If the greatest player ever to grace a real tennis court, the Australian World Champion Rob Fahey, were to play, for example, the Earl of Wessex, in a level match, he would defeat the Earl rather easily. However, one of the many positive features of the game is that the two players could have a reasonably close game despite the difference in ability, if their game were played off handicap. A beginner or less able player might have a handicap of around the 75 mark. The average national U.K. club handicap is 43 and a good club player would play off an 18 handicap. Our Head Professional Tom Granville has a handicap of 7, our assistant Nick Jury 12 and the best amateur in the Club has a handicap of 9. Just outside the top twenty players in the world, players would be near 0 or "scratch". Handicaps then rise from 0 to +16, which is Rob Fahey's current handicap. If he were to play the Earl of Wessex off handicap, the Earl would receive 30 and Fahey would be minus or "owe" 40. To make things even more difficult for him, he would be banned from hitting the tambour, allowed only one serve and would not be allowed to lay any chases worse than 2 yards.

A player with a handicap of 8 playing an 18 handicapper would be "owe" or minus 15 and his opponent would receive 15.

Handicapping was a fairly random affair until the 1970's. For example when Ted Johnson played "Punch" Fairs at Petworth in the autumn of 1911, Ted received 15 every other game. The system was greatly extended and improved first by the Leamington Tennis Court Club's Charles Wade in the 1970's and then by Chris Ronaldson in the 1980's. In the 1990's the system became computerised, when players' results were recorded- the winner's handicap would go down and the loser's went up. No movement would take place in the event of a "handicap draw".

Until the early 1990's, the handicap system was in the hands of club professionals. Generally, they were quite successful at deciding on players' handicaps but a major problem occurred when players' handicaps were invariably reduced but very rarely increased. To raise someone's handicap who had spent large amounts of money on lessons, made it understandably difficult for a professional to raise the handicap! The system was beset by compression, to the extent that there was not a mathematically sound gap between the best player in the world and low ability players at the top of the handicap range. Thanks to the work of John Trapp, there is now a National computerised system in place which will soon incorporate handicaps in the United States, Australia and France. Although unpopular with some, the system is generally held to be a great improvement on the previous subjective assessment of handicaps. Handicapping is now objective and is based on a player's results rather than the opinion of a professional or handicapping committee. A computer, of course, is only as good as those who use the system and their selection of results to record...

more on handicaps...