Cindysphinx
G.O.A.T.
Had another issue with footfaults. My teammates have had issues with opponents calling footfaults, but it had never happened on my court before. Until yesterday, that is.
It was 3.5 doubles, 90-minute timed match. Our opponents were jovial and nice. I served first, and soon we led 2-0. When my partner was serving, one opponent said something like, "Hey, I just want to let you know that you're footfaulting a lot when you serve."
My partner didn't hear this clearly, so I went back and told her the opponent was warning her about footfaulting. My partner said she wasn't stepping on the line until after she had served it. I said, "Yeah, I know, but just serve from farther back so she can't complain." My partner served out the game without incident, and we took the first set 6-0.
In the second set, my partner was serving at 2-0, 15 all and struck a second serve. The serve landed in and the receiver returned it. The opponent, who was at net, said, "Hold on. No, you're still footfaulting. You stepped on the line. Take another second serve." I said, "You understand that a footfault has to be flagrant before you can call it, right?" The opponent said it was flagrant.
Again, I went back to translate, and my partner said she hadn't footfaulted. She took a moment to gather herself before hitting her second serve and missed it. She then hit an ace on the next serve and won her service game. We won the match, 6-0, 6-0.
This footfault rule . . . boy, I dunno. I don't know what I would have done had the opponent tried to claim the point that second time (I don't know why she gave my partner a do-over; isn't a footfault on a second serve supposed to be loss of point?). I certainly can't say whether my partner footfaulted or not, but I know I've played a few matches with her and she played at Districts and no one has ever called a foot fault on her.
Our league recently adopted a different footfault rule, IIRC. Now, a player cannot call a footfault but must instead find an observer to call it. That seems a lot more fair, but we were playing in a league with a different rule.
As it stood, it did cast a pall on an otherwise friendly match.
And yes, I did pay some attention to the opponent's service motion after she raised the issue of footfaulting, and yes, she was footfaulting also!
It was 3.5 doubles, 90-minute timed match. Our opponents were jovial and nice. I served first, and soon we led 2-0. When my partner was serving, one opponent said something like, "Hey, I just want to let you know that you're footfaulting a lot when you serve."
My partner didn't hear this clearly, so I went back and told her the opponent was warning her about footfaulting. My partner said she wasn't stepping on the line until after she had served it. I said, "Yeah, I know, but just serve from farther back so she can't complain." My partner served out the game without incident, and we took the first set 6-0.
In the second set, my partner was serving at 2-0, 15 all and struck a second serve. The serve landed in and the receiver returned it. The opponent, who was at net, said, "Hold on. No, you're still footfaulting. You stepped on the line. Take another second serve." I said, "You understand that a footfault has to be flagrant before you can call it, right?" The opponent said it was flagrant.
Again, I went back to translate, and my partner said she hadn't footfaulted. She took a moment to gather herself before hitting her second serve and missed it. She then hit an ace on the next serve and won her service game. We won the match, 6-0, 6-0.
This footfault rule . . . boy, I dunno. I don't know what I would have done had the opponent tried to claim the point that second time (I don't know why she gave my partner a do-over; isn't a footfault on a second serve supposed to be loss of point?). I certainly can't say whether my partner footfaulted or not, but I know I've played a few matches with her and she played at Districts and no one has ever called a foot fault on her.
Our league recently adopted a different footfault rule, IIRC. Now, a player cannot call a footfault but must instead find an observer to call it. That seems a lot more fair, but we were playing in a league with a different rule.
As it stood, it did cast a pall on an otherwise friendly match.
And yes, I did pay some attention to the opponent's service motion after she raised the issue of footfaulting, and yes, she was footfaulting also!