How honest are you?

[Ronaldo]

Guy returned my serve cross-court for an apparent winner. Ball rolls on our court during the point. I honestly called a let and replayed the point. Honesty pay dividends

[sphinx780]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

Curious: was this a center line call, a sideline call or a service line call?

There is almost no chance I will overrule my partner on a serve call of out if she is looking down that line and I am looking across it. If she has the better view, how can I possibly be sure she is wrong?

Service line, called deep. I agree that you should avoid overruling unless you have the best vantage point.

Same with assuming a hooked call or not. A close baseline call can easily look out but catch line so I assume my opponent called well.

[tennis tom]

Originally Posted by schmke

Checking with the league coordinator afterwards I learned that they can ask for an impartial person to stand on the court and comment on calls when asked (or 1 person from each team), but these "commenters" can't make calls or correct them.

That sounds like a very interesting remedy, having an observer present would probably quell the cheating even if they are not well sighted for a particular line. This would be an interesting area to explore how it would work out. So the impartial observer(s) can't make calls or correct them--but can comment on them--"They just cheated us!"--"No comment, but philosophically you may be correct, perhaps cheat them back, you don't go to hell for cheating in tennis (that we know of), good luck."

[3fees]

I call it as I see it.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by 3fees

I call it as I see it.

Then I check the mark

[SoBad]

The other day i was serving second serve match point down and as i hit the ball I noticed that the tip of my left shoe was touching the line. I immediately called a footfault on myself and conceded the point and the match. Then on my way home I found a quarter on the ground and took it to the police precinct to report the finding of the property.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by SoBad

The other day i was serving second serve match point down and as i hit the ball I noticed that the tip of my left shoe was touching the line. I immediately called a footfault on myself and conceded the point and the match. Then on my way home I found a quarter on the ground and took it to the police precinct to report the finding of the property.

Honesty, it's overrated

[SoBad]

Originally Posted by Ronaldo

Honesty, it's overrated

I don't know about that, but self-serving claims about own honesty, aired anonymously, on the other hand...

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by SoBad

I don't know about that, but self-serving claims about own honesty, aired anonymously, on the other hand...

Honestly???

[SoBad]

Originally Posted by Ronaldo

Honestly???

Sometimes, when I have a quiet evening to myself in the privacy of my home, I call the IRS and chat with the folks there about how to report various miscellaneous cash income that’s not on the books.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by SoBad

Sometimes, when I have a quiet evening to myself in the privacy of my home, I call the IRS and chat with the folks there about how to report various miscellaneous cash income that’s not on the books.

I'll drink to that

[SoBad]

Originally Posted by Ronaldo

I'll drink to that

Every once in a while I call up social services to report myself for substance abuse and express concern for the safety and well-being of furniture and communication equipment inside my apartment.

[will3689]

Too honest most of the time. I must have lost so many points by playing on when the ball was out but if im not 100% sure the ball was out i play it.

[tennisee]

So; those of us who post here are honest.

Posting about rules presupposes an interest in the rules, and generally that leads to a desire to follow the rules.

But I don't think asking TW posters if they are honest can lead to anything other than self congratulatory posts by TW posters on their honesty.

"On Saturday I had been calling very fairly all match, until I hooked my opponent at 5-6 in the second set tiebreak. It was a ball that landed on the baseline and I called it out. It gave me a second chance and I closed out the match 14-12 in the TB. Had we gone to a third I was cooked."

Did I?

I am actually 100% certain that my out call was correct, but my opponent gave me a look that indicated he disagreed.

Our match was cordial throughout - no bad blood. I think that he wanted that point so much that he really wanted to see the ball as in, and that's how he saw it.

He could equally say of me that I so wanted to stay in the set that I saw it out when it was in.

I made the right call, as I was certain of it, but that's a long way from saying my view is the only one.

[Alchemy-Z]

My partner made a bad call one time in a tournament and I had an okay look at it and felt like it was good. The guy who hit it was at the net right in front of it and showed no sign of it being a miss. Also I knew him very well and he is not a cheat. they started to argue about the call I and my partner said "it my call doesn't matter if it's in or out...and wanted to argue with me as well.

it was my service game so we continued play my next serve I hit the ball into the net...and the next serve terribly long and then held a thumbs up to the other team at which they nodded and we went back to duece a played normally from then on.

at the end my partner apologized and no one left with hard feelings and the other team thanked me for squaring things up with my serve. (it was my only double fault all day)

[Tennusdude]

Is anyone else surprised at how far out the ball can be in pro tennis matches and the player will still challenge the call? It makes me wonder how they made calls in the juniors when it was solely up to them. I used to drive a junior to many of his matches. I saw fair amount of cheating going on including on return of serve by doing the following. The returner would go for a winner even if the first serve was out. If they made the winner they would call the ball in, if they missed they would call it out. I asked the junior player who I was driving to the tournaments about this and he told me it was a common practice. There were also a fair amount bad line calls. The junior players seem to expect it. It is a real shame in my opinion. Has anyone else witnessed this sort of behavior in the juniors? or even any organized tennis team play?

[SwankPeRFection]

I correct incorrect line calls on myself.

I stop the point if I've nicked a ball that flew past me.

I reward points if I've hit the net.

I try very hard not to cross over the net with my racket to hit a ball that's not crossed into my side of the court first.

I don't foot fault like all the other league players out there, but at the same time I try not to make a big deal out of it for others at the local level. I do mention it to them to watch it if they ever make it to legit tournaments and/or state finals, where it could be a problem. Now, if you're foot faulting into the court by a foot or more, I'll call you on it, but again, I start by telling you first and if things get really bad, I'll make it a point to make a big deal over it, but I've never taken points on someone who's just egregious on doing it. I just won't play with them anyone if they're not going to fix their foot-faulting issues.

If you're an advanced player, I don't call lets when a ball that I know for sure you've seen roll on the court once an aggressive point is under way. Usually both of us are advanced enough to not trip over a ball we know where it is and most of the time, I've seen weaker league players call lets when this happens just as the stronger player just ripped a winner which they knew they couldn't get to anyway, regardless of the lucky timing for the ball rolling onto the court and them calling a let.

[PrimeChoice]

hook em
haaha

[I Heart Thomas Muster]

I'm nobody special in civilian life but on the tennis courts I am honest to the point of self destruction. If I can't be 100% certain it was out I call it in much to the chagrin of teams I have played on.

Even when I'm being hooked I can't make my calls any other way. Not that I haven't contemplated it. I take a lot of pride in knowing I have not been accused of cheating in 20 years of tennis.

That said I wish I wouldn't let cheaters mess with my head. I still struggle with that all these years later.

[Gonzalito17]

You have to cheat a cheater to keep him honest. When in Rome do as the Romans.