Dealing with unpleasant players

[Bender]

Anyone want to share their experiences of running into unpleasant players on court or the court one over?

Yesterday, I had to go over to the next court to pick up some stray balls that my hitting partner had hit over and the adult student who was playing there who was being fed balls from a basket gestured and started talking smack like I had interrupted him playing a Wimbledon final. The coach on the next court definitely wasn't returning any of the balls and there are people in this area who are known to pocket stray balls whilst pretending they didn't know (even though our balls are brand new and marked).

I just ignored the guy but he kept giving the stink eye and talking at me so I swapped sides with my hitting partner (he didn't know what was going on). Then when he had to walk over to pick up some balls the same thing happened to him lol

Not sure if I was in the wrong but if I had asked him to pick up the ball for us I'm 99% sure he'd have been angered that I dared to interrupt his playing by trying to talk to him. He was being basket fed so it's not like there was going to be a good time to interrupt.

 

[socallefty]

The tennis etiquette is to walk over to the dividing fence and wait for a pause in their play before politely asking if they can recover your ball. You should never go into another court without asking permission especially when they are still hitting shots or in the middle of a point.

Most players will stop play and return a ball from the next court if they see it come over. But if they don‘t do that or didn’t see your ball, you have to wait.

 

[Bender]

The tennis etiquette is to walk over to the dividing fence and wait for a pause in their play before politely asking if they can recover your ball. You should never go into another court without asking permission especially when they are still hitting shots or in the middle of a point.

Most players will stop play and return a ball from the next court if they see it come over. But if they don‘t do that or didn’t see your ball, you have to wait.

Thanks, appreciate your input.

To give a bit more detail, I walked over by the sidelines first (not much space around the courts, each court is divided by a hanging net and not a fence, with the exit on the adjacent court) and didn’t step on to the actual court until the point was over (he missed then started gesturing).

Then the coach fed a new ball immediately afterwards and neither acknowledged my presence even though it’s impossible to not notice given how little space there is between the side net and the tramlines. The student missed that ball too before I quickly grabbed the ball and walked over, so I didn’t actually step on while the ball was still in play. I realise the way I described the situation originally makes it sound like marched onto the court while they were still playing without delay or hesitation but that’s not what happened.

Basically he missed first (he was an adult beginner at best so it’s not unusual he’d miss) before I ever stepped onto the court, although I probably should have said something first as you said. But then again where I am people typically don’t say anything to pick up stray balls so long as it’s obvious the players on the adjacent court aren’t actually playing live points, or even practice points. Only time I’d consider barging in is when they’re playing mini tennis or obvious warmups and even then it’s easier to just ask them to pass the ball over to us, which people always are happy (well not happy but you get the idea) to oblige.

 

[PKorda]

It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, I don't agree that you need to ask for permission every time you step onto someone's court. If the play has stopped depending on the circumstances, you can either ask them to get your ball or just apologize and grab your ball. Of course it's hard to know for sure without being there but that's how the situation you describes sounds to me.

 

[LeungD]

It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, I don't agree that you need to ask for permission every time you step onto someone's court.

Sure you do. Stepping into the court while there's a live ball is unacceptable.

 

[HuusHould]

It's better to have the unpleasant player on the next court than on your court. Dealing with unpleasant and/or unfair opponents (There's a correlation between the two- but it isn't 100%, you do at times get one without the other) is one of the downsides of the game. (The same way dealing with unpleasant people is one of the downsides of life I guess). You could mark your balls so that even if they don't return it straight away, they know later that it's yours. If the balls in close proximity to one of them, I'd ask them to return it. But I think what you did was fine, for the exact reason you mentioned.

 

[SoftHands]

Whenever some jerk starts verbally abusing you for breaking some ambigious etiquiette that you didnt break intentionally (in other words, you're at no fault), either ignore them like the lower-quality humans they are, or verbally abuse them back

 

[Rosstour]

It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, I don't agree that you need to ask for permission every time you step onto someone's court. If the play has stopped depending on the circumstances, you can either ask them to get your ball or just apologize and grab your ball. Of course it's hard to know for sure without being there but that's how the situation you describes sounds to me.

I'm a nice guy, but if someone steps on my court without saying something first, I get very very unhappy. Context is everything and I am almost always playing a competitive match (vs a lesson) but yeah

 

[ChaelAZ]

...wait for a pause in their play before politely asking if they can recover your ball.

Yeah, ALWAYS wait for the court to stop play unless the ball is actually interfering or causing some that is a safety concern. I have been in points where a ball just starts rolling towards us, and isn't even going on our court and people are yelling to stop.

 

[LeungD]

Yeah, ALWAYS wait for the court to stop play unless the ball is actually interfering or causing some that is a safety concern. I have been in points where a ball just starts rolling towards us, and isn't even going on our court and people are yelling to stop.

Apparently the older you get, the more terrified you are of stepping on a ball.

 

[dkmura]

Whenever some jerk starts verbally abusing you for breaking some ambigious etiquiette that you didnt break intentionally (in other words, you're at no fault), either ignore them like the lower-quality humans they are, or verbally abuse them back

I don't endorse "verbally abuse them back" as that only escalates the situation. There have also been skilled players who use unpleasant behavior (yelling, cursing, etc.) to either motivate themselves or intimidate their opponents. I found the best solution is to remain calm, and realize that my game is frustrating them. Keep playing well and shake hands as they stalk off the court in defeat.

 

[PKorda]

I'm a nice guy, but if someone steps on my court without saying something first, I get very very unhappy. Context is everything and I am almost always playing a competitive match (vs a lesson) but yeah

Like I said depends on circumstances. There are many instances when play has stopped where it's not necessary to ask for permission to grab a ball. To have a blanket rule where you or someone else has an issue with someone stepping on your court then that's a you problem.

