Calling 'let' prematurely, and calling 'let' if a ball rolls on opponents side of court

letplaytennis

letplaytennis

Semi-Pro
Let 1:

During last nights league play, my opponent called 'let' when I hit a backhand winner cross-court. He stated that the player on the other court was chasing a ball which was rolling onto our court, but was nowhere near rolling out our court, the other player managed to get to the ball before halfway to our court in the area between courts. I of course told him that that's a BS call and there was no direct interference and that he might as well call 'let' every time he sees movement from the other court out of the corner of his eye.

The guy called let on my set point, so I was clearly frustrated. He was taking his time getting the balls in between his service and would give me zero time to turn around on the baseline to return his serve; I would step on the baseline, turn around, and he had already tossed the ball up in the air. I asked him to slow it down but he did so marginally.

Also, he would foot fault on every single serve from the AD side, crossing the imaginary line that would extend from the middle of the court back, sometimes in excess of 6"! During practice I asked him if anyone has ever mentioned his foot faults to him, he replied "no". I let the foot faults go.

Let 2:

I called a let when a ball rolled onto our court, but it was behind my opponent and at the service line. I was coming in for a volley to my backhand and the rolling ball distracted me, so I ceased play and called 'let'. I made contact with the ball and called 'let' as I was swinging.

We had a discussion and he was pissed and stated that "I cannot call a let on his side of the court." I told him he was wrong as the ball distracted me.

I took a little joy out of getting under his skin and even more so when I beat him & found out he has won the league tournament the last few years.

Thanks.
 
Let 1 could go either way. Halfway between the two courts could be pretty close depending on the spacing. If it was near where he would have been running to get to the shot, he maybe didn't have time to calculate whether or not dude was going to stop and had to pull up.

Let 2... the notion that you can't call a let because of a ball on the other side of the court is just silly. Not only can you, I'd argue that you have a responsibility to. If there's a ball behind me that I can't see, I want you to call a let so I don't roll my ankle on it.
 
Page 38 from USTA Friend at Court:

18. Let called when ball rolls on court. When a ball from another court enters the playing area, any player on the court affected may call a let as soon as the player becomes aware of the ball. The player loses the right to call a let if the player unreasonably delays in making the call.

In the 1st let that he called, the ball was not yet in our playing area.

In the 2nd let that I called, the ball was about 3' behind my opponent. I wonder if he would have called let if he was turn around to chase my winner, most likely yet.
 
36.Let due to unintentional hindrance:
A player who is hindered by an opponent’s unintentional act or by something else outside the player’s control is entitled to a let only if the player could have made the shot had the player not been hindered.

Again depending on how close the player retrieving the ball was to the path of the player trying the hit the shot, I could see a let being the appropriate call under this section.
 
Matthew ATX said:
36.Let due to unintentional hindrance:
A player who is hindered by an opponent’s unintentional act or by something else outside the player’s control is entitled to a let only if the player could have made the shot had the player not been hindered.

Again depending on how close the player retrieving the ball was to the path of the player trying the hit the shot, I could see a let being the appropriate call under this section.
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I see how this makes sense. Especially important is the phrase "only if the player could have made the shot", which prevents a let being called if the player simply called it and was unable to get to the ball.
 
letplaytennis said:
I see how this makes sense. Especially important is the phrase "only if the player could have made the shot", which prevents a let being called if the player simply called it and was unable to get to the ball.
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I would apply that "only if the player could have made the shot" rule fairly broadly though... there's a lot that goes into it.

Example 1: If I'm playing MXD and a woman from a neighboring court comes trucking out for a wide short ball which moves her off court and within a couple steps of the edge of our court, and at the same time I'm at the baseline and see an opponent's ball coming to me that will be wide and in that same sort of area. In my very brief glance, I see that there's a fair to middling chance that I may collide with the woman from the other court, I'm not going to take that risk of plowing my 6'3" 220 lbs into her at full speed, or risk hitting her with my followthrough or being hit by her own racquet followthrough, thus I am hindered because I cannot get on my horse and go for that ball like I might if the area were clear. I will run towards it, to show that I could have gotten to it, but call a let.

