Tennis and racquetball can be a great way to burn up some excess
calories, burn off some steam, and spend some quality time with
your coworkers and friends. While all of us were beginners at
one time and failed to observe some of the finer points in the
unofficial and unwritten code of ethics associated with racket
sports, a willful neglect of tennis' on-court manners will
likely result in fewer and fewer tennis dates.
With that said, let's look at some of the more common unmannerly
habits that have been picked up by tennis players of all
experience and expertise levels. Keep in mind that these rules
are not in the official rules of tennis but are more common
sense or respect your opponent type ethics.
Ball handling ethics
Have you ever played tennis with someone who seemingly refuses
to collect tennis balls from the court when they are needed for
the next serve? The truth is that this is not an uncommon
problem, and there are many people that, while not refusing to
collect balls for play, do not do much to speed up the
procession of the game by efficiently handling tennis balls
during plays. Are you one of these people? You may be and not
even realize it. Follow these tips to keep your tennis ball
handling ethics those of unquestionably high standards.
· Keep extra tennis balls nearby. You should always have spare
tennis balls used for play either in hand, in a pocket or ball
clip, or against the fence directly behind the center mark. · If
your opponent has to walk to pick up played tennis balls around
the court to continue the play, do the same thing on your side
of the court. · If there are no balls for play, the player who
has a ball closest to him or her should go after a ball. There
is really no sense in making your opponent walk a great distance
for a ball when you have one a couple of feet away, even if it
is their serve. · Be careful in throwing a ball to your
opponent. Never throw one too hard or out of reach with the
assumption that it will stop rolling when it hits the fence.
Instead, easily bounce the tennis ball to your opponent in such
a way that they can easily catch it with one hand.
Keeping score
The end of the match is not the time to haggle out how many
points each player has earned or has not earned. Point disputes
should be handled as they arise, and it is each player's
responsibility to stay aware of the current score. With two
brains, a more accurate counting of points can take place. Here
are a couple of tips:
· It is the server's responsibility to announce the score at the
start of each game and at the start of the second point and each
following point thereafter. · If the receiver cannot hear the
announced scores, he or she should ask for it to be repeated. As
I said earlier, the end of the game is a bad time to replay the
game point by point to see who actually won. Plus telling
someone that they're lying, that they didn't actually score the
winning point, is no way to make friends or long-term tennis
partners.
Making line calls
Again, do not infer that your opponent is a liar or cheat here.
Always defer to your opponent's point of view on whether a ball
is in or out. Yes, they may be wrong, but it's only a game, and
there is a possibility that your eyes were deceiving you,
especially if the line call happens on their side of the net.
Along the same lines, if you miss a call and they argue it,
offer to replay the point again. It's just a game!
Another word of advice is to always act and look like you are
enjoying your time on the court. If you are a sore loser, try
your best not to look like one. And most of all, just have fun,
be a joy to play with, and respect your opponent. If you do all
of this, you will be sure to not become one of those people that
never gets invited to play tennis.
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