Opinion on Public Park Tennis Courts re: Time limits

[msun6]

Nope yours adds an extra hour to any potential wait time.

Instead of “controlling wait time”, I think of it as assurance to those waiting that they won’t be waiting indefinitely with no say, in case you run into players who for example, are playing a 3-set ladder match which might take 2 hours with warm-up/ breaks. Or a group of friends who cycle in-out the entire night. It’s not fair to those willing to wait up to an hour. It’s not about forcing everyone to wait the maximum time and you can’t please everyone. The ones who don’t want to wait more than 20 min. and only want to hit for an hour or less will come back another time, change courts, or choose to make a reservation at a tennis center.

Most people don’t even know there’s a sign lol. And when they do see it, ultimately it doesn’t change things. You still have to be ready to wait about 20-30 min and max is one hour.

Anyone who wants to play and is willing to wait can get in. Near the end of the night (lights shut at 10:25 pm), most everyone is willing to give up a court or share with late comers who don’t know the lights turn off.

 

[msun6]

WTF is wrong with people like you?
You don't make someone wait for an entire hour, you socially tone deaf jerk.
This means to leave the court after you've played for one hour.
One hour is a reasonable amount of time to play, now get the **** off the court and give others a chance.

Most people playing and waiting interpret it the straightforward way, at least initially. Even then, everyone hopes but nobody actually expects players to rush off the court for them. It doesn’t change anything but it’s reassuring to know that you are going to get a court by a certain time.

 

[FlamingCheeto]

simple just sign the board when you take the court, case closed.

 

[msun6]

I think it is absolutely ridiculous that someone could play on a court for two, three, four hours and then have the cheek to STILL make someone sit there and wait for a whole hour before giving it up.

Have you ever seen it happen with singles or even doubles? Not likely. 3-4 hrs total playing time is only when there is a large group of people coming in at various times. We have gotten off the court and waited in line for the next court a few times.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Have you ever seen it happen with singles or even doubles? Not likely. 3-4 hrs total playing time is only when there is a large group of people coming in at various times. We have gotten off the court and waited in line for the next court a few times.

3-4 hrs for singles is not unheard of... but not while others are waiting to use the court. My brother & I played for 6 hrs straight, with very little time out for breaks. I was in my late twenties and he was in his early twenties at the time. Did that a couple of times. But no one was waiting to use our court.

In my 40s, I would often play / practice tennis for 3+ hours with a college tennis team and then go indoors to the gym and play in a badminton class for another 3 hours. In my 50s, I played 5 hrs of nearly non-stop tennis a couple of times (a 3-hr college tennis team practice and other 2 hrs before or after that). Was rather sore after those.

 

[msun6]

What added phrase? The sentence from the OP was, "Please Limit Play to One Hour When Others Are Waiting."

It has two clear meanings. If no one is waiting, there is no time limit. If players are waiting, you're only allowed one hour of play.

"When" can also mean "while", and as I heard another player say at our park, "When I was playing before, you weren't waiting." Nobody is trying to disregard waiting players, that atmosphere is more common at high schools (6-8 courts w/ no posted time limits). But some waiting players (esp. pickleball players w/ a chip on their shoulders) use the sign as an excuse to behave aggressively.

This park is not so busy that it makes sense for everyone to limit play to one hour, when most people would like to play longer. Let others play a decent length session and the next day you probably won't be waiting on them. A constant stream of people coming in and waiting would warrant a strict one-hour limit, but if we did that now only the people at the end of the night would have a chance to play a full match, etc. And most likely it would be empty. On the days we don't play, it's often empty at night.

 

[GrassCourtFan]

I always notice people and if I don’t notice immediately, I’ll ask them if they’re waiting for a court, if they just arrived or how long they’ve already waited, etc.

Yeah, this might be a court setup thing. To even talk to the people who are waiting, I'd have to walk across or yell across 1-4 courts of people playing, since the courts are in a line and the waiting area is on the side of one, since the places I play with time limits have 5 and 8 courts, respectively (the 8 courts are 2x4, not all 8 in a line).

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

The rule essentially boils down to ‘when demand exceeds availability, everyone gets to play for an hour’

If I go and play for an hour, and nobody is there then sure I will continue on. If someone shows up after I’ve been playing for 90 minutes - I’ve had my hour and then some, fair’s fair that I cede the court immediately.

I think it is absolutely ridiculous that someone could play on a court for two, three, four hours and then have the cheek to STILL make someone sit there and wait for a whole hour before giving it up.

Agreed that is pretty selfish / self-centered. I've seen a parent and their kid camped out on a court for hours on end -- with no intention of giving the court up until they were good and ready.

I just went over to a second court location tonight to meet up with some friends. Like the previous court, the ambiguous "... if / while others are waiting" sign was gone and replaced with a new 1.5 hour "playing limit" sign. No mention of "while others are waiting".

