HomeTennis instructionGive Me a Break 

Comments

Give Me a Break  — 7 Comments

  1. I agree with all points, except point 6.

    Basically what’s wrong with a bathroom break taken after a player lost a set?

    It do can change the path of the match if it is changeable (I mean if opponents are quite close). It is NOT connected with “opponent’s momentum”, it is connected with a player’s own mental stance.

    For some players it works, for some players not, but if it works for YOUR player, why not to use it (specially if pros do).

    For sure, it can be annoying when the opponent has a toilet break of 10-15 minutes just to make your player nervous. These tricks are not good. But if we speak about a couple of minutes just “to leave bad set in the bathroom” – why not?

    • Hi Anton,
      Thanks for your response. I understand the reasons why kids do this and coaches encourage kids to this. I acknowledge that there may be some value in it for certain kids. Ethically, I just cannot agree with it. I interpret the “Toilet Break” rule as just that, a toilet break. I don’t believe that it should be used to take an extra rest, deal with an injury, create more mental space or for any reason other than having to actually go to the toilet. By encouraging players to do this, I believe that we are telling them it is okay to break this rule. How do we tell them that this rule is okay to break, but that others are not, and still have any credibility with them?
      Most players that grow up in the western world that are privileged enough to play tennis probably have faced very little adversity in their lives. Sports is one ways we can place kids in “adverse” conditions and have them figure out ways to work through a challenging task. I believe we should be encouraging kids to stay on the court, deal with the issues at hand and look to create that mental space they need after a bad set on the tennis court, in the allotted time, and not look outside the rules for this.
      Thanks again for reading Anton, and always happy to hear further thoughts on the matter so I can see if I am missing something.

      • Thanks for your answer, Dave. I really respect your opinion, though I still disagree with it :).

        As a parent of a young pro player, I believe that ethics means a lot for tennis as it makes our sports healthier – to benefit all parties including players, coaches, parents, officials, umpires etc.

        Meanwhile, it is not a big secret that tennis is a mental game. We all know how Rafa Nadal locate his bottles on court, does not step on lines etc. From Sharapova to Djokovic, from Murrey to Muguruza – most of players use rituals, mental technics, NLP triggers to make their game more effective.

        You admitted this in your article… so why do you think it is not good, not ethic? Are the most respected guys in our sport like Roger or Rafa are cheaters?

        There is a very simple explanation of a toilet break… which you can find in any tennis rulebook. The official name of it is “Toilet/Change of Attire Break”. So it is completely legal & ethical to take this type of break not only for toilet needs, but to change your t-shirt as well.

        And you can use it for the good of your player, without making something bad for the opponent & or game – just like great pros do. “Change your t-shirt. Remove all doubts & bad feelings from the first set – with that t-shirt. Wear on a new, fresh one. Now you have new t-shirt, new set, 0:0, and everything is still open. Go and do your job!” Something like that.

        I actually do not understand what’s wrong with this. My player currently performs on Challengers level, and it is quite common to have a break after the 1st set.

        So why to teach kids NOT to use a bathroom break, if they can use it and this is not a violation of any rules, official or ethical? It is just like to teach kids not to play high top spins cause somebody can call them “moonballers”.

        If it works (surely in certain conditions) and is NOT prohibited, written on non-written – use it to win your game.

        • Hi Anton,
          That is great to hear about your son’s success. I will definitely be on the look out for him. I guess we are not going to agree on the interpretation of the rule, so lets set that aside for now 🙂 … I do actually agree with you that it could be beneficial for a tennis player to take this break. The point that I am trying to get across to young tennis players is that they should learn and develop the skills on the court to deal with their struggles rather than looking for an escape plan, even if it is just temporary escape! Any chance we can get for our kids to build resilience and force them into difficult situations (I say the word difficult lightly) then we should be encouraging them to do so, and have them work through this adversity in way that will build some resilience. Yes, I believe whole heartedly in players developing routines in between points and on the changeovers, I just don’t believe one of those should be a bathroom break after the first set. The routines that you bring up do not fall in to the ethically shady area, they are all well above board and perfectly legal. I literally saw every junior player take this bathroom break during the national championships and had to express my frustration with it !!! I mention in the article that sometimes the pros do this, but these kids are not pros, playing for their livelihoods or learning the nuances or toughness required to playing the sport at the highest level – they have already figured that out. Instead the audience I am trying to speak to are kids trying to learn the game and hopefully many life skills along the way. Thanks again for reading and debating this!

  2. The lost art of sportsmanship….It’s what all of this boils down to. It starts in jrs and when we don’t teach the kids that you want to win but not at all cost it spirals downhill. Tennis needs to return to more of the spectators cheering for both players and the sport overall. Granted it is a high level skill to wish an opponent success but if Roger and Rafa can do it so can everyone else.
    I also think college tennis does a diservice to the game when they behave like that. I believer you can have a great team atmosphere but not at the expense of someone else.

    • Hi Mary,
      Thanks for your thoughts. I agree about the sportsmanship. Other than these bathroom breaks I thought the spirit in which I witnessed the competition being played was actually relatively positive compared to college tennis. However, college tennis is a different deal altogether and the lack of sportsmanship is concerning to me. I know this is something the leadership at the ITA is trying to address but ultimately coaches need to take more responsibility for their actions and stop encouraging players to scream and yell, turn a blind eye when their players cheat, and set poor examples by fighting with the referees on a consistent basis. Right now it is a race to the bottom, but I believe it will change as coaches start to understand that none of these actions actually help their players play any better, and that at some point you can’t scream as much as the other team so you might as well try a different tactic!! That is my hope anyway.