Summer Greetings...

I hope that all of you are enjoying your "summer break". I certainly have been enjoying a bit of the small ball as I have been privileged to get out on the golf course several times with former Clippers Rohan Malhotra, Neel Roy, and Doug O'Connell. Unfortunately, my game has not rounded into form just yet but it is nice to have the opportunity to enjoy the out of doors and catch up with members of the Clipper nation.


In other news, Tomasz Olfans has joined us in Bronxville and has attended summer orientation. Tomasz is really going to be a factor in NCAA II and he is ready to contribute immediately.

Also, Coach Neil continues his recovery and has now been removed from his cast and placed into a less restrictive brace that allows for more movement and the introduction of physical therapy. The somewhat apprehensive patient will be sure to progress quickly and hopefully be weight bearing fully in the near future.

In other good news, all tennis coaches have taken and passed the NCAA Recruiting Exam for the 2011-2012 season. This is good to get this accomplished on the first trial.

With any luck the players are looking to improve on their season ending NCAA II National Ranking of #4. For this to happen there needs to be plenty of hard work including summer fitness and on court improvement. If the players have been and continue to do so, good things will happen for the team. If not, well...not good for anybody.

Share the good! Feel free to report any good things that are going on with you. Share your comments in the comment section of any blog posts, send me an email at danabolics@aol.com, send me a tweet on twitter, or send me a facebook message.

Have a great August and be well.

Nuff said...

ITA Scholar Athletes Announced...

The ITA (the governing body of college tennis) has announced their list of Scholar Athletes for the 2010-2011 academic year. We are very pleased and proud to have three members of the team mentioned among the elite student athletes in the country.

Congratulations to Felix Missal, Geza Bazula and Davis Tisserand. These three young men have distinguished themselves both on the court and in the classroom. A student athlete must achieve a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale for the academic year to be honored.

Click here for the link to the press release.

Nuff said...

The Cast...

Have a nice look at the cast. If you are in the Bronxville area, stop on by the College Racquet Club and sign this, soon to be, piece of tennis memorabilia. Coach T. will be glad to see you.

Nuff said...

Happy Birthday Coach Neil...

As we celebrate our Independence here in the US, we must also celebrate the birthday of Coach Neil Tarangioli. Yes, he is indeed born of the 4th of July. I will not reveal his age here in the land of social media but he certainly looks younger than the number.

I certainly hope he is able to enjoy the day even though he is inconvenienced by his recent surgery and ambulation status. Incidentally, if you check out the "Some intriguing blogs to check out" gadget in the right hand gadget column of this blog, you will note the arrival of the "Achilles Tendon Injury Recovery Blog" in honor of Coach T.

All the best.

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Happy Independence Day...

Wishing all of you a very happy and safe Independence Day. What wonderful opportunities we all have as a result.

Nuff said...

Format Change???

Things could be changing...

There is a motion up before the NCAA D2 Tennis Committee at the moment which considers a format change with respect to match scoring. Essentially the motion suggests a move away from the 9 point scoring format to the 7 point format already used in NCAA D1.

For those of you not familiar with the scoring format currently used in D2: each team match consists of 9 tennis matches: 3 doubles matches and 6 singles matches. Each of these matches is worth 1 point. Thus, there are 3 doubles points and 6 singles points available. The NCAA D1 format has only 7 total points available as the singles matches are still worth 1 point each but the doubles play is only worth 1 total point for scoring. The doubles point is awarded to the team winning the majority of the 3 doubles matches.

This format change places a greater emphasis on the singles matches and ensures that the team winning any given dual match must win at least one half (3) of the singles contests. Also, this format change could also shorten the dual match somewhat. If a team has won the first 2 doubles matches finishing, the third match would be stopped as a majority has been achieved. I am not sure that this is a big deal though.

I was asked by another coach for my opinion about this rule change and I responded by saying that "it depends on how well we play doubles during any given season." However, truth be told, even though we have always played pretty solid doubles, I support such a format change. With the recent NCAA rule changes in D2, the incoming players are younger (I will avoid the obvious cheap shot at the schools who seem to have a special relationship with the NCAA) and have less experience. As a result, much practice time has to be devoted to doubles...probably more than singles. I feel that it is more important for the players to be hitting more balls and focusing on developing their skills, strategies, and fitness rather than spending more than half of a practice on teaching doubles on a day-to-day basis. If only 1 point is at stake for doubles, coaches could spend a little less time in that area. This, in my opinion, would not only make the players happy but would be better for their overall development.

This rule change, if approved, could be utilized as soon as next season.

What are your thoughts?

Nuff said...