Example 2: ball from neighboring court rolls towards my court, but doesn't make it onto the court, maybe it stops 3 feet from the sideline. Meanwhile a point has me moving to where I saw that ball from the neighboring court rolling out of the corner of my eye... I am hindered again because I cannot safely run with full focus to the ball I am trying to play.

Example 3: ball from a neighboring court rolls past me on the baseline but not actually inside the line, which distracts me, meanwhile, my opponent hits a ball that is a clear winner, but which I might have been moving towards and had a chance to make a play on if I had not been dodging that ball from the neighboring court that never rolled onto the court, but rolled past my feet...

Anyway, it's all supposed to be in good faith - if you feel you were legitimately hindered (and in some cases, only you will know in your heart if you were) by a questionable thing like a ball rolling onto the play surface, then call a let... On the other hand, if you call a let as you are getting aced because a ball from a neighboring court rolled 15 feet behind you along the fence, that's probably not all that kosher...

In your situation, I think both lets were within reason, even though there seemed to be some gamesmanship (from your description of it) regarding the first let.
 
I had a situation in a social doubles match. I hit a return winner DTL just as a ball rolled onto our court from another court. The ball was past the net guy already but hadn't bounced twice as the opponent called let. The server would have had no chance to chase down the shot as it was a clear winner.

I didn't argue but I did give a big eye roll. Social match so it wasn't worth arguing. But I find people are way too eager to call lets for ball on court even though the point was essentially over.
 
Dartagnan64 said:
I had a situation in a social doubles match. I hit a return winner DTL just as a ball rolled onto our court from another court. The ball was past the net guy already but hadn't bounced twice as the opponent called let. The server would have had no chance to chase down the shot as it was a clear winner.

I didn't argue but I did give a big eye roll. Social match so it wasn't worth arguing. But I find people are way too eager to call lets for ball on court even though the point was essentially over.
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What about a situation where you hit a clear winner, but accidentally followthrough and just graze the net with your racquet - nobody is even in the same area code as your putaway, but before it bounces twice, you graze the net.. you have to give up the point, right? I mean, it's just part of the rules..

Please understand that I agree with you that such a let as the one you are speaking about is pretty "shady" and that a really square and sportsmanlike opponent would have said "Yeah, that ball didn't impact sh*t - no way I was getting that shot. Your point!", but in truth, they're still within the rules - doesn't make it suck less... but it just is what it is.
 
I had an opponent call a let because he "thought" he saw a ball coming from another court. He wanted to replay the point, but I didn't see that happening. I have had several instances I or opponenets call a let as someone was running to stop a ball from coming on court, and I have not problem with that as it is a disraction. Some have been obvious (just bad luck) calls that prevent winners and some just happen during points.
 
Ronaldo said:
Love calling a let while my partner hits a winner or ace. Makes his day. Remind him he has to beat all three of us
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ARGH you SOB!!!

Last year I played a doubles match that would have gotten our team into the playoffs if we'd won. I was line 5 and our two teams were tied up at 2 points apiece. It's the last place team and our team is in 3rd place out of 8 teams. We needed 3 points to tie the 2nd place team for a playoff berth, but we'd already beaten that team in a head to head match 4-1, so if tied for total points, my team would have gone on to playoffs... so anyway... line 5, it's a makeup match because the weekend was rained out - we have availability problems for a mid-week match and it's the last one of the season so time to make it up is already abbreviated. The only other guy available to play is this guy who is a weak player but a total flake as well...

Anyway... opponents show up - two fat old men in their 60s... initially I'm nervous - maybe these guys are the crafty old SOBs I've heard about and seen now and then that are going to pick us apart... but it was not so... they're TERRIBLE... and I'm having a great night, serving light's out - we take the first set 6-0 with me having two love holds and 5 aces in two service games... and my partner insists that we then change to a different court - he doesn't like the light bulbs on the court we're playing on, and now that a nearby court is open, he insists we move... I should have told him to forget it, that I wanted to stay here... but the team is out of his neighborhood, it's my first season with this team, I don't know too much about this guy, so I don't want to make a bad impression and argue with him...

