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Brian Swartz · 03-18-2016, 04:01 AM

The Master's Wheel

Thought it might be useful in terms of recent discussions and developments to go into a little more detail on how I view and approach reaching the top of the sport. There's a couple of people with elite players now and more on the way(well done, ya'll!). For this exercise my example is Teo Rask from law90026(not to be confused with law90027)'s World 2 dynasty thread: A Rocking Rackets Dynasty (World 2) - Front Office Football Central

The name 'Master's Wheel' is just basically an illustration; being as I am a massive geek/nerd, it's a reference to the Mask of Zorro and the 'training' scene with Hopkins and Banderas: The Mask of Zorro (1/8) Movie CLIP - Master and Pupil (1998) HD - YouTube. As one advances up the rankings, as the man says, 'with each new circle your world contracts'. In this case, each circle inward is half the size of the one preceding it, because math, as follows:

** Challenger Wannabes -- The great unwashed masses from 33rd down through pretty much the rest of the Top 100. A cesspool of overplayed journeymen combined with declining former stars and rising talents. Most will never amount to a thing, but there are a few diamonds who will find their way through the morass.

** Outer Circle(Top 32) -- Emerging from said morass is Teo Rask this recently-begun season, having ranked 28th in the previous year. This is the most significant transition point from a scheduling point of view that a player will ever encounter. Prior to this, through juniors, amateurs if chosen, futures, and challengers, you can for the most part choose how often you play as befits your strategy. Now the game is different though; Slams + Mandatory Masters will make up 12 of the 18 events in the ranking pool going forward, and challengers are no longer permitted. The schedule is mostly chosen for you, and only consistent success in these big events will allow further progress. Therefore great care must be taken to peak at the right time; the point at which you will face higher-ranked opponents in the big tournaments. This point changes a bit depending on what circle you find yourself in, but the basic approach does not.

** Seeded Everywhere(Top 16) -- At this point a player is seeded at even the smaller Masters. The Round of 16 is now the focal point for peak performance.

** World Tour Qualifiers(Top 8) -- Elite enough that you get your own 'bonus tournament' at the end of the year. Most who make it here have aspirations to be Slam champions and/or world #1s at some stage.

** True Contenders(Top 4) -- For those who have reached the mountaintop, and expect to be active at the business end of almost any tournament they enter.

An Unsettling Transition

Getting back to our hero, Teo Rask; he's taken a step or two into the Outer Circle once or twice only to fall back out in a very competitive game world, but now he appears to be there to stay. There's a real 'fight or flight' reality to this, as in the last year 10 of his top 13 tournament results were challengers, and events at that now-forbidden level accounted for over 57% of his points total to start the new year. Most of them were in the second half of the season; it seemed that beginning with the Nottingham Challenger in week 25, right in the middle of the so-called 'Channel Slams' of the late spring and early summer, he really started stepping forward in his consistency of results. That ultimately led him to reaching elite status in the tour.

As I mentioned in the run-down above, the biggest thing is peaking for the right point of the big events in terms of form. For someone in the Outer Circle(Top 32), that is still a bit tricky. For Slams and the big Masters(Indian Wells and Miami), the goal is to reach peak form(low 20s) by the third round or just beforehand. This way, if an opportunity presents itself through a good draw, unprepared opponent, unexpected upset, etc., you are poised to break through and make a deep run to propel yourself up the rankings. For the smaller Masters, it's really the beginning of the tournament since you can meet anyone from 17th on down from the start; only the Top 16 are seeded.

The other point I would mention is that 250s and 500s are now 'fill-in' events. Their primary purpose is not to get more points though of course they help there, and you should choose the events you can be most successful at. The main thing is to get your form to where you want it to be ahead of the next big tournament on the calendar. Everything else should be secondary to that, since even if you load up on 500/250 points, the players who rise to the top will be those consistently doing well in the more lucrative Masters and Slams. Better to lose a battle(less points in the smaller events) than to lose the war.

When you move from challengers to the elite-based schedule, there's always a lot of big-points weeks you can't replace right away, certainly not by defending them directly. The ranking will bounce around quite a bit. I find it's useful to focus on what matters; consistently getting to the round of 32 or beyond in the big tournaments is quite sufficient to make progress and in fact the only real way to do it. All the ups and downs and yo-yoing will sort itself out eventually.

