Hitting People with the ball.

S

SlapChop

Semi-Pro
Wow so I have never really hit anyone with the ball before and in a doubles match last week managed to hit both of the opponents on separate occasions.

First one I hit in the foot, I was poaching a week shot and hit an overhead straight into the foot. This was kind of funny because in a previous match he hit a girl on another court in the foot with a stray serve so I told him it was pay back for her.

Second one, again poaching a shot I had to stretch out for caught the ball on the backhand side and it volleyed back into the guys chest not too hard though. I said oops and apologized.

Anyone else ever get on a spree like this?
 
a couple of summers ago i played usta league and got stuck playing dbls. in the last match of the season that summer i inadvertantly hit or hit at both of the players on the opposing team. both times i was at net. the first one was a reflex type of volley. the second one was an overhead. my footwork was even worse back then so i was late on both shots and ended up going right at the netman. i apologized both times. they ended up beating us so i really don't feel bad about it now! lol!
 
Yes, I did. All of my hits were accidents though. I was usually going for a passing shot and didn't aim well enough. Or it was a weak lob that I was able to smash and hit someone's foot (again, usually going for open court and my aim is off).

It got so bad (good?) during a one month period that someone gave me the nick name "Mad Dog". :)
 
I hit my doubles partner in the back of the head with a serve yesterday. Total shank. Probably didn't hurt much. Right?
 
My partner once hit our opponents 3 times in the same match with overheads. But I really can't blame him. They were lobbing a lot and some of their lobs were short and they refused to back up.
 
Mauvaise said:
I always tell my my doubles partners that if they must hit me on the serve, just keep it away from the kidneys!
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If you are in an athletic position with your knees bent and hunched forward when your partner is serving, you are much more likely to take one in the rear than your head or back. :)
 
PimpMyGame said:
Keep working on it until you hit both your opponents on the same occasion.
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I will be playing them again tonight :twisted: if I can just get them close enough together. I think the best option to have the ball bounce into the other player is if it bounces off the side of the head. :shock:
 
I play tuesday nights with a guy who intentionally aims for the people on the opposite team. I personally dislike playing with him but I can't find another partner that evening so I guess I'm stuck with the ******.
 
SlapChop said:
I will be playing them again tonight :twisted: if I can just get them close enough together. I think the best option to have the ball bounce into the other player is if it bounces off the side of the head. :shock:
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I also think you should try to claim two points if you manage it. I mean if hitting the opponent before the bounce is your point, surely hitting two opponents with the same ball before the bounce is your point x 2! :twisted:
 
Cindysphinx said:
I hit my doubles partner in the back of the head with a serve yesterday. Total shank. Probably didn't hurt much. Right?
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i was at the net close to the alley. next thing i know i hear the ball pass by my head for a kicker out wide...didn't think of ducking before the serve since i was close to the side. now squat a bit more.

------------------------------------------------

this past weekend I hit a back hand volley with decent pace...but nothing close to a smash. hit the net player at the knees. all i was trying to do was make sure it went it as it was a reaction hit. put my hand up in the "sorry...was not intentional" motion. seemed like he was out to get me back and hit some aggressive net shots at me.

all in fun.
 
Seems to me that it was all in good faith, I see no problem there. As long as you aim low, at the feet, I guess it's ok (unless you do it systematically in situations where you have other options).
 
Sometimes I think my "Inner Game self 2" picks opponents as targets on shots where I'm just trying to get a racket on the ball and don't have a clue where it's going to go. Lunging volleys, backpedaling overheads...I'm surprised how often my return goes more or less at someone. Hard to talk my way out of, sometimes.
 
Cindysphinx said:
I hit my doubles partner in the back of the head with a serve yesterday. Total shank. Probably didn't hurt much. Right?
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Seems kind of cold to call your partner a "total *****" just because she got in the way of your serve. :)

Actually I once got hit right on the back of the jawbone by a doubles partner's serve, and it knocked me to my knees but didn't really hurt much.

edit: I didn't know my slight re-working of "shank" would get the asterisk treatment, but it looks kind of good like that.
 
A 6'2" lefty was poaching at the net on my cross-court serve returns from the ad side baseline. This is his usual style of play and his poaching swings frequently cross the net but no one questions him. This made him a fair target and I decided to go at him. My first attempt caught him off-guard and he barely managed to prevent serious damage to his family jewel. Not having heard any apology from me, he stared at me until the next point but I acted as if nothing had happened. You would think he would have gotten the message. At the next occasion, he got closer to the net and took an intimidating stand. I went for his upper torso and succeeded. Hearing no apology from me, he smiled and told me "I'll remember that."
 
Anything below the knees is fair game and a good tennis shot.

Any higher and either a) you need better aim (unless it's on purpose) or b) your opponents needs to become more agile.
 
your swing can cross the net, as long as you hit the ball on your own side of the net.