Seems that other sign had created a lot of confusion and problems. I asked my friends what their take on the old sign was. They also interpreted it as a maximum "wait time" but agreed that the clumsy wording was subject to interpretation.

Like I would usually do, if they had already been playing singles for an hour or so, someone else showed up to use the courts, they would usually tell the new arrivals that we will be off in 20-30 minutes. But if they/we were playing doubs for an hour, we would often indicate that we might be playing longer than that.

 

[stapletonj]

It's this simple. integrity is doing the right thing, even if no one is watching. If you have been on the court for an hour or more when no one is watching, then here is what you should do when somebody shows up.

A. If you are practicing, you probably have a 5-10 minute "finishing routine". Go immediately to that, then get off the court and let them know you will be done in 10 minutes. (BTW - if your finish routine is hitting 25 serves or something like that that doesn't take up the whole court, let them practice their returns on your serves as a part of their warm up!.) Another example, if you are hitting with a ball machine, offer to let them have a go while you pack up everything else as their warmup. I have done this several times, especially with families with young kids. Every single one has absolutely loved it and think you are the greatest guy in the world. (Then you tell them you want to talk to them about their car's extended warranty, ha ha)

B. If you are playing sets; let them know, finish the set you are on, and get off the court. There is absolutely no reason to not let them come on the court and start warming up as soon as the last point is played. If the game score is 2-1 and you tend to have innumerable deuce games, go to no-ad scoring.

Sporting gentlemen do this or something very similar. Classless boors do what is complained of here, "gaming" any signs.
Unless it's pickleball. (j/k)

 

[msun6]

It's this simple. integrity is doing the right thing, even if no one is watching. If you have been on the court for an hour or more when no one is watching, then here is what you should do when somebody shows up.

A. If you are practicing, you probably have a 5-10 minute "finishing routine". Go immediately to that, then get off the court and let them know you will be done in 10 minutes. (BTW - if your finish routine is hitting 25 serves or something like that that doesn't take up the whole court, let them practice their returns on your serves as a part of their warm up!.) Another example, if you are hitting with a ball machine, offer to let them have a go while you pack up everything else as their warmup. I have done this several times, especially with families with young kids. Every single one has absolutely loved it and think you are the greatest guy in the world. (Then you tell them you want to talk to them about their car's extended warranty, ha ha)

B. If you are playing sets; let them know, finish the set you are on, and get off the court. There is absolutely no reason to not let them come on the court and start warming up as soon as the last point is played. If the game score is 2-1 and you tend to have innumerable deuce games, go to no-ad scoring.

Sporting gentlemen do this or something very similar. Classless boors do what is complained of here, "gaming" any signs.
Unless it's pickleball. (j/k)

Except, you are not gaming a sign when interpreting it as you genuinely see it.

It’s not just wording, but how it fits the park itself. On a 6-8 court facility, there is almost no point in a sign if it doesn’t specify a strict time limit. For our park, it’s only 2 courts and players can regulate themselves when they see waiting people.

The sign isn’t intended to prioritize waiting players over those on-court. Yes, to me rushing off-court in 5-10 min. if I’ve played an entire hour (with nobody waiting/watching) is unnecessary and even a little weird. There’s not a long line of people waiting and the tennis court is not a conveyor belt, everyone in and out as efficiently as possible. Maybe on some courts, that makes sense.

To me, it’s obviously intended as a helpful reminder to those who would make others wait even more than an hour. Rare, but it only takes a few selfish players like that to ruin the atmosphere of the entire place.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

The rule essentially boils down to ‘when demand exceeds availability, everyone gets to play for an hour’

If I go and play for an hour, and nobody is there then sure I will continue on. If someone shows up after I’ve been playing for 90 minutes - I’ve had my hour and then some, fair’s fair that I cede the court immediately.

I think it is absolutely ridiculous that someone could play on a court for two, three, four hours and then have the cheek to STILL make someone sit there and wait for a whole hour before giving it up.

Fair enough. However, even as you stated it, I could interpret it that demand only exceeded availability when someone started waiting; prior, demand equalled availability and therefore no limit applies.

I think it boils down to whether the rule was about limiting waiting or playing time. And that's not clear to me; where you see obviousness, I see ambiguity.

And remember, it cuts both ways: the one playing on one day might be the one waiting the next. As long as the rule is consistent, that's the most important thing. People will get much more upset about inconsistent rules than which ruleset was chosen, IMO.

Again, I've seen the "waiting time" system, chaotic as it is, work and be accepted by all parties.

I also see practical problems with the "playing time" method since many players won't be honest about when they started.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Here's my summary: for those in the "playing time" camp, the order from best to worst is

A: rule based on playing time
B: rule based on waiting time
C: no rule

They see A as being the only "right" answer and therefore, don't consider B as a valid choice.