Second set - I'm serving again, we're up 3-1. I'm not quite bombing aces, but getting easy returns from the opponents which my partner could easily put away - but which he is blowing... it's 30 all, I serve a clean and clear ace right up the T - opponents begin to change position, telling me "good serve"... my partner says "LET! Sorry guys, I heard that hit the net on the way by me"... WTF? This is BS, that ball didn't hit the net, if he heard anything, my partner heard the echo of my racquet contact bouncing off the screened fence... I serve again - fault... second serve popup return to my partner at the net - partner blows it into the back fence. Now I'm down 30-40... first serve to the other guy, fault, second serve, kicker high and deep in the service box, bounces clean over the guy's head for a 2nd serve ace... my partner says "LET! Sorry, It hit the net on the way by" this is IMPOSSIBLE - it was a kick serve and cleared the net by 6 feet at least to bounce in the deepest foot of the service box and then clean over the head of th receiver... I'm kind of pissed - I serve another second serve which results in another easy popup to my partner at the net - who blows it again - and my serve is broken... by my partner dumping 2 putaways into the net, and hitting the back fence with two more putaways - on a game which I should have aced through for the hold...

I am fit to be tied at this point and now we're only up 3-2. My partner begins to really flake out and takes like a 10 minute bathroom break at the change over. He gets back and I can't even look at him, I'm so pissed. Opponents hold serve, 3-3, my partner DFs his way into being broken, we're now down 3-4. Opponents hold serve, it's my serve again, and I'm so pissed I can't get my head together. After hitting a couple first serves way out, I just stop serving big and focus on spinning it or kicking it in, giving my partner putaways at the net left and right, he either blows them outright, or feeds their net guy with them... I'm broken again - 3-5. By now the opponents are only hitting to my partner, even when he's at the net, and the only shots I touched during that game were my serves, they just hit everything to my partner at the net. We lose 2nd set 3-6... this BS didn't have to go to a 3rd set... this fkn sucks.

3rd set I'm serving again and we're up 2-0, we somehow managed to hold my partner's serve and break them... but here I am again, my partner hitting every ball he touches out, I'm serving and by some miracle, am actually up, 40-30, about to hold and I take matters into my own hands and come to the net to field the fluffy return. Meanwhile a ball rolls from the nearby court towards our court and on the opposite side of where the point is happening - towards the net post, but definitely not crossing onto our court where it stops about 2 feet outside the line and even with the net post. I've got an overhead smash lined up and am swinging for the putaway when my partner yells "LET LET LET!" I smash it down and in and hard enough to bounce it over the fence and out of the court... look over to see where the ball that he called a let over stopped - two feet outside the court... I give my partner some choice words in front of the other team (something I have NEVER done before or since, including words to the effect of "are you here to play or to sabotage this? get your fkn head out of your ass"). I serve again, easy fluff return to my partner, he blows it long, deuce... two more serves, two more easy balls hit to my partner, two more blown shots - broken. 2-1.

After that my only focus was not actually physically assaulting my partner... I realized that he wasn't in this game to win it and was going to thwart me at my every turn that I tried to win it. I admit I might have tried to hit my partner in the back with baseline shots a few times... but I didn't... and we lost the 3rd set 6-4 against two guys that I *might* have actually been able to beat by myself, or with any other partner on my team who was actually interested in playing, would have beaten 6-0, 6-1 or 2. I shook hands with my opponents and couldn't even look at my partner. Haven't said a word to him since and am glad he hasn't shown up to any practices or matches.

Yes I know that it's important to let things like this go... and I know that if I'd been able to keep my calm a little better things might have worked out better... but fk that guy, and fk the fkn horse he rode in on... twice... motherfker... *spit*
 
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Cawlin said:
ARGH you SOB!!!

Last year I played a doubles match that would have gotten our team into the playoffs if we'd won. I was line 5 and our two teams were tied up at 2 points apiece. It's the last place team and our team is in 3rd place out of 8 teams. We needed 3 points to tie the 2nd place team for a playoff berth, but we'd already beaten that team in a head to head match 4-1, so if tied for total points, my team would have gone on to playoffs... so anyway... line 5, it's a makeup match because the weekend was rained out - we have availability problems for a mid-week match and it's the last one of the season so time to make it up is already abbreviated. The only other guy available to play is this guy who is a weak player but a total flake as well...

