Friends

[PK6]

Hi all in competitive match how do you go about playing against friends? I personally hate hate hate playing against friends. It’s to difficult to to get into match especially if they chat your ear off about random bs that has nothing to do with match especially during changeovers. I’ve bern victim of saying im
hitting ball to hard/making them run to much.
Whatever!!!! In competitive usta match that’s what your supposed to do. In doubles match my partner is chatting with opponents which I won’t do-after maybe if I win if I lose I’ll shake hands(not crazy about this if I lose match) walk off court and leave ASAP, I know it’s not good sportsmanship but who cares. I’m not a good sport especially if I lose. I won’t play social tennis if there’s nothing at steak, I’m to competitive to do this and play this sport to win, winning is fun losing is not. How do all of you go about playing against friends in competitive usta matches?

 

[tennis tom]

Make new friends who share your views on your tennis goals--or talk to your existing tennis "friends" about wanting to conduct your match "practices" as you would a competitive match where the scores are reported at the end. If they don't understand or can't comply with your goals, they weren't real tennis friends to start.

If they start chatting too much on the 90 second changeovers--yell "TIME" and assume your position. I hate it when my dubs partner chats up the "enemy" in a competitive match too--they should be discussing the state of the match at hand and talking strategy and tactics with you. Many rec players don't understand this--get new partners for competitive matches, or grin and bear it with the ones you're stuck with. For rec play you pretty much have to work on what you want to work on and grin and bear it or just play tournaments to meet new hitting partners--hanging out at the club may not make it for you anymore.

 

[SavvyStringer]

Hi all in competitive match how do you go about playing against friends? I personally hate hate hate playing against friends. It’s to difficult to to get into match especially if they chat your ear off about random bs that has nothing to do with match especially during changeovers. I’ve bern victim of saying im
hitting ball to hard/making them run to much.
Whatever!!!! In competitive usta match that’s what your supposed to do. In doubles match my partner is chatting with opponents which I won’t do-after maybe if I win if I lose I’ll shake hands(not crazy about this if I lose match) walk off court and leave ASAP, I know it’s not good sportsmanship but who cares. I’m not a good sport especially if I lose. I won’t play social tennis if there’s nothing at steak, I’m to competitive to do this and play this sport to win, winning is fun losing is not. How do all of you go about playing against friends in competitive usta matches?

Seems like you're way too up tight. I can carry on a conversation for the duration of the match with the person across the net and never miss a beat. At this point, I'm almost always playing friends because of the number of teams condensing and the number of teams I have played on over time. That doesn't mean I or you should let up. You're still playing to win. If you can't take a friendly jab about making them run too much maybe you should find something else to do. I played one of my former combos partners last night. We talked though the whole match and usually fist bumped or high fived on change overs. It's not a big deal to me. I know i'm playing to win and he's playing to win so it's not a big deal. I don't think his partner cared much for it, but I don't think anyone on our court cared much for her, including him.

 

[atatu]

I agree with the above post, I'm also ultra competitive and I hate losing, but ultimately this is recreational tennis and it's supposed to be fun. Lighten up and enjoy yourself, win or lose.

 

[Dartagnan64]

My play and competitive spirit doesn't change much between social matches and league matches. So my friends know what to expect when we are playing for fun or ... for fun, I guess.

 

[Max G.]

I’ve never had a problem with it. How friendly you are doesn’t have to affect how hard you compete during a point.

 

[Bluefan75]

I agree with the above post, I'm also ultra competitive and I hate losing, but ultimately this is recreational tennis and it's supposed to be fun. Lighten up and enjoy yourself, win or lose.

Thing is, there is nothing wrong with hating losing and being competitive. It's only a problem when it leads you to a)try to cheat, b)get nasty toward the opponent during play(intimidation via methods not part of a tennis shot), or c)you're absolutely miserable to be around on changeovers/after matches you lose. If you aren't any of those three, then being competitive and hating losing is other people's problem, not yours.

 

[tennis tom]

See this thread :

https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/i-joined-a-d-c-tennis-league-thinking-i’d-make-a-few-friends-but-this-was-no-social-club.643183/​

 

[heninfan99]

I only have one friend in tennis. All the others are pricks. lol It's every man for himself out there. Cheating, bad warm ups(or none given at all). You have to demand what you want out of your tennis.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Hi all in competitive match how do you go about playing against friends?

Drop shots, outright winners, and anything to make them look as bad as possible.
Then buy'em a beer and fugehtabow'it.

 

[Sakkijarvi]

My friends are all intense competitors, no problem with this coffee klatch woman thing.

 

[PK6]

See this thread :

https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/i-joined-a-d-c-tennis-league-thinking-i’d-make-a-few-friends-but-this-was-no-social-club.643183/​

Great article!!! If you want happy hour/socilize go to bar, tennis courts are NO place for this!! And yes there are no friends playing match!!! That goes out the window!!!

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

I play tennis with "tennis friends"
If they talk, it's about tennis.

 

[Ruark]

You guys must frown a lot when you play.