VaththalKuzhambu said:
A 6'2" lefty was poaching at the net on my cross-court serve returns from the ad side baseline. This is his usual style of play and his poaching swings frequently cross the net but no one questions him. This made him a fair target and I decided to go at him. My first attempt caught him off-guard and he barely managed to prevent serious damage to his family jewel. Not having heard any apology from me, he stared at me until the next point but I acted as if nothing had happened. You would think he would have gotten the message. At the next occasion, he got closer to the net and took an intimidating stand. I went for his upper torso and succeeded. Hearing no apology from me, he smiled and told me "I'll remember that."
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yes, but this guy was making contact on our side of the court. at least that is what I think was happening. it's hard to tell when this 6'2" guy, with long limbs, is just 2 feet away from the net. nevertheless, aiming from the baseline for the poacher at net seems fair, at least on return of serves.

blakesq said:
your swing can cross the net, as long as you hit the ball on your own side of the net.
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VaththalKuzhambu said:
yes, but this guy was making contact on our side of the court. at least that is what I think was happening. it's hard to tell when this 6'2" guy, with long limbs, is just 2 feet away from the net. nevertheless, aiming from the baseline for the poacher at net seems fair, at least on return of serves.
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You talking about me or what :mrgreen:
 
I think in men's singles and doubles it's totally fine to hit at people. If they don't like it they should back off the net!

Mixed is a different story. I never hit directly at the woman on purpose, unless the other guy does it first.
 
^that's where I see mixed just a bit different, if the guy across is maliciously going at my partner, I take him out every chance I have until he gets the idea. No need to drag his partner into this.

Men's is fair game, as Kotter said. Keep it on the up and up and avoid the above knees potshots. Unless you have a free ranger at net and you feel the need to limit his aggressiveness by putting one in his chest...although note that in 4.5 and above you have most likely just lost the point unless you really catch them by surprise.
 
Match in season today, our 3 was playing the guy on the other team with the best overhead/serve on the team. Their guy hit a great serve and approached. Our guy hit up a lob, and ran off the court to the side so he wouldn't get smashed.
He was literally 7 feet away from the open court, and the other guy nailed him right in the chest with the hardest overhead I've ever seen.
So he risked losing the point by missing our guy, just so he could hit him with the overhead.
 
Man... Me and my buddies in the jrs always tried to peg each other! Best spree I got on was 5 in 3 hours of play, 2 were on consecutive points lolz.
 
SlapChop said:
Anyone else ever get on a spree like this?
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This winter I have hit the up man on the oposing team, while I was serving, 4 times in 2 months. It had never happened before... Odd

FWIW ... 3 were slicing serves that curved into the player as they were moving to get out of the way. One was a hard flat serve that caught the foot of the guy who thought he could pysch me out by standing close to the T.

However, at the net I usually hit someone in the shins on poaches once or twice out every 5-10 matches matches.
 
Hitting someone below the knee is not even worth talking about in my opinion.

I got nailed by a serving partner (who is probably the hardest server in our group) right on my ear the other week. It rang for about an hour and hurt a bit and it was quite red, but I just shook it off and kept playing (put ice on it after the match). I doubt that Cindy's partner got hurt much.
 
pyrokid said:
Match in season today, our 3 was playing the guy on the other team with the best overhead/serve on the team. Their guy hit a great serve and approached. Our guy hit up a lob, and ran off the court to the side so he wouldn't get smashed.
He was literally 7 feet away from the open court, and the other guy nailed him right in the chest with the hardest overhead I've ever seen.
So he risked losing the point by missing our guy, just so he could hit him with the overhead.
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That guy would be crapping strings and graphite for a week if he did that to me.
 
I might get flamed for this, but when I'm playing competitively, I always hit one of my first returns of serve at the beginning of the match, directly at the net person. I crank it as hard as I can, aiming for his right hip (if he's a righty). Interesting how that gets into that player's head and how he tends to back off the net the rest of the match...

Kinda goes for singles, too. First time my opponent comes in, I'm gunning for him, hoping to drill him hard. I never look for the passing shot - I like having a target. If he volleys it back, then it's too good.
 
Just keep the hits under control. Don't aim for someones face because if you did that to me you'd be getting your head stitched up after I bashed you over the head with my racket.

Hitting or jamming the net guy with the ball when everyone is at the net in doubles is usually a smart tactic.

Lastly when you get an overhead near the net don't crank on it aiming for the
net guy, just hit a solid shot and end it.
 
If you get hit with a ball, and came after me with your racket, you would end up in the hospital. If you can't stand the heat, stay off the net, or wear a tennis skirt.

dbusiness said:
Just keep the hits under control. Don't aim for someones face because if you did that to me you'd be getting your head stitched up after I bashed you over the head with my racket.

Hitting or jamming the net guy with the ball when everyone is at the net in doubles is usually a smart tactic.

Lastly when you get an overhead near the net don't crank on it aiming for the
net guy, just hit a solid shot and end it.
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I have one friend I will intentionally slam the ball at, but I'll only do that because he gets a kick out of hitting us with the ball. It's all in good fun.