Anyway... opponents show up - two fat old men in their 60s... initially I'm nervous - maybe these guys are the crafty old SOBs I've heard about and seen now and then that are going to pick us apart... but it was not so... they're TERRIBLE... and I'm having a great night, serving light's out - we take the first set 6-0 with me having two love holds and 5 aces in two service games... and my partner insists that we then change to a different court - he doesn't like the light bulbs on the court we're playing on, and now that a nearby court is open, he insists we move... I should have told him to forget it, that I wanted to stay here... but the team is out of his neighborhood, it's my first season with this team, I don't know too much about this guy, so I don't want to make a bad impression and argue with him...

Second set - I'm serving again, we're up 3-1. I'm not quite bombing aces, but getting easy returns from the opponents which my partner could easily put away - but which he is blowing... it's 30 all, I serve a clean and clear ace right up the T - opponents begin to change position, telling me "good serve"... my partner says "LET! Sorry guys, I heard that hit the net on the way by me"... WTF? This is BS, that ball didn't hit the net, if he heard anything, my partner heard the echo of my racquet contact bouncing off the screened fence... I serve again - fault... second serve popup return to my partner at the net - partner blows it into the back fence. Now I'm down 30-40... first serve to the other guy, fault, second serve, kicker high and deep in the service box, bounces clean over the guy's head for a 2nd serve ace... my partner says "LET! Sorry, It hit the net on the way by" this is IMPOSSIBLE - it was a kick serve and cleared the net by 6 feet at least to bounce in the deepest foot of the service box and then clean over the head of th receiver... I'm kind of pissed - I serve another second serve which results in another easy popup to my partner at the net - who blows it again - and my serve is broken... by my partner dumping 2 putaways into the net, and hitting the back fence with two more putaways - on a game which I should have aced through for the hold...

I am fit to be tied at this point and now we're only up 3-2. My partner begins to really flake out and takes like a 10 minute bathroom break at the change over. He gets back and I can't even look at him, I'm so pissed. Opponents hold serve, 3-3, my partner DFs his way into being broken, we're now down 3-4. Opponents hold serve, it's my serve again, and I'm so pissed I can't get my head together. After hitting a couple first serves way out, I just stop serving big and focus on spinning it or kicking it in, giving my partner putaways at the net left and right, he either blows them outright, or feeds their net guy with them... I'm broken again - 3-5. By now the opponents are only hitting to my partner, even when he's at the net, and the only shots I touched during that game were my serves, they just hit everything to my partner at the net. We lose 2nd set 3-6... this BS didn't have to go to a 3rd set... this fkn sucks.

3rd set I'm serving again and we're up 2-0, we somehow managed to hold my partner's serve and break them... but here I am again, my partner hitting every ball he touches out, I'm serving and by some miracle, am actually up, 40-30, about to hold and I take matters into my own hands and come to the net to field the fluffy return. Meanwhile a ball rolls from the nearby court towards our court and on the opposite side of where the point is happening - towards the net post, but definitely not crossing onto our court where it stops about 2 feet outside the line and even with the net post. I've got an overhead smash lined up and am swinging for the putaway when my partner yells "LET LET LET!" I smash it down and in and hard enough to bounce it over the fence and out of the court... look over to see where the ball that he called a let over stopped - two feet outside the court... I give my partner some choice words in front of the other team (something I have NEVER done before or since, including words to the effect of "are you here to play or to sabotage this? get your fkn head out of your ass"). I serve again, easy fluff return to my partner, he blows it long, deuce... two more serves, two more easy balls hit to my partner, two more blown shots - broken. 2-1.

