Have you ever injured someone/been injured from a struck tennis ball?

R

RogueFLIP

Professional
Kinda a spin off thread from a spin off thread of a thread :)

I'm curious to know if anyone has injured their opponent from striking them with a tennis ball during a tennis match?

Or vice versa, have you been injured from your opponent striking you with a tennis ball in a tennis match?

And when I mean "injured" I mean you weren't able to continue with your match.

You needed to seek professional medical attention.

Or you had to take time off from tennis because you were struck by a ball.
 
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Fusker

Fusker

Rookie
Never been injured, nor have I injured somebody else. Worst I have done is drop a doubles partner off an errant serve that hit him in the rear. He was able to shake it off and had a nice welt on his back.

However, I did hit with a guy last year that is blind in one of his eyes because he was struck by a tennis ball. He was a 5.0+ level player before, and is probably around 4.5 now. He has a one handed backhand that he says is his most difficult shot because he lost vision in his right eye (he's a righty).
 
A

asimple

Semi-Pro
Yes,

1. I got hit by an overhead off the bounce in a very inconvenient place. I didn't get up for about 15 minutes and didn't continue. I have recovered from similar incidents but this was an extremely hard overhead in the right place.

2. Someone else twisted an ankle recently trying to get out of the way of a volley I hit and couldn't continue

3. I hurt my shoulder and back by pulling up on an overhead mid stroke when a lady closed the net to the center. This was my last mixed doubles match until very recently. I did quit playing but not as much due to the injury. I have no idea why the lady did this. Had I not looked up in time I definitely would have hurt her.
 
OrangePower

OrangePower

Legend
RogueFLIP said:
Kinda a spin off thread from a spin off thread of a thread :)

I'm curious to know if anyone has injured someone else from striking them with a tennis ball during a tennis match?

Or vice versa, have you been injured from someone striking you with a tennis ball in a tennis match?

And when I mean "injured" I mean you weren't able to continue with your match.

You needed to seek professional medical attention.

Or you had to take time off from tennis because you were struck by a ball.
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Google is your friend.
Well, Fusker also.

And of course there was that tragic case in the '80s where a linesman died after being hit by an Edberg serve. (Although to be fair he didn't die from the ball impact itself but rather because the impact caused him to drop and he hit his head on the court and suffered a brain injury.)
 
R

RogueFLIP

Professional
asimple said:
Yes,

1. I got hit by an overhead off the bounce in a very inconvenient place. I didn't get up for about 15 minutes and didn't continue. I have recovered from similar incidents but this was an extremely hard overhead in the right place.

2. Someone else twisted an ankle recently trying to get out of the way of a volley I hit and couldn't continue

3. I hurt my shoulder and back by pulling up on an overhead mid stroke when a lady closed the net to the center. This was my last mixed doubles match until very recently. I did quit playing but not as much due to the injury. I have no idea why the lady did this. Had I not looked up in time I definitely would have hurt her.
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1. I've done that. Years ago, playing my weekly match with my friend...he ran up to net in response to a drop shot and gave me a short ball....I hit my FH shot straight at him HARD, and for some reason he decided to jump in the air to somehow get away from it? Anyways, hit him in the ******* square. Ouch! He must have a ******* of steel though, he took just a few minutes to calm down and continued the match. No permanent injury as he's produced two beautiful children :) But that was a hard shot....I wouldn't have been able to continue myself. Oy.

2, 3....not really a direct hit injury as that's what I was specifically looking for, but I hope everyone made a speedy recovery.
 
tdhawks

tdhawks

Professional
Had a ball drill me right in the eye once when my opponent blasted a forehand and it clipped the tape as I was charging the net.

Stung pretty good.
 
tennisplayer1993

tennisplayer1993

Professional
I've been hit in the head with a tennis racket because I was too close to a kid in front of me practicing my serve. had a bruised eye, nothing serious.

Once hit my coach in the head with an errant hit. It was a group lesson and I never got a long with the dude, he thought it was intentional and he talked to my mother afterwards... LOL
 
D

dizzlmcwizzl

Hall of Fame
I have personally witnessed a 100 instances of someone getting directly struck by a tennis ball and not one has gotten so hurt that they could not continue.

I did however see a mishit tennis ball come from another court, get stepped on and roll someones ankle. Not really what you were looking for, but it was a struck ball that caused someone to quit playing.
 
