Is this poor Sportsmanship

Mixed doubles...woman's second serve is a floater... I tend to overhit CC returns.. I would like to go at the netman.. I don't want to aim for the alley...too low of a percentage shot.
I have a fast dipping FH that is hard to handle especially at close range

OK or not? These are solid players 3.5+

I'd say it's not nice..haha..but I don't think that's exactly poor sportsmanship...not shaking their hands afterward I'd see as an example of poor sportsmanship.

could you explain why it would be poor sportsmanship?

Ah!! Pulling a Lendl! Great shot,go for it! If the netman can not handle it, he will move back, as he is there on his own choice. Its all part of the game.

I was wondering this too, since in doubles with a floater 2nd serve - I smack a forehand in the middle of the court for a difficult volley at the feet at the netperson.

Element54 said:

I was wondering this too, since in doubles with a floater 2nd serve - I smack a forehand in the middle of the court for a difficult volley at the feet at the netperson.

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The net person is not in the middle of the court so how could you smack a fh at their feet
Usually the net person is off to the side and it is very hard to hit down to their feet when you are returning a short serve and they are maybe 10-12 feet directly across from you

Sportsmanship... just what is that? Do you bow just before you hit?
If net man threaten's to poach, then it's all fair game.
If net man stays ALWAYS, it can be construed as hitting the netman for fun and giggles, so not sportsmanship.
You want to win? Or do you want to play artful tennis?

IMO, it's kind of a grey area. Now, if you were taking a big shot at the gal, or if you were playing combo or some other situation where you're much better than the guy, THEN I'd say that taking a big cut at the ball - aiming directly at a player only 10 - 20 feet away is unsportsmanlike.

If both of you are at the same level, then it's usually OK to go for it. He should be able to protect himself from someone that's at his own level. I think it also depends on whether you're playing in a social or a competitive situation. Playing XD often falls into the social side, so it's better to "place" your winners than "blast" your winners. If it's competitive, then you've got more leaway to go for your shots. At the same time, you're not going to make many friends like that.

Aiming at the feet is not a problem. Its aiming deliberately at the body or head that is not nice, specially if its done more than once in each game.

makinao said:

Aiming at the feet is not a problem. Its aiming deliberately at the body or head that is not nice, specially if its done more than once in each game.

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I see so you can do it once a game, so you can do it 6 times/set and still be a sport?If you win in 2 sets,you have 12 shots at him to take and still be OK.You can throw the 2nd set so you can take another 6 shots at him and still be a sport. I did not realise the numbers made a difference.

Sorry, I should have said "more than once in a match".

I was thinking about a guy in my club that, indeed, seems to aim at my head/body at least once per game in doubles, and more if the match is tight and he can't find a way around me. But I can take care of myself at the net, so I've never actually been hit my the ball. He always puts up his hand to apologize, but I wonder about his sincerity. My take is that he either just wants to win so badly, or is terrified of losing. Its a pity because he is a very good player, and he doesn't do this in singles. I've never retaliated though, and I don't let it get to me. I usually just mutter something vaguely sarcastic when my back is turned to him.

Is it a tournament or not? If it's just social play, I think it's poor sportmanship. Don't do that at a 'drop in' event or a mixer. You play tennis with the opposite sex for social reasons. Don't show what a bada$$ game you have.

If it's a tournament, then it's fair to do that until you have a comanding lead, then lighten up. Anyone who disagrees really needs to de-stress.

I think it depends on what your intentions are. If the net man is playing aggressively at the net, everything is fair game. If they aren't doing much up there, then targeting balls at them is just going to stir up trouble. There are many times where hitting a low shot to the net person is a good shot, so I don't think you should avoid that. It doesn't sound like a good strategy to do that on all your service returns because its not an easy to shot to make time after time.

If it's a league or a tournament, the net man is fair game. If it's social doubles, it depends on whether you want to keep friends or not.

There's no right or wrong here.. the main thing is that if you want to dish body shots to others, you must be prepared to take body shots.

Some people take social games lightly and use it as an opportunity to take more risk and hit shots they wouldn't usually make in a competitive context... other's prefer to play every single game with a match mentality because it works for them.

If a person were to smash balls at me in a social game, I'll just think of them as being very competitive and not unsportsmanlike.

Yeah, I agree with Jim, Eddy....social mixers: Not a good idea. I never do it. I'll practice on some shots instead. I play the ad side when playing social mixed so I will try to slice my backhand EXTRA wide and short.

My wife and I never win mixed doubles cause I'm always jacking around practicing. Ha! She gets so mad! But I really don't care to win those things. It's supposed to be fun...so I have fun.

Tournament...Damn the torpedos and go for it!

if its social I'll keep hitting cross court but if they start poaching on everything then I'll hit a few low over the net and maybe lob their side, go for the alley on a 2nd sere just to keep them honest...

Assess the situation first

kenshireen said:

Mixed doubles...woman's second serve is a floater... I tend to overhit CC returns.. I would like to go at the netman.. I don't want to aim for the alley...too low of a percentage shot.
I have a fast dipping FH that is hard to handle especially at close range

OK or not? These are solid players 3.5+

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BlahDow said:

I'd say it's not nice..haha..but I don't think that's exactly poor sportsmanship...not shaking their hands afterward I'd see as an example of poor sportsmanship.

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drakulie said:

could you explain why it would be poor sportsmanship?