After that my only focus was not actually physically assaulting my partner... I realized that he wasn't in this game to win it and was going to thwart me at my every turn that I tried to win it. I admit I might have tried to hit my partner in the back with baseline shots a few times... but I didn't... and we lost the 3rd set 6-4 against two guys that I *might* have actually been able to beat by myself, or with any other partner on my team who was actually interested in playing, would have beaten 6-0, 6-1 or 2. I shook hands with my opponents and couldn't even look at my partner. Haven't said a word to him since and am glad he hasn't shown up to any practices or matches.

Yes I know that it's important to let things like this go... and I know that if I'd been able to keep my calm a little better things might have worked out better... but fk that guy, and fk the fkn horse he rode in on... twice... motherfker... *spit*
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I would have hit my partner in the back on serve or ground stroke, you know, for personal satisfaction.

Also, I'd never play with him again.
 
letplaytennis said:
I would have hit my partner in the back on serve or ground stroke, you know, for personal satisfaction.

Also, I'd never play with him again.
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Yep... I hear you... it was my first season with this team and I was a friend of a friend coming in... so I was hesitant to tell the captain "I'll never play with this guy again" because I didn't want to be "that guy"... but I've shared the story with a couple other guys on the team kind of quietly since then (nobody else was there to watch the match that evening) and have been assured that I shouldn't have to worry about playing with this clown again... so at least there's that.
 
1st year playing league tennis, it is the District playoff. We're at the net, my partner puts away a volley and strikes the net. I call it on my partner. We lose. He still refuses to play doubles or speak to me. C'est la vie, sucka
 
Ronaldo said:
1st year playing league tennis, it is the District playoff. We're at the net, my partner puts away a volley and strikes the net. I call it on my partner. We lose. He still refuses to play doubles or speak to me. C'est la vie, sucka
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That's a little different. I'm assuming your partner doesn't deny that he hit the net... assuming that he was in the net, it's a clear rule... it's not as if you "imagined" him hitting the net when he didn't and called him on it... or "imagined" a ball somewhere within the same zipcode might not stop rolling and would impact a point that was about 30 miliseconds from being over and called a let...

I'd still play doubles with you after the situation you describe... and probably would never bring it up again other than to lament that I was so clumsy as to get into the net... but if you imagine my service aces are lets and call them when the opponents are congratulating me and switching positions... you and your horse are in trouble. ;)
 
Cawlin said:
That's a little different. I'm assuming your partner doesn't deny that he hit the net... assuming that, he was in the net, it's a clear rule... it's not as if you "imagined" him hitting the net when he didn't and called him on it... or "imagined" a ball somewhere within the same zipcode might not stop rolling and would impact a point that was about 30 miliseconds from being over and called a let...

I'd still play doubles with you after the situation you describe... and probably would never bring it up again other than to lament that I was so clumsy as to get into the net... but if you imagine my service aces are lets and call them when the opponents are congratulating me and switching positions... you and your horse are in trouble. ;)
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He plays to win. Btw, play dubs with a guy who will call a let whenever you hit a winner.............................................We ignore him
 
I absolutely HATE foot faulters.

The audacity they have to just assume they get to break the rules constantly and we're all supposed to let them slide.

Could you imagine letting someone step across the 3 point line in basketball yet still counting the basket at 3 points? Nobody would ever try to pull such a stunt. In fact, if you call it on someone, they universally have to accept that you're telling the truth even tho they have no way of knowing or verifying if your call was honest.

Tennis has some cultural quirks I will never understand.
 
R1FF said:
I absolutely HATE foot faulters.

The audacity they have to just assume they get to break the rules constantly and we're all supposed to let them slide.

Could you imagine letting someone step across the 3 point line in basketball yet still counting the basket at 3 points? Nobody would ever try to pull such a stunt. In fact, if you call it on someone, they universally have to accept that you're telling the truth even tho they have no way of knowing or verifying if your call was honest.

Tennis has some cultural quirks I will never understand.
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One player, when he played against a foot faulter, would walk right up to the net and blast his serve into the box and over the fence. Faulter was flabbergasted! Guy mentioned "what is the difference, it still is a foot fault".
 