Angle Queen

Angle Queen

Professional
I've gotten hit, rather well, and chronicled it here. I was able to continue but it hurt like hell, both physically and egotistically.

But on the tennis court, I've never hit or been hit to the point where the "hittee" couldn't continue.

Can't say the same for racquetball. Clocked a male opponent (that I kinda had a crush on) with a backswing that took out one of his front teeth. Blood was everywhere and we later split a several-hundred dollar dentist bill because I felt guilty...although, at the time, he accepted all the blame cause he didn't think I was that "into" it. I was in front of him and had a beautiful kill shot set up (which I executed). Although we played each other again (on an established ladder), he never asked me out again.

I'll use this small opportunity to say what a difference "mixed" r-ball is from tennis. Way more opportunities to, ah, bump into your opponent. Definitely cool for the dating scene. 'Cept when you take out his front tooth. :???:
 
N

NE1for10is?

Semi-Pro
I got clocked in the cajones at point blank range at the net during a playoff semi final once. I was on my back looking up at the sun in 90 degree heat and unable to move for about 15 minutes. I eventually did get up and continue the match, but there was a welt for several weeks afterwards.
 
breezybee

breezybee

New User
One of the ladies I play tennis with got hit in the eye with a ball last summer and suffered a detached retina. She couldn't play for a number of months.
 
Overdrive

Overdrive

Legend
Angle Queen said:
I've gotten hit, rather well, and chronicled it here. I was able to continue but it hurt like hell, both physically and egotistically.

But on the tennis court, I've never hit or been hit to the point where the "hittee" couldn't continue.

Can't say the same for racquetball. Clocked a male opponent (that I kinda had a crush on) with a backswing that took out one of his front teeth. Blood was everywhere and we later split a several-hundred dollar dentist bill because I felt guilty...although, at the time, he accepted all the blame cause he didn't think I was that "into" it. I was in front of him and had a beautiful kill shot set up (which I executed). Although we played each other again (on an established ladder), he never asked me out again.

I'll use this small opportunity to say what a difference "mixed" r-ball is from tennis. Way more opportunities to, ah, bump into your opponent. Definitely cool for the dating scene. 'Cept when you take out his front tooth. :???:
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Do you need a hug or something Your Highness? :mrgreen:
 
Overdrive

Overdrive

Legend
breezybee said:
One of the ladies I play tennis with got hit in the eye with a ball last summer and suffered a detached retina. She couldn't play for a number of months.
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Seriously?

Wow, I remember when a baseball bat hit me in my eye when I was around 12.I'm glad no extensive damage occurred.
 
B

brianb76

Rookie
Framed a backhand into my eye. Stopped play for 10 mins.
Eyed watered and was blurry for a week.

Hit a overhead into my oppenets crotch. Knocked him to the ground. Was back on the court in about 8 mins.
 
N

NLBwell

Legend
A friend of mine lost a lot of vision in his eye permanently from a thrown tennis ball by one of the baseball team pitchers while they were messing around. Also saw Jeff Simpson almost die at the Xerox tournament in DC when he got hit in the throat in doubles, went down and swallowed his tongue. The trainer, Bill Norris, saved him by clearing his tongue out of his throat.
 
pabletion

pabletion

Hall of Fame
asimple said:
Yes,

1. I got hit by an overhead off the bounce in a very inconvenient place. I didn't get up for about 15 minutes and didn't continue. I have recovered from similar incidents but this was an extremely hard overhead in the right place.
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Is your name Jonathan???........ nevermind...,

funny/hurtful story: a guy from my club played a lot of ITF Junior events, on one of them he was practicing with a jamaican fellow, he was at net and the jamaican was hitting at him with all he had. Suddently, my friend hits a volley with the frame and the ball pops up, and hes there standing thinking the ball is going to float over him, dropping behind him, so he's standing there at net looking up. The ball crosses the net to the jamaicans side and he hits an overhead with everything hes got and nails my friend right on the nuts......

My friend PASSED OUT and he spent a night at the hospital and had a case of blueballs for a couple of weeks, and not the blueballs youre thinking about, REAL blueballs!
 
