Biggest Pet Peeve in Tennis?

[Marcus2137]

Originally Posted by r2473

I usually spend the first few minutes picking up old balls someone "generously" left on the court

I confess about this one. I always throw trash away and pick up others, but I DO leave old balls on the court. The reason is that when I was a kid and would go to the courts and even all the way up to college, I did have money to buy new balls, so I would go to the courts and try to pick up old balls that people left/forgot there and play with those. It wasn't ideal but better than nothing.

Just a few months ago I was using the hitting wall at a local high school on the weekend and some kids showed up with a couple of rackets and nothing else. They wondered around looking for balls for a while and didn't find any, so in the end I just gave them a few of mine. Just like when I was a kid, what would happen if I wasn't there to give them balls and they didn't find any? They'd probably just go home without playing. So, I don't mind leaving a few old balls around in case kids want to come play. If the ball is completely bad or broken I'll just throw it away.

[OrangePower]

Originally Posted by Timbo's hopeless slice

yeah, but they have been out on the practice court for an hour before their match, haven't they?

as for whoever said it is a good volley drill, wtf? they should be quite solid groundstrokes that land well inside the service line...

After hitting short groundstrokes we switch to hitting volleys and half volleys from halfway between the service line and the baseline.

[codyjames14]

There's a guy in my 3.5 league who feels the obligation to point out whenever I am not playing my best. He'll say things like: "Man you aren't hitting very well today" or "I'm really glad you aren't hitting your serves".

The thing is, I don't think that he means to be a *****. It's just kind of the way he is, I guess.

Other than that, the only thing that bugs me is when people repeatedly make bad calls. Everyone makes a bad call here and there, after three or four I tend to get a little testy.

[corbind]

For those complaining about having to do mini tennis warm up...I'd like to know if you are a baseline or net player. If you're a baseline-basher I can see how it's a waste of time. If you're a net player it's necessary to warm up with mini tennis.

[spot]

For those complaining about having to do mini tennis warm up...I'd like to know if you are a baseline or net player. If you're a baseline-basher I can see how it's a waste of time. If you're a net player it's necessary to warm up with mini tennis.

Necessary? Seriously?

[dizzlmcwizzl]

Originally Posted by AceKing

2 of mine:

-When my opponent insists on warming up with mini-tennis
-When my opponent practices his return while I am taking serves, instead of just catching & serving back.

I like mini tennis ... but my biggest pet peeves is when my opponent just does not understand the concept of warming up. If you dont want to do mini tennis ... fine, just tell me.

But people can be bad warm up players in many ways unrelated to their ability.

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by Marcus2137

I confess about this one. I always throw trash away and pick up others, but I DO leave old balls on the court. The reason is that when I was a kid and would go to the courts and even all the way up to college, I did have money to buy new balls, so I would go to the courts and try to pick up old balls that people left/forgot there and play with those. It wasn't ideal but better than nothing.

Just a few months ago I was using the hitting wall at a local high school on the weekend and some kids showed up with a couple of rackets and nothing else. They wondered around looking for balls for a while and didn't find any, so in the end I just gave them a few of mine. Just like when I was a kid, what would happen if I wasn't there to give them balls and they didn't find any? They'd probably just go home without playing. So, I don't mind leaving a few old balls around in case kids want to come play. If the ball is completely bad or broken I'll just throw it away.

I don't mind old balls on the court. In fact, I often take them for my hopper.

What I don't get is people leaving cans and sharp lids on the court. Good lord.

What I also don't get is the debris on high school courts. I would think the coaches would bring a few garbage bags and get the kids to clean up the courts before they practice. I would think the coaches and kids would have too much pride in their schools to allow them to look like that.

[catfish]

Garbage on and around the courts is a pet peeve for me too. I play at a community association which does not have any full time staff. Members are expected to clean up after themselves. Yet many players leave empty beer bottles, cigarette butts, water bottles, used overgips, and ball cans and tops all over the place.

[jk175d]

Originally Posted by corbind

For those complaining about having to do mini tennis warm up...I'd like to know if you are a baseline or net player. If you're a baseline-basher I can see how it's a waste of time. If you're a net player it's necessary to warm up with mini tennis.

I'm more of a baseline player but I need a mini tennis warm up to loosen up my wrist. I'll be ok if I just start from the baseline, but I definately warm up better if I can get in a few minutes of mini tennis first.

[Marcus2137]

Originally Posted by jdubbs

Oops, I'm guilty of #1. Mini tennis just gets me in the groove of my strokes, without it my timing gets off.

Agreed. I found my consistency has improved since I started warming up with mini tennis.

I do play sometimes with a guy wants to play mini tennis for 30 minutes which seems way to much, but 10-15 minutes is about right for me.

One of my playing partners and I make mini tennis an actual game and we get really into it. You can't just bash the ball and over power the opponent, so it takes a lot of control and strategy to win a point. A mini-approach shot right in the corner that lets me mini-rush the net and finish it off with a mini-volley... no joke, it's a lot of fun; and really has improved my hitting if I do it for 10 minutes first before backing up and playing full-court.

