October/November 2007 -- "Yeah, yeah, yeah, get out the violin - things were always better when you were a kid and today they have all gone to Hades in a handbasket." Who among you hasn’t heard this from your own parents or more recently said it to your teenage children? I have to admit that as I reach the age of greater reason, this expression becomes more meaningful to me.
Today, I apply it to the disturbing trend of cheating in tennis, which seems to be growing into an epidemic at junior tournaments and even in practice sessions. Yes, when I was a kid there was cheating, but in those days one’s reputation seemed to be worth much more than it is today. When a player earned a reputation as a chronic cheater, other players spread the word to such a degree that even the cheater’s friends didn’t want to hang out or practice with him or her. Cheaters would eventually develop a guilt complex that ultimately had a positive effect on their behavior and resulted in much less cheating or stopped it altogether.
I’m afraid that trying to play off of someone’s sense of right and wrong isn’t quite as effective nowadays as it used to be. Maybe it’s because I believe that what some of today’s young players lack is a fully developed conscience. The sad reality is that some parents and coaches passively condone dishonesty by not saying a word or not reprimanding their players when they witness cheating. It is far too easy to look the other way with the rationale that "my player was closer to the call than I was" or that "it is OK since it will all even out in the long run."
So, what’s behind the cheating? It seems there’s a lack of integrity among some juniors. Some of these players train in groups and are cheered by their teammates in a system that is obsessed with winning at all costs instead of building character. Unfortunately, this is just one bad example of Kipling’s noble expression ". . . the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."
The cheating epidemic has gotten so bad that there is actually a prominent group of players that many of their peers have given a derogatory nickname because a number of the players from the group are consistently accused of cheating. This in itself is an allegation that its coaches allow cheating, either by telling their players, "Don’t give anything away," or by turning a blind eye to the cheating and not attempting to correct it.
I must be careful when referring to these groups as examples, since most are organized by some of my most respected colleagues. It is easy to differentiate those groups that have a "win at all costs" philosophy over those that strive to create winners in both tennis and life. Players from the latter are ultimately more successful until they run into a player who is desperate enough to cheat. And, unfortunately, in junior competition, cheating can easily make all the difference.
I have always said that any player could beat another in a strongly contested match if he or she were given 3 free points to replace 3 points that he or she would normally lose. In the old days there once was a tennis handicap system called "bisque." Before each match, the underdog would be awarded the number of free points (bisques) the tournament committee deemed necessary to even out the players. When taken strategically, these bisques made it intensely difficult for the better player to win. Well, I challenge you to give any "A" draw SuperChamp junior three bisques per set and have him or her lose. It just won’t happen except in cases where the very highest ranked players compete against the weakest ranked players in a 64 draw.
The problem is that most cheaters take more than three bisques per set. And, cheaters don’t steal unnecessary points; they steal only those points they strategically need to win.
Cheating is not just confined to bad line calls. In many cases it takes place in the form of a player deliberately taking too much time between points or claiming the wrong score. The wrong score argument can only be solved by the tournament referee restarting the match at the last point both players agree upon, which always favors the cheater. I once watched a tense match that was won 7-5 in the second set by a very fair player. His opponent refused to acknowledge the loss even though his coach, academy mates and the rest of the spectators were all standing up prepared to leave. A horrendous argument broke out on the court. I happened to be standing near the opponent’s coach and quietly asked him, "What do you think the score was?" He said, "I thought it was the end of the match." I was astounded and asked him, "Then why don’t you go out there, put your arm around your player’s shoulder and stop him from this embarrassing ordeal?" I was even more revolted when he refused to take any action and his other academy students celebrated when the referee finally decided to restart the match at 3-1 since this was the last score the cheater would acknowledge. Regardless of his protests, the fair player was threatened with a default if he did not continue to play.
Recently, I attended a junior tournament in which my son also fell victim to the epidemic. In one match, amidst five clearly bad line calls in the first set and four in the third, his opponent was taking up to a minute and a half between points. I asked my son’s doubles partner to mention the delay of game to a nearby referee who stood on the court from the beginning of the second set (which my son won 6-1) until he led 3-1 in the third. The referee left at that point and the cheating instantaneously resumed. His opponent took four more free "bisques," permitting him to soar to a third set 6-4 victory.