J

J_R_B

Hall of Fame
asimple said:
2. Someone else twisted an ankle recently trying to get out of the way of a volley I hit and couldn't continue
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I've done this. I don't think it's what OP is looking for, but I f-ed up my ankle really good jumping out of the way of a hard body serve. The ankle rolled to where the big knobby bone on the outside hit the court when I landed. I'm sure I tore something, but I never got it checked. We were at 5-4 and I finished the set (I actually broke that game but lost 7-5), but I felt my shoe getting tighter so I called it a night after that.

asimple said:
3. I hurt my shoulder and back by pulling up on an overhead mid stroke when a lady closed the net to the center. This was my last mixed doubles match until very recently. I did quit playing but not as much due to the injury. I have no idea why the lady did this. Had I not looked up in time I definitely would have hurt her.
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I close on overheads regularly. Not right up to the net, but I'm going to guess where you're going to hit it and try to get a racquet on it. I was playing a USTA match last year where I did this and the guy didn't look up at me and hit his overhead. When he saw it was going right for me, he started apologizing while I hit a volley over his head that his partner had to chase down and keep playing the point. LOL.
 
Mauvaise

Mauvaise

Rookie
Closest I've come was during a mixed doubles tournament: my partner was serving and I was playing at the net (as I'm wont to do during doubles). My partner hit a weaker second serve and the male opponent unloaded on a forehand up the line. Apparently my reflexes are quick enough for a 60-70mph "line drive" and I took the ball on my right upper thigh.

I didn't have to retire, but I couldn't put full weight on my leg without pain for about 10 minutes and I have a perfectly shaped tennis ball-sized bruise on my thigh for a good two weeks. I played at the baseline for the rest of that match (and we won thankfully).


Closest I've seen happen is last week during my 3.0 doubles match. My partner was at the net and I was at the baseline so didn't realize what happened until after. Ball came towards her at the net and she mishit her volley in a way that the ball bounced back towards her face hard enough to ricochet off her nose for a beautiful volley. She had to take about 15 minutes out waiting for her nose to stop bleeding. Too bad the shot didn't count.
 
TennisDawg

TennisDawg

Hall of Fame
About 20 years ago, playing doubles I hit an overhead smash that bounced in front of my opponent, who was standing in no man's land. The ball bounced up and smacked him in his "family jewels". We stopped playing for 15 minutes or so and He had to quit.

Later I called him at home to see if he was alright. He was alright, but still in pain. It was unintentional, but something I've never forgotten.
 
T

TennisCJC

Legend
My 5' 6" partner and I were winning a doubles match very easily with him serving at 6-2, 4-1. My partner was a good player but he had a relatively poor 2nd serve from his 5' 6" height. He was serving a 2n serve to the ad-court to a big guy. The returning was over 6' tall and my guess around 225+ lbs. The returner was frustrated and just stepped in a wailed on a forehand return. He hit me right in the L eye with the return. I doubt he was even aiming at me - it looked like he just tried to hit it as hard as could. If I had gotten out of the way, it would have hit the fence in the air. I had fuzzy vision for about 5 minutes and ended up with a black eye. Finished the match and we closed out the 2nd set 6-1.

2 weeks ago my partner took an overhead off the bounce right on the tip (yea, that tip). He did about 3 laps around the court to run off the pain. It was pretty funny watching him run and jump around.
 
N

NE1for10is?

Semi-Pro
I was just hitting around with a friend and he was chasing down a ball I had hit and he swung around and whacked himself on the bridge of his nose with his own racquet. Blood everywhere. He nose swelled up like a balloon and stayed that way for a week or so. In his defense, I have hit myself with my racquet in the shin and once or twice on the nose, but never like that.
 
F

floridatennisdude

Hall of Fame
Worst tennis ball injury I have ever suffered was at the hands of my partner who hit me with a serve to the ad court.

It caught me on the top of my left ear and pinched the ear to my hat and took a small chunk of skin off me. 5 min injury TO to get the bleeding to stop and I was good to go.
 
A

Alchemy-Z

Hall of Fame
I was up at net got lobbed turned to see if my partner was tracking it down and then turned back facing the net and made my way across to the add court to "switch" about mid-way across I put my right foot down and my partners botched overhead went right under my foot rolling my whole weight onto the side of it and slamming me to the ground.

we finished the match (State championships) but ai missed 6 months of tennis after that.
 
beernutz

beernutz

Hall of Fame
My worst tennis injury was self-inflicted. On the very first point of a doubles match with a brand new partner I was at the net and had a ball hit hard to my feet. I tried to do a flick half-volley pickup of it and hit myself with my racquet right across an eyebrow opening up a nice bloody gash.

