Geoff Watts - Pro Tip 1

All Mixed Up

Pro Top Tip from Geoff Watts,
Teaching Professional at The Club

There's a scene from an episode of the priceless comedy "Family Guy" in which Peter, Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe are all sitting around their favorite table at the Drunken Clam all claiming how much they despise singer Barry Manilow.

As the conversation evolves, they each start to lighten up on Mr. Manilow before all excitedly confessing their deep-seeded love of all things Barry.

This same phenomenon - secretly enjoying something that one might outwardly revile - occurs within local tennis communities nationwide ... just substitute mixed doubles for Barry Manilow.

While many fellas may claim that they would prefer a trip to the dentist than compete in mixed doubles, deep down the idea of winning with a female on the same side of the court as them is a rather appealing challenge - not to mention maybe a tad more fun than just regular old dubbs.

It's just hard to admit.

Each of the four Grand Slam Tournaments - Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open - host a mixed doubles draw as part of the event. John McEnroe, for crying out loud, has competed and won playing Grand Slam mixed doubles.

Why then, with almost staggering unanimity, when posed the question "how's your mixed doubles game?" in advance of August 21-23rd's Heads -n- Tails Mixed Doubles event, did every guy hesitate as though I asked them "did you hear the latest Barry Manilow song on the radio?"

Answers such as, "Not good," "I don't know," "Oh, my aching back" or "I'll get back to you" were common refrains. I mean, could you ever imagine a female answering the same question with such vague disdain?

Yet, why do I see some of our area's best fellas teeing it up not only in many of the area's fine mixed doubles tournaments but in USTA mixed doubles leagues?

It's because deep-down inside the idea of competing with a female and winning might be even more satisfying than that of playing with your gender equal in straight-up dubbs.

The mental and physical satisfaction of taking over a match using the "Gordon Gekko, greed is good" strategy - not that it is even required in many cases - can be a real ego quencher when sitting around the water cooler (or bar stool) yammering away with your peeps moments later. Not too many fellas despise chauvinistic dialog.

I'm guessing here, but I just can't envision the greedy female hogging the ball at the net trying to cover for some perceived weakness of her male counterpart and having the ladies over the next day for beers to brag about how she announced her presence with authority and could not be stopped.

The other reason guys really enjoy playing mixed doubles is more simple ... it's more interesting.

Interesting to watch: ever watch husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, brother and sister (as so often happens in mixed doubles' partnership models) try to maintain love for each other as the match starts to turn sour?

"I felt like breaking my racquet over his head," "Mr. Tournament Director, you need to find my husband a new partner," and "She couldn't put the ball away if both players had fallen down," are just some of the actual sentiments proudly expressed in the heat of the mixed doubles moment.

Interesting to compete: how many times does the female bail out her partner? How well does the female hold up to increased pace and greed at the net? How much will the male's greed - or lack thereof - affect the outcome of the match? Who comes up with the clutch shot(s) in the big moments? How well does this mixed doubles tandem jell during rallies?

Interesting as a social model: Are all athletes the same? What actually does happen when men and women share the same athletic stage. Is one gender predisposed to playing better under pressure? Can men and women work together toward a common goal?

So you see, the next time you ask some hotshot male tennis player his perception of mixed doubles, press him like a persistent reporter trying to get to the bottom of some shady cover up. Ask them how they did in their last mixed doubles tournament. Ask them how league play is going. Ask them if they had fun?

If they start to enjoy the interrogation, feel free to call them "Mr. Mixed Doubles."

So while we - the mighty male gender - might pretend like Peter, Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe sitting around at the bar table that mixed doubles is merely a weaker version of the real thing, secretly there's an inner Barry Manilow in all of us just waiting to explode.

Then again, I could be wrong.

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