I'm gonna call this illegal...

XFactorer

XFactorer

Hall of Fame
In doubles, when I'm serving in the deuce court my opponent at the net, the one I'm not serving to, stands OVER the center line. I'm not sure if he's trying to keep me from serving down the line or just trying to get a better glimpse of where the ball lands. But doesn't that count as an intentional interference or something and he shouldn't do that?
 
G

Geezer Guy

Hall of Fame
Both of your opponents AND your partner can stand anywhere they want, on their respective sides of the net. You can stand anywhere you want, as long as you're behind the baseline and between the center hash and the sideline.

There's no limit to where the non-receiver can stand - as long as he's on his side of the net.
 
Douggo

Douggo

Semi-Pro
GG is, of course, correct. Don't forget that if you should happen to, say, slip and hit that guy - or his partner, for that matter - with your serve, you win the point.
I'm just sayin'.

EDIT: Guess I was just late with that advice.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
also if you hit it at him and he hits the ball before it lands on the ground (volley), you win the point.
 
C

circusmouse

Rookie
I'm definitely on the "hit him" bandwagon. Even if you miss, a couple of warning shots across the bow should adjust his position.
 
J

jamumafa

Semi-Pro
Just serve everything up the line. If it hits him wahey free point. If it doesnt, thats gotta interfere with his partner
 
LuckyR

LuckyR

Legend
XFactorer said:
In doubles, when I'm serving in the deuce court my opponent at the net, the one I'm not serving to, stands OVER the center line. I'm not sure if he's trying to keep me from serving down the line or just trying to get a better glimpse of where the ball lands. But doesn't that count as an intentional interference or something and he shouldn't do that?
Click to expand...

I guess that is possible, but I usually stand right on my side of the T specifically because that is the center of the "hole" should the server's netman poach the return. Also I am fast enough to make it back to second volley position if the return is not poached. I have no intention of trying to "intimidate" the server and don't consider my standing there to even be in that category. If the server tries to go up the T (which he should be doing for other completely different reasons) I am plenty quick to dodge it. If the server was foolish enough to actually try to hit me he would essentially be flushing a first serve down the toilet, and my partner will make him pay on that second serve, meanwhile I would not change where I stand...
 
lilxjohnyy

lilxjohnyy

Hall of Fame
if u hit someone at the net really hard and the ball bounces off him onto ur side of the court whose point is it??
 
boojay

boojay

Hall of Fame
finally, if your racquet slips, flies over the net, and cracks the net player on the head, fracturing his skull........well, that would definitely hurt him.....a lot.
 
AAAA

AAAA

Hall of Fame
It's legal and a very aggressive play by your opponents. It done to

A) Restrict your view of the service box and thus make less experienced players feel they are serving into a smaller area. A psychological attack.

B) Test if you are prepared to play hard ball or back down and reduce your servicing ferocity to avoid hitting him. If you back down your serving options are reduced. A psychological attack.

Solution: If you have the ability blast serves down the T do so.


XFactorer said:
In doubles, when I'm serving in the deuce court my opponent at the net, the one I'm not serving to, stands OVER the center line. I'm not sure if he's trying to keep me from serving down the line or just trying to get a better glimpse of where the ball lands. But doesn't that count as an intentional interference or something and he shouldn't do that?
Click to expand...
 
F

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
Bonus Points: if you can put a kicker up the middle, you can just about put the receiving team into the dreaded "I" formation. Take your pick for a passing shot while they're doing a conga line.
 
AAAA

AAAA

Hall of Fame
fuzz nation said:
Bonus Points: if you can put a kicker up the middle, you can just about put the receiving team into the dreaded "I" formation. Take your pick for a passing shot while they're doing a conga line.
Click to expand...

Hard-Core! You might even get a head shot due to the ball's looping flight path.
 
P

psp2

Banned
...from The Rules of Tennis

8. SERVER & RECEIVER (OLD 5)
The players/teams shall stand on opposite sides of the net. The server is
the player who puts the ball into play for the first point. The receiver is the
player who is ready to return the ball served by the server.
Case 1: Is the receiver allowed to stand outside the lines of the court?
Decision: Yes. The receiver may take any position inside or outside the
lines on the receiver’s side of the net.
 
A

arnz

Professional
XFactorer said:
In doubles, when I'm serving in the deuce court my opponent at the net, the one I'm not serving to, stands OVER the center line. I'm not sure if he's trying to keep me from serving down the line or just trying to get a better glimpse of where the ball lands. But doesn't that count as an intentional interference or something and he shouldn't do that?
Click to expand...