 

[ngoster]

As long as common sense is used and people are polite, no harm no foul. The way I see it, we were all beginners once. If a ball comes onto our court and it's interfering with play in a match then we just replay the point. If we're just rallying then it's just a great opportunity to hit a kill shot to end the rally lol. Above all, if the courts are municipal, you kind of have to expect occasional stray balls.

 

[Bender]

Yeah, ALWAYS wait for the court to stop play unless the ball is actually interfering or causing some that is a safety concern. I have been in points where a ball just starts rolling towards us, and isn't even going on our court and people are yelling to stop.

I'm a nice guy, but if someone steps on my court without saying something first, I get very very unhappy. Context is everything and I am almost always playing a competitive match (vs a lesson) but yeah

Well yes, if he were playing a competitive match, no way I'd run onto the court to pick up a stray ball. As mentioned earlier, this was actually a case of a coach feeding (flat) balls out of a basket, and I still waited for the student to miss before stepping onto the court.

As long as common sense is used and people are polite, no harm no foul. The way I see it, we were all beginners once. If a ball comes onto our court and it's interfering with play in a match then we just replay the point. If we're just rallying then it's just a great opportunity to hit a kill shot to end the rally lol. Above all, if the courts are municipal, you kind of have to expect occasional stray balls.

Yep, public courts, and we've had coaches "grab my balls", to quote sureshs, even though they're marked. One older coach is infamous for habitually and disingenuously collecting stray balls on his court together with his own when picking up balls to refill his basket. He'd have gotten away with it too on the regular if he weren't so cheap that his own tennis balls are so old and flat they're dark green, make deflated "pop" noises, and make for a stark contrast to the brand new can of balls we open every session.

 

[puppybutts]

the social dilemma here is, how long should a player be expected to wait to get their ball back?

the people who were interrupted have the right to continue about their business. lessons are expensive and every minute counts. At the same time, it's inevitable that everyone hits a stray ball and has to fetch it at some point in their life - it should be mutual understanding not to get mad and politely allow retrieval of the ball or give it to them at a reasonable break. especially if it is on a public court, and you can't expect to have a private court experience with no interruptions. to me, a reasonable break is simply when the current ball in play comes to a stop.

i've played next to someone once who prevented us from retrieving a stray ball not until after the point, not until after the game, but he wanted us to wait until they had a changeover. ridiculous. funnily enough when they hit a stray ball to us, they looked over expectingly right away. this guy also was swearing and chucking his racquet against the back fence multiple times in his match, so the profile fit.

 

[Slicerman]

Personally I would wait until there is an interruption in play, get the tennis pro's attention. Once the pro acknowledges you, then either ask the player to return the ball, or get it myself, depending on who's closer. And always say 'thank you' afterwards.

That person probably got annoyed because they see it as taking up their lesson time.

Beginners also don't understand the common courtesy of tennis. If they hit the ball over to your court, then you try to return it back to them, and they should do the same. It's just a something that happens all the time, so its to be expected.

 

[puppybutts]

Apparently the older you get, the more terrified you are of stepping on a ball.

whenever a ball rolls onto my court during play, I prefer to just keep playing and dodge around the ball when it's just a match between friends. i would get mildly annoyed if my opponent stopped play for me or if spectators (other friends) shouted to stop. i've never played with someone who would do the same (continuing to play when a ball rolls onto court).

then one day I was watching some friends play, and my friend did the same thing, just ignoring a stray ball that had rolled in and continuing to play. i found myself involuntarily shouting "BALL BALL BALL" . i never realized how dangerous it looked

 

[Bender]

whenever a ball rolls onto my court during play, I prefer to just keep playing and dodge around the ball when it's just a match between friends. i would get mildly annoyed if my opponent stopped play for me or if spectators (other friends) shouted to stop. i've never played with someone who would do the same (continuing to play when a ball rolls onto court).

then one day I was watching some friends play, and my friend did the same thing, just ignoring a stray ball that had rolled in and continuing to play. i found myself involuntarily shouting "BALL BALL BALL" . i never realized how dangerous it looked

There's the added downside that if you're playing a match and the ball in play lands on a stray ball and bounces off in a direction you can't retrieve, you've automatically lost the point if you elected to continue playing knowing there was an obstacle on your side of the court.

 

[jmnk]

There's the added downside that if you're playing a match and the ball in play lands on a stray ball, you automatically lose the point if you elected to continue playing knowing there was an obstacle on your side of the court.

oh, so not only you do not know proper etiquette, but you do not know actual rules either.....

 

[Bender]

oh, so not only you do not know proper etiquette, but you do not know actual rules either.....

I get that this is tongue in cheek, but I'm like 99% sure it is correct...

 

[jmnk]

I get that this is tongue in cheek, but I'm like 99% sure it is correct...

I'm actually dead serious. Walking onto someone's court without asking is a no-no. A stray ball on the court becomes part of the court, no different than a stone, or a leaf.

 

[Bender]

I'm actually dead serious. Walking onto someone's court without asking is a no-no. A stray ball on the court becomes part of the court, no different than a stone, or a leaf.

What I meant is that you can't call a let / hindrance when a live ball lands on a stray ball you chose not to have it removed before the point. What I should have said earlier re losing the point (and where I now realise I misspoke) was that you "basically" automatically lose the point since I've yet to see someone actually keep the live ball rebounding off a stray one in play.

As for walking onto someone's court--again, we don't have the luxury of real estate over here (for eg the exit itself is on the adjacent court and people have to walk onto that court just to get onto mine, which one player who showed up late to our practice had to do to no complaint), and it's not uncommon (here at least) for people to walk over and retrieve their stray ball so long as it's between points and doesn't cause a hindrance.