Yellow Spheroid to the Gut

CaldwellYSR · Aug 1, 2012

This is a funny tale from yesterday's tennis play. Enjoy...

The group that I hit with on tuesdays and thursdays had quite a bit of drama yesterday. We had 8 people there on two courts so we had a couple sets going, rotating partners every so often to keep things interesting. At one point I'm playing with a guy around my age (21) against a husband and wife duo that are in the older category. (late 40's to early 50's). My partner and I both like the aggressive at the net doubles and we've been forcing the action for most of the set. Alot of volleys have been hit at the opponents feet for most of the set and now I'm serving 5-2.

I toss the ball up to serve to the husband and the toss sails quite a bit higher than I mean for it to. Being a not so great server in the first place and not thinking I decide to hit the ball even though I demolished my timing with a bad toss. Long story short I pronate much too early and end up hitting the ball directly into the wife's stomach with her standing at the service line. I don't have a rocket serve or anything like that but I imagine it hurt pretty good because it was a square hit right above the belly button. I felt bad and I went towards the net to apologize when the husband comes running to the net to yell at me.

Something about how we had been aiming for them the entire set and he was sick and tired of being bullied around the court by some "young gun hot shots" and they didn't have to put up with this. Needless to say all other 7 people on the court stop and watch the guy (his wife included). He continues for probably 2 whole minutes of nonstop yelling and by the end of it my partner and I are trying so very hard not to laugh at him. After yelling like that he couldn't just turn and continue tennis.... he had to leave after all the "we don't have to put up with this" crap so he turns to go at which point his wife and he begin to argue because she's fine and doesn't want to leave yet.

So about 5 minutes after she got hit they do end up leaving and the rest of us continue playing. I guess someone pissed in that guy's wheaties or maybe he had just been in the sun for a little too long but whatever the cause it made for a very interesting afternoon.

Mongolmike · Aug 1, 2012

You did take the point, didn't you?

goober · Aug 1, 2012

If this was a social tennis match I would tone down the aggressive play against an inferior opponent. You already know you are going to win and there is no point in trying to play your "A" game. Just work on lobs/dropshots and angled winners. A lot of lower level doubles players think that aggressive net play means you are going after them when hitting at their feet is usually the best course of action. Yeah the dude was over reacting big time, but if you are going to play social dubs you have to learn how to adjust your play if you want to be invited back or just have an enjoyable time.

zcarzach · Aug 1, 2012

Laugh in his face, take the point (or offer it up to them if you feel generous), and move on. Only way to respond. He's the jacka$$ here, not you. It was an accident and you apologized. You were sincere about it, I assume.

OrangePower · Aug 1, 2012

goober said:
If this was a social tennis match I would tone down the aggressive play against an inferior opponent. You already know you are going to win and there is no point in trying to play your "A" game. Just work on lobs/dropshots and angled winners. A lot of lower level doubles players think that aggressive net play means you are going after them when hitting at their feet is usually the best course of action. Yeah the dude was over reacting big time, but if you are going to play social dubs you have to learn how to adjust your play if you want to be invited back or just have an enjoyable time.

Sounds like the OP hit the woman on an errant serve - so nothing to do with being aggressive or anything, just a mistake.

I was watching some mixed doubles the other day... was hanging out chatting with friends after my own singles match was over and these couples were playing on a court near us. It looked like 6.0 pairings with 3.5 men and 2.5 ladies. I saw the ladies get hit several times... all very unintentional. Problem is that many 3.5 guys have ample power but no control, and most 2.5 ladies don't have enough situational awareness and reflexes to get out of the way of errant shots.

sureshs · Aug 1, 2012

You really should not be playing doubles if you have such poor control over your serve. Your partner has the right to expect that you will not hit her head, and your net opponent has the right to expect that you will not hit unbounced serves into her. It shows a lack of respect for others and lack of responsibility for one's actions.

JRstriker12 · Aug 1, 2012

sureshs said:
You really should not be playing doubles if you have such poor control over your serve. Your partner has the right to expect that you will not hit her head, and your net opponent has the right to expect that you will not hit unbounced serves into her. It shows a lack of respect for others and lack of responsibility for one's actions.

Accidents happen, even to players with decent amount of control. Your opponent has the right to assume that they may need to duck at some point because stray shots do happen. If you are at net and not paying attention, then you are doing yourself a disservice.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3030084
Johansson spent much of last season sidelined with a detached retina suffered when he was struck in the eye by a serve in practice, lost his accustomed top-20 perch as a result and is now ranked 56th.

