Calling Out the Score...Please!!!

[tennis tom]

It's really annoying to play a great point and not get credit for it due to confusion on the score. I believe, The Code says to call out the score before each point. I'm all for that!!! I think many rec/club players, play head games or use gamesmanship with the score. After a great energetic point, with many hits, it's easy to get literally turned around and not know where you stand anymore. I always (well, almost always) call out the score before each point. It just increases the odds that somebody, especially when playing doubles, will remember the score.

Invariably, I find it's the player who doesn't call out the score on a consistent basis, is the one who is ALWAYS questioning it. I make it a point to remember the score and call it out at least when I'm serving. If others would do the same things would be just peachy.

I feel some players consciously "game" score keeping and some do it unconsciously, after years of developing bad habits. There are those players who ONLY call the score when they are UP, especially at 40-15. Personally, I sometimes don't call it out at 40-love or 40-15, feeling it may be some bad Karma or hubristic to embarrass my opponents shouting-out a big lead.

There are some who never call the score! I admire them if they can keep it accurately, BUT, if they keep screwing it up, I begin hating them and start calling it out for them. This may annoy them and goad them into doing the right thing, calling it out themselves. If I get really annoyed with "non score caller outters", I'll time my call to coincide with their ball-toss and admit, this is a bit of gamesmanship of my own, but only after they have thoroughly annoyed me first.

For the time being, I'm foregoing buying a score-keeping watch. One reason being, having to remember to use it and also finding it somewhat distracting and annoying watching someone constantly pressing on their wrist.

Do any TT'ers have any tips on dealing with "score-keeper/non-score keeper" gamers, to help keep them honest or to do their job of keeping the score too?

[pyrokid]

Makin' me feel like a jerk up in here.

I'm one of 'Those Guys' who only calls it out when I'm winning. Whoopsie.

[Cindysphinx]

Yeah, it's easy.

If they don't call out the score, say the score yourself. Put a little lilt in your voice at the end so you don't sound rude, like it's just a polite question.

[OrangePower]

I trust myself to keep accurate score without having it called out all the time - but I don't trust all my opponents to do the same (with good reason, in some cases).

So to avoid potential confusion and conflict, I always make sure I call out the score when I'm serving, and if someone else is serving and has not called out the score, I'll say something like "thirty-fifteen, right?" just to confirm.

[FriarTuck]

This is a pet peeve of mine as well. A guy I play with quite a bit will go 3 or 4 points without calling out the score if I don't say anything and then he's the one that gets confused on what the score is. I've gotten where I'll either say the score before he serves or I'll ask for the score. It's really not that hard and avoids a lot of confusion.

[Maui19]

Isn't it part of the Code? I always call out the score, but sometimes I call it incorrectly, even though I have it correct in my head.

I'm a veg, Danny.

[ttbrowne]

Pet peeve too. All players should have their minds IN the game and pay frigging attention to the score. It's important (duh). But, One thing I will do to help is after a long point with lots of great hitting, I will call out the score immediately after this. Even though they are serving. Seems this is when scoring gets fouled up the most.

[jswinf]

I agree, call the score. Seems like some players who don't call it are acting like "everybody should know the score, c'mon" but if you break down and ask "Hey, what's the score?" they often don't really know...

[Big_Dangerous]

Originally Posted by jswinf

I agree, call the score. Seems like some players who don't call it are acting like "everybody should know the score, c'mon" but if you break down and ask "Hey, what's the score?" they often don't really know...

I have the exact opposite experience. I don't always call out the score on each point and I find a lot of guys I play often times get confused and don't know the score... And they botch the set score too a bunch too.

I also get the feeling that when I tell them the set score on the change-over they give me this look like "Thanks a-hole!"

Which I also hate.

[blakesq]

Everytime your opponent is about to serve, and he fails to call out the score, raise your hand, stop him in the middle of his service motion, and ask him the score. After 10-20 times, he should get the hint.

[jswinf]

Originally Posted by Big_Dangerous

I have the exact opposite experience. I don't always call out the score on each point and I find a lot of guys I play often times get confused and don't know the score... And they botch the set score too a bunch too.

I also get the feeling that when I tell them the set score on the change-over they give me this look like "Thanks a-hole!"

Which I also hate.

Not sure I understand--maybe if you did call out the score on each point some of those guys wouldn't be as confused...

And calling out the set score before the first point of each game...I hope everybody does that?

[dcdoorknob]

Originally Posted by blakesq

Everytime your opponent is about to serve, and he fails to call out the score, raise your hand, stop him in the middle of his service motion, and ask him the score. After 10-20 times, he should get the hint.

This is a good option if you're looking for the most obnoxious and passive-aggressive way to address the situation.

Another option might be to just ask them to call out the score between points on an early changeover if they aren't.

