Second Serve Tennis

Tournaments versus Leagues

• Second Serve with Carolyn Roach & Erin Conigliaro • Episode 305

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Should you play in tournaments or leagues? Maybe both?

Join Carolyn and Erin as they continue their conversation with Eric, the 55+ 4.5 singles National Champion, on the differences between tournaments and leagues from Eric's perspective. In addition hear the craziest thing that ever happened to Eric at a tournament. You won't walk up to a tournament the same after hearing it!

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Carolyn:

Hi, this is Carolyn and I'm here with Erin. And this is part two of our episode with Eric, who is the 55 plus 4'5 singles national champion. He took a 35-year break from tennis and credits tennis with helping to save his life. If you want to learn more about that, please check out part one. But here is part two.A

Erin:

So tell us what's the difference between playing individually or doubles tournaments versus a league, in your opinion.

Eric:

You know, so in addition to playing tournaments, which has been my focus, I'm a captain of a of a team in four or five men's league in the Naples area. And I'm also on a mixed doubles league. And I love to play both formats. I find it like they're they're very different experiences for me, league versus tournaments. And, you know, I I when the logistics work out, I think leagues can be like very social and the teaming aspects is what I really, really love. I mean, like to what we were talking about, Erin, is that you're when you're playing a singles tournament, you're kind of out there on your own.

Erin:

Yeah.

Eric:

And when you're in a league, it's very, very team-oriented and social. It's wonderful, and it's it's just got a different level of intensity. So it depends on what you're looking for. Some people love the doubles and the teaming aspects, and some people love the singles aspects. You know, for me, the leagues are a little challenging sometimes with the logistics and the scheduling, is that, hey, you're trying to get a match going, you say you're gonna play, and then things change a lot more often than I expected, you know, being a captain or coordinating league matches. It can be kind of a little frustrating scheduling-wise. What I like about tournaments the other way is that when you sign up for a tournament, it becomes like a priority. You've you've you're saying that's the date it's the tournament's gonna be, you've signed up for it, you've you've kind of schedule around the tournament, both everything you have to do to get ready for the tournament, be in the tournament, and even like the recovery during the tournament and everything. So it has a different context than my experience than leagues. And it's just, you know, what you're looking for is an experience. And for me, I find the intensity of a singles match for me is just um, I grew up as a singles player. I'm a singles player who loves playing doubles, with it that way.

Carolyn:

Usually it's yeah, yeah.

Eric:

You know what I mean? So I I just I kind of like being out there. And um, as I said, it's when I get into my flow, um, it's great. When I have doubles, it depends on the doubles partner I'm with when you get to the point where you're just starting to just you just know what's going on, the flow between the two. So it's just different, different experiences, but you know, it it's really about making a commitment. You know, some some things are leagues are uh I think the value of them is that they can be very flexible, which is great for a lot of folks. But you know, with tournaments, they are uh far more intense. And then if you play a tournament that then says, hey, I know I need to go for travel, I need to go someplace else. Well, that's also another commitment, whether it be regional or nationally, only the time, but the expense. Not everyone wants to, you know, kind of like do a tournament all the time.

Carolyn:

So are you lonely playing tournaments like singles tournaments? Because to me, a singles tournament sounds miserable by myself. Because that's why I love like team. I love if if I'm going to play singles, I want to be there with my team.

Eric:

Right. Well, yeah, you you say that. I mean, uh well, I suppose I I don't well, no. I don't ever feel I've been on tournaments where I go, and sometimes people are supporting me, and sometimes I go on my own. Like right now, I'm actually competing in the USTA Red Court uh national championships. But to your point on on being lonely out there, I I never never feel lonely.

Carolyn:

No. So the answer is no. He doesn't have a woman.

Erin:

That's why it's so good to have you on, because we do have so many. I mean, we have so many. Uh Carol and I've talked about this for years. We love having a man's perspective because it is so different than our experience, just personality-wise. But um, do you find that even though you're in a compet very competitive situation and signing up for tournaments and paying, people are paying good money to, like you said, travel and train and recover and do all these other things. So it's you know, it's no small feat to get there and and do all that. But do you also feel like they're still pretty social? Like, are people, even though you're competing against people, it must be a fun experience.

Eric:

Totally. Yeah, totally. Yeah. I mean, I I mean you you definitely meet and you know, you meet people. That's one of the things about league versus tournaments. Sometimes when you're playing a league, you know everybody, and it's and if it's the local it is, you're playing the same people, and it's and that's kind of cool, but sometimes it's like, hey, I this is my local crew, and that's when you're playing tournaments, you I find you're always meeting newer people all the time. And and sometimes when you're playing the value of going to regional or national tournaments, and you meet people from like all over the country, and hey, you start experiencing and you find like for example, I was uh down in um Florida playing a tournament, and I realized I started playing with people who also have a college background, and like, oh wow, when did you go to nationals? It turns out we were actually in nationals at the same time.

Erin:

Oh, cool.

Eric:

Yeah, you know, yeah, and and actually in the same tournament in 1987. You know, like wow. I you know, it was like so so it's so it's great meeting new people. It's very social and and uh it's it's great meeting uh folks in Linux about their learning about their backgrounds and where they're from.

Carolyn:

What are the line calls like?

Erin:

It's always Carolyn, I love you. She's always like, what are the line calls like?

Carolyn:

I'm thinking like I'm thinking like USTA singles, national championship, everybody's paying to go to Florida. I'm thinking very intense.

