This year the USTA mandated that 12U Satellite/Challenger and Junior Team Tennis players had to play with the green dot ball (GDBs) in competition. The following 10 reasons explain why the GDB should NOT be mandated in USTA junior tennis play. These comments are based on countless hours of discussions with parents and coaches while watching their sons, daughters, and students play with both the GDB and real tennis balls.
1. For many years, some teaching professionals have advocated the use of “dead” tennis balls as a training tool. As a commercial product, low compression balls (LCBs) have been in existence for 25-30 years. GDBs are a more recent phenomenon. Many parents view the GDB mandate as a gimmick by the manufacturers to sell more products.
Many years ago the teaching profession informally endorsed LCBs as an excellent teaching tool, along with shorter and lighter racquets, and smaller courts. If the teaching professionals had felt that LCB tournament play would have benefitted the sport, they would have developed LCB junior circuits many years ago. The LCB mandate is the USTA’s way of saying to teaching professionals that they are not knowledgeable about the sport they teach.
2. The quality control for the LCBs does not appear to be as good as it is for real tennis balls, i.e. some balls bounce better than others in match play.
By design, the balls are lighter and not as lively. As a result, they don’t play well in the wind or at temperatures below 50 degrees.
It is common for satellite players, particularly girls, to develop incorrect strategies when they use GDBs. For example, it is common for girls to swing hard on service returns and hit shots that barely clear the net and bounce in the middle of their opponent’s service court. More often than not, the returns do not carry to the service line and go for a winner.
3. In a similar light, satellite players, especially girls, have difficulty putting the GDBs away. They learn that an effective strategy is to hit the ball back and forth down the middle of the court until the other person misses, gets bored and goes home, or they turn 13 and become too old to finish the match. Frequently, these long, pointless rallies feature bad footwork and many poorly executed strokes. It is easier for some beginning players to get by with sloppy strokes and bad strategy when they use GDBs.
4. The LCBs seem to be better suited for players who are physically stronger or more coordinated, i.e. boys. They are more capable of having longer rallies that include spin, pace, placement and side-to-side movement, and reasonable technique. The use of GDBs with strong athletic boys brings back memories of the days when Jimmy Arias, Harold Solomon, and Eddie Dibbs were the top American players. They were great players, but their style of tennis was so boring that the industry quickly ended the “slow-court experiment” that was in place at the time and began building courts with faster surfaces.
5. Most parents don’t like the GDBs. At the tournaments early in the season they wondered why tournament directors were having their kids play with “dead” balls. Although parents pay for the racquets, balls, and lessons they have been vilified for questioning the GDB mandate. Many parents regard the ball as a short-term necessary evil that is not worth addressing. Others avoid dealing with the GDB by having their kids play in the 14U division, an option that is not always in the best interest of the player.
6. When given a choice to play with GDBs or real balls, most 12U kids choose to play with real tennis balls.
7. Real tennis balls often bounce too high for shorter boys and girls. LCBs are a great teaching tool that address that challenge, particularly when players are younger or in the early stages of learning. It is ironic that juniors are taught to use semi-western and western grips to deal with high bouncing balls on the forehand side, yet they are mandated to play with balls that aren’t lively and don’t have a high bounce.
8. GDBs have a low bounce and are not lively. As a result players have to hit a lot of “lunge” groundstrokes. The contact point on many shots is often at a height between the player’s ankles and knees (that is very low for a short 11 year old girl). These shots are hit less frequently when real tennis balls are used.
The grips of choice (western and semi-western) do not work well for “lunge” or “ankle” groundstrokes. In short, LCBs eliminate some problems and introduce others which mean they may help some players while hindering others.
9. When younger players, or players who are not as strong, play with GDBs, they may not be rewarded for hitting clean strokes. As well they may not be rewarded for hitting with spin. On the other hand, stronger and more accomplished players can hit GDBs with excessive spin and make the ball dance like a whiffle ball. For many players, playing tennis with GDBs is a different game than playing with real tennis balls.
10. As players become more accomplished it may be easier to have longer rallies with GDBs than real tennis balls. That is not justification for mandating the use of GDBs in competition. When players can consistently hit with spin, pace, and placement it is time to switch them to the balls they really want to play with – real tennis balls. GDBs are a wonderful teaching tool, but players should be weaned from them based on their ability, not their birthday.
Over the years, the USTA has done many wonderful things for the sport of tennis, mandating the use of GDBs is not one of them.
The real story is the impact that Na Li’s victory will have on the sport. Reportedly, more than 120 million fans in China cheered her on as she won the title on her third attempt. Her accomplishments will likely spawn a tennis boom in China. Greater interest in this market may increase the importance of the Australian Open as a Grand Slam.