Cawlin said:
I don't even know... I was at a loss to try and find motive for his assfoolery... it went beyond just trying to be sportsmanlike, and right into the realm of... I don't even know what...I'm totally down with being sportsmanlike, honestly I am... if I win, I want it to be legit, 100%... It would have been one thing I think if I could have figured out some sort of motive for this, but I think the guy was just an a**wipe. Everyone on the team that I've spoken to about him rolled their eyes as soon as I mention his name... the guy is just a flake. I know it's not like I've got a Nike or Wilson sponsorhship hanging in the balance, but that guy basically just nullified all the effort I put into the game, in a way that seemed truly intentional... other than that... I just don't have words... even thinking about it and typing about it further makes me angry... what a fkn d-bag he is.
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Worse fate, if you win with this partner

p.s. Purgatory cause you know a day of reckoning is coming.
 
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Let 2: Any ball on a court, your side or opponents side, would be considered a distraction, so a let can be called. If the let ball on his side of the court fell out of his pocket, it is your point immediately.
 
Here's a scenario, you are playing a league match and the next court has a ball rolling on toward your court and they start yelling "let". What's the ruling in that? Because I've seen it happen several times, and sometimes it never affects play. I even saw one time where it hindered a guy hitting an overhead that would have been a clean winner. Can hindrance be called, since it's a team match? What's the ruling on those? Mind you that no one on the court has called "let".
 
coloskier said:
Let 2: Any ball on a court, your side or opponents side, would be considered a distraction, so a let can be called. If the let ball on his side of the court fell out of his pocket, it is your point immediately.
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Interesting. I did not think it would be my point. Is that somewhere in the usta rules?
 
letplaytennis said:
Let 1:

During last nights league play, my opponent called 'let' when I hit a backhand winner cross-court. He stated that the player on the other court was chasing a ball which was rolling onto our court, but was nowhere near rolling out our court, the other player managed to get to the ball before halfway to our court in the area between courts. I of course told him that that's a BS call and there was no direct interference and that he might as well call 'let' every time he sees movement from the other court out of the corner of his eye.

The guy called let on my set point, so I was clearly frustrated. He was taking his time getting the balls in between his service and would give me zero time to turn around on the baseline to return his serve; I would step on the baseline, turn around, and he had already tossed the ball up in the air. I asked him to slow it down but he did so marginally.

Also, he would foot fault on every single serve from the AD side, crossing the imaginary line that would extend from the middle of the court back, sometimes in excess of 6"! During practice I asked him if anyone has ever mentioned his foot faults to him, he replied "no". I let the foot faults go.

Let 2:

I called a let when a ball rolled onto our court, but it was behind my opponent and at the service line. I was coming in for a volley to my backhand and the rolling ball distracted me, so I ceased play and called 'let'. I made contact with the ball and called 'let' as I was swinging.

We had a discussion and he was pissed and stated that "I cannot call a let on his side of the court." I told him he was wrong as the ball distracted me.

I took a little joy out of getting under his skin and even more so when I beat him & found out he has won the league tournament the last few years.

Thanks.
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I don't mean this in a snarky sort of way, but I always encourage our pals here as well as the high school coaches I work with to review both the rules and "The Code" to keep things easier to recall in a pinch. It absolutely sucks when nobody can remember the specific rule that covers an odd circumstance and something has to be more or less made up on the spot to deal with it. Every single time I go back through the book, I find something that I forgot.

A sort of catch-22 in the rules of our game is that we play at the server's pace, but the server can't put the ball into play until the returner is ready. The returner has to make a reasonable effort to keep up, but the server can't unreasonably rush a returner or start without him (or her). If that opponent was quick serving you, you could have held up your hand or your racquet to indicate that you were still getting ready. When the opponent serves anyway - before you're "set" - you should make no effort to hit the ball or else you're acting as though you were ready to play.

Again it's a catch-22 where both the server and returner need to cooperate. This is the very first principle listed in The Code.

Foot faulting - if I'm playing with pals, I don't get too worked up about it. But if you're playing in a league and the other guy is foot faulting by 6", that's too much.

I look at the "let" calls sort of like line calls in that I accept that a questionable call will happen here and there through the course of unofficiated matches. But after that first dodgy let call that prompts some discussion, it should be figured out going forward. There's a difference though when either too many close calls don't go your way or the interpretation of the rules gets a little too creative too often.