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jim e said:

Ah!! Pulling a Lendl! Great shot,go for it! If the netman can not handle it, he will move back, as he is there on his own choice. Its all part of the game.

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LeeD said:

Sportsmanship... just what is that? Do you bow just before you hit?
If net man threaten's to poach, then it's all fair game.
If net man stays ALWAYS, it can be construed as hitting the netman for fun and giggles, so not sportsmanship.
You want to win? Or do you want to play artful tennis?

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Geezer Guy said:

IMO, it's kind of a grey area. Now, if you were taking a big shot at the gal, or if you were playing combo or some other situation where you're much better than the guy, THEN I'd say that taking a big cut at the ball - aiming directly at a player only 10 - 20 feet away is unsportsmanlike.

If both of you are at the same level, then it's usually OK to go for it. He should be able to protect himself from someone that's at his own level. I think it also depends on whether you're playing in a social or a competitive situation. Playing XD often falls into the social side, so it's better to "place" your winners than "blast" your winners. If it's competitive, then you've got more leaway to go for your shots. At the same time, you're not going to make many friends like that.

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Steady Eddy said:

Is it a tournament or not? If it's just social play, I think it's poor sportmanship. Don't do that at a 'drop in' event or a mixer. You play tennis with the opposite sex for social reasons. Don't show what a bada$$ game you have.

If it's a tournament, then it's fair to do that until you have a comanding lead, then lighten up. Anyone who disagrees really needs to de-stress.

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JimW said:

If it's a league or a tournament, the net man is fair game. If it's social doubles, it depends on whether you want to keep friends or not.

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ttbrowne said:

Yeah, I agree with Jim, Eddy....social mixers: Not a good idea. I never do it. I'll practice on some shots instead. I play the ad side when playing social mixed so I will try to slice my backhand EXTRA wide and short.

My wife and I never win mixed doubles cause I'm always jacking around practicing. Ha! She gets so mad! But I really don't care to win those things. It's supposed to be fun...so I have fun.

Tournament...Damn the torpedos and go for it!

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I strongly agree with many of the posts. It depends on your opponents, who is at net and whether it's social or competitive. If it's social and you're going for body shots (or what may be perceived as body shots)... be prepared to lose friends or matches (as you probably won't be asked to play, again)

I play quite a bit of doubles and love going down the line on the serve return, deuce side. I'm a solid 4.0 with a strong forehand. A couple of months ago... I was playing against a doubles team and the net guy is probably a 3.0. Needless to say, his reaction time is not great and the ball slammed into his sunglasses, where the hinge of the frame meets the arm... right near the temple (as he was ducking to move out of the way). If he wouldn't have ducked it would have probably slammed into his lower pec. The sunglass frame shattered and completely fell off his head and onto the court :shock:

Luckily, it didn't leave a mark on his head or face... as it struck the best place possible to avoid injury.

I felt really badly the rest of the set and to this day he has never acted the same toward me even though I apologized profusely and offered to pay for new glasses. I guess he thinks my aim is that good I did it intentionally :roll:

Now, I take into account the net player, their level... and their history of how they hit toward me when I'm at net.

In social tennis I tend not to do it unless it's a point I feel we really need. Even then I try to do it with my backhand and then say, "sorry, my bad... I have no control with that shot, I was aiming for the alley"

When in reality I can hit a nickel on the court with my backhand, but struggle to be within a 3 foot radius with my forehand with my forehand... but perception is reality

i don't see a problem as long as it's not aiming for the head.

and as others said it depends on who the people are. my tennis friends would be okay with it as they'll take it as something they need to work on, but the girls that i play with, who only play like 6 times a year, would think i'm a meanie!! lol.

I only try to aim for feet. I never try to aim for the player. Well, unless they start it. ;-) The problem is as Jay stated, if you hit someone then you might be in for a shooting match, and they may see it as intentional.

I have hit people accidentally. Most of the time this happens when I am trying to go behind them and they move into the ball. I have been hit this way a few times myself. I know what I'm getting into when I try to cover a put away shot at net though, and I've never considered it the fault of the hitter.

However there are times when an opponent is at your mercy. The ball could be hit to you from behind them, and they may have no chance to pick it up before it's already on the way to them. If you have open court to hit to for a winner and you choose to hit right at them, other than the feet, you should consider how that looks to them. The other problem is what if you aim near them and miss and peg them. Especially at those times when they've conceded the point.

I say go for ground near the feet or open court, never at someone if possible. I think it is poor sportsmanship when there is an obviously better choice.

It's better to go for the open court.

autumn_leaf said:

my tennis friends would be okay with it as they'll take it as something they need to work on, but the girls that i play with, who only play like 6 times a year, would think i'm a meanie!! lol.

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So if I were one of your tennis friends I could peg you say 20 times a match until you're red all over, and you'd think to yourself, gee I need to work on that?!?!

You think if every time andy roddick got an over head against a player he decided to try and peg them with a 140mph shot they would think to themselves, gee, I should work on that?

Did you see how upset Santoro got when he was almost hit on a serve into the body near the end of his last match with Roddick. Tennis is not about hitting people to win points. It's not dodgeball. If someone gets hit during the course of play, that's one thing. It's another entirely to aim at people when there is open court to play to.

Roddick did apologize btw. He wasn't trying to hit Santoro, but it was near the end of the match and Roddick was winning easily. I think that's why Santoro was upset more than anything else.