[AR15]

Code 31 of Friend of the Court says the server Is to announce the score befor each point.

If it annoyed me that my opponent was not calling score, I would simply point out this rule.

[Big_Dangerous]

Originally Posted by jswinf

Not sure I understand--maybe if you did call out the score on each point some of those guys wouldn't be as confused...

And calling out the set score before the first point of each game...I hope everybody does that?

What I was saying is that I don't get confused as to the game score, I keep it in my head very well and am seldom wrong. Is it too much to ask that my opponents do the same?

I don't like to yell across the court after each point, to me it seems obnoxious. Sometimes I'll even say the score to myself, or if I'm at the net getting a ball I'll say the score to my opponent. However, I'm a quiet guy and often times I feel like they don't hear me.

Also, someone was saying that when they don't call the game score they themselves get confused and mess up the score. I was basically refuting his/her point by saying that it's not me that's confused when I don't call the score, it's my opponents. And that really should be their fault because even when I'm receiving, I still keep the score in my head. I have a pretty good memory on the court and I can remember the last 4-7 points very easily. And I've had opponents give themselves phantom points before and botch the score as well. It's really annoying when that happens, and usually that happens on their service games too... It's ridiculous.

I mean it shouldn't be that hard to keep track of 4 points should it?

[beernutz]

Originally Posted by blakesq

Everytime your opponent is about to serve, and he fails to call out the score, raise your hand, stop him in the middle of his service motion, and ask him the score. After 10-20 times, he should get the hint.

I tried that once when the person I was playing refused to announce the score but it didn't help. After that, I would stop the point before he served and say, "the score is love-40 right?"

[OrangePower]

Originally Posted by Big_Dangerous

What I was saying is that I don't get confused as to the game score, I keep it in my head very well and am seldom wrong. Is it too much to ask that my opponents can do the same.


I don't like to yell across the court after each point.


And what someone was saying is that when they don't call the game score they themselves get confused. I was basically refuting his point saying that it's not me that's confused it's my opponents. And that really should be their fault because even when I'm receiving, I still keep the score. And I've had opponents give themselves phantom points before and botch the score. It's really annoying too.

I mean it shouldn't be that hard to keep track of 4 points should it?

Yeah, it shouldn't be that hard, and yeah, if you're keeping score accurately in your head and you opponent can't, then it's their fault.

But that doesn't address the issue - since we all know from experience that some people are incapable of keeping score in their heads, what are you going to do about it?

You can either do:

1. Nothing, and then deal with the irritation/conflict/confusion when your opponent and you disagree on the score, or

2. You could just make sure that it's called out after every point, whether by you or your opponent.

I don't like to yell across the court after each point either, but which of these two options is more pleasant?

[West Coast Ace]

I always bring it up before or right after warm-ups: "server's going to call out the score, right?". I think every other point is ok. If there's a dispute it's hard to screw up two points.

[whomad15]

If I don't hear it I ask "Whats the score?"
Every time, I don't care how ****ed they get, if I can't hear it I'm not going to play because I dislike getting cheated out of points.
Usually they start saying it for a while but then stop, at which point I start up again.
They get annoyed, too bad, deal with it. I say the score so you can hear it, you can return the favor.

Also it helps if you aren't staring at the ground bouncing the ball while announcing the score, as then the sound just bounces back into your face, not across the court.
It hardly takes a yell, projecting your voice without yelling isn't something that's hard to do.

[AR15]

Originally Posted by West Coast Ace

I always bring it up before or right after warm-ups: "server's going to call out the score, right?". I think every other point is ok. If there's a dispute it's hard to screw up two points.

If you said that to me, I'd think I must have a 2.0 showing up to play.

[athiker]

Yep an annoyance for me too. And I believe if you are serving and not calling out the score and I get confused as to what the score is it is actually your fault not mine. The rules seem to think so too.

I'm guessing the rule it there so that all players are reminded of the score before each point so that there is no confusion, so that any errors can be caught quickly and to avoid a mish-mash of the server sometimes calling the score and the receiver sometimes calling the score. The server is to call out the score...its really very clear and not that hard. I'm not the most outgoing guy in the world, but I manage. I've never had an opponent express annoyance that I call out the score so I don't think that's a worry.

There is actually a player I know who rarely calls out the score when he is serving but pretty regularly calls out the score when an opponent is serving! Right after the point ends and before the server has even gathered a ball to step up to call the score and begin to serve. Very odd and kind of amusing in a way.

I think some servers are so focused on their serve they literally forget to call the score. If it becomes a pattern I simply ask them if they could start calling the score before they serve. I don't cite the rule or yell at them...I just ask them to start calling the score to help me keep it straight. I've never had anyone take my head off for asking yet. I can't say I'm not annoyed when I have to ask though or if they slip back into the old no score calling pattern.