is there a rule on pre-match warm-up?

[jmnk]

let's say you are about to play USTA sanctioned match. Standard rules are posted: 10 min warmup, regular scoring, 2 out of 3 sets, 10 point tiebreak instead of third set.
You go on court and the opponent says he doesn't need warm-up. What's more, he says is not willing to let you warm up with him. That is, he gives you 10 minutes but he is not willing to hit with you at all.
Is that legal? I mean obviously it is not really that kind, but is it per rules?

a related question. During the warm up, starting with like second ball, the opponent goes for winners every time. Missing pretty badly so you do not even have a chance to get the racket on a ball. Do you have the right to ask him to at least keep the ball in court? I mean he is claiming that he needs to warm up full strokes, and he is as much entitled to it as you are entitled to casually hit few forehands and backhands.

Comments?

[ssgator80]

I dont know the rules and have never had that situation in all the tournaments I have played, but that person is a total *****. I guess in the future you know you have to warm before you get to the court - which is difficult at many places. I like to find a wall about 20 minutes before the match and make some strokes and move around a little. In many tournaments I play you get 5 minutes for warm up, which can be rather short.

[mikeler]

I think what the opponent did was legal according to the rules but it is a bad rule IMHO.

[Roy125]

Solution is simple: don't start the match until you get warmed-up. Either with him or someone else.

In one of my tournaments that I played in the past, not being courteous while warming-up meant that you automatically lose the coin flip on who picks to serve or return. I don't know if that applies to every tournament...

[fruitytennis1]

I may be a mile off...but in Usta ive had a situation where the person wouldn't rally so i rallied with a friend.

[CptnRiceKrispy]

Well...You can't control what your opponent does, so its really up to you. but somebody who isnt courteous enough to participate in a warm up is quite an *** and if they're a regular tournament player he/she will gain a reputation pretty quickly.

But here is what you can control. You can prepare yourself a couple hours (or days) in advance. For example head to the courts a couple hours early and have a nice relaxed hitting to find your rhythm so you'll be ready for a match.

I know for myself if was just going to jump into a tournament the 10minute warmup would not be enough.

[PeterPanda]

If he was worried about tiring himself out. He should have rallied with you but not moved and purposely miss the shots.

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by jmnk

....he says is not willing to let you warm up with him.

IMO sounds exactly like the sort of person who would be wearing an Ed Hardy shirt.

You should play him and every-time a ball goes stray - even on your side of the court - wait for him to go get it. Tell him you don't want to wear yourself out by picking up balls.

[TheBoom]

Just bad sportsmanship

[fuzz nation]

Grab your gear, go straight to the person running the match, get your money back if you can, and excuse yourself. No chance of having any fun in a scenario like that and your time is too valuable to be wasted on someone who does this.

Just an option to consider.

[jmnk]

Thanks for all the replies.
Just so we are clear - I'm not really bothered by anyone's antics (as I've outlined here http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=339252) so if it was to happen to me I would just pull out a ball machine and hit for exactly 10 minutes. Or went to hit against the wall. I was just asking if it is according to rules. If it is, and it looks that it is, than if an opponent doesn't want to warm up - fine with me.

so the other scenario is actually more interesting to me. In that case an opponent does want to warm up, but he only wants to try to hit winners. It is as if one wanted to warm up smashes and nothing else. So I wouldn't really want not to hit with him, but on the other hand I'd like to warm up my strokes as well.

Originally Posted by jmnk

let's say you are about to play USTA sanctioned match. Standard rules are posted: 10 min warmup, regular scoring, 2 out of 3 sets, 10 point tiebreak instead of third set.
You go on court and the opponent says he doesn't need warm-up. What's more, he says is not willing to let you warm up with him. That is, he gives you 10 minutes but he is not willing to hit with you at all.
Is that legal? I mean obviously it is not really that kind, but is it per rules?

a related question. During the warm up, starting with like second ball, the opponent goes for winners every time. Missing pretty badly so you do not even have a chance to get the racket on a ball. Do you have the right to ask him to at least keep the ball in court? I mean he is claiming that he needs to warm up full strokes, and he is as much entitled to it as you are entitled to casually hit few forehands and backhands.

Comments?

Here is the actual correct ruling:

If the player does not want to warm-up, you have the right to choose anybody that you would like (parent, coach, friend) to warm you up for the warm-up period. That person is not allowed to give you coaching though.

Here are the excerpts that address both of your issues straight out of the USTA Rulebook:

Issue 1
IV. IV. PLAYER RESPONSIBILITIES AND CONDUCT
Section C. Standards of Conduct
4. Warm-up. A player who refuses to warm-up with the opponent forfeits the
right to a warm-up. During the warm-up or a re-warm-up, a player may have
any person hit with the player if the opponent refuses to do so.



Issue 2
Code #3
3. Warm-up is not practice. A player should provide the opponent a
5-minute warm-up (ten minutes if there are no ballpersons). If a player refuses to warm
up the opponent, the player forfeits the right to a warm-up. Some players confuse
warm-up and practice. Each player should make a special effort to hit shots directly
to the opponent. (If partners want to warm each other up while their opponents are
warming up, they may do so.)

[jmnk]

Originally Posted by woodrow1029

Here are the excerpts that address both of your issues straight out of the USTA Rulebook:

Issue 1
IV. IV. PLAYER RESPONSIBILITIES AND CONDUCT
Section C. Standards of Conduct
4. Warm-up. A player who refuses to warm-up with the opponent forfeits the
right to a warm-up. During the warm-up or a re-warm-up, a player may have
any person hit with the player if the opponent refuses to do so.



Issue 2
Code #3
3. Warm-up is not practice. A player should provide the opponent a
5-minute warm-up (ten minutes if there are no ballpersons). If a player refuses to warm
up the opponent, the player forfeits the right to a warm-up. Some players confuse
warm-up and practice. Each player should make a special effort to hit shots directly
to the opponent. (If partners want to warm each other up while their opponents are
warming up, they may do so.)

Thank you! Need to do own research first next time as at least in this case all is precisely defined....