Pet Peeves Anybody?
Lets get this area of the forum going. It doesn't have to be tennis related I guess. But I'll throw one out there for you to chew on -
It is SERIOUSLY distracting for the service returner to return the missed first serve when it is clearly going long. Like, what? Am I your freaking ball boy? I'm trying to serve here. It kills the rhythm to stop between 1st and 2nd serves to clean up after your lazy opponent.
OK, glad I got that off my chest.
Can anyone please concur and let me know that this is a reasonable request. :-)
It is SERIOUSLY distracting for the service returner to return the missed first serve when it is clearly going long. Like, what? Am I your freaking ball boy? I'm trying to serve here. It kills the rhythm to stop between 1st and 2nd serves to clean up after your lazy opponent.
OK, glad I got that off my chest.
Can anyone please concur and let me know that this is a reasonable request. :-)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andrew (Tampa Bay) on -
"Quiet please!" LOL
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Permalink Reply by Terence on -
After playing with a guy yesterday, I realized another pet peeve. Is it too much to ask to a ball fed to you properly to start off the rally? I play against a fair number of solid players (4.0, 4.5, etc) who are just lazy or have no sense of etiquette when feeding a ball to you to start off a practice rally. Either the feed is too short, or is flicked over with annoying slice (forcing me to hit an awkward shot back), or the shot goes into the net (and i don't mean once, but three straight times), or the person doesn't wait till I'm ready to start a rally (like I'm walking back to the baseline for instance).
The #1 annoying habit in this genre for me is when your hitting partner feeds you a ball when he himself is not ready, like he hits it to you while walking backwards to the baseline or hits it to you when he's picking up a ball. If someone does that to me, I'll just blast it right back.
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Permalink Reply by Matthew on -
Definitely a legitimate gripe. The guy acts like I hit it long just so he could get a practice return in!
Knock it down or let it go and push it to the side, and get ready to return the 2nd. It's the only courteous move.
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Permalink Reply by Chip Chipowskie on -
4 months and 6 pages of whining about someone returning out serves? "YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!" Returning out serves isn't right or wrong it is just part of tennis. When someone serves to me I am already reacting to the serve before it crosses the net and stoping my swing is akin to asking a navy fighter jet to stop halfway down the deck when its being launched. If the server misses a first serve the ball has to be moved regardless, big deal. If your ability to concentrate or focus is so fragile that this disrupts your rhythm you might be better suited for a sport like swimming. Unless you make your living off of tournament prize money just enjoy every minute your able to be on a tennis court.
My pet peeve Whiners and people that think Saturday morning doubles is the same as a U.S. Open final.
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Permalink Reply by Mark / The Mayor on -
Hi Don,
I hear what you are saying about people taking casual matches too seriously. I take my tournament and league matches pretty seriously and that is a fun and challenging part of tennis for me. I think it is good to have this conversation here because I have a feeling that the people returning really long serves are just not aware of what they are doing.
I understand if the serve is close, there's no time to react. I'm talking about when a serve is clearly going long, there's plenty of time for the returner to recognize that and either let it go, or do as I do, and send it to the bottom of the net. In my opinion, it is wrong to return very long serves, only to have the ball ricochet off the back fence and come rolling back into the court for the server to shag down. I think in that case, the server should get two serves, just like when a stray ball from an adjacent court comes in between serves.
M
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Permalink Reply by Bill B on -
A player who can't adjust to meerly returning an "obviously out" ball to the lower part of the net rather than smashing it back at the server needs to work on their timing and focus.
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Permalink Reply by Pete on -
I agree with Don. This whole thread is off-base. It's not my responsibility to make sure your "timing" is good on your second serve. I return everything I can get too...for the most part. What if it is in and I thought it was going to be out?
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Permalink Reply by ellen on -
Tennis in the old days used to be a formal game with rules of etiquette that were known to all players. On the upper west side we are generally informal, not inconsiderate, selfish or rude, just friendly and outgoing, spontaneous. So, on the court as a newbie I behaved similarly when I hit with my new partner on W. 96 St., a Philadelphian woman in her 20's. We agreed we were just hitting and hoping to learn more as the summer progressed. So I was friendly, chatty when we met; she lives around the corner from me. She was a shy and agreeable person but when we hit and I said, "nice hit!" or when I had to stop as I was winded for a minute she did not say a word or show any concern. She was probably annoyed with me but too uptight to give any feedback. I played as well as she did despite my poor endurance. Despite her fake smile I think she was a phony. Remember, this was not a serious game; we both agreed we were just getting started with tennis. I igored her aloofness and hidden hostility but it was a rejecting experience. I ran for all the balls, was generally thoughtful but how was I supposed to know I was confined by certain parameters of behavior especially when I didn't get any feedback except chilly politeness? I'd appreciate some specific instruction from somewhere. Many thanks.
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Permalink Reply by Mark / The Mayor on
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I think I know what you are talking about. It sounds like she is very very competitive and started seeing you as the enemy instead of a friend. It may be a regional thing - but I don't think so - some people just have poor social skills or are so tuned in to themselves that they forget to look at it from your perspective.
My advice, find a new tennis partner - there are tons on here. :-)
M
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