Cindysphinx · Aug 1, 2012

I don't get it. Men and women have hit errant serves toward me when I am the returner's partner. You duck, step out of the way, deflect it with your racket if it comes to that.

That lady needs to learn to wake the heck up.

tennis_ocd · Aug 1, 2012

hmmm. I was hoping for a funny story. If the husband believed (and it would be quite reasonable to think so) that one is purposely pegging his wife on the serve for a point in a social round robin he's right to get angry.

tennis_ocd · Aug 1, 2012

Cindysphinx said:
I don't get it. Men and women have hit errant serves toward me when I am the returner's partner. You duck, step out of the way, deflect it with your racket if it comes to that.

That lady needs to learn to wake the heck up.

Reportedly can also happen during returns of close serves to server's partner.

TENNIS4FUN2 · Aug 1, 2012

That husband was probably upset that they were losing and used your accidental serve as a way of taking out his frustration.

Don't feel too bad. A group of women I play with were working on poaching and I nailed a friend right in the nose!! Definitely not where I was aiming but luckily she didn't lose it like that husband did.

goober · Aug 1, 2012

OrangePower said:
Sounds like the OP hit the woman on an errant serve - so nothing to do with being aggressive or anything, just a mistake.

.

Sounds like you didn't read all of the OP?

My partner and I both like the aggressive at the net doubles and we've been forcing the action for most of the set. Alot of volleys have been hit at the opponents feet

Something about how we had been aiming for them the entire set and he was sick and tired of being bullied around the court by some "young gun hot shots" and they didn't have to put up with this.

Of course the actual hit was an errant serve, but before that the OP admitted his play was aggressive and the opponents complained that the being aimed at and bullied. Obviously two mismatched teams since if the husband wife team was near the same level, they wouldn't be complaining.

I am not blaming the OP on his errant serve or the husband's ridiculous reaction. I am just pointing out if this were a social match you probably shouldn't play a very aggressive game when you are clearly better than your opponent.

CaldwellYSR · Aug 1, 2012

goober said:
If this was a social tennis match I would tone down the aggressive play against an inferior opponent.

You're probably right... But I also like to work my aggressive game as much as possible because that's the style I want to take into competitive matches. The way we play you only get a set before switching partners so it's a lot of adapting and game changing. When I get partnered with another aggressive type I really try to push it for that set because I know next set I'll play with someone who can't cover if I poach or someone who loves to lob.

CaldwellYSR · Aug 1, 2012

sureshs said:
You really should not be playing doubles if you have such poor control over your serve. Your partner has the right to expect that you will not hit her head, and your net opponent has the right to expect that you will not hit unbounced serves into her. It shows a lack of respect for others and lack of responsibility for one's actions.

I have pretty good control of my serve. Sometimes I get close to my partner if I'm trying to hit the wide corner on the deuce side but I've never hit anyone before yesterday. One errant serve doesn't equal poor control it equals a bad toss that I should have let fall and didn't.

As far as lack of respect or responsibility... you're just flat wrong there. I was coming up to apologize and give them the point after the hit. I just got my timing off... had nothing to do with respect. Maybe it was disrespectful to play aggressive once we got ahead but I have to work that part of my game too if I want to get better at it.

sureshs · Aug 1, 2012

JRstriker12 said:
Accidents happen, even to players with decent amount of control. Your opponent has the right to assume that they may need to duck at some point because stray shots do happen. If you are at net and not paying attention, then you are doing yourself a disservice.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3030084
Johansson spent much of last season sidelined with a detached retina suffered when he was struck in the eye by a serve in practice, lost his accustomed top-20 perch as a result and is now ranked 56th.

OP says clearly the toss was bad and yet he forced the serve. It seems to be a very preventable accident.

sureshs · Aug 1, 2012

CaldwellYSR said:
I have pretty good control of my serve. Sometimes I get close to my partner if I'm trying to hit the wide corner on the deuce side but I've never hit anyone before yesterday. One errant serve doesn't equal poor control it equals a bad toss that I should have let fall and didn't.

As far as lack of respect or responsibility... you're just flat wrong there. I was coming up to apologize and give them the point after the hit. I just got my timing off... had nothing to do with respect. Maybe it was disrespectful to play aggressive once we got ahead but I have to work that part of my game too if I want to get better at it.

