Last week we practiced at night against one of our 6.5 combo teams.
-The 3.0 player I played against who was new on the team was one of those guys that lobbed 30% of the time and hugged the net (3-4 away) when he could.
-He or his partner hit a short, easy sitter to me inside the service line. I approached the ball and he didn't back off the net. I could have drilled it at his chest. Instead I tapped it below his waist so I wouldn't hurt him. He chopped at the ball and drilled me right below my nose (we were probably 6-7 feet apart) . When I got hit I was close enough to the net to touch it with my racquet. I had zero seconds to get out of the way. If the shot was an inch lower it could have knocked my front teeth out. The guy that hit it claimed he wasn't hitting at me and it was an accident. I'm not a violent guy but for a fraction of a second after I was hit I almost threw my racquet at him (which would have been a bad move).
Here's my point: I believe that net huggers should realize that when their opponents get a short sitter in front of them that they need to back up, or get out of the way. They can't rely on their opponent not wanting to hit them. And if the net hugger does hang in there they shouldn't swing at the ball if there opponent is six feet away and they don't know where there shot is going to go.
Our team is playing a USTA state final starting Friday. I think there are plenty of guys that if they got clocked in the face like I did would physically go after this guy.
-The 3.0 player I played against who was new on the team was one of those guys that lobbed 30% of the time and hugged the net (3-4 away) when he could.
-He or his partner hit a short, easy sitter to me inside the service line. I approached the ball and he didn't back off the net. I could have drilled it at his chest. Instead I tapped it below his waist so I wouldn't hurt him. He chopped at the ball and drilled me right below my nose (we were probably 6-7 feet apart) . When I got hit I was close enough to the net to touch it with my racquet. I had zero seconds to get out of the way. If the shot was an inch lower it could have knocked my front teeth out. The guy that hit it claimed he wasn't hitting at me and it was an accident. I'm not a violent guy but for a fraction of a second after I was hit I almost threw my racquet at him (which would have been a bad move).
Here's my point: I believe that net huggers should realize that when their opponents get a short sitter in front of them that they need to back up, or get out of the way. They can't rely on their opponent not wanting to hit them. And if the net hugger does hang in there they shouldn't swing at the ball if there opponent is six feet away and they don't know where there shot is going to go.
Our team is playing a USTA state final starting Friday. I think there are plenty of guys that if they got clocked in the face like I did would physically go after this guy.