When your opponent called a let when a player on the next court was coming at him to chase a ball, it sounds to me like you were right. Unless that player is only a step or so away from either of you or on the brink of running onto your court, you shouldn't need to call a let. I'd say let that one go, but sort it out so that you're not calling lets every other point.

While a player should only make line calls on that player's own side of the net, the let call when a ball rolls in behind an opponent is completely appropriate. That's a safety issue. Your opponent should only be grateful that you made that call - as long as you made it promptly and didn't wait until the point wasn't going your way, right?

Yes, this guy was gaming you a little bit, but it sounds like you did a solid job of keeping your head. (y)
 
letplaytennis said:
Interesting. I did not think it would be my point. Is that somewhere in the usta rules?
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dblsplayer said:
Actually, the first time the ball fell out would be a let, the second time would be your point.
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I looked in my rule book because off the top of my head, I would have agreed that the first time a player drops a ball (from a pocket) or loses a hat during a point, that would be a let, but then if anything dropped after that it would be a loss of the point.

It looks like the USTA rules address this in the section covering "Hindrance". A let is only called for an unintentional act.

My book is from 2014, but it's probably still about the same. USTA Comment 26.2:

Can a player's own action be the basis for that player claiming a let or a hindrance? No. Nothing a player does entitles that player to call a let. For example, a player is not entitled to a let because the player breaks a string, the player's hat falls off, or a ball in the player's pocket falls out.

I'm glad I checked this because one of the kids on the high school team I coach has a favorite hat, but it falls off his head at least once or twice during his matches. Opponents haven't made any issue of it, but they might.
 
fuzz nation said:
I don't mean this in a snarky sort of way, but I always encourage our pals here as well as the high school coaches I work with to review both the rules and "The Code" to keep things easier to recall in a pinch. It absolutely sucks when nobody can remember the specific rule that covers an odd circumstance and something has to be more or less made up on the spot to deal with it. Every single time I go back through the book, I find something that I forgot.

A sort of catch-22 in the rules of our game is that we play at the server's pace, but the server can't put the ball into play until the returner is ready. The returner has to make a reasonable effort to keep up, but the server can't unreasonably rush a returner or start without him (or her). If that opponent was quick serving you, you could have held up your hand or your racquet to indicate that you were still getting ready. When the opponent serves anyway - before you're "set" - you should make no effort to hit the ball or else you're acting as though you were ready to play.

Again it's a catch-22 where both the server and returner need to cooperate. This is the very first principle listed in The Code.

Foot faulting - if I'm playing with pals, I don't get too worked up about it. But if you're playing in a league and the other guy is foot faulting by 6", that's too much.

I look at the "let" calls sort of like line calls in that I accept that a questionable call will happen here and there through the course of unofficiated matches. But after that first dodgy let call that prompts some discussion, it should be figured out going forward. There's a difference though when either too many close calls don't go your way or the interpretation of the rules gets a little too creative too often.

When your opponent called a let when a player on the next court was coming at him to chase a ball, it sounds to me like you were right. Unless that player is only a step or so away from either of you or on the brink of running onto your court, you shouldn't need to call a let. I'd say let that one go, but sort it out so that you're not calling lets every other point.

While a player should only make line calls on that player's own side of the net, the let call when a ball rolls in behind an opponent is completely appropriate. That's a safety issue. Your opponent should only be grateful that you made that call - as long as you made it promptly and didn't wait until the point wasn't going your way, right?

Yes, this guy was gaming you a little bit, but it sounds like you did a solid job of keeping your head. (y)
Click to expand...

This is really a great post, and mirrors other advice I've gotten here in other threads. So I am mostly quoting you for truth... :)

https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/officiating/2019 Friend at Court.pdf

There's a link to the Friend At Court document which includes ITF Rules, USTA Regs, and The Code - worthwhile download to have on your phone, or if you're a team captain (and like paper documents like me), print up a copy of The Code and keep it in your match folder where you keep your lineups and scorecards and whatnot.

