With that in mind, what are some of the regulations changes for 2020? You can read the whole 2020 USTA League Regulations document, but here is a summary of some of the notable changes to be aware of.
The big change is for those that are concerned about uncompetitive matches on court 1 when a team sacrifices a weak player there. For them, there is good news, although for 2020 just for plus flights. There is a new regulation stating that below level players are not allowed to play court 1 in plus flights. More specifically, in 5.0+ flights with 3 courts, a 4.5 cannot play on court 1 singles, and in 4.5+ flights, a 4.0 cannot play on either court 1.
This means for example that while a 4.5 can be rostered and play on a 18 & Over 5.0+ team, they will not be allowed to play on court 1. This makes sense given that the plus player (5.5s) must play on only court 1, and having them play a 4.5 would likely result in an uncompetitive match. Since the point of level based play is to have competitive matches, allowing 4.5s to play 5.5s kind of goes against that so one can see the reason for this regulation.
Now, this does handcuff some captains a bit taking away some line-up flexibility, particularly in 5.0+ where just three courts are played, but it may help keep plus players engaged in USTA League.
Now, this rule is just for plus flights. Normal flights there is no restriction and there is still no special meaning to the courts in these flights.
What do you think? Is this a good change? Would you like to see the rule apply to all flights? Or did you like it the way it was?
A few other changes are related to sections being given leeway on scoring methods and tie-break procedures in playoffs. Basically, a section can elect to use rules different from the Nationals for determining standings the determining who advances.
Those are the significant changes. I'll keep my eyes out for more.
So in a regular 18 & over 4.5 men's summer league a 4.0 can still play #1 correct?
ReplyDeleteFor this rule I can see it causing some issues for the older ages 4.5+ levels where they have a hard enough time rostering players of that age bracket in the first place. But at 18&over 5.0+ I do agree that it should be a 5.0 playing #1. But I do know a team in my district that was using a 4.5 at #1 since he was the best option and all the 5.0s were doubles players.
Yes, as I understand it this rule only applies to plus flights. So 18+ 4.5 is unaffected.
DeleteYou are right that in some scenarios it will cause problems. Not there 5.0+ team has 5.5s on the roster and like you say, their best singles player could be a 4.5.
But, if there best 5.0+ player for singles is a 4.5, then they are either sandbagging or need to be rated higher. It’s a great implementation, matches should be just as competitive for the higher rated 5.0+ players otherwise we lose them. In our area now even when you become a 4.5 the level of competition is no longer a “season”, maybe a weekend, if that.
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