03-18-2016, 04:01 AM	#87
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	The Master's Wheel Thought it might be useful in terms of recent discussions and developments to go into a little more detail on how I view and approach reaching the top of the sport. There's a couple of people with elite players now and more on the way(well done, ya'll!). For this exercise my example is Teo Rask from law90026(not to be confused with law90027)'s World 2 dynasty thread: A Rocking Rackets Dynasty (World 2) - Front Office Football Central The name 'Master's Wheel' is just basically an illustration; being as I am a massive geek/nerd, it's a reference to the Mask of Zorro and the 'training' scene with Hopkins and Banderas: The Mask of Zorro (1/8) Movie CLIP - Master and Pupil (1998) HD - YouTube. As one advances up the rankings, as the man says, 'with each new circle your world contracts'. In this case, each circle inward is half the size of the one preceding it, because math, as follows: Challenger Wannabes -- The great unwashed masses from 33rd down through pretty much the rest of the Top 100. A cesspool of overplayed journeymen combined with declining former stars and rising talents. Most will never amount to a thing, but there are a few diamonds who will find their way through the morass. Outer Circle(Top 32) -- Emerging from said morass is Teo Rask this recently-begun season, having ranked 28th in the previous year. This is the most significant transition point from a scheduling point of view that a player will ever encounter. Prior to this, through juniors, amateurs if chosen, futures, and challengers, you can for the most part choose how often you play as befits your strategy. Now the game is different though; Slams + Mandatory Masters will make up 12 of the 18 events in the ranking pool going forward, and challengers are no longer permitted. The schedule is mostly chosen for you, and only consistent success in these big events will allow further progress. Therefore great care must be taken to peak at the right time; the point at which you will face higher-ranked opponents in the big tournaments. This point changes a bit depending on what circle you find yourself in, but the basic approach does not. Seeded Everywhere(Top 16) -- At this point a player is seeded at even the smaller Masters. The Round of 16 is now the focal point for peak performance. World Tour Qualifiers(Top 8) -- Elite enough that you get your own 'bonus tournament' at the end of the year. Most who make it here have aspirations to be Slam champions and/or world #1s at some stage. True Contenders(Top 4) -- For those who have reached the mountaintop, and expect to be active at the business end of almost any tournament they enter. An Unsettling Transition Getting back to our hero, Teo Rask; he's taken a step or two into the Outer Circle once or twice only to fall back out in a very competitive game world, but now he appears to be there to stay. There's a real 'fight or flight' reality to this, as in the last year 10 of his top 13 tournament results were challengers, and events at that now-forbidden level accounted for over 57% of his points total to start the new year. Most of them were in the second half of the season; it seemed that beginning with the Nottingham Challenger in week 25, right in the middle of the so-called 'Channel Slams' of the late spring and early summer, he really started stepping forward in his consistency of results. That ultimately led him to reaching elite status in the tour. As I mentioned in the run-down above, the biggest thing is peaking for the right point of the big events in terms of form. For someone in the Outer Circle(Top 32), that is still a bit tricky. For Slams and the big Masters(Indian Wells and Miami), the goal is to reach peak form(low 20s) by the third round or just beforehand. This way, if an opportunity presents itself through a good draw, unprepared opponent, unexpected upset, etc., you are poised to break through and make a deep run to propel yourself up the rankings. For the smaller Masters, it's really the beginning of the tournament since you can meet anyone from 17th on down from the start; only the Top 16 are seeded. The other point I would mention is that 250s and 500s are now 'fill-in' events. Their primary purpose is not** to get more points though of course they help there, and you should choose the events you can be most successful at. The main thing is to get your form to where you want it to be ahead of the next big tournament on the calendar. Everything else should be secondary to that, since even if you load up on 500/250 points, the players who rise to the top will be those consistently doing well in the more lucrative Masters and Slams. Better to lose a battle(less points in the smaller events) than to lose the war. When you move from challengers to the elite-based schedule, there's always a lot of big-points weeks you can't replace right away, certainly not by defending them directly. The ranking will bounce around quite a bit. I find it's useful to focus on what matters; consistently getting to the round of 32 or beyond in the big tournaments is quite sufficient to make progress and in fact the only real way to do it. All the ups and downs and yo-yoing will sort itself out eventually.