Those in the "waiting time" camp see it as

B
A
C

They see A and B as being correct answers [multiple choice vs single answer].

What both camps agree on is that C is not a good option.

Where they disagree is whether B is a valid choice and if so, is it ahead of or behind A.

I think both A and B work [although I think B is way more common] and that either one will prevent someone monopolizing the court, which was the intent of the rule, IMO.

 

[msun6]

In my experience, the wait time rule is not meant to minimize wait time, but help players know how long they need to wait.

In our group and a few others, it’s common for players to show up at the park and jump in immediately for a set or some rallying. This confuses any waiting players who interpret the sign as simply a time-limit rule.

When they approach us to ask if they have to wait longer because a new player joined, I explain that it’s a wait time limit of one hour regardless if a player joins in last 5 minutes, etc. So, I see it as a rule designed to benefit the waiting players no matter how it’s interpreted.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

In our group and a few others, it’s common for players to show up at the park and jump in immediately for a set or some rallying.

It's easy to see how this could be interpreted as line-jumping. To avoid mis-understandings, if I were you I'd explain what's happening proactively to the waiting group [ie "we'll be off in 30 minutes"] rather than waiting for them to ask.

 

[chazz]

Back in the 90's when I started playing at the local courts we befriended a guy who hit with his daughter. Whenever there was a line waiting to play we would jump onto their court and hit around with them before they would leave. Wasn't right but we weren't the only ones guilty of doing that. Nowadays there is no problem finding open public courts. A lot of the time we're the only ones playing. Of course many of those courts are in really bad shape.

 

[5sets]

Regardless of the meaning of the sign if the OP is a regular at said courts, I’ve found that playing it forward always helps. If your playing with your buddy and see some people show up and you’ve been there awhile, “15 minutes longer” is a good reply, then usually later on another day when you show up you will be remembered and someone will give up the court in a timely fashion to you. At least that’s been my experience.

 

[5sets]

In my experience, the wait time rule is not meant to minimize wait time, but help players know how long they need to wait.

In our group and a few others, it’s common for players to show up at the park and jump in immediately for a set or some rallying. This confuses any waiting players who interpret the sign as simply a time-limit rule.

When they approach us to ask if they have to wait longer because a new player joined, I explain that it’s a wait time limit of one hour regardless if a player joins in last 5 minutes, etc. So, I see it as a rule designed to benefit the waiting players no matter how it’s interpreted.

Yeah I agree with S & V, this certainly is line jumping. A few years ago I mentioned I was waiting for court to coach a lesson on a weekend morning and there was a group of eight jerks that would just rotate through three courts and hit with various friends with no regard for others. Total d!ck move but difficult to take a position against. Needless to say, I’ve scaled back to coaching just early weekday mornings or mid day when courts are generally vacant.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Regardless of the meaning of the sign if the OP is a regular at said courts, I’ve found that playing it forward always helps. If your playing with your buddy and see some people show up and you’ve been there awhile, “15 minutes longer” is a good reply, then usually later on another day when you show up you will be remembered and someone will give up the court in a timely fashion to you. At least that’s been my experience.

Yeah, that's how most things work in life.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Yeah I agree with S & V, this certainly is line jumping.

If everyone clears the court an hour after the first people got there and independent of when the newcomers arrived, it's nebulous whether it's line-jumping because the waiters have to wait another x minutes regardless of whether the newcomers arrived or not. From a strict "letter of the law" approach, it is line-jumping.

If I was waiting, I wouldn't care if the newcomers joined as long as it didn't increase my wait time.

If, OTOH, the clock is reset when the newcomers arrive, that's line-jumping. This is what we are trying to avoid.

 

[Morch Us]

Are you in NY?

By reading through some bits and pieces, it looks like you had been occupying two of these courts as a group of 6-7 people, from sometime in the afternoon till 10.25pm, 5 days a week for more than two years. If someone comes in, you leave one court, after making them wait for 1 hour, but you are back in line, and claim that court back after 1hour?

Also it looks like in the last two years you had only two incidents of unhappy people trying to get court. If that is the case, I would just say consider yourself lucky and ignore those 2 "jerks". Also ignore all those jerks who does not want to wait for 1hr.

arrived at 6:30 pm

In 22 months, playing 5 nights a week

only been an issue twice with players

6-7 people on one court and people coming and going

we just get back in line

Some players won’t wait an hour

group of friends who cycle in-out the entire night

Near the end of the night (lights shut at 10:25 pm)

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

... A lot of the time we're the only ones playing. Of course many of those courts are in really bad shape.

Yeah, we did that. When my brother and I played for 6 hrs uninterrupted, we were at courts that were in disrepