Dealing with a foot faulter in your league
 

So let's say you have a guy in your league who has both feet inside the baseline..on every serve. You notice this during warmup and when you see the guy playing on adjoining courts.

The guy is a good guy, not a jerk or a cheeser with line calls or anything..maybe he just has no idea that he starts with both feet behind the line, but after his toss both feet slide way over the line.

If he had a really weak serve it wouldn't matter, but his serve has become effective...it only clears that net by about 3 inches so that's another advantage he's gaining..that his flat hard serve with no margin for error probably wouldn't be clearing the net.

Plus, he's developing a serve and volley game and he's gaining half a step on this.

How do you go about addressing this without being a jerk...like bringing it up right before a match (gamey) right after a match (sore loser or winner). The first time I played him I actually took a few serves from his starting position and he didn't even get a racquet on them..trying to make a point. It didn't connect.

The last time I played this guy we split sets, so I'm hoping I win and then I might bring it up.

You could tell him he is foot faulting, and you may call him out on it if he does it all the time, but in the beginning just as a warning. Just gently mention that tougher players will definately call him out every single time - so he has to become more aware.

I guess the best way to bring it up is after a win so it doesn't just sound like sour grapes, not that it's going to be that easy because we are pretty much equal players. Of course, if he's getting tons of easy points off of his serve because he's 2 feet inside the line, losing is not going to be handled well by me. I'm 6 inches taller then him and my height advantage is partially or fully negated by those 2 feet he's stealing (not really sure of the physics) :D .

I used to foot fault a lot (one foot), by a 1-3 inches, until one of the players in the club that I play with regularly mentioned it to me. He also gave me a tip, just start a few inches further back. It worked beautifully, and I was grateful for the help. I actually asked him to tell me every time he sees me foot fault. I think if you are polite about it, you won't have any issues, and he might actually thank you for it. Just let him know that you don't really care, but someone else might, especially if he plays USTA leagues or tournaments, so it's better to try to fix it during practice or a friendly game.

I would ignore it.

Ive only ever mentioned a foot fault to anyone once after i was getting ****ed at not being able to get this guys serve back. He would start with his feet millimetres behind the line. step into the court 6 inches or more. Jump forward and land before ever contacting the ball he was probably 16/18 inches inside the line before he hit the ball. Never happened since i mentioned it, but unless you feel its putting you at a serious disadvantage then just ignore it

Foot faulting is like masterbedroom. Eveyone does it.

Why don't you record his serve, then send him the video? Simply explain to him that he foot faults consistently, and provide him with evidence.

It sounds like he is an honest player, and may not know that he is gaining an advantage with his service technique.

Good luck, and please let us know the results.

Sorry, this seems a little xtreme! Recording him while he's serving! Would you let him know he is being recorded or just catch him off guard? Evidence, are you taking him to court (pardon the pun). That would go over like a lead ballon..pardon the cliche.

does your cell phone have video capability? how difficult/intrusive is it to record someone foot faulting?

showing the player video evidence carries a lot more weight than simply saying, "dude, you're footfaulting!"

I am confused........Does he start with both feet inside the line or does he jump in as he serves with both feet ??????

I couldn't agree with this more. Even the guys you think isn't footfaulting does foot fault about 10-20 % of the time. You just didn't notice it because they don't do it often like this guy. Even if you touch the line with your Toes only, it is just as much Foot fault as if you jump in with both feet before you strike the ball.

There are a few of us that have been playing in the local center's quad league for @ 15 years, and one of the long timers apprached me last year to tell me that lately I had been foot faulting routinely. No angst or drama, just said it, I said ok and now back up a a few inches when serving...no problem, in fact I think it helped me refocus on what I was doing overall when serving.

P_

How many points do you think this extra few inches causes the guy to win, do you think. The one guy I complained to I would have said it was regularly helping him hold serve

There should be a follow up thread for "how to deal with 'that guy' who feels compelled to call footfaults"

He starts with both feet behind the line, his toss is forward into the court, he first slides his front foot at least 6 inches into the court, then slides his back foot into the court into a platform stance, then jumps into the serve.


I would say that it doesn't give an advantage, but I did the same thing to him twice in a previous match (to prove a point to him and myself), and both serves were aces that he didn't even move to get...where he responded "whoah, great serve". You bet it was!!

I was able to hit so much more down on the ball and still have it land in, it was ridiculous. It probably felt to him like I put 10MPH more on my serve. I'm 6'1 and I imagined this is what it must be like to be 6'6 with your serve. Likewise, he's 5'5 or 5'6.

I really don't care or notice, but they usually get nailed when they get to regionals.

simple solution. As soon as the front foot slides inside the line, say Footfault before even he can get slide his back foot inside. This will let him know that he is definitely footfaulting even before he gets into the swing.

Tell his Teaching Pro or Captain....

Some of his USTA teamates already know and I think may have mentioned it.

Hard to say what kind of a reaction you might get.
The guy could thank you for pointing it out, or
act like Kobe getting whistled for traveling (for palming the ball) on a
time-expiring game-winning dunk.