DW: Save Tennis from Frankenstein!

By Dave Winship
OnTheLine.org

The scientific landscape was still relatively pastoral half a century ago when Albert Einstein warned: "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity". Today, when scientists are applying for permission to create part-human, part-animal embryos, it seems pertinent to consider how scientific and technological innovations have blurred the lines between reality and fantasy, between authenticity and artificiality, even in the world of tennis.

It was way back in 1818 when Mary Shelley's famous novel, Frankenstein, drew attention to the danger of scientists running amok and crossing thresholds that ought not to be crossed. In tennis, a significant threshold flashed by when Jimmy Connors started brandishing his metal Wilson T2000, consigning wooden rackets to junk shops, museums and attics within a decade. Nowadays we have electronic line-calling technology. We also have "smart" rackets.
Piezoelectrics in the form of lead zirconate titanate fibres are embedded into composite frames. When these "smart materials" contort, they generate electric energy which is harnessed to increase the stability of the racket and dampen vibrations. Is it cheating to use a microchip to produce a counterforce in this way? Apparently not. But how far will manufacturers be allowed to go? What if the next innovation were to allow players to adjust string tension "on the fly"? Would that be acceptable?

Technological advances tend to elicit reactive responses. Innovators seldom anticipate controversy. Actually, perhaps that's too kind. Innovators have plenty to gain from the postponement of ethical debate. So, clearly, the onus is on decision-making bodies to anticipate and plan for the future.

Being proactive is the only way to avoid being presented with faits accompli. A good example of the creeping introduction of new technology is the advent of pitch-correction in the music industry. Fans are just beginning to wrestle with the thorny ethical question of authenticity as it dawns on them that their favourite artists utilise auto-tuning to make them sound better. Singer-songwriter Allison Moorer brought the subject to the forefront of public attention when she noted on the liner notes of her 'Miss Fortune' CD: "Absolutely no vocal tuning or pitch correction used in the making of this record." She was drawing attention to the fact that the use of auto-tune was the rule, not the exception. But what about integrity, she appears to be asking? What about authenticity? It's difficult to imagine Johnny Cash would have taken advantage of auto-tuning. But it's Ms Moorer's misfortune (!) that she is a great singer at a time when it isn't necessary to be one. In fact, pitch correction technology has been prevalent in the music industry since the 1990s and poor Allison is simply whistling in the wind, albeit with pitch-perfect delivery.

Unlike the music industry, tennis is not primarily profit-driven. The marketability of the product is important - crucially important, according to tournament organisers and tour executives - but the sport must be managed in a way that ensures its integrity. No one would wish to stifle innovations that are targeted at injury prevention, but the time has come for the ITF and other tennis organisations to start defining what aspects of the game should be preserved and protected. They must then legislate accordingly, before tennis stealthily mutates into something undesirable.

Copyright 2006, Dave Winship -- all rights reserved worldwide

Dave Winship is an L.T.A. coach at the Caversham Park Tennis Club in Berkshire, England, and the author of OnTheLine.org magazine at www.tennisontheline.org.

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