Friday Thoughts: Joy, Masks and Living the Dream

Hi Everyone, 

Sit back, take a deep breath, close your eyes, imagine how we are playing tennis again, and let that smile come slowly to your face, and then expand into a large grin, even explode into a chuckle or guttural laugh. It is great, we are playing tennis. This is joy. The dream of playing tennis. Living the dream. 

Then there is reality, that while yes, we are playing again, which is by far the most important thing around tennis, we do have some things that are not “perfect” in the world right now. COVID-19 comes to mind, but there are other things that cause tension and distress. One’s mood can start to darken; the glass begins to look half empty…

And then stop myself, I remember how well we are all doing. We are a club, members, staff, homeowners, coming together to do our best in this extraordinary time. Thank you all for your amazing efforts in keeping each and every one of us safe. For giving your best, in trying circumstances. 

From time to time, I get asked questions and receive e-mails about the “unmasking of Orindawoods” for doubles, and I think that it might be useful to discuss a bit where we are at as a Club, and leader in the tennis community.

A “State of the Union.” 

Let’s do this as kind of a question and answer, with the questions being a collection of those I have received in various forms, on various topics, over the past couple of months. 

Let’s start with an underlying question. Keith, how do you feel about masks? 

They suck. 

Perhaps I should elaborate. J

They restrict breathing, are a pain, tough to see, fog my glasses…  No one likes them. (though, I must admit, to be really honest, balanced and fair here, I think they have helped with my asthma and allergies this spring and summer – that and the clear air from little to no pollution). 

No one wears a mask at Orindawoods, playing tennis, more than Patric, with me a close second. And we wear them playing singles (hitting with private lessons, not just doubles, so in other words, while exercising pretty intensely), so we get it. Not pleasant. A discomfort and an annoyance. 

And finally, I’m not going to take my mask off simply because of my personal discomfort. Lousy reason. 

Why do we have to wear masks at Orindawoods playing doubles when the USTA suggestions for returning to play don’t say that? 

Interesting that the USTA guidelines have changed a bit. I look at them pretty often, as one of my guides, and until recently, they said that you should "consider playing singles". No mention of that now. Wonder why they changed that? 

USTA is a business, not a health organization (I’m on the USTA NorCal Board). A business that has had to lay off 40% of its employees at the National level and has had many sectional branches in deep financial trouble (fortunately not NorCal, at this point). A business that needs to get people playing again, the vast majority of their members play doubles. 

USTA wants to start leagues up again August 1, and has only within the last couple of days, had to admit that might not be a great idea. (But they have only delayed registration two weeks). It seems that many tennis facilities are not yet open, or don’t allow doubles, or guests. Then there is play and go, as well. No gatherings of people. 

Orindawoods is not the only club with restrictions. 

Why do we have to wear masks anyway? 

The more we learn about COVID-19, the more it seems to be about physical distancing as the best defense. And where physical distancing is not possible, then we need to wear masks. Countries and cultures that have done this have been able to pretty much eliminate COVID-19. Even countries that were at one time decimated. The masks have come off, the restaurants and beer gardens are open, and life is back to “normal.” 

And they do not let anyone from the United States in their borders. I wouldn’t either. 

Huge portions of our population, of our friends, of our neighbors, maybe our family, don’t want to wear masks and take them off whenever they can. Some of those people play at Orindawoods. In a sense, we are only as safe as the least-cautious person among us. 

Add to that, that mask do a much better job of protecting your friends (out-going air), than you (incoming air), and we are really dependent on the behavior of others. 

“I protect you, you protect me.”

A contagious person wearing a mask is much less likely to spread COVID-19 than a contagious person not wearing a mask, even if everyone around them is wearing a mask. If absolutely everyone is wearing a mask, even better. 

In January, a man flying from China to Canada got on a plane with cough, didn’t realize he was sick until he arrived, flew all that way, and of the 25 people seated around him, and the flight attendants, no one caught COVID-19. He was wearing a mask, the whole flight. 

It’s really quite simple. A little inconvenience, for a huge gain. We, America, are worth the small sacrifice. 

Is there physical distancing in doubles? Do we really need masks for doubles? 

Yes and no (for both questions). 

Players in doubles seem to stay more than six feet apart. I have observed very few people within six feet of each other during play. It can happen, but it is rare. 

However, on the change overs, picking up balls, discussing strategy between points, getting next to the fence when people on the other court are next to the same fence, and entering and exiting the courts, physical distancing is not maintained. Almost any time I have seen four people on a court, physical distancing has failed at some point. Fortunately, at Orindawoods, those people are wearing masks. Thank you.  

