KENT ELMS TENNIS CLUB

The Carter Glass Junior Thunderball Tournament 2008 has been officially sanctioned by the LTA as a Category 6 Event. This has come about following the many positive reports that the LTA has received about the tournament, which has been hailed as an exciting new innovation in junior tennis. All results from the event will now be forwarded to the LTA so that registered players can gain rating points. All competitors are encouraged to register with the LTA free of charge by going to www.lta.org.uk/Membership/MembershipReview.

Thunderball Tennis is the brainchild of Kent Elms Tennis Club member, Pat Taylor. The Thunderball system involves an intensive week of tennis where competitors compete in up to 8 rounds of singles. Each round consists of a regular three set match with contestants being awarded up to three points. A two set to love win is worth 3 points to the winner and 0 points to the loser, while a two sets to one win is worth 2 points to the winner and 1 point to the loser. Round by round, players with similar points totals are paired together so that players who are scoring well play against others who are also scoring well. If they are beaten they drop back and take on weaker opposition. Conversely, players who are scoring badly play against others who are scoring badly, giving them the chance to improve their position. In this way, competitors move up and down until they settle into an order of merit, irrespective of age or gender. An important feature of this tournament is that there is no knockout. Instead, the highly flexible system allows players with a wide range of abilities to compete against eachother. The key is that each competitor is allowed to find their own level.

During August each year the Leigh & Westcliff Tennis Association sponsors a Junior Thunderball Tournament. Over the past few years this tournament has been run for juniors within the age range U10 to U16, with prizes awarded for the highest score in each of the seven age groups. The extreme flexibility of this form of competition allowed the youngest to compete against the oldest, and girls to compete against boys, with competitors being allowed to find their own level. The advantages of the sytem are illustrated by the fact that, in the 2005 event, an U13 boy finished second overall, and an U10 girl finshed ninth overall, out of 34.

Thunderball Tennis Tournaments have now been held at the Chingford Tennis Academy (2001), Thorpe Bay Tennis Club (2002 & 2003), and Deanes Sports College (2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008)