Grumpy player in foursome

Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

Legend
My town will put people into random foursomes for doubles. Then you make your own teams and play for an hour and a half. The scores are not reported, and rankings aren't determined by anything that happens.

We got this grumpy guy. At the cross-overs he'd go to the other side of the net, instead of talking to the rest of us. He was complaining that people weren't saying the score, even though they were. He even called my partner an expletive for hitting a drop-shot he couldn't reach.

If I keep playing there, I'm bound to get him in my foursome again. I've seen that it's impossible to cheer him up. He's a real buzzkill. If I get him again, should I try to switch with someone in another foursome, make an excuse and leave? What can be done? I want to keep playing because I need the exercise.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Steady Eddy said:
If I keep playing there, I'm bound to get him in my foursome again.
Click to expand...

If there are 12 people from which foursomes are formed at random (12 would make 3 teams, and 8 would make 2 teams, which sounds too small), what is the probability that a particular guy will be in your foursome? It is 0.2%. If there are 20 people, it is 0.02%.
 
Turbo-87

Turbo-87

G.O.A.T.
You are going to get a curmudgeon in any random group of people. Grin and bear it. Be as pleasant and as nice as possible to him. Curmudgeon's hate that.
 
Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

Legend
sureshs said:
If there are 12 people from which foursomes are formed at random (12 would make 3 teams, and 8 would make 2 teams, which sounds too small), what is the probability that a particular guy will be in your foursome? It is 0.2%. If there are 20 people, it is 0.02%.
Click to expand...
To quote a great tennis player, "You cannot be serious."
 
N

NJ1

Professional
sureshs said:
If there are 12 people from which foursomes are formed at random (12 would make 3 teams, and 8 would make 2 teams, which sounds too small), what is the probability that a particular guy will be in your foursome? It is 0.2%. If there are 20 people, it is 0.02%.
Click to expand...

Wow, the internet really does highlight how many stupid people are out there. If this is a joke (for your sake it I hope it is) then it shows how many people need to work on their sense of humor and delivery.
 
Avles

Avles

Hall of Fame
sureshs said:
If there are 12 people from which foursomes are formed at random (12 would make 3 teams, and 8 would make 2 teams, which sounds too small), what is the probability that a particular guy will be in your foursome? It is 0.2%.
Click to expand...

:confused::confused::confused:
 
Cindysphinx

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
sureshs said:
If there are 12 people from which foursomes are formed at random (12 would make 3 teams, and 8 would make 2 teams, which sounds too small), what is the probability that a particular guy will be in your foursome? It is 0.2%. If there are 20 people, it is 0.02%.
Click to expand...

Math is hard.
 
C

CurrenFan

Rookie
Call him Skippy. Or Peaches. Grumpy guys hate that.

When he's your partner, let him know you expect to celebrate winning shots with Bryan Bros.-style chest bumps. Ask him to be 10 minutes early next week so the two of you can practice them.

Oh, and don't forget to wink at him and blow him a kiss now and then.
 
thejuice

thejuice

Hall of Fame
CurrenFan said:
Call him Skippy. Or Peaches. Grumpy guys hate that.

When he's your partner, let him know you expect to celebrate winning shots with Bryan Bros.-style chest bumps. Ask him to be 10 minutes early next week so the two of you can practice them.

Oh, and don't forget to wink at him and blow him a kiss now and then.
Click to expand...

Either this ^^^^ or man-up and tell him to quit complaining and play tennis. It amazes me how many people have to ask for advice on the internet about how to handle difficult people.
 
G

gmatheis

Hall of Fame
sureshs said:
If there are 12 people from which foursomes are formed at random (12 would make 3 teams, and 8 would make 2 teams, which sounds too small), what is the probability that a particular guy will be in your foursome? It is 0.2%. If there are 20 people, it is 0.02%.
Click to expand...

LOL good one :)

What is the actual math .. is it just 3/11 (about 27%) ?

Or do you have to do 1/11 + 1/10 + 1/9 .... or does that only happen if you are filling your own court first and therefore doesn't account for the times he gets assigned to another court before your court even gets decided.

I always hated statistics.
 
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B

BigBlueYanks

New User
If he has been playing with the rest of the guys for a while now, I'm sure they have all learned to ignore him. Probably why he went to the other side during cross overs, since he knows he will just get ignored...

Just go with the flow and let him be...and don't let him bother you.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Cindysphinx said:
Math is hard.
Click to expand...

