the net and therefore are suckers to a simple lob return? What’s their state of mind at different times of the match? Do they rush under pressure? Consistently miss first serves on game and tie breaker points?? How can you adjust your Software and Hardware to take full advantage of your observations during play??
And lastly, at the very Pyramid Top, and now we are back to your end of the court, what’s your decision-making style to analyze opponents during match play. It’s the rare player who can change their Hardware midpoint to hit a different shot under pressure. Even rarer, the player who can consistently play more than one type of game — to unsettle an opponent and match the conditions. For most of us, suffice to say, it’s better to rely on a simple ritual to prepare to play each point — at least to start out each point standing in the right position and with a calm mind.
Tennis is a great game. And you’ll get so much more enjoyment by NOT leaving your Software on the sidelines. And who knows, perhaps a few more wins.
© Rob Muir, USPTA
Tennis Whisperer
Latest Manly News & Events
/in Club News, News /by RobPOST OFFICE
Manly’s new Post Office has finally opened its doors this week, nine months after our Post Office and Shop were wrecked by flood water.
The new PO is around the corner at Raglan Street.
MANLY EVENTS
Manly Art Gallery & Museum – until 26 Feb
Fair Play bridges the gap between sport and art, domains that have long been considered natural enemies.
Ruth Downes: Barely Wearable displays thirty ‘wearable’ artworks constructed from an extraordinary range of materials, including aircraft headsets and coffee capsules.
Northern Beaches Writers’ Competition 2023 – until 31 March
This year’s theme is something that has affected every one of us this year – ‘Rain’.
Writers are invited to enter stories of 2,500 words, plus an image, to tell stories that are ‘not being told’. Details here
New Year’s Eve – 31 Dec
Fireworks will light up the sky in Manly Cove again this New Year’s Eve at 9pm.
There will be road closures around Manly to keep everyone safe, with large crowds expected on the night.
Aboriginal Heritage Walk – 16th January
Manly Dam from 9am – 10.30am. Details here
Sun Run – Saturday 4th February
Dee Why to Manly. 7km and 10km distances
More details and registration here
Cole Classic Ocean Swim – Sunday 5th February
1, 2, and 5km courses. More details and registration here
Here’s Why You Play WORSE In Matches | ATP
/in Ask the Pro, Whisperer /by Rob