The charge for the USTA Florida Junior Competitive Council is "to promote and monitor junior competitive tennis in order to provide the best competitive pathways for players of varying ability levels so they can develop to the highest competitive level possible." The Florida Junior Competitive Council is comprised of high performance coaches, tournament directors, parents and collegiate coaches. The council monitors both national and sectional tournaments and rankings and collects data to assist in detecting trends. 

The tracking data showed the strength of field for the tournaments was not competitive and in many instances the draws were not filling up. For instance, the February 2010 designated, one of the strongest, had the following draw size and last-ranked player in: 
Boys 18: 61/395; Boys 16s: 64/261; Boys 14s: 64/209; Boys 12s: 57/248; Girls 18s: 64/333; Girls 16s: 64/338; Girls 14s: 50/322; and Girls 12s: 53/205. 

Fifty percent of the draws did not fill. This year the same tournaments had the following:
Boys 18: 32/73; Boys 16s: 32/69; Boys 14s: 32/78; Boys 12s: 32/75; Girls 18s: 32/82; Girls 16s: 32/82; Girls 14s: 32/80; and Girls 12s: 32/121.

The strength of the seeds also improved from 2010. In order for players to develop and improve they need to play in highly-competitive matches. The USTA High Performance Development staff recommended a ratio of 3 out of every 4 matches to be competitive (6-4, 6-4 or closer defines a competitive match). On an average, the Level 4 and Level 5 Florida tournaments had a competitive match ratio of 1 out of every 4. Previously there were far too many 0-0 matches to benefit either player.

The USTA Florida Junior Council will be tracking the Designated tournaments throughout the year to better understand the ramifications of the rule change.  Please see the table with all the totals so far in 2011.  More information....