Yes it is hard. That is why I was wrong. I gave the problem to my son now and he found the error. The answer is that the chance with 12 people is 1/3 and with 20 people it is 1/4, showing that steady eddy has the right to be worried. It is quite simple. With 3 groups, once you are in a group, the chance that the grump guy is in your group is simply 1/3.

I was overthinking this by calculating how many possible groups there could be. But on a given evening, you will have only the 3 or 4 groups.
 
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S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
NJ1 said:
Wow, the internet really does highlight how many stupid people are out there. If this is a joke (for your sake it I hope it is) then it shows how many people need to work on their sense of humor and delivery.
Click to expand...

You don't know the context. steady eddy is a mathematician who posts problems in the Odds and Ends section, that is why I posted this. It was like a tribute to him.
 
S

Spin Doctor

Professional
sureshs said:
Yes it is hard. That is why I was wrong. I gave the problem to my son now and he found the error. The answer is that the chance with 12 people is 1/3 and with 20 people it is 1/4, showing that steady eddy has the right to be worried. It is quite simple. With 3 groups, once you are in a group, the chance that the grump guy is in your group is simply 1/3.

I was overthinking this by calculating how many possible groups there could be. But on a given evening, you will have only the 3 or 4 groups.
Click to expand...

Irregardless of the math, common sense would tell you that .2%, let alone .02%!!!, is absurd.

Wow.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
gmatheis said:
LOL good one :)

What is the actual math .. is it just 3/11 (about 27%) ?

Or do you have to do 1/11 + 1/10 + 1/9 .... or does that only happen if you are filling your own court first and therefore doesn't account for the times he gets assigned to another court before your court even gets decided.

I always hated statistics.
Click to expand...

That would be the way to go if the groups were changing.

Guess I was wrong again. I had assumed that the same 4 people always play together, just forming 3 combinations (playing 3 matches). But yeah that is not realistic. There will be mixing of people once a match completes.

Math is complicated as Cindy said.
 
S

Spin Doctor

Professional
ROFL.

In that thread you basically said that white collar workers were dumb. Well, this white collar worker thought you were trolling here cuz even with my sucky math skills I knew those numbers made no ****ing sense whatsoever.

BTW, I agree that we aren't that "smart". But we do have some common sense.

Excuse me while I enjoy your comeuppance.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Spin Doctor said:
ROFL.

In that thread you basically said that white collar workers were dumb. Well, this white collar worker thought you were trolling here cuz even with my sucky math skills I knew those numbers made no ****ing sense whatsoever.

BTW, I agree that we aren't that "smart". But we do have some common sense.

Excuse me while I enjoy your comeuppance.
Click to expand...

I don't check what I post here, because it is meant for white collar workers like you.
 
Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

Legend
CurrenFan said:
Call him Skippy. Or Peaches. Grumpy guys hate that.

When he's your partner, let him know you expect to celebrate winning shots with Bryan Bros.-style chest bumps.
Click to expand...
Calling him Skippy is a good idea. Thanks.

thejuice said:
tell him to quit complaining and play tennis. It amazes me how many people have to ask for advice on the internet about how to handle difficult people.
Click to expand...
Have you ever had a partner who didn't say a word, but you could tell their furious at everyone? I'd give him compliments, but he never would acknowledge them. When I see good doubles teams, they do fist bumps even after losing points, and they talk alot. This is the opposite of that, and you can't wait for the set to end so you can have a different partner.

gmatheis said:
LOL good one :)

What is the actual math .. is it just 3/11 (about 27%) ?
Click to expand...
Right. Suppose there are 4 courts, and you get assigned to one. Of the remaining 11 player, 3 will be assigned to your court, hence 3/11.

He's real big on saying the score for each point. Maybe I should be silent, like the college players?
 
N

North

Professional
Ignore the grumpy stuff, leave him alone and play. Teasing can be just as obnoxious as grumpiness. Out of curiosity - is there anything positive about him? Eg: effective return of serve, good forehand volley, etc.
 
C

CurrenFan

Rookie
Steady Eddy said:
When I see good doubles teams, they do fist bumps even after losing points, and they talk alot. This is the opposite of that, and you can't wait for the set to end so you can have a different partner.

****************

He's real big on saying the score for each point. Maybe I should be silent, like the college players?
Click to expand...

Some of that Rah! Rah! Go Team! Luv ya, Partner! stuff just goes too far, like women's college volleyball teams that have to have a group hug and a butt pat after every damn point. It's one thing to approach one's partner to say "My next serve is going wide" or some other communication related to strategy, but it seems like having to reinforce each other's confidence after every point is the sign of a rather weak psyche.

