Captains armband

Captains. Some regard being captain as an honor and have alot of responsibility. To others its just a label. It inspires some to greater things, it can cripple others. However it is viewed, it can be a thankless task as you can't please everyone all the time and depending on the personalities on your team, can be a pretty stressful one.

I took on the captaincy of my team after our last one resigned after 8 games as he felt it was affecting his game. My job simply involves picking the side, who's going in the singles and who's going in the pairs. I can't control what order they play in though. We have a rule in our side; if you turn up you play and that is a rule that is enforced rigourously.

I like to let players know in advance where they're playing (singles, doubles) and I do consult some of the senior members of the team regarding selection but ultimately I know the decision rests with me and I will do what I think is right. I try to watch all the games and support the team and the guys usually keep things light themselves.

I'm pretty fortunate with my team as an understanding has developed over the years regarding who the strong players are and whilst we're out to enjoy ourselves, we want to do well. This means the strongest 6 go in the singles. This understanding very much came in use last night.

Last week I only had 4 players, 2 of which usually only play doubles. Last night I had 9 and what resulted in a full strength side. Our best player is away working most of the time but he was back after 4 weeks. Dilemma; do I reward those who showed last week with a place in the singles or do I just go for the strongest 6??

I decided to go for the strongest 6 but did chat to the guys first and they were all "yeah, strongest 6, you have to" so I was fortunate in that regard. Did have to dissapoint someone though. As I had 9, I had 3 to come in for the doubles which meant 3 had to be dropped from the singles. Only 2 lost. I made the decision not to drop myself after a brief consultation. I don't know whether this was right though winning our match 2-0 sort of vindicated me (and I did play pretty well in my singles)

I am competitive by nature and want to play every game. This makes it hard to drop myself though I did 2 weeks ago because I lost and hated it. But though I hated it, I still did it so progression has been made. We have some great players and we have some who can play really well one week crap the next. Makes it hard picking the singles in particular as I know how they can play but not sure which one of them will turn up. I view the doubles as more of a lottery though get the luck of the draw (like last night, their 2 strongest vs our 2 strongest first up with us needing the win to seal the match with 2 to play - which they dutifully did) it can add some vital points as we get 1 point for each game won.

The understanding though can only take you so far and should not be taken for granted which is why whilst there are 5 definites in the singles (assuming we all turn up) still leaves 1 space left. Adam is filling it at the moment and was extremely solid last night (he was the one I dropped) so its hard to drop him next week but I need to give the others a chance. I can't keep relying on people not turning up to do that. But 4 of us are head & shoulders above the rest (no disrespect to any of my team, that's just a cold objective assessment) Paul (the other definite because of his experience and he wins more often than not) & Adam are steady players so I have a good idea of what I'm going to get which is why I pick them.

I guess all I can do as a captain is give the opportunities to the players as and when they arrive but still look to pick the strongest possible in the singles.