MY SERVE
AD IN (+) DEUCE (=) AD OUT (-)

AD IN– League Membership registration. The effort by Executive Director Marjorie Hodson to get feedback from League representatives to make their work simpler and easier.

AD OUT– Cost of Life Membership in the APTA. The old “rule of thumb” was Life Membership equaled 10 years of annual dues. At the current cost of $750 for an Individual it is equal to 15 years of current dues and a Family at $1,000 is just over 13 years.

DEUCE – APTA Tournament Schedule on its web site. Lots of good news here. The monthly format covering all regions is an excellent presentation. The missing element is a format with all the National Championship tournaments gathered together. One has to look at either regions or month to find when or where a particular National is being played.
(For complete National Championship Tournament schedule - Click here )

AD OUT– Club Membership in the APTA. There is a list of 95 “Member Clubs” but there is no explanation of what comprises a “Member Club”. There was a time when over 200 clubs paid a fee to the APTA to be a “member”. A few years ago a premium (a flag, a doormat) was given with the payment of dues. Now, court reservation forms (formerly supplied by Viking Athletics) are given free as part of the dues. A stronger effort should be made to enlist clubs to membership and the web site should define a Member Club with its benefits, dues and responsibilities.

DEUCE– The APTA web site. The real plus (+) is consistency. There is no change in the construction. It looks the same and information is presented in the same manner. The real minus (-) is the graphics. There is too much of it. As a result the print is small and pages are “too busy”.

AD OUT– October is publication date of first issue of “Platform Tennis”, the APTA magazine, according to the “Paddlepro” web site. Formerly an issue was published in August with the tournament schedule and “hype” for the new season. This later date is unfortunate and presupposes that everyone checks the APTA web site.

AD IN– Gap in side service line officially approved by APTA. Initiated many years ago by court builders, the APTA Board finally added this provision to court specs. It should be very helpful to making correct calls on serves.

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