The biggest principle is that it's a cooperative game where we give each other the benefit of the doubt - to a point... and that point can seem subjective, especially in the heat of competition when emotions and competitive spirit are potentially running high.

I know it sounds boring as hell for a lot of people, but honestly, just spend 15 minutes or so and read through The Code it's only like 7 or 8 pages - highlight things you didn't know, or think others might not know, so you can find them easily later when an issue comes up.
 
GatorTennis said:
Here's a scenario, you are playing a league match and the next court has a ball rolling on toward your court and they start yelling "let". What's the ruling in that?
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Players cannot call a let on another court per the rules. Is that what you're asking for?

Ronaldo said:
Had my mxd dubs partner put her 1st serve in my ear. Guys we were playing still remind me of this 15 yrs later.
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Shamefully, I couldn't even tell you all the people I've hit in the back on serves over the last *15* years. The good news is I've improved my first serve control substantially, and there's a very slim chance that I'll hit my next doubles partner...
 
ShaunS said:
Players cannot call a let on another court per the rules. Is that what you're asking for?


Shamefully, I couldn't even tell you all the people I've hit in the back on serves over the last *15* years. The good news is I've improved my first serve control substantially, and there's a very slim chance that I'll hit my next doubles partner...
Click to expand...

Carry a batting helmet and offer it to your partner before serving. Or wear it when they serve.
 
GatorTennis said:
Here's a scenario, you are playing a league match and the next court has a ball rolling on toward your court and they start yelling "let". What's the ruling in that?
Click to expand...
Interestingly, this very situation happened to me two nights ago, or rather, it happend to the ladies playing a dubs match on the court adjacent to our men's dubs match. We each were sending balls back and forth into each others court (don't ask - the matches were a sh*tshow), and my opponents would see a ball rolling towards the women's court and they would start yelling "let let let" to the women. I know these guys' intention was good, but it was not appreciated by the women. I didn't say anything because it was not my home facility, but after the match, the women complained to us about it - and rightfully so.

GatorTennis said:
I even saw one time where it hindered a guy hitting an overhead that would have been a clean winner. Can hindrance be called, since it's a team match? What's the ruling on those? Mind you that no one on the court has called "let".
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I don't think external things like that result in lets or hindrances... though I'd have to look at the code to see.

ShaunS said:
Players cannot call a let on another court per the rules. Is that what you're asking for?
Click to expand...

So this made me think about something like playing in Florida and maybe something crazy happens like an alligator starts to walk onto the court... and the people playing don't see it... I'd hope someone, either a spectator or someone on a neighboring court would call a let... or at least yell "GATOR! GATOR! GATOR!" :p
 
GatorTennis said:
Here's a scenario, you are playing a league match and the next court has a ball rolling on toward your court and they start yelling "let". What's the ruling in that? Because I've seen it happen several times, and sometimes it never affects play. I even saw one time where it hindered a guy hitting an overhead that would have been a clean winner. Can hindrance be called, since it's a team match? What's the ruling on those? Mind you that no one on the court has called "let".
Click to expand...

I had something similar happen to me, though it wasn't a team match, but a ball from the next court over came onto my court where I was playing a flex league match. I the court next to our was just a social group but the guy proceeded to stand basically on the corner of our court saying something like "watch out" over and over. I ended up calling a let due to distraction (the offending ball was behind me at the baseline while I was at the net) as I ran to get a lob, and read the guy the riot act. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've yelled at a stranger.
 
According to the Player's Code, anything under your control including a hat falling off or an unintentional ball out of pocket can, at most, be called a let by the opposing player if it caused a hindrance. Points are not awarded ever for unintentional acts.

The opposing player must call that let immediately or they lose the right to claim hindrance. Hindrance is defined as the inability to play a shot due to the action that occurred. Under that criteria, balls falling out of pockets or hats coming off causing hindrances are a bit of a stretch under most circumstances.
 
Is this related to the 'safety mom' type of guy that stops play to point out a ball 20 feet away against the fence so you can 'be careful'? Safety mom usually follows that up with, 'I once saw a guy step on a ball and ...'
 
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