Cindysphinx
G.O.A.T.
A teammate invited me to sub in for some social doubles. She is 4.0, as am I. We are hoping to partner this season, so I was delighted to have a chance to test drive the partnership.
Opponents were her husband (former teammate of mine who is rated 3.5 but has now improved to 4.0 IMHO), and a lady I hadn't met.
I do not know her level, but I would say 3.0. I say this based on the serve (high push 15 feet over the net) and inability to handle spin or pace.
Anyway, I played my usual game. That's lots of spin and aggression on finishing shots.
For instance, I had an overhead and she was at net. I did not aim "at" her. Instead, I aimed for her doubles alley and hit the overhead as hard as I could for a winner. She hadn't budged from the net, and instead turned and ducked, but I didn't hit her.
Another example: Sometimes I would smack her soft serve hard. Other times I would hit a topspin moonball that she couldn't time. And one time I, erm . . . hit a drop shot. On my serve, I hit my usual slice or topspin serve, which she often did not return.
And then there was that time when I had a BH sitter close to the net and (hoping not to miss it like I had missed the last two) I hit it hard in her general direction (again not hitting her but spooking her).
You get the idea. I did not take any groundstrokes down her line, finish points into her abdomen, or otherwise target her. We played her male partner, and there were some amazing rallies as he covered pretty much the whole court. Everyone was smiling and laughing and joking.
Here is my question: Do you think I maybe should have played in a more genteel fashion? Part of me thinks I should have just rolled my service returns back to her. The other part of me was there to practice the things I am learning in lessons, and it would look a little weird for me to push the ball to her but smack it when hitting against the guy.
Where's the line, do you think?
Opponents were her husband (former teammate of mine who is rated 3.5 but has now improved to 4.0 IMHO), and a lady I hadn't met.
I do not know her level, but I would say 3.0. I say this based on the serve (high push 15 feet over the net) and inability to handle spin or pace.
Anyway, I played my usual game. That's lots of spin and aggression on finishing shots.
For instance, I had an overhead and she was at net. I did not aim "at" her. Instead, I aimed for her doubles alley and hit the overhead as hard as I could for a winner. She hadn't budged from the net, and instead turned and ducked, but I didn't hit her.
Another example: Sometimes I would smack her soft serve hard. Other times I would hit a topspin moonball that she couldn't time. And one time I, erm . . . hit a drop shot. On my serve, I hit my usual slice or topspin serve, which she often did not return.
And then there was that time when I had a BH sitter close to the net and (hoping not to miss it like I had missed the last two) I hit it hard in her general direction (again not hitting her but spooking her).
You get the idea. I did not take any groundstrokes down her line, finish points into her abdomen, or otherwise target her. We played her male partner, and there were some amazing rallies as he covered pretty much the whole court. Everyone was smiling and laughing and joking.
Here is my question: Do you think I maybe should have played in a more genteel fashion? Part of me thinks I should have just rolled my service returns back to her. The other part of me was there to practice the things I am learning in lessons, and it would look a little weird for me to push the ball to her but smack it when hitting against the guy.
Where's the line, do you think?