Eric:

Yeah, I mean, it is. I mean, there's no question about that, um uh Caroline. It is it is intense. I think you have it's I don't know. I mean, as a singles player, I I I think I mean I I grew up as a singles player for one. That's what I my whole when I started playing tennis. I I didn't really like doubles was kind of a thing to it was fun to do, but I always like my my I would uh evaluate my progression as a tennis player as a singles player. And you get to learn how to play in all sorts of conditions, in all sorts of bad situations, and you have to stay with your flow. And sometimes you get bad, you know, uh I'd say bad calls or opponents that are really not fun to play with, and then you get the quite the opposite. There's sometimes when you play people that it's just like this is the most fun I'm having. I might even be losing, but we're just we're just pulling out the best in each other. I love that. We're like in some places, like you know, and this is maybe more of a mental thing, like a lot of times people don't want to say good shot to each other, you know. Hey, you just hit a great shot, you know, and and I think what I'm uh what I'm playing now, I find it's far more like if you hit a really good shot, people acknowledge it to each other. Yes, and that kind of sets the tone of like, hey, you know, we're out here both doing our thing. Only jerks don't. You know, you know, and and and and there's always there's always situations where it can get a little difficult, but you know, you kind of work it through. And I've never had a situation, and and to your to the point about like being in a national tournament, you'd think that there would be an official.

Carolyn:

Right, right. There's no officials, there's no officials.

Eric:

No officials, yes, yes, and maybe that's gonna change with swing vision or something like that, and AI scoring and all that stuff. But um, you know, sometimes I I really think that for players who are competing at a national level, and you talk about just adult recreational or even the fact that there's no officiating at at college level games is kind of amazing. Okay. And it takes a little bit of the you've got to focus on your flow, you've got to focus on what you know, and you've also got to be an official.

Carolyn:

Yes.

Eric:

Which no other sport really has that to the context.

Carolyn:

So it's so hard.

Eric:

Yeah. And you know, sometimes, you know, I'd say, look, nine times out of ten, you're you're gonna get the calls right on both sides. And then if there's that one that you don't know, then you kind of work it through with the other person, and it's just uh it's just you just work it through looks like anything else.

Erin:

I think that's such a man. I know. Well, I think, but it's but he has such a good mental state too. I think staying in that flow, like if we can remember that, then like I just I I always tell myself, I don't have I I have as much energy to play a match. I don't have extra energy to be irritated with people or it just takes too much, right? So but but but some people are looking for a fight. You know, that's just how they are. They're just looking, they're looking, they they they think they go into it, think they're gonna be cheated, and so they're looking for a fight. But those are usually the people that you can beat too, because they're the first ones to implode because they're so hung up on, you know, being treated 100%, you know, making 100% correct calls and nobody cheating them that um they're easier to beat, I feel like.

Eric:

Yeah, well, I I mean, listen, I I kind of feel like when I was a kid I on Long Island or whatever, uh, you know, between high school and all the terms, I felt like I was playing street ball. You know, I mean, like, you know, I mean it's like you're built to fight Well, I mean, and there's a part of it which is physical, but it's just the mental part. Like, okay, well, all right, look, if if if you're gonna call bad lines on me, right, then you know, I mean when I was a kid, Stan Smith was like one of my idols. Okay. I mean, and so I'd heard about the story where, you know, they're in a Davis Cup match and they're getting, and with professionals and everything around, they're getting bad line calls in a Davis Cup match against Elon Nastasi and all this sort of stuff. And I'm like, so what do you do? And he's like, Okay, well, I'm not gonna hit the ball close to the line. I'm just gonna do other things to win. And if that's what you're gonna have to pull is the line calls, well, I'm gonna take that out of the equation. I'm just gonna start working in another way.

Carolyn:

Right.

Eric:

And okay, and and then you get to the point where and then when you they to your point on just the tipping point of an opponent, then at that point, if they still can't win or can't get through that stuff, then you're just you know, you just kind of just have to stay consistent and be in your moment and let them fall apart.

Carolyn:

So, Eric, can you tell us the craziest thing that's ever happened to you playing tennis?

Eric:

Sure. Well it has to do with the tournament, and I show up um and I said uh I had a noon uh match. Okay, so I go into the tournament, you know, check-in place. I say, hi, I'm Eric. I'm here for my noon, you know, match. Okay, I'm thinking nothing of it. She says, Great, I she's got it on there, go, good. And she comes over and says, All right, you go off on court five or whatever and start your match. Great. I'm playing the match, played it, won it, come back checking the score, and then realize there was another Eric. And so are two Erics at noon. And I thought, I kind of naively thought I'm the only Eric in the world who's playing in this tournament at noon. And so so then I came back, and then the other Eric was playing for me and had started a little late, and they were in the first set somewhere, and I said, I asked the tournament director to say, please stop the match. And they did, and then we restarted the real match. Did you win the second one? So it was I didn't. Oh I didn't. So, you know, uh, and maybe look, I don't know if this guy would have uh gotten a better result than I did, but um it was just funny. It was just an awkward thing. Like, and so now I'm like, oh, it's like uh all these things you have to think about, like, okay, well, I have to be there at 12 o'clock. Well, you have your I gotta travel, you know, all these different things you gotta deal with now. Now I have to go and think about well, I have to say my my first name, my last name, the match number, who my opponent is to make sure that you know I'm on the right court. That's funny. You're like, I need to channel the other Eric.

Carolyn:

Thanks again to Eric. We have one more episode where he tells us what he does to stay in flow on the tennis court and his opinion on sandbagging at 4-5. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.