Tournament Warm-up Time

[tennisnut1]

All, I don't like to be a jerk (usually), but I don't like a long warm up during a match. I always tell my opponent that I don't need much time warming up and am ready when they are. That usually takes care of it. But in my last match this guy was hitting and hitting. I asked him if he wanted some at the net and he said he was not ready. Then I told him the warm-up doesn't take 30 minutes and we needed to get moving. I then said the USTA rules are a 5 minute warm up, then he went ballistic. I never heard of that blah blah blah. I said those are the rules, go look it up. So after a few more hits, volleys, overheads and serves we started. Geez

 

[heftylefty]

It's not your job to prep your opponent. He should have read Winning Ugly.

 

[tennisnut1]

It's not your job to prep your opponent. He should have read Winning Ugly.

Ah nice to get some backing !! I read that book when it came out. Gilbert was real smart, used what he had and reached #4 in the world. He is a great commentator as well.

 

[heftylefty]

Ah nice to get some backing !! I read that book when it came out. Gilbert was real smart, used what he had and reached #4 in the world. He is a great commentator as well.

You got it!!

I had the change to meet Brad about 15 years ago at a tournament in L.A. He was cool. I asked him why he doesn't tell his McEnroe stories on air. He was a fill in host on the Jim Rome show back in the day. He said he Rome is a "Mac Guy" and he didn't was to start anything.

 

[pabletion]

But I understand it was a tournament match? Then 5 minutes. Period.

I hate how little time it is (I def DONT warm up on 5 mins), but it is what it is.... I wish I had like 15 mins to warm up. I suppose there was no one to tell you to get going then? In my tourneys theres no way you can sneak a couple of extra minutes theres always a supervisor taking time and announcing
when its go time.

 

[stapletonj]

you should do most of your warm up before you step on the Court. The 5 minutes should be to check out the court for unique problems (sun, wind, one side shorter than the other or fence too close, etc.)

And of course to put your bag on one bench and your water jug on the other .....

 

[kevrol]

Did you beat him?

 

[tennisnut1]

No he beat me 6-4, 6-1. He was a super nice guy, actually deaf. After he blew up, he apologized for getting upset. One of the nicest players I've ever come across. He is trying to compete in the deaf 4.5 Olympics or something like that. He was a major league baseball player and is super talented. Fantastic strokes, huge serve and hit the ball with purpose on every shot. I wish him all the best.

 

[movdqa]

All, I don't like to be a jerk (usually), but I don't like a long warm up during a match. I always tell my opponent that I don't need much time warming up and am ready when they are. That usually takes care of it. But in my last match this guy was hitting and hitting. I asked him if he wanted some at the net and he said he was not ready. Then I told him the warm-up doesn't take 30 minutes and we needed to get moving. I then said the USTA rules are a 5 minute warm up, then he went ballistic. I never heard of that blah blah blah. I said those are the rules, go look it up. So after a few more hits, volleys, overheads and serves we started. Geez

Could you put the rule book on your phone?

That could solve a lot of disputes right on the court.

 

[tennisnut1]

Ha, another big issue I had (lucky me, right?) was in another tournament about a month ago when my partner did not show up on time. I asked the director what the rule was and was told he has 15 minutes. So he should up 12 minutes late. I told him the penalty was 3 games and he said he never heard that so we just started out even. Afterword I copied out the rules and emailed it to the tournament director and also copied in the Alabama USTA. Good lord, don't these people even know what the rules are ????

 

[pabletion]

Interesting.... I didnt know about that rule about 3 game penalty for being late. At least they dont apply it here in my country (we go by USTA rules, I think, or ITF, dunno if there are many differences). You have a 15 min margin from your match time, but no game penalties. I guess its fair, Ive arrived late a couple of times, even a couple of minutes beyond the 15 mins because of heavy traffic during weekdays. Very appreciative of the fact theyre not super strict about this, and I for sure would do the same. I worked about 1 hr away and that one time I did about 1.5 hours, horrible traffic, and because I called the director repeatedly I was on my way, he gave me a break. I changed in the car, went straight to te court and injured my lower back.......... Horrible playing after sitting in the car for 1.5 hrs!

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Could you put the rule book on your phone?

That could solve a lot of disputes right on the court.

Unless they quote some rule about not being able to use a phone to look up rules.

 

[LetsPlayFBI]

Warm ups are tricky. I play 4.5 events in Florida and a lot of players are either nervous or just lack a certain skill set. For example, I rarely get to warm up my overhead since they can lob well. I also just try to hit nice easy slice shots to my opponent when they volley as well to keep it simple. Just get in some consistent reps.

 

[MathGeek]

Ha, another big issue I had (lucky me, right?) was in another tournament about a month ago when my partner did not show up on time. I asked the director what the rule was and was told he has 15 minutes. So he should up 12 minutes late. I told him the penalty was 3 games and he said he never heard that so we just started out even. Afterword I copied out the rules and emailed it to the tournament director and also copied in the Alabama USTA. Good lord, don't these people even know what the rules are ????