"I are trying so very hard not to laugh at him"

Very respectful

tenniscasey · Aug 1, 2012

Husband was pretty clearly in the right here. OP overplayed his hand with aggression at the net, hit a clownserve he wouldn't miss so badly during warmups, and now is mocking the husband for his predictable reaction. OP, are you married?

sureshs · Aug 1, 2012

OrangePower said:
Sounds like the OP hit the woman on an errant serve - so nothing to do with being aggressive or anything, just a mistake.

I don't think so. The purpose of this thread is to show how aggressive he is, how uncool it is to play against an "older duo", and how he couldn't stop laughing.

The thread title is also designed to mock the woman.

floridatennisdude · Aug 1, 2012

sureshs said:
I don't think so. The purpose of this thread is to show how aggressive he is, how uncool it is to play against an "older duo", and how he couldn't stop laughing.

The thread title is also designed to mock the woman.

Pretty sure you are over reacting.

After a 2 minute tirade about an accident with no injury and an offered apology, I would've giggled a bit myself. The reaction trumped the action.

Caldwell, before the belly shot did they say anything or act as if your play style was aggravating them from a fun tennis night?

sureshs · Aug 1, 2012

I have a feeling some info is left out, such as some ongoing mockery of the older couple.

There are ways to get under someone's skin without being explicit. Excessive celebration, flourishes after a winning shot, doing jugglery with the ball, laughing after drop shots can all aggravate the other side.

Word choice is also telling. Spheroid rather than sphere indicates an oval cross-section caused by severe flattening of the ball against the belly by a hard shot.

OrangePower · Aug 1, 2012

goober said:
Sounds like you didn't read all of the OP?
Of course the actual hit was an errant serve, but before that the OP admitted his play was aggressive and the opponents complained that the being aimed at and bullied.

sureshs said:
The purpose of this thread is to show how aggressive he is, how uncool it is to play against an "older duo", and how he couldn't stop laughing.

Dunno, I was going based on this...

CaldwellYSR said:
Alot of volleys have been hit at the opponents feet for most of the set and now I'm serving 5-2.

To me if you are aiming at the feet that is fine - you might be playing an aggressive style and taking the net, but directing volleys at the feet makes it clear you are not out to hurt, bully or intimidate anyone.

If I was trying to bully someone I'd be hitting right at their body.

TennisDawg · Aug 1, 2012

Hey, every player shacks a ball every now and then. The only part of this story, I don't quite get is when you and your partner thought it was funny and nearly busted out laughing.

OrangePower · Aug 1, 2012

TennisDawg said:
Hey, every player shacks a ball every now and then. The only part of this story, I don't quite get is when you and your partner thought it was funny and nearly busted out laughing.

I've hit my partner in the back with a 100mph serve... obviously I felt really bad about it especially since he dropped in pain... but he recovered in a couple of minutes and after the match was laughing about it with me.

TennisDawg · Aug 1, 2012

OrangePower said:
I've hit my partner in the back with a 100mph serve... obviously I felt really bad about it especially since he dropped in pain... but he recovered in a couple of minutes and after the match was laughing about it with me.

Not the same!

sureshs · Aug 1, 2012

OrangePower said:
I've hit my partner in the back with a 100mph serve... obviously I felt really bad about it especially since he dropped in pain... but he recovered in a couple of minutes and after the match was laughing about it with me.

That was because it was only really 50 mph when the TW inflation index is factored in

tennis_ocd · Aug 1, 2012

Can't control a toss or hold off on the swing, serves waist high to the opposite box (a serve likely to bounce outside the court!) but able to hit shoes on volleys.

Mistakes clearly happen but when you peg someone's wife standing well clear of the serve box in a friendly RR and struggle to keep from grinning, expect fireworks.

r2473 · Aug 1, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV1LWhNpTJU

CaldwellYSR · Aug 1, 2012

sureshs said:
"I are trying so very hard not to laugh at him"

Very respectful

Oh get serious.

sureshs said:
I don't think so. The purpose of this thread is to show how aggressive he is, how uncool it is to play against an "older duo", and how he couldn't stop laughing.

The thread title is also designed to mock the woman.

