International tennis number
The International Tennis Number (ITN) is an international rating number that represents the general skill level of a tennis player . According to this system, players are rated from ITN 1 to ITN 10. The ITN 1 is given to a very strong player (a player with an ATP / WTA ranking or a similarly high level of play). The ITN 10 is given to a player who has just started playing tennis. The ITN is comparable to the handicap in golf .
Emergence
In 2001 the International Tennis Federation founded an international evaluation working group whose sole task is to:
To create, and to use and promote, an international tennis scoring system that will lead to an increase in competitive tennis at all levels worldwide.
Objectives of the evaluation system
The international assessment project provides a method to classify tennis players worldwide according to their skill level, which in turn can help:
- to motivate them to play more tennis,
- to unite the tennis world under a common evaluation language ,
- To encourage nations to introduce an international rating system nationally,
- Promote a variety of forms of tennis competitions related to the scoring system
- make it possible to find suitable playing partners and thus have more fun with tennis,
- To facilitate matches between players of all levels from different countries.
begin
The starting shot for the ITN was given at the Australian Open 2003 , when Tennis Australia became the first member country of the ITF to make the ITN the official national rating system.
Categories
The assessment of the performance level should not be based on the mere assessment of individual strokes, but also taking into account the general characteristics of the different game levels, the five game or tactical situations in tennis ( serve , return , baseline game , attack , passing stroke ) and the style of play of the Player.
| ITN 1 | This player has prepared intensively for national competitions at junior and / or adult level. He has an ATP / WTA ranking or would be able to have one and his main income comes from the prize money from tournaments. |
| ITN 2 | This player has punch and / or security as the greatest strength of his game. He can vary strategies and types of game in a competitive situation. He usually has a national ranking position. |
| ITN 3 | This player anticipates what his opponent is doing and often has an excellent particular punch or skill around which his game can be built. He is able to score regularly and benefit from his opponent's short balls. He can volleys and smashes turn and can rely on different impact types. |
| ITN 4 | This player has mastered punch and spin , can handle faster balls and has good footwork. He can control his stroke length and adapt his game to the opponent. He serves the 1st serve very powerfully and the 2nd serve with a twist. |
| ITN 5 | This player has reliable strokes and is able to control the direction and length of the ground strokes and the medium-speed strokes. He is able to use praise , smack balls, attack balls and flying balls quite successfully. |
| ITN 6 | This player moves closer to the net, can cover the entire playing field, increases control over his strokes and develops teamwork in doubles . |
| ITN 7 | This player is fairly consistent with medium-speed shots, but doesn't have much experience with other shots. He lacks control over the length, direction and power of the blows. |
| ITN 8 | This player can judge where the ball will go and is able to perform a short rally with slow strokes. |
| ITN 9 | This player needs to gain gaming experience and he can execute his punches reasonably successfully. |
| ITN 10 | This player can serve, return and play rallies on the large court with a normal ball approved by the ITF . |
| ITN 10.1 | This player can play rallies in the small field with method balls and, if necessary, with smaller clubs. |
| ITN 10.2 | This player has already developed some tennis-specific skills and can knock back incoming balls, but is not yet capable of controlled rallies while on the move. |
| ITN 10.3 | This player is at the beginning of the development of his tennis skills and mainly learns simple coordination exercises. |
rating
The evaluation methods may vary depending on the situation in the country, region or tennis club. B. as follows:
| Self-assessment: | Players can classify themselves using the guidelines provided. |
| Independent examiners / classifiers: | Some nations may wish to delegate responsibility for rating players to independent individuals who are familiar with the ITN system. These people can be club coaches, club managers or tournament directors. Some nations have already created videos to make the judges' job easier. |
| Computer evaluation: | Some nations use computers to rank the players. Interactive programs could guide players to their correct rating by answering questions. Computer programs can continuously re-evaluate players based on the results achieved. |
ITN AUSTRIA
ITN AUSTRIA is a further development of the ITN skill level system for Austria in strict compliance with the requirements of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). In a first step, all team championship players (approx. 60,000 people) were initially classified based on their starting position in their team or division as well as all game results of the last seven years. All championship leagues were checked according to the guidelines of the ITF regarding the level of play, compared and categorized throughout Austria. This automatic basic classification was checked and approved by club and regional association officials, which generated highly meaningful initial values.
Since the release of the initial classification values, all tennis games that take place in an official competition of the Austrian Tennis Association or its regional associations have been taken into account in the skill level system in real time using a specially developed online software solution using various calculation formulas. This makes ITN AUSTRIA a highly dynamic and flexible system. The software also takes into account changes in playing strength that result automatically from changing the age of the player or from not playing tennis regularly. As a result, the skill values also develop if there are no or too few game results for a person, so that the relative comparability is always given.
Players can access their ITN values via the ITN AUSTRIA micro-site (accessible via tennisaustria.at ), inspect the underlying game results and, if necessary, complain about their ITN value if incorrect game results were assigned or the initial classification was not correct. The ITN AUSTRIA Micro-Site recorded 1.5 million page views in the first two months after its introduction in May 2009, which speaks for the greatest interest and high acceptance of the players for the new rating system.
Due to the high informative value of the Austrian system, ITN is already used to set parts of the team championship, the matches become more even and the game results tighter, which means more excitement and joy for the individual player. Individual game results are no longer only relevant for the performance of the entire team, but for the player himself, which is why the number of non-played games in the championship - because the game in the entire match or with regard to the overall table is no longer relevant had - has decreased significantly.
Since ITN was developed in particular to promote popular sport, clubs have been trained since 2009 on how to use ITN AUSTRIA outside of the team championship. Clubs can add "simple club members" to the system through online administration software. In order for these to be correctly classified, extensive information documents were made available to the clubs and numerous information events were held. The classification can be done by a club trainer who knows exactly the level of play of his protégés, or by playing against an opponent who has already been classified. The result is used to determine the relative strength of the player who has not yet been classified. A 0: 6, 0: 6, for example, leads to a clear gradation of the new player, a close 3-set result leads to the same grading value, since it can be assumed that both players could have won and thus have almost the same level of play .
The Austrian Tennis Association sees ITN as a basic tool that is ideally suited to developing new game formats for non-competitive players. Small tournaments at club level, which are advertised according to skill level and can theoretically also be played across genders and age groups, motivate members to play more tennis and actively participate in club life. The response from active "ITN clubs" has been overwhelmingly positive. Another initiative aims to record all games that are played at club level in the ITN AUSTRIA system. Under the motto "Play Tennis", members are asked to play tennis as often as possible and to have all their games against friends and other club members incorporated into the evaluation system by a responsible official in the club - the ITN administrator - in order to reflect the vision of the Austrian Tennis Association to equip every single tennis player in Austria with a skill level value can be implemented and the ÖTV thus follows the basic idea of the International Tennis Association to unite all tennis players worldwide in a uniform classification system.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ ITF: Description of Standard ( Memento of the original of July 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 54 kB); Retrieved September 8, 2010