Now announcing the score loudly, I'm a big fan of that. Too many times I've been distracted or another player has been distracted and we forget the score and have to stand around like the middle-aged semi-dullards we try to avoid being, just to figure out what our score was on the last point. I've noticed one player in the league who seems to mis-remember the score pretty consistently and it's always by a point or two in her team's favor. :confused:
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
CurrenFan said:
...Some of that Rah! Rah! Go Team! Luv ya, Partner! stuff just goes too far,

...but it seems like having to reinforce each other's confidence after every point is the sign of a rather weak psyche.

...Now announcing the score loudly, I'm a big fan of that. Too many times I've been distracted or another player has been distracted and we forget the score and have to stand around like the middle-aged semi-dullards we try to avoid being, just to figure out what our score was on the last point.

...I've noticed one player in the league who seems to mis-remember the score pretty consistently and it's always by a point or two in her team's favor. :confused:
Click to expand...

Agree wholeheartedly! I was playing with Mike Bryan against his brother last year, (I think? or was it with Bob? either way it was the lefty) and he wanted to high-five after every point--no chest bumps though, that wouldn't of worked, I'm a lot shorter then he is). I told him "Sorry, I'm old school and only celebrate on the winners." It was OK, their father understood.

I call the score out loudly, sometimes feeling it may be too loud, but loud enough for all three others to hear. Hopefully it's not too loud too disturb other courts, but hey, at pro tournaments the chair uses loudspeakers and scoreboards to keep track.

I ran into that no-call-I-keep-the score-in-my-head-cheater just yesterday. Or when you ask 'em for the score they say "I called it," but if they did it's in a whisper. Having played with him in the past I knew he was going to pull it sometime. So I called the score for him-old school club/rec strategy--the old guys keep score for their opponent's--they've played this game before--for at least half a decade. So this weasel acts confused on the score at a critical point in the match, reverses the score, and add's himself "in" instead of "ad/out". I'd been calling the score for him so I was SURE and his partner and mine agreed because the score was fresh in their minds too. If I hadn't been expecting him to pull his usual ****, I might have let him get away with it--and trust me, this guy is a weasel in every way. I call out the score right after the point ends and then again before my three ball bounces on my serve.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
tennis tom said:
Agree wholeheartedly! I was playing with Mike Bryan against his brother last year, (I think? or was it with Bob? either way it was the lefty) and he wanted to high-five after every point--no chest bumps though, that wouldn't of worked, I'm a lot shorter then he is). I told him "Sorry, I'm old school and only celebrate on the winners." It was OK, their father understood.
Click to expand...

What level are you? You must be way up there to be playing with the Bryans.
 
Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

Legend
North said:
Ignore the grumpy stuff, leave him alone and play. Teasing can be just as obnoxious as grumpiness. Out of curiosity - is there anything positive about him? Eg: effective return of serve, good forehand volley, etc.
Click to expand...
Good about his strokes is different than good about him. His strokes are good, his age has taken a toll on his legs. He's there more to win than to have fun, and this is just drop-in tennis.

tennis tom said:
I ran into that no-call-I-keep-the score-in-my-head-cheater just yesterday. Or when you ask 'em for the score they say "I called it," but if they did it's in a whisper. Having played with him in the past I knew he was going to pull it sometime. So I called the score for him-old school club/rec strategy--the old guys keep score for their opponent's--they've played this game before--for at least half a decade. So this weasel acts confused on the score at a critical point in the match, reverses the score, and add's himself "in" instead of "ad/out". I'd been calling the score for him so I was SURE and his partner and mine agreed because the score was fresh in their minds too. If I hadn't been expecting him to pull his usual ****, I might have let him get away with it--and trust me, this guy is a weasel in every way. I call out the score right after the point ends and then again before my three ball bounces on my serve.
Click to expand...
So he's a deliberate cheater. I think it's better to not announce scores if you've played the game much at all. It's ok for beginners who are still learning how to keep score. So pay attention. If somebody wants to cheat to win at drop-in tennis. Go for it! I won't even bother to stop you. Love sets all the way for you!!! :twisted:
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
Steady Eddy said:
... I think it's better to not announce scores if you've played the game much at all. It's ok for beginners who are still learning how to keep score. So pay attention.
Click to expand...