The thread is designed to mock the guy. Not the woman, she was cool about the whole thing and didn't even want to leave after his tirade. She shook my hand at the end when the husband was walking away. The point of this thread was to share a story that I found entertaining. No need to read any more into it than that.

sureshs said:
I have a feeling some info is left out, such as some ongoing mockery of the older couple.

There are ways to get under someone's skin without being explicit. Excessive celebration, flourishes after a winning shot, doing jugglery with the ball, laughing after drop shots can all aggravate the other side.

Word choice is also telling. Spheroid rather than sphere indicates an oval cross-section caused by severe flattening of the ball against the belly by a hard shot.

I'm not a good enough tennis player to be cocky. The only time I get excessive with my celebration is when I miss a few dozen shots in a row and finally get one in. Also you're reading way too much into the spheroid part. One of the regulars in this group I play with says it all the time and I pulled it out because it's funny. When he only has one and he's serving he says "I need another little yellow spheroid ya got any?" He also says "what's the scoop" instead of what's the score. Gotta enjoy the little things.

tennis_ocd said:
Can't control a toss or hold off on the swing, serves waist high to the opposite box (a serve likely to bounce outside the court!) but able to hit shoes on volleys.

Mistakes clearly happen but when you peg someone's wife standing well clear of the serve box in a friendly RR and struggle to keep from grinning, expect fireworks.

I get alot more volley practice than serve practice. Plus volleys are easier than a hard first serve which is something I've been trying to develop in the past couple months.

The struggling to not laugh was 2 minutes after the serve, after the guy has been yelling a full 2 minutes. It was funny to me that the guy was freaking out so bad.

floridatennisdude said:
Pretty sure you are over reacting.

After a 2 minute tirade about an accident with no injury and an offered apology, I would've giggled a bit myself. The reaction trumped the action.

Caldwell, before the belly shot did they say anything or act as if your play style was aggravating them from a fun tennis night?

I didn't notice anything about the style of play. He was clearly frustrated but I didn't realize it might have been me, I just assumed he was frustrated about his shots, not mine.

goober · Aug 1, 2012

OrangePower said:
To me if you are aiming at the feet that is fine - you might be playing an aggressive style and taking the net, but directing volleys at the feet makes it clear you are not out to hurt, bully or intimidate anyone.

If I was trying to bully someone I'd be hitting right at their body.

It is all perception. Against low level players they might think you are going at them and not really relize you are aiming at their feet. All they see is the ball coming toward them from an aggressive net player. They might think "why don't you hit to the open court?" Of course experienced doubles players know that going at the feet is high percentage but I am sure there are a lot casual rec players would not see it that way and probably think you are being aggressive by going at them. What may be obvious to you is not necessarily obvious to less experienced doubles players.

tennis tom · Aug 1, 2012

Good story OP! I've been there except it was against two fat-guys at my club years ago. I hit his partner with a great volley and the other fat guy defends his buddy--like it was his wife--and says I've been aiming at them the whole match--the only __hole was him. These were two experienced club players and I was shocked what pussies they turned out to be. I in no way had been aiming at them and was shocked that they thought so. It just goes to show how off some peoples's world perceptions are. The fat guy I hit was a pretty feisty guy himself and we later were partnered up on a 4.0 team that went sectionals and we were 12-1 while partnered.

I had the same thing happen just today that the OP described. It was early in the match and my serve wasn't warmed up yet. It takes at least a set for anyone--even Fed to get their serve fully calibrated. I hit a loose serve that hit the receiver's partner on the bounce. I wish I'd hit hit on the fly and then it would have been my point--it's just a fuzzy little ball and not like it's a golf ball or something that could kill you. The guy I was playing against does a lot of annoying things, too many to list here, and it wouldn't bother me a bit if I'd accidentally left a Penn 4 tat on his stomach--hitting a woman is something else--if she's not a witch.

The OP should have offered to kiss the wife's stomach to make it right. That's what I do if I hit a woman, hopefully on the butt, chest or even better. I don't blame the OP for laughing, the husband is an ass-hat--it's only tennis played with a fuzzy little ball, his wife's got a bigger pair then he does. If the wife was cute, you should get her number and ask her to play tennis, sounds like she's ready to dump this guy.