In my experience, that's just how thing are done in the South. Unless there is a long history of exacting penalties for being 12 minutes late and that is well communicated, it ain't gonna happen just because it is buried in a rule book. There are usually local customs regarding which rules are enforced and how they are interpreted. The actual rule book and how other places interpret the rules are irrelevant. It is the local custom that matters. I try and be like, "Oh, OK" and just roll with it. Making waves just makes one come off as a jerk and nearly never produces a favorable outcome.

The word of the authority on the scene tends to carry more weight than the written rules. I think things are going pretty well with there's more than a 50% agreement. It tends to be a lot different from the NE, mid-West, or West. Quoting the rule book is about as effective as quoting "Waiting for Godot" if that's not how they do things.

 

[tennisnut1]

In my experience, that's just how thing are done in the South. Unless there is a long history of exacting penalties for being 12 minutes late and that is well communicated, it ain't gonna happen just because it is buried in a rule book. There are usually local customs regarding which rules are enforced and how they are interpreted. The actual rule book and how other places interpret the rules are irrelevant. It is the local custom that matters. I try and be like, "Oh, OK" and just roll with it. Making waves just makes one come off as a jerk and nearly never produces a favorable outcome.

The word of the authority on the scene tends to carry more weight than the written rules. I think things are going pretty well with there's more than a 50% agreement. It tends to be a lot different from the NE, mid-West, or West. Quoting the rule book is about as effective as quoting "Waiting for Godot" if that's not how they do things.

If it happens to me again, I am definitely going to tell the person in charge to look it up. I don't think it's being a jerk, so play by the rules. I'll take a 3 game lead any time of the day because that pretty much guarantees me the 1st set.

 

[tennisnut1]

Warm ups are tricky. I play 4.5 events in Florida and a lot of players are either nervous or just lack a certain skill set. For example, I rarely get to warm up my overhead since they can lob well. I also just try to hit nice easy slice shots to my opponent when they volley as well to keep it simple. Just get in some consistent reps.

I was playing in the finals of a tournament a while back and I knew the guy was the #1 ranked 4.5 player in the state (Georgia). So we get out for the warm up and he misses every ball. Every serve went out also. I am thinking to myself is this guy for real? Does he take me for an idiot? He just was dogging me big time. So we start playing and he bombs the serve and crushes balls in. Good lord what a jerk. I knew he was playing me so I was ready out of the gate. I was hanging right with him, beat him the 1st set and then he started calling my balls out when they were in. I told him if you make 1 more bad call I'm getting a umpire out. Just about that time the tennis director came out pulled up a chair and started watching my match. The bad calls went away and I beat him in straight sets. He walked off the court with his ego dragging. His girlfriend said "it's alright honey" blah blah blah. I have won alot of matches and have lost them to, just learn how to deal with both.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

If it happens to me again, I am definitely going to tell the person in charge to look it up. I don't think it's being a jerk, so play by the rules. I'll take a 3 game lead any time of the day because that pretty much guarantees me the 1st set.

I didn't join USTA to win per se; I joined to compete, which isn't the same thing. When that happened to me [the guy was at least 25 minutes late], I just said to forget the game penalty and to start at 0-0.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I was playing in the finals of a tournament a while back and I knew the guy was the #1 ranked 4.5 player in the state (Georgia). So we get out for the warm up and he misses every ball. Every serve went out also. I am thinking to myself is this guy for real? Does he take me for an idiot? He just was dogging me big time. So we start playing and he bombs the serve and crushes balls in. Good lord what a jerk. I knew he was playing me so I was ready out of the gate. I was hanging right with him, beat him the 1st set and then he started calling my balls out when they were in. I told him if you make 1 more bad call I'm getting a umpire out. Just about that time the tennis director came out pulled up a chair and started watching my match. The bad calls went away and I beat him in straight sets. He walked off the court with his ego dragging. His girlfriend said "it's alright honey" blah blah blah. I have won alot of matches and have lost them to, just learn how to deal with both.

I love stories with happy endings! Way to keep your composure and maintain your mental focus.

 

[MathGeek]

If it happens to me again, I am definitely going to tell the person in charge to look it up. I don't think it's being a jerk, so play by the rules. I'll take a 3 game lead any time of the day because that pretty much guarantees me the 1st set.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I am saying I would not bet on a positive outcome looking up a rule if it has not been enforced in a given venue for many years in the South. On occasion, I've asked for better compliance with written rules when my children were competing and working toward specific goals. When requests were grudgingly granted (less than half the time), they were still underappreciated, and one is regarded as a "jerk" for rocking the boat with the gentle request. I don't mind rocking the boat for the benefit of my teens, because their motivation depends on being treated fairly.

