About Over the Net & Between the Lines
The purpose of Over the Net is to examine the intersection of tennis culture and the broader global issues it is unavoidably imbricated in. Admittedly, this is an ambitious endeavor as “tennis culture” can range from the ongoings of the professional circuits to my own experiences on court. It can range from television broadcasts to the experiences of the people who make the tennis balls the entire sport relies on. It can range from the consumer based economics of tennis fashion and technology to socioeconomic disparities in being able to financially access the sport. And it is always changing! Accordingly, I attempt to avoid the stagnation posed by traditional journal publications by adopting a digitized multimedial approach: on this site, you should expect to find video blogs, research based essays, narrative accounts, photo analyses, etc. that examines tennis culture from many angles. It is with this methodology that I hope to cultivate a nonlinear, atemporal, user experience that conveys the fun and flawed experience of participating in tennis culture… a.k.a “playing tennis.”
Purpose:
This website is designed to uphold the following thesis:
In order to healthily and sustainably grow the sport of tennis, coverage and consumerism of tennis and tennis related products must be centered around supporting local tennis competitions and traditions, not in the interests of serving as opposition to globalized professional circuits but instead as a means of reforming its historic and contemporary shortcomings, thereby creating a stronger product backed by reliably invested participants and supporters.
To support this thesis there are four main categories in the toolbar guiding article composition on this website:
Professional Circuit - once a month, we will update our audience on the affairs of the global professional tour and analyze what this tells us about broader societal trends
Cultural Analysis - this will contain the bulk of my argumentation regarding consumerism, tennis, and sustainability
Personal Tennis Journey - documentation of any experiences I have on court as a player and as a coach that I find particularly interesting/insightful
Miscellaneous - once a month, I’d like to write about any topics that I might find interesting at the time, ranging from strategic analysis to historical themes and stories
Within each of any of these categories, there will be written essays, videos, and pictures. This is because any of these mediums might be better than the others depending on what the message/idea I am trying to convey or analyze is.
Argument & Design:
Always try new racquet tricks on court but it is never my fault when they don’t come off. As you can tell from this video, it is clearly my shoelaces…
Meaning behind the name
In tennis, you must hit get the ball past the net and between the lines for your shot to count. On that note, when deciding to make an online journal, I chose the name “over the net” as a symbol of having my message fulfill its intended purpose…
it is also a pun on communication over the internet and asking readers to think about subliminal messages communicated “between the lines” haha