A lot of people having to maneuver from a large space (the playing surface, your side of the court) through smaller spaces (entrances, exits, changing sides around the net, where the bags are stored, walking in the same direction as your partners, walking on the pathways around the club, etc…) 

Then there is the question of what is physical distancing? Because the only definition that matters is what does COVID-19 think is close enough. How close do you have to be to another human being to get a viral load sufficient enough to catch COVID-19? 

And that varies. 

When people are exhaling stronger, like in exercise, or singing, or talking in a loud, outdoor voice, six feet doesn’t seem to be enough. For people breathing normal, CDC says six feet. I’ve heard as much as 30 feet for people running or riding a bike. 

A friend who sings in a choir just told me 27 feet for singing. (Maybe wearing my mask during teaching is a good idea, as I project, though I seldom break into song – thank goodness J )

Tennis? Guess it depends how hard you are running. Some tennis doesn’t look like a lot of exercise. But I think physical distancing is probably more than six feet. And then, at say 12 feet, there is a real question as to whether physical distancing is being maintained in doubles. People are within 12 feet of each other multiple times in the course of play. 

We can’t define physical distancing as whatever allows us to take masks off when we play tennis. Science doesn’t start with the answer. 

At Orindawoods (and anywhere else you want to be safe), wear a mask for doubles. 

Why is Orindawoods Different? 

It isn’t. You can catch COVID-19 anywhere. 

And Orindawoods is different. We’re trying to reduce the odds of catching it at the Club. 

Many places in society think that an outbreak won’t happen to them, or that someone inside my social bubble won’t give it to me, “not my good friend Joe”, and that is how we have gotten into this mess. 

Extended families are particularly dangerous, unfortunately. There are things (holidays, parties, BBQs, Weddings, Funerals) that we would do with family that we wouldn’t dream of doing with friends or acquittances. Social pressures in families can be intense. COVID doesn’t seem to care that Joe is your uncle. Being a relative doesn’t protect you, no matter how nice, or manipulative, the relatives are. 

Orindawoods has an elderly population. A vulnerable population.  I read the CC Health Directives often, and each time it always warns people in high risk groups to stay at home. The stay at home order has not been lifted for them. There are many of our members who are choosing not to play yet, and many more who are playing, but only because they feel we are being very safe. I have students taking private lessons who wear masks, even though they are playing “singles” and the mask is not required. 

I can’t breathe when I wear the masks, especially on hot days?

Wearing the masks can be rough, especially on hot days. No question. 

Remember, we have some options here. We can play singles. At Orindawoods, you do not have to wear a mask to play singles (when you are on the court, walking around the club’s narrow passageways, and on club property, everyone must wear a mask). We can play “half-court doubles” which is simulating doubles with only two people on the court (half the court is “out”, and we just play cross court), again allowing you to not wear a mask. 

If it is a really miserable day, we can take the day off. Cancel. 

For some, wearing a mask may be unhealthy, especially in extreme conditions, so we need to look at other options, rather than play doubles, or tennis that day. 

But one thing is for certain, COVID-19 is unhealthy. For us, and for our friends, and we need to slow the spread of the virus. 

What is the most important rule in this situation, one that Keith seems to keep forgetting to mention?

If you don’t feel well, stay home. 

Better to disappoint your friends by canceling than take a chance. 

Are we closer to taking the masks off for doubles? 

COVID-19 seems to be exploding in CC County. Rapid increases. Many California counties are under this renewed pressure. The Governor has rolled back the opening schedule, and if things don’t improve, we could go back to the original shelter in place that had the club closed, and no tennis. Remember March and April, not that long ago. 

We could be looking at four walls again for a couple of months, because that does work. It’s been proven all over the world if you stick with it long enough. 

I think this is very sad, because I think we were very close, within a few weeks or a month, of really seeing this pandemic fade out. And we couldn’t stay with it. 

The pressure on our government officials to open was intense, and when we opened a little, most people did a lot. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, BLM marches, protests against COVID restrictions, beaches, bars, and now 4^th of July, and people just keep getting together. One bubble mixing with many others.  

I do see some signs of hope. More masks than ever before out in society. Drove through Walnut Creek Saturday, as I do every Saturday, and only one or two people I saw didn’t have their masks up, even outside. That is a massive improvement over two weeks ago. 

The trick is to stick with this when the number of cases goes down, and we start to wonder why we are wearing masks. That’s where we blew it this time. 

What about letting each group decide, if they can take their masks off for that court, that foursome, on that day? 

As for people of a foursome or partnership deciding if it is OK to take masks off, a group decision, I’m really uncomfortable with that. The “A dogs” in a group are going to push the “nice” people around, and the social pressure to conform to these “strong personalities” is never the way a club / group that loves and cares about its members should behave. It takes a very strong person to stand up to a very strong person and say “no.” Narcissist should not rule the world.