I prefer not to rock the boat if I'm the only one disadvantaged by an imperfect understanding or application of the rules in the sports I compete in. When my wife is my doubles partner, we take the same approach. With other doubles partners, I'll gently suggest we drop it and then move forward meekly if my doubles partner insists. I used to be more rulesy, but at some point the light went on and I realized the disagreements tended to take the fun out of things both for me and for other competitors. For me, the fun and learning and fitness are much higher goals than winning. On the other hand, if I was late and you quoted the rule, I would happily grant the three games.

 

[tennisnut1]

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I am saying I would not bet on a positive outcome looking up a rule if it has not been enforced in a given venue for many years in the South. On occasion, I've asked for better compliance with written rules when my children were competing and working toward specific goals. When requests were grudgingly granted (less than half the time), they were still underappreciated, and one is regarded as a "jerk" for rocking the boat with the gentle request. I don't mind rocking the boat for the benefit of my teens, because their motivation depends on being treated fairly.

I prefer not to rock the boat if I'm the only one disadvantaged by an imperfect understanding or application of the rules in the sports I compete in. When my wife is my doubles partner, we take the same approach. With other doubles partners, I'll gently suggest we drop it and then move forward meekly if my doubles partner insists. I used to be more rulesy, but at some point the light went on and I realized the disagreements tended to take the fun out of things both for me and for other competitors. For me, the fun and learning and fitness are much higher goals than winning. On the other hand, if I was late and you quoted the rule, I would happily grant the three games.

Very well articulated and insightful. What my gripe is whether or not these people running usta sanctioned tournaments actually know the rules or not. There is simply no wiggle room is the rule book states it, end of discussion. There is a great section in Tennis Magazine on calls and I always get a kick out of reading them. Answers are provided based on the USTA rules and knowing them is an advantage. I have always sent my follow-up emails with complaints to both the facility and the USTA Alabama office. I would expect the USTA Alabama office to follow-up on each of these complaints with the facility to ensure compliance.

 

[MathGeek]

Very well articulated and insightful. What my gripe is whether or not these people running usta sanctioned tournaments actually know the rules or not. There is simply no wiggle room is the rule book states it, end of discussion. There is a great section in Tennis Magazine on calls and I always get a kick out of reading them. Answers are provided based on the USTA rules and knowing them is an advantage. I have always sent my follow-up emails with complaints to both the facility and the USTA Alabama office. I would expect the USTA Alabama office to follow-up on each of these complaints with the facility to ensure compliance.

Good luck with that. I've never dug into the fine points of the tennis rules. But most other sports allow for local rule variations for individual events somewhere in the fine print. When people get rulesy, they work around it by posting a rule variation somewhere. When shooters push for more rigid enforcement of NRA rules for NRA sanctioned events, the tournament directors just write a rule variation in the paperwork, and the complaining shooters get to keep pounding salt. My daughter once got out to an early lead in a shooting event when the match director came up with a new interpretation of a rule that disqualified her, because she was beating the good ole boys. When I complained and cited the written rules, they said they've always interpreted that way, and the explicit change was written into the future tournament bulletins. They had never bothered to enforce the rule in previous events, because my daughter had not been beating the good ole boys.

 

[tennisnut1]

Good luck with that. I've never dug into the fine points of the tennis rules. But most other sports allow for local rule variations for individual events somewhere in the fine print. When people get rulesy, they work around it by posting a rule variation somewhere. When shooters push for more rigid enforcement of NRA rules for NRA sanctioned events, the tournament directors just write a rule variation in the paperwork, and the complaining shooters get to keep pounding salt. My daughter once got out to an early lead in a shooting event when the match director came up with a new interpretation of a rule that disqualified her, because she was beating the good ole boys. When I complained and cited the written rules, they said they've always interpreted that way, and the explicit change was written into the future tournament bulletins. They had never bothered to enforce the rule in previous events, because my daughter had not been beating the good ole boys.

Wow, your daughter rocks !!! I really don't know much about guns, been to the shooting range once a few years ago and was cool. One of my neighbors was a military guy and had a nice collection, so he brought along a semi-automatic pistol for me to use. I was thinking about getting a gun for home defense and did alot of research on you tube, great posts for that sort of thing. So many options out there it was mind boggling.

 

[tennisnut1]

At the end of the day if someone is late then its probably going to be interpreted that the enforcement of any penalty is at the refs digression and you wont get anywhere.

Not the case with USTA Tennis rules, it's black and white, not up for interpretation. Been playing tournaments for 40 years. Folks may not know that if a player is making bad calls on you, you can get an umpire to come out. I've had to do that several times over the years.

 

[tennisnut1]

It'll probably be in there somewhere, the LTAs and ITFs rules are all basically this is how it should be run but we get that **** happens so we'll leave it up to the referees. Link to USTA rule book please?

The ref enforces rules like that for the most part not the players

https://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Game/Rules/

 

[tennisnut1]

https://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Game/Rules/

Look at page 109, there it is, I sent that to the tennis director at the tournament who didn't know the rules.

 

[tennisnut1]

Let me say this, if I ever run into this again, and the director denies me the games, I will default. It's the principle.