After a short MTO where I got the bleeding stopped with bandaids and neosporin the match continued and amazingly we won that set 6-2. However, PTSD must have set in eventually and we lost the next two sets 0 and 0.

I went home that night and cleaned and superglued the gash and you really can't tell where it was a year later.

In the local league playoffs about a month later that same partner and I played those same two players on that same court at their place and beat them 2 and 2. No blood was spilled that time thankfully.
 
M

Mike Y

Rookie
I have this irrational fear when I am at the net and my partner is serving that I will get a hard flat errant serve right in the kidney.
 
S

struggle

Legend
saw a guy get his glasses broken once.

he couldn't see to continue, though the injury itself was just some scratches to the face, he was ok.
 
S

struggle

Legend
S&V Specialist said:
Broke a dude's nose once with a hard flat serve to his face...
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in HS doubles we used to serve AT any jacka$$ (returner's partner) that wanted to toy around at the service line, dancing, being annoying....you know the type.

we just called it "the eliminator" serve. it worked.
 
S&V Specialist

S&V Specialist

Rookie
tbuggle said:
in HS doubles we used to serve AT any jacka$$ (returner's partner) that wanted to toy around at the service line, dancing, being annoying....you know the type.

we just called it "the eliminator" serve. it worked.
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I've done that a few times too. The serve where I broke the opponent's nose was in a singles match where he was trying to come in and cut off my 2nd serve so it wouldn't get way out of his strike zone. I saw this and did a flat body serve...to the face. He retired from the match and I won in the middle of a grueling 3rd set. ;)
 
S

struggle

Legend
S&V Specialist said:
I've done that a few times too. The serve where I broke the opponent's nose was in a singles match where he was trying to come in and cut off my 2nd serve so it wouldn't get way out of his strike zone. I saw this and did a flat body serve...to the face. He retired from the match and I won in the middle of a grueling 3rd set. ;)
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haha, got to laugh at that one.:cool:
 
C

Clive Walker

Rookie
I observed my partner hit a big flat serve, which our opponent unsuccefully tried to move around to hit a forehand and get it in the cajones- he did manage to continue after 10 minutes of hobbling- at the end of the first set he then took another 10 min break- (I know we could have forced the default but we're there to play tennis, not play rules enforcement)

My old man hit himself in the eye when he framed a ball which flew up straight into the eye- I think this was only rec play though, but he did decide to call it quits and head for the bar.

Worst I've managed is the night before my wedding, I was playing a tight match and my partner sent up a weak lob- instead of just getting out of dodge I decided to face it and see if I could get anything on it. The opposing player mistimed the overhead and it bounced in front of me and up towards my face, thinking it would be coming faster than it was I flung my racket at the ball only to crack myself on the nose- the blood poured for a good 5 minutes and in my wedding pictures you can clearly see the gash across the bridge of my nose. I did manage to finish the match, although we didn't win another game after the incident
 
Clemsonfan

Clemsonfan

New User
I injured my opponent my sophomore year in high school many years ago. It rained at most of our practices that year and we trained inside in the wrestling room. We practiced doubles in a padded room with a volleyball net. Our strategy was to always go for the left hip when catching a high volley. During a match my opponent popped a short volley lob over my head after a drop shot and edged closer to the net. My overhead dislocated his left shoulder. He told me afterwards this was not uncommon for him after an 8th grade football injury. From his scream I thought I had killed him.

Last Thanksgiving we were in Ocean Isle, NC, and I joined a group of three for some pickup doubles. Three of us were 4.0 men and a 4.5 woman. All four of us were at net and my partner and I were a little out of position when they volleyed softly between us. I managed to reach the ball with a long backhand stretch and hit a low lob that reached its apex about 6' across the net and 8' high. I was so out of position I had to twirl counterclockwise to get back in play on the deuce side of the court. The woman pounded an overhead that clocked me where no man wants to be hit. I couldn't continue, but we did play again the next day.
 