If the receiver's partner chooses to step inside the service box while i'm serving, I'm gonna hit the hardest serve possible right at him, I dont care about serving it into the box, I'm just gonna hit right at him :) Unless of course he is 6'5 250 pounds. Then I might think twice..haha
 
hrstrat57

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
few years back I had a guy do this to me in a pretty aggressive men's double league. He was a gamester all the tricks from tying already tied shoes to blatant squeezing the whole deal...real jerk. No game btw all gamesmanship(isn't that usually the case?)

He did that particular ruse just one time to me tho as I recall....

MY T ball in the center pocket....right in the noggin at +90mph....

once and done....no discussion necessary. 15-love.

btw he was a little guy for a gamester, I wouldn't recommend this play on former D1 linebackers:p
 
A

arnz

Professional
Reminds me of the time I was playing doubles and the opponent threw up a weak lob. As I was about to hit a smash, one of our opponents ran right up to the net. I couldnt believe anybody would do that and I decided to lob the ball back instead sending it long. We lost the point. Ah well its just tennis, but if I was an a-hole I could have hurt him real bad.
 
T

Thomas Bird-Itch

Semi-Pro
hrstrat57 said:
few years back I had a guy do this to me in a pretty aggressive men's double league. He was a gamester all the tricks from tying already tied shoes to blatant squeezing the whole deal...real jerk. No game btw all gamesmanship(isn't that usually the case?)

He did that particular ruse just one time to me tho as I recall.... MY T ball in the center pocket....right in the noggin at +90mph.... once and done....no discussion necessary. 15-love.

btw he was a little guy for a gamester, I wouldn't recommend this play on former D1 linebackers:p
Click to expand...

People who do this, get in the way on an overhead, try to distract, etc, are asking to be hit. DO IT. They need to be taught an important lesson in social etiquette... You can ask kindly, but they will most likely argue.

I don't care how big they are. A racquet can be used for self defense as far as I'm concerned. I'm more likely to get the first swings anyway. Plus, I can RUN very fast, lol. :) I don't pick fights with anyone by the way...
 
G

Geezer Guy

Hall of Fame
lilxjohnyy said:
if u hit someone at the net really hard and the ball bounces off him onto ur side of the court whose point is it??
Click to expand...

This was kinda funny. I was playing a friend a couple of weeks ago. I tagged him and the ball bounced back on my side of the net (we were both at the net). He acted like he was going to continue the point (even though I knew I had technically won the point), but it was just a friendly match so I got to the ball and hit him AGAIN. This one bounced back on my side also, and AGAIN he acted like the ball was still live. So, I got to the ball again and flipped it cross-court for a winner. I figured I won that point 3 times!

If the ball hits a person, or their clothes, or ANYTHING except their racquet, that person loses the point (doesn't matter where the ball goes). Also doesn't matter if the person is standing out of bounds.
 
U

Undrayon

New User
haha hrstrat, I love that. What happened to the guy after you hit him?

With all this talk about hitting people though, I do want to say this. I once played a game in doubles who floated alot of balls (pusher) so of course I came to net. I try to be a good sport and so I always did my best to aim around him. I like to think this was obvious as how I'd be right in front of him but I'd step around to hit an angle when I could have hit him with less effort. Well, at one point his partner both jump up in front of me and in my surprise I dont have to find an angle so I hit the ball and it CLIPS the guys foot.

The very next chance he got (we were both at net) he nails me in the throat with an overhead. I wouldv'e loved to hit him back as I can harder than him, but after I could breath again I played like always...aiming around him.

Sometimes you'll get pegged on accident, it's inevitable. If someone ACCIDENTALLY pegs you, don't be a jerk and PURPOSELY hit them. My point is this, hitting a person can be a good way to teach someone a lesson...but be sure they deserve it first.
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
I have had this happen in the first game of a doubles match and I just served down the T. The first time I hit the guy, the second time he hit it with his racquet, the third time he jumped out of the way and his partner didn't get a good look at the ball so I aced him, the fourth time he stood just outside the box, I hit the a kicker down the line, they lined up like good little kids and my partner passed them. I can't understand the value of this tactic for the receiving side.
Needless to say they didn't do it again for the rest of the match. Funnily enough they were pretty good and we went to a tie break for two of the sets
 
Duzza

Duzza

Legend
I think it is a good strategy, if you are prepared to be aimed at a few times. When I am serving to my opponents in doubles, if their partner stands very near the middle line it seems to put me a little off my game. This is why I do it too sometimes.
 