Most experienced tennis coaches would agree that supporting and coaching a competitive player is not easy. Even coaching sectional tournaments usually involves several days that include hours of driving, many nights in uncomfortable hotels, scrambling for practice courts, fighting the heat or cold, grabbing food as time permits, missing valuable days of school and work, and spending nearly $1,000 each trip.
My frustration brings me back to the question: Is there any integrity left in the game of tennis or are we doomed to continue down this path? If there are no solutions and it only continues to spread, isn’t this a major deterrent to the growth and continued enjoyment of the sport? Is it worth competing in an atmosphere where you lose matches against players who cheat?
My five-hour drive home was very insightful. I discussed this topic with my son, tossing around ideas of how to stop cheating or penalize players who do cheat and the coaches who condone it. We both agreed, as most of you will who ponder the issue, that solutions are hard to come by. After exhausting every idea, my son said, "Dad, forget it. It would be easier to create world peace." But I couldn’t forget it, so I decided to kill some time chatting with a friendly tournament referee at an ITF junior tournament a week later. I asked him the same question - "What is the solution to cheating at junior tournaments?" His answer was rather succinct. He said, "If you want to stop cheating, don’t play a match."
Some psychologists might say that because there is nothing you can do to solve the problem, you should ignore it. But you cannot ignore something that is downright unethical. It has gotten so bad that players who realize they’re losing to opponents who are cheating wrongly believe the only way to win is to cheat themselves. But this only leads the otherwise honest players down a slippery slope. So what can be done? Does anyone have a solution? If you do, please write to me.
Obviously, at the professional level, cheating is virtually nonexistent (save for the occasional coaching signal) thanks to the presence of chair umpires, line judges and the all-knowing Hawk Eye technology used to verify line calls in some stadiums.
But, how do you solve this problem at the junior level? One solution, though impossible due to the high cost, would be to have an umpire for every match. Every tournament has only a limited number of umpires, and they cannot watch every match at all times. Of course, when an umpire is present, players will play honestly, but the minute the umpire leaves the court, they’re back to deliberately making the wrong calls. So how do you prove that a player is cheating? When an objective official is not present, there is no proof and it only comes down to your word against his.
Another solution might be to monitor or penalize players who receive a certain number of written complaints from opponents. Say, for example, a USTA section disciplinary committee received three complaint letters from a parent, coach or player claiming that a particular player cheated during a previous match. The committee would then place an umpire at each of the player’s matches thereafter. The problem is that there’s still no proof to the accusations, so there’s very little the committee can do about just one person’s word against another’s.
I have gone as far as to discuss this issue with the chairman of my USTA section’s Disciplinary and Grievance Committee, and I was comforted when he told me the committee is extremely concerned about the issue. In fact, he has written articles on the subject, and he’s aware of complaints about certain players who have been consistently reported for cheating. But, due to the lack of clearly substantiated proof and the fact that players will stop cheating as soon as an umpire is present, he expressed the same frustration over the apparent lack of solutions.
However, our conversation led me to one last idea that just might work. Each section’s disciplinary and grievance committee could assign an "undercover official" dressed in plain clothes, not the obvious umpire uniform, to attend a tournament and watch the matches of those people who have been listed by the D & G Committee for a certain number of complaints. The undercover official will sit on the sidelines and note any cheating that might be occurring in the match. If the reported player is caught cheating, the undercover official would report them directly to the D & G Committee for final action.
In order for this to work, tournaments and sections need to extensively publicize the fact that there is the possibility that an undercover official may be present at any match. The players’ fear of the undercover umpire will help deter cheating. Just as an undercover police officer helps deter theft in a store, an undercover umpire should deter cheating.
According to Jim Loehr, Ed.D., there’s no way to absolutely prove that someone is cheating without a camera or umpire on the court, but it can be deterred through an educational process, including discussions like this one. As more information is released about cheating, players, parents and coaches will better understand the damage created when the behavior is allowed to continue in tennis or any other sport.
Perhaps the only thing we can do now is to continue creating the sense of guilt for anyone who cheats or knows someone who does, and constantly remind competitors, their parents and coaches of how wrong it is and the problems it perpetuates. Hopefully, this will influence the on-court actions of players who are tempted to cheat.
Cheating must be stopped. Everyone knows that if players will cheat on the tennis court, they will cheat in anything else they do in life. Is that how we want to shape our future generations?