T

tennisnut123

Rookie
Hit a Flat serve into the body on a clay court, ball hit the line and hit the kid square in the nuts....he went down and ended up stopping the match. BALLZING!
 
TenS_Ace

TenS_Ace

Professional
Yuup doing the grevious error of looking back playing doubles (big no no and everyone knows that) my partners return of serve hit me in the eye, tearing my iris and pupil..good thing it wasn't a HOCKEY PUCK :)
 
R

RetroSpin

Hall of Fame
My cousin is a personal injury attorney. She had a client who suffered serious eye injuries leading to partial blindness when his opponent swatted a ball in his direction as he was walking up on a changeover. Apparently the guy wasn't trying to hit him but just whacked it in anger and he was in the wrong place.

Six figure insurance settlement.
 
Overdrive

Overdrive

Legend
RetroSpin said:
My cousin is a personal injury attorney. She had a client who suffered serious eye injuries leading to partial blindness when his opponent swatted a ball in his direction as he was walking up on a changeover. Apparently the guy wasn't trying to hit him but just whacked it in anger and he was in the wrong place.

Six figure insurance settlement.
Click to expand...

Wow, how extreme. But it can happen..
 
Mongolmike

Mongolmike

Hall of Fame
2 instances.... in doubles I hit my wife in the back of her head on a serve... probably didn't help that I thought it was funny either.... women.....

And was playing doubles when a really freaky accident happened.... an opponent was rushing to get a wide shot, stumbled, lost his balance, and fell head first on a glancing angle along the chain link perimeter fence.

He went down like a shot clutching his head and cried out, "It's bad... it's bad!" He jumped up, blood was streaming down his face... he basically scalped himself from his forehead hairline to the middle of his head angling towards his ear. When he removed his hand, you could see the scalp flapping. Couldn't say I could see his skull because there was too much blood.

We called the ambulance, and I don't recall how many staples he got... 30 -40... something a lot! Later I found the spot where he hit, and there was a sharp wire protruding... only about 1/2" long... but it had something to do with the actual fencing, and it was wedged into one of the chain link intersections.... and when he went head first into the fence, it hit just right and sliced his scalp.

City courts, play at your own risk I guess. I went back a few days later with two pliers and unbent/removed the wire... found a number of others the same... some wedged, some just dangling.

Guy was back playing league in a few weeks btw. My wife... she's still not talking to me- she thinks I hit her on purpose.
 
T

Tonyr1967

Rookie
Playing singles, I once nailed a mate in the back of the neck. Had a sh*t week at work and was playing to let of steam. He took the net and hit a pop up volley...he could see I had "Lendl mentality" and turned to run away - bang! He was sprawled out spead-eagled on his stomach. Hilarious!
20 years later - we are talking again ;0)

Playing doubles at school I go nailed in the back of the head by a good friend who thought it was hysterical. Took a while, but I got him back - a perfect shot, between the cheeks...only mine was accidental. Honest ;0)
 
T

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
A friend at our club took a ball to a finger on her racquet hand while playing net in doubles. It shattered the bone into many little fragments.

I once hit my partner in the privates during a shanked return of serve. He insists on standing sideways to watch the serve so his front faces the returner. I've seen bruises on arms and legs so his must have looked terrible.

Worst hit I took was a ball to the throat at net. I was fine but it was really scary for a few moments.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
I accidentally hit a dude in his nether regions and dropped him for about 10 minutes in a high school doubles match. That's what he deserved for beating me earlier in singles. Turns out the next year I was at college and met his then girlfriend at the time who let me know that I put him out of commission for a month.

I accidentally hit one of my friends in the eye playing racquetball. His Dad always got onto him to wear his goggles since he wore contacts. He had to stay immobilized for a few days. Felt read bad about that one. The goggles always were in use after that incident.
 
PBODY99

PBODY99

Legend
Hit a overhead that bounced into my opponents solar plexus,a loud cough followed. He had suffered a detached retina.
 
heninfan99

heninfan99

Talk Tennis Guru
You have my utmost respect for continuing to play!


NE1for10is? said:
I got clocked in the cajones at point blank range at the net during a playoff semi final once. I was on my back looking up at the sun in 90 degree heat and unable to move for about 15 minutes. I eventually did get up and continue the match, but there was a welt for several weeks afterwards.
Click to expand...
 
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