Tammo · Aug 1, 2012

I'm sure if Leander Paes can take a 130+ MPH serve in the stomach, this lady will be fine. I'm just worried the husband will lose his voice.

sureshs · Aug 1, 2012

Basically yet another thread boasting about hitting an older lady in social tennis while pretending to be sorry about it

CaldwellYSR · Aug 1, 2012

sureshs said:
Basically yet another thread boasting about hitting an older lady in social tennis while pretending to be sorry about it

Trololol I'll stop feeding the trolls now.

tennis tom · Aug 1, 2012

Tammo said:
I'm just worried the husband will lose his voice.

That's a good one!

Steady Eddy · Aug 1, 2012

goober said:
It is all perception. Against low level players they might think you are going at them and not really relize you are aiming at their feet. All they see is the ball coming toward them from an aggressive net player. They might think "why don't you hit to the open court?" Of course experienced doubles players know that going at the feet is high percentage but I am sure there are a lot casual rec players would not see it that way and probably think you are being aggressive by going at them. What may be obvious to you is not necessarily obvious to less experienced doubles players.

When one is clueless in a situation, don't try to hide it. Be a bit humble and ask questions. When others see you're that new to things, they'll usually be accomdating.

On the other hand, if they try to bluff their way out, they usually just compound the trouble. Look what happened here:

They didn't know that proper doubles is played at the net. Doubles isn't about four people standing at the baseline and rallying.
You don't direct volleys to the deep player. The better play is to direct it behind the net player or at their feet. That's the game, it's in no way a personal attack.

So the clueless couple lashed out at the guys who did nothing wrong. It happens. It doesn't mean they're right, though.

tenniscasey · Aug 1, 2012

tenniscasey said:
Husband was pretty clearly in the right here. OP overplayed his hand with aggression at the net, hit a clownserve he wouldn't miss so badly during warmups, and now is mocking the husband for his predictable reaction. OP, are you married?

Since the OP ignored this, I'm going to assume the answer is "no." I realize I could be wrong, but let's go with this for a moment.

For the OP's benefit, when you act in an aggressive and then overtly harmful manner toward a man's spouse, that man might justifiably react angrily.

You find this humorous, and the man might have gone on too long about it. I wasn't there, who knows. But good on him for calling you out.

CaldwellYSR · Aug 1, 2012

tenniscasey said:
Since the OP ignored this, I'm going to assume the answer is "no." I realize I could be wrong, but let's go with this for a moment.

For the OP's benefit, when you act in an aggressive and then overtly harmful manner toward a man's spouse, that man might justifiably react angrily.

You find this humorous, and the man might have gone on too long about it. I wasn't there, who knows. But good on him for calling you out.

Missed this one... I am not married but I'm in a steady long term relationship and I do understand the protective nature we guys have. That said this was an accident that I immediately tried to apologize for. I understand being protective and maybe a little angry that she got hit but I don't understand a 2 minute tirade after an attempted apology and after she was obviously not hurt by it.

tennis tom · Aug 1, 2012

tenniscasey said:
For the OP's benefit, when you act in an aggressive and then overtly harmful manner toward a man's spouse, that man might justifiably react angrily.

This is a sport and not ballroom dancing. His old lady wasn't upset so what's the big deal? When you show up for a mixer like this you realize you may play against anyone including those who came to play tennis and not make groveling nice-nice. If you don't want to compete, then pick your opponents carefully from the club's directory of martini drinking swells, who hold their pinkey's out when drinking their tea.

NLBwell · Aug 1, 2012

So this was a tennis social mixer? In effect it is ballroom dancing and you broke all the rules of etiquette. This isn't the place to be practicing your aggressive strokes. You were in the wrong for playing that way. It is for meeting and greeting people. If you find people there of like abilities, then you can exchange numbers and have a hard-core practice session the next day.

MomentumGT · Aug 1, 2012

I experienced this years ago, but I was on the receiving end and I can kind of identify with the husband and why he was being so protective of his wife. I was just coming off an undefeated season my freshman year in college so for sure my head was overly inflated as well as my ego lol

with little to no patience whats so ever. Safe to say I was a hot head

A gf of mine and I were playing some pick up doubles at the local park and we were playing with these hard hitting hacks. Any easy floating ball they tried to pummel it as hard as they could with no real direction...just really hard and fast swats. I believe 2 or 3 overheads whizzed past the head of my female friend (she's a 3.5 on her best day) and one shot actually hitting her in the thigh. No apologies what so ever. She said she was ok and she wanted to continue so she asked me to let it go.

