Two sights winter-season players seldom see: the palm trees after they get their annual haircut, and an approaching dust storm, headed in from the south.  By the time league starts, both will be distant memories for those of us here through the summer.

Who wants to see their serve in slo-mo?  It will be available to all who want it this season, along with stop-action photos.  Here are a couple early tests to show some Summer Season Round Robin,

Then a Slo-Mo of Marty's Serve & Slice

And one of 3 positions for Ron, new to TowerPoint this season.

All you winter season folks miss out on the big summer event: palm trees get a haircut.  Here you see it near completion, the boom truck working away to the left.  Shortly after this DJ throws a big gala bash at the center.  They drain the exercise pool, fill it with all the dried palm fronds, douse them in kerosene, and we have our version of Man on Fire here in the desert.  Everyone gets double Eskimo Pies, and we hum in unison, "How Dry I Am" while the summer league tennis players from around the valley accompany us with the EVSTL kazoo band.

Well, there's some things about the template I'm using that make things harder.  For example, to post, you have to have signed in first.  And you have to find the small print at the top right that says "New Post" and finally, I misremembered how to get email notice of a new post, it apparently is not the small envelope icon, but I'll change that some day soon.

We got haboobed

Fairly sudden wind and minor dust storm out of the south this afternoon
brought cooler weather but upset the bleachers and bulletin boards.  Damage appears minor.
Rus

Tennis Ladder Software

From http://www.tennisengine.com 

Please be advised that this system depends on a reasonable amount of match data. A player or doubles team needs to have at least 3 matches logged before an accurate ranking can be calculated.

The Tennis Engine computes player rankings based upon a proprietary algorithm that evaluates every match played for the life of the league or conference. The system is designed to rank each player based upon a combination of performance (derived from match results) and activity (how many matches played and against whom).

When a new match is entered, the Tennis Engine adjusts your ranking based on the following factors:

1. Current match win or loss
2. Current match performance (% of games won)
3. The strength of each of your past opponents
4. Your overall match winning percentage
5. Your overall game winning percentage

Furthermore, the ranking of every player who has played you or your opponent will be affected by the outcome of your match.

Winning or losing a close match with a highly rated player could boost your ranking, whereas a close match with a lower rated player could reduce your ranking. Decisive wins over lower rated players could be less rewarding than close wins over higher rated players. Confused? Simply put... winning matters the most, but after that it's all about whom you play and how close you play them.

Strength Rating

The rankings are based on each player's current Index value (i.e. the third ranked player has the third highest Index). Each player's Index is a combination of his Strength Rating and the number of wins. Each player's Strength Rating is viewable in his player profile.

Your Strength Rating (SR) is the measure of your ability to:

1. win matches against the field of participants
2. win a high percentage of games in all matches
3. perform well against higher rated players

Your Strength Rating will improve with more matches won and a better percentage of games won. The strength (SR) of the opponents you play is also factored into the calculation (Each player's SR is located inside his profile along with other information).

Your SR will fluctuate as other participants compete. It might rise as players whom you have defeated accumulate wins over other players. Inversely, your SR might dip if players who have beaten you suffer losses.

The online league is updated every time a match is entered. Any method and combination of scoring can be used.

Doubles

Margin of victory, opponent strength, and wins and losses are factored just as in singles - plus the Strength Rating (SR) of your chosen partner. A win or close loss with a weak partner will help build a healthy Strength Rating.

Tennis Serve Racquet Path - Linear vs Circular