[Marcus2137]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

I don't mind old balls on the court. In fact, I often take them for my hopper.

What I don't get is people leaving cans and sharp lids on the court. Good lord.

What I also don't get is the debris on high school courts. I would think the coaches would bring a few garbage bags and get the kids to clean up the courts before they practice. I would think the coaches and kids would have too much pride in their schools to allow them to look like that.

Agreed. I've always been a person to pick up trash, but living overseas the last few years has really opened my eyes even more. The Asian country I live in is pretty polluted, even here in the capital, and it sucks living in a place with trash around all the time.

The way I see it now is when I see the local people dropping trash as they walk down the sidewalk or throwing it out of their car is: that person must really not like their own country. At this point, I have come to believe that people who just throw trash on the ground must hate the country they live in, otherwise they wouldn't want to pollute it, make it look and smell like crap, and knowingly hurt the environment.


Pet Peeve of the day:

People smoking on the court next to me during their break/changeover, especially on indoor courts. I'm trying to exercise and be healthy, so breathing their smoke doesn't make me too happy.

And despite it being illegal and against the court rules, for some reason the court still provides ashtrays on the tables at each court.

[penpal]

Thought of another one: I dislike it when a frustrated opponent hits a hard shot across after the point is over. I know you're frustrated, but you hit me with a ball when my back is turned and I'm walking back to the baseline, or worse yet, when I'm at the net facing you and you take another hard swing at the shot you just netted and I'm going to be really upset.

[kaleidoskope]

Someone may have mentioned this one...

Foot faults! I once played a guy that server 2 or 3 feet IN the court. And he was a good server too. I asked him if he wanted to play mini-tennis instead but I think he did not get my sarcasm...

[corbind]

Originally Posted by spot

Necessary? Seriously?

Okay Spot, let me clarify. I was typing on an iPod 5 minutes before falling asleep so I did not search for the most appropriate word and did not feel like typing much on a tiny keyboard. I'm on a computer now so I can at least type on a real keyboard. I don't think mini tennis is NECESSARY if:

• Both opponents are baseliners so they'll spend almost no time at the net the entire match
• Both opponents are in their teens or twenties since their bodies just don't need much prep time
• If you're just screwing around hitting with a buddy you just hit whatever

My estimate of those who do not want to do any mini tennis at any time before a match are the ones who hate the net and don't spend much time there. Therefore it's a waste of their time. Further, a player who has serious weaknesses with volleys, half-volleys, or control on short balls will be advertising their disadvantage while playing mini tennis. My take on it is this is, if a guy does not want to hit any mini tennis before a match, they are either great or suck at it but more commonly the latter. Excepting the scenarios above:

• Necessary to do mini tennis as a warm up? No.
• Necessary to do it at all before play (either at first or after casual baseline hitting)? Absolutely.

Outside of serve and return of serve, I'd estimate 80%+ of my play is between the service line and the net. So it would be ridiculous for me to not play mini tennis before a match. On the converse, others spend almost no time at the net so they generally just want to work baseline balls to warm up and that makes sense.
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[AR15]

Last night reminded me of my biggest peeve:

Players who strike the ball BEFORE it comes over to their side of the net. It's their call, and they won't admit they did it.

[North]

I have a few pet peeves but one that hasn't been mentioned yet is people calling the ball out before it hits the ground. Even if the ball winds up being clearly in, the vast majority will not reverse their calls. I first noticed this practice watching other peoples' matches & was astonished because it is more common than I would have thought.

[smarog]

People that try to hit winners during warm ups. Seriously?!?!

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by jdubbs

But...have you ever called a foot fault on an opponent? If you can't, then I wouldnt worry about it, even if its technically wrong.

No, I have never called a FF as I cannot confidently judge them from the other side. But I am working in a low-key activist fashion for social change by changing one mind (or foot) at a time.

Recently, a dad noticed what I was doing trying to video adult doubles players, and asked me to find out if his daughter FFed. She was doing it half the time on both serves, and both dad and girl were extremely surprised to learn that.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by AR15

Last night reminded me of my biggest peeve:

Players who strike the ball BEFORE it comes over to their side of the net. It's their call, and they won't admit they did it.

Seen a couple of them, and it only leads to arguments if you challenge them. They stand really close to the net and hit the ball with the racket over the net, and think that they have made a great poach.

This one is particularly irritating because you see the guy glued to the net, and hit the ball away from him on either side, and then he cheats

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

I don't mind old balls on the court. In fact, I often take them for my hopper.

What I don't get is people leaving cans and sharp lids on the court. Good lord.

What I also don't get is the debris on high school courts. I would think the coaches would bring a few garbage bags and get the kids to clean up the courts before they practice. I would think the coaches and kids would have too much pride in their schools to allow them to look like that.

It could be adults who play on those courts after school hours and on weekends