A few games later she volleys a weak sitter at the net and one of the guys comes crashing towards the net and crushes the ball. My friend actually turns her back and crouches down and braces for impact and this d0uchebag hits an huge overhead onto her back. I hear her yelp and I could see the tears starting to come from her face. I was pissed to say the least. He was trying to apologize but very sheepishly so I didn't take his apology as sincere...so I crossed over the net and removed this a-hole from consciousness. I was also ready to ktfo the other guy but he ran to the next court.

I'm definitely embarrassed by my actions now, since I'm considerably older now, and would think I would handle things a little differently. I don't have a problem if opponents go directly at me because that's how I play and I actually prefer it, but to go after an inferior player repeatedly, it gets under my skin. Thought I'd share lol.

-Jon

NLBwell · Aug 1, 2012

I be the buddy of the guy you KO'ed never let him forget it. He'll never live that one down.

Steady Eddy · Aug 1, 2012

MomentumGT said:
I experienced this years ago, but I was on the receiving end and I can kind of identify with the husband and why he was being so protective of his wife. I was just coming off an undefeated season my freshman year in college so for sure my head was overly inflated as well as my ego lol with little to no patience whats so ever. Safe to say I was a hot head

A gf of mine and I were playing some pick up doubles at the local park and we were playing with these hard hitting hacks. Any easy floating ball they tried to pummel it as hard as they could with no real direction...just really hard and fast swats. I believe 2 or 3 overheads whizzed past the head of my female friend (she's a 3.5 on her best day) and one shot actually hitting her in the thigh. No apologies what so ever. She said she was ok and she wanted to continue so she asked me to let it go.

A few games later she volleys a weak sitter at the net and one of the guys comes crashing towards the net and crushes the ball. My friend actually turns her back and crouches down and braces for impact and this d0uchebag hits an huge overhead onto her back. I hear her yelp and I could see the tears starting to come from her face. I was pissed to say the least. He was trying to apologize but very sheepishly so I didn't take his apology as sincere...so I crossed over the net and removed this a-hole from consciousness. I was also ready to ktfo the other guy but he ran to the next court.

I'm definitely embarrassed by my actions now, since I'm considerably older now, and would think I would handle things a little differently. I don't have a problem if opponents go directly at me because that's how I play and I actually prefer it, but to go after an inferior player repeatedly, it gets under my skin. Thought I'd share lol.

-Jon

But this is way different from the situation this thread is about. They didn't hit her with a volley, but with an errant serve. BTW, I've even seen tour players hit a wild serve. And those guys hit the woman at least twice with volleys.

Glad to hear you don't knock people out anymore. You can go to prison for that.

MomentumGT · Aug 1, 2012

Steady Eddy said:
But this is way different from the situation this thread is about. They didn't hit her with a volley, but with an errant serve. BTW, I've even seen tour players hit a wild serve. And those guys hit the woman at least twice with volleys.

Glad to hear you don't knock people out anymore. You can go to prison for that.

I know my situation is on the extreme end of things vs the OP's encounter. I was implying more that maybe the husband was a little of a hot head and possibly had something to prove since he was getting over matched on court...I know I did when I was in my early 20's...I was probably a d0uchebag as well, just not as big as the guy I beat up.

-Jon

tennistim · Aug 2, 2012

goober said:
If this was a social tennis match I would tone down the aggressive play against an inferior opponent. You already know you are going to win and there is no point in trying to play your "A" game. Just work on lobs/dropshots and angled winners. A lot of lower level doubles players think that aggressive net play means you are going after them when hitting at their feet is usually the best course of action. Yeah the dude was over reacting big time, but if you are going to play social dubs you have to learn how to adjust your play if you want to be invited back or just have an enjoyable time.

Totally agree. Hit with finese not power when playing socially. If you want to practice more tennis seems like you need to find some other players who like that kind of game.

Social tennis. Club tennis. Competition tennis. Keep each three separate.

I'm sure this happens at every club in the world by the way.

CaldwellYSR · Aug 2, 2012

I do agree that social tennis is a bit different but it's also the only tennis I play out here and I've been playing with this group all summer and nobody has frowned upon my aggressive style when I play it. A couple of them really push for me to be aggressive. I think it depends on the group you're playing with so I'll just keep a mental note to play softball when he's on the other side of the court. I need to learn how to lob anyways.

sureshs · Aug 2, 2012

"how we had been aiming for them the entire set"

We don't know if that is true. We have only one side of the story. Before jumping to conclusions, we need to hear from the other side.