In a match, I'll never intentionally hit someone with a ball, but if I'm near the net I will often hit directly at someone also near the net across from me. Never hit very hard, but I just know it's very difficult to hit a return when you have no time to react. This really only happens in doubles when there are no other options.
 
blakesq said:
If you get hit with a ball, and came after me with your racket, you would end up in the hospital. If you can't stand the heat, stay off the net, or wear a tennis skirt.
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If you aim for and hit me in the face I will but you in the hospital.
Name the time and place.
 
SlapChop said:
Wow so I have never really hit anyone with the ball before and in a doubles match last week managed to hit both of the opponents on separate occasions.

First one I hit in the foot, I was poaching a week shot and hit an overhead straight into the foot. This was kind of funny because in a previous match he hit a girl on another court in the foot with a stray serve so I told him it was pay back for her.

Second one, again poaching a shot I had to stretch out for caught the ball on the backhand side and it volleyed back into the guys chest not too hard though. I said oops and apologized.

Anyone else ever get on a spree like this?
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Considering how minimal this issue is in tennis, it has well above it's share of threads devoted to it's discussion...
 
It's actually pretty hard to aim for someone's face and actually hit it. That takes an insane amount of control. Plus, if the guy ducks, ball will likely sail long. Just not worth going for a head shot. Hitting someone's body can be just as gratifying and less dangerous to that person (and statistically safer).
 
Puh-leeze

dbusiness said:
If you aim for and hit me in the face I will but you in the hospital.
Name the time and place.
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If you put me in the hospital, I will put you in the morgue (Just Kidding). And so on and so on and so on...

Come on, enough with the tough talk (not just by you but by several others in previous posts).
 
If someone hits me and puts me in the hospital after getting hit with a ball, I won't hesitate to call the police.
 
In doubles playing the net person is the proper play. I hit people from time to time and have been hit a couple times. Net huggers are the only ones I go after when it may not be the proper play. A few weeks ago I was playing a mixed match the female had a very slow week serve and the guy still played close to the net and I was returning from the service line. I killed a ball at him that he ducked down for what ever reason and I hit him in the side of the head. I apologized several times but boy was he mad and tried hard the next several games to pay one of us back but could not. Than with my partner serving to the other female I got a very week over the middle return that I hit right into the guys chest. Well now beside himself the match was over in 5 min as all he did was over hit. We won 6-0 6-3.
 
Carl Pierce said:
In doubles playing the net person is the proper play. I hit people from time to time and have been hit a couple times. Net huggers are the only ones I go after when it may not be the proper play. A few weeks ago I was playing a mixed match the female had a very slow week serve and the guy still played close to the net and I was returning from the service line. I killed a ball at him that he ducked down for what ever reason and I hit him in the side of the head. I apologized several times but boy was he mad and tried hard the next several games to pay one of us back but could not. Than with my partner serving to the other female I got a very week over the middle return that I hit right into the guys chest. Well now beside himself the match was over in 5 min as all he did was over hit. We won 6-0 6-3.
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This is exactly why I like to drill the net person at my first opportunity.

Do any of you drill the net person if it's a woman? I only did that once in my life and I felt really, really bad. Got her right in the boob and she started crying.
 
Hominator said:
I might get flamed for this, but when I'm playing competitively, I always hit one of my first returns of serve at the beginning of the match, directly at the net person. I crank it as hard as I can, aiming for his right hip (if he's a righty). Interesting how that gets into that player's head and how he tends to back off the net the rest of the match...

Kinda goes for singles, too. First time my opponent comes in, I'm gunning for him, hoping to drill him hard. I never look for the passing shot - I like having a target. If he volleys it back, then it's too good.
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That's a good play in dubs. I do it quite often to keep aggressive players honest. In singles it's only a good strategy if you get a good look at a shot, if you don't your opponent will have time to react.
 
Please....don't hit women, of course, even fat ugly ones.

But pros hitting pros, come'on. The object of the game is to hit the ball over the net, inside the lines, one more time than your opponent. If you hit the ball across the net, and the pro on the other side elects to hit it with his body and not with his racquet, that's his bad.

With that being said, I was sitting directly behind Lendl in the ad corner of the court, maybe seven rows back in MSG when he was down a break, two sets to Vitas, and Vitas head butted a Lendl FH passing shot. It was really hot in the Garden and I was kinda dozing, but the head butt was so loud, that I was jolted outta my seat. We all know what happened after that.
 
IMO it depends on the situation.

-I will never hit a ball at a girl.

-I will never aim at someone who turns their back.

-I will never aim a smash/overhead at someone, it's just dangerous.

-However, if my opponent is at the net trying to cut off my passing shot, I believe that hitting right at 'em is a valid option.

Also, if you're playing doubles and your partner has a lolipop serve, do not play 1-up 1-back. Thats just asking to get pegged.

And finally, hitting someone below their knees doesn't really count as hitting them. "OMG ball hit my foot!" lolz.
 
Last edited:
Kyle7286 said:
I got hit in the nuts by an overhead last week during ALTA.....
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So basically your a chick now... For real though, how are you living??? I've gotten tagged in the jewels more then once but by volleys! I think my heart would stop if it were an overhead.
 
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