Easier said then done, most rec players can't consistently keep track of the score, they just don't have the ability to focus for that length of time and get distracted in their own drech. It's a rare rec player who can keep accurate track of the score, and then it's usually only in their favor. Only the pro's or ranked senior players do it all the time. You're brain must be a human calculator, recalling every shot in a game, how it was hit and where to.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
I don't think pros spend any effort trying to track the score. They know it most of the time through intuition, and the umpire announces it.

It is very irritating when club players think they are so important that they don't have to the announce the score.
 
Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

Legend
tennis tom said:
Easier said then done, most rec players can't consistently keep track of the score, they just don't have the ability to focus for that length of time and get distracted in their own drech. It's a rare rec player who can keep accurate track of the score, and then it's usually only in their favor. Only the pro's or ranked senior players do it all the time. You're brain must be a human calculator, recalling every shot in a game, how it was hit and where to.
Click to expand...
You only have to be able to count up to four. Also, what court you're serving into gives you a hint.

This is one trait of advanced players that nearly everyone can emulate, IMO.
 
K

kevrol

Hall of Fame
SCORING
30. Server announces score. The server shall announce the game score
before the first point of a game and the point score before each subsequent point
of the game.
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
Steady Eddy said:
You only have to be able to count up to four. Also, what court you're serving into gives you a hint.

This is one trait of advanced players that nearly everyone can emulate, IMO.
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm with you but easier said then done. Add a lot or running around by old farts, a hot day, a long point, stress, some alcoholism, big egos, small egos, silver spoons, superiority complexes, inferiority complexes--and all of a sudden the score can get a little muddled up. The only ones who I've seen do it right in their heads consistently are the pros, but their paychecks depend on it.
 
K

kevrol

Hall of Fame
tennis tom said:
Hey, I'm with you but easier said then done. Add a lot or running around by old farts, a hot day, a long point, stress, some alcoholism, big egos, small egos, silver spoons, superiority complexes, inferiority complexes--and all of a sudden the score can get a little muddled up. The only ones who I've seen do it right in their heads consistently are the pros, but their paychecks depend on it.
Click to expand...

When were you at my club?
 
Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

Legend
kevrol said:
SCORING
30. Server announces score. The server shall announce the game score
before the first point of a game and the point score before each subsequent point
of the game.
Click to expand...
You're right. It's in the rules. Yet I've noticed that for some reason this is not done by the really good players.

If that's how they do it, that's how I wanna do it. And if it annoys this guy, even better. :twisted:
 
N

NJ1

Professional
sureshs said:
You don't know the context. steady eddy is a mathematician who posts problems in the Odds and Ends section, that is why I posted this. It was like a tribute to him.
Click to expand...

I don't need to know the context given that you weren't joking. Credit for admitting that in your other posts, but it does make your above response even more odd. Anyhow, no big deal and have a good weekend.
 
S

Sakkijarvi

Semi-Pro
Maybe he is quietly fighting cancer and not grandstanding about it? Maybe there is more there than you know? Maybe you don't need to go to a message board and rip 'the guy' to collect comments that make you feel good, as 'the good guy'?
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
Steady Eddy said:
You're right. It's in the rules. Yet I've noticed that for some reason this is not done by the really good players.

If that's how they do it, that's how I wanna do it. And if it annoys this guy, even better. :twisted:
Click to expand...

You're right, really good players always know the score--and if there's a question about it they can recall how every point ended. The problem is 98% of the rest of the tennis world cannot do that--so they are better off calling out the score to help them remember it. If it annoys old grumpy puss that's OK too, but be prepared to have him ask you what the score is frequently. I've seen Super Senior players (80+ ) who've been Wimbledon finalists in their day, on occasion have to come to the net, to figure out the score. Their wives help them keep track from the sidelines and they don't always get it right either.
 
Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy

Legend
Sakkijarvi said:
Maybe he is quietly fighting cancer and not grandstanding about it? Maybe there is more there than you know? Maybe you don't need to go to a message board and rip 'the guy' to collect comments that make you feel good, as 'the good guy'?
Click to expand...
Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe you didn't read the OP?

Steady Eddy said:
If I get him again, should I try to switch with someone in another foursome, make an excuse and leave? What can be done? I want to keep playing because I need the exercise.
Click to expand...
My post wasn't a call for judgement, it was an inquiry for what to do. If I get him again, should I just drive home and hope my luck is better next time? Stick it out? Or see if someone in another foursome will swap with me?

Of course, towards that end, I did have to explain why there is this dilemma. I also explained why I don't want to just quit. Tennis is giving me much needed exercise, I enjoy it (usually) more than the treadmill.
 
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