Mongolmike · Aug 2, 2012

My wife got hit in the back of the head with a serve once... I didn't get angry because I knew it was an accident, part of the game, and that you should always try to protect yourself. Thank goodness it was my 2nd serve and not on my 1st serve!

tennis tom · Aug 2, 2012

At this point it may be good to review the original incident. It's a couple of 21 year olds just playing tennis in a small town in Wyoming. No one's head hunting. It's fine to say they should suspend the laws of tennis and humor the delicate old coot but the only ones who I know who can play with such control are pros. This was no charity pro/am, where they were playing the name sponsor and if they ruffled his delicate feelings, he would withdraw his funding of the facility's waste-basket renewal drive. The wife wanted to keep playing. The ass-hat here was her husband, he probably wanted to hit the bar a little sooner, the selfish little twit. I'm 100% on the side of the OP on this one. I've even witnessed pros hitting a loose serve against a fellow pro, hitting him on the toe while receiving behind the service line. Tennis is a competition and not a performance, weird things happen when the ball doesn't quite get hit exactly in the sweet-spot. That's what makes the sport so entertaining, interesting and endearing at times.

CaldwellYSR said:
This is a funny tale from yesterday's tennis play. Enjoy...

The group that I hit with on tuesdays and thursdays had quite a bit of drama yesterday. We had 8 people there on two courts so we had a couple sets going, rotating partners every so often to keep things interesting. At one point I'm playing with a guy around my age (21) against a husband and wife duo that are in the older category. (late 40's to early 50's). My partner and I both like the aggressive at the net doubles and we've been forcing the action for most of the set. Alot of volleys have been hit at the opponents feet for most of the set and now I'm serving 5-2.

I toss the ball up to serve to the husband and the toss sails quite a bit higher than I mean for it to. Being a not so great server in the first place and not thinking I decide to hit the ball even though I demolished my timing with a bad toss. Long story short I pronate much too early and end up hitting the ball directly into the wife's stomach with her standing at the service line. I don't have a rocket serve or anything like that but I imagine it hurt pretty good because it was a square hit right above the belly button. I felt bad and I went towards the net to apologize when the husband comes running to the net to yell at me.

Something about how we had been aiming for them the entire set and he was sick and tired of being bullied around the court by some "young gun hot shots" and they didn't have to put up with this. Needless to say all other 7 people on the court stop and watch the guy (his wife included). He continues for probably 2 whole minutes of nonstop yelling and by the end of it my partner and I are trying so very hard not to laugh at him. After yelling like that he couldn't just turn and continue tennis.... he had to leave after all the "we don't have to put up with this" crap so he turns to go at which point his wife and he begin to argue because she's fine and doesn't want to leave yet.

So about 5 minutes after she got hit they do end up leaving and the rest of us continue playing. I guess someone pissed in that guy's wheaties or maybe he had just been in the sun for a little too long but whatever the cause it made for a very interesting afternoon.

zcarzach · Aug 2, 2012

tennis tom said:
At this point it may be good to review the original incident. It's a couple of 21 year olds just playing tennis in a small town in Wyoming. No one's head hunting. It's fine to say they should suspend the laws of tennis and humor the delicate old coot but the only ones who I know who can play with such control are pros. This was no charity pro/am, where they were playing the name sponsor and if they ruffled his delicate feelings, he would withdraw his funding of the facility's waste-basket renewal drive. The wife wanted to keep playing. The ass-hat here was her husband, he probably wanted to hit the bar a little sooner, the selfish little twit. I'm 100% on the side of the OP on this one. I've even witnessed pros hitting a loose serve against a fellow pro, hitting him on the toe while receiving behind the service line. Tennis is a competition and not a performance, weird things happen when the ball doesn't quite get hit exactly in the sweet-spot. That's what makes the sport so entertaining, interesting and endearing at times.

I with you, and the OP, on this one. It was an accident, the OP apologized. The husband acted like a moron.

floridatennisdude · Aug 2, 2012

MomentumGT- a huge overhead at a crouched down net player is a little different than a framed serve. I understand your anger at that one. Especially since it was a 2nd pegging. I think the OPs male opponent was overboard.

Even though I don't condone physical confrontation, I can understand you doing so as a 19 year old. Teens are not as emotionally mature as a 40 something. As you pointed out, you wouldn't do the same thing today.

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