Tennismastery

Tennismastery

Professional
Of course, that player crowding the service box may be doing exactly what he wants you to do, try and hit him. Unless you really do have a 110+ mph serve, he won't have a lot of trouble stepping out of the way of your 'bean ball.'

Thus, after you go for him and miss, you are now down to your second serve...a position he might very well be trying to get you in.

Now, having said that, consider this: if you serve a few down the T and he backs up, away from the center service line back to his normal position, if you really do want to hit him, on your next serve to that court, instead of aiming for him, aim behind him. If you do have a 110+ bomb serve with decent control, as you are in the middle of your service motion, he most likely will be moving back out of the way of the service box...and into the direct path of your serve.
 
W

widmerpool

Rookie
find someone else to play against. seriously. that's so stupid in club tennis.

beaning somebody at the net on a return if the serve is 10mph is another bush-league move.

OTOH, when I played doubles in states, I would stand right near the center line just to make it clear I would be staying in the center of the court. even then, it would be silly to stand over the line. it would affect my partner more.

on the subject, feinting is fine as long as you are doing it during play and not in some exaggerated way unrelated to tennis (e.g. waving your non-dominant hand, doing jumpingjacks, etc). You can move to center and then back. Not sure why people get huffy about that one.
 
ps60

ps60

Professional
An old retired man (he's had some college tennis in the US i guess) in our "club" did that since sometime ago. I 'd just serve at him, Why ? he's just block the middle T. He'll duck and with his help (increase my concentration), i served more accurately everytime he did that. A silly boy in the club likes to copy that. Once as my partner when i was to receive serve. I just asked him to step away to cover his own alley. He blocked my return path and open up his own alley. It just doesn't help us !

2 words --- Silly Act !
 
T

todd03blown

Rookie
when I see people do this my metality goes like this..................Ready....AIM......Fire!! I will hit right at the person with my hard flat serve to get their attention. Or make it up with an overhead if they keep doing it by drilling them in the chest. I did this 2 weeks ago in our mixed doubles match, drilled him center mass. Of course he didnt like it but he acted the way he did doing dumb stuff like that.
 
B

Bodacious DVT

Semi-Pro
...actually ive been thinking about this and it has some advantages to it. by encouraging your opponent to hit you on the serve, you are also encouraging a serve down the T. if your partner knows this, you can step out of the way and let him return the ball, seeing as to how he knows where it will be placed. it takes the guess work out of a serve.

and i do occasionally peg people with my serve. and yes, it is often on purpose. and no, i dont apologize unless they are truely in pain or if it was an accident. but when the guy at the net starts trying to take my focus off the game, he better not take his focus off the ball.
 
S

spot

Hall of Fame
I think its ridiculous when people line up across the center of the service line. I don't watch the receiver when I make my serve- I am looking up at the ball so it doesn't bother me at all. I just serve like he wasn't there and figure that his ridiculous movements are going to distract his partner far more than they will affect me since he is in the receivers line of sight.
 
D

Dave M

Hall of Fame
arnz said:
If the receiver's partner chooses to step inside the service box while i'm serving, I'm gonna hit the hardest serve possible right at him, I dont care about serving it into the box, I'm just gonna hit right at him :) Unless of course he is 6'5 250 pounds. Then I might think twice..haha
Click to expand...

Just make sure your first serve has the desired effect if he's that big!!
Seriously though they aren't allowed to move around to put you off before you serve, only "to take up an alternative position". How you decided whats what though is open to interpretation.
 
dima

dima

Banned
psp2 said:
...from The Rules of Tennis

8. SERVER & RECEIVER (OLD 5)
The players/teams shall stand on opposite sides of the net. The server is
the player who puts the ball into play for the first point. The receiver is the
player who is ready to return the ball served by the server.
Case 1: Is the receiver allowed to stand outside the lines of the court?
Decision: Yes. The receiver may take any position inside or outside the
lines on the receiver’s side of the net.
Click to expand...

Lol that made you look like a ****** haha
 
kirbster123

kirbster123

Banned
I honestly think its illegal, I recently saw this happen at a Mens open intercounty match, and they said that you can stand wherever you want until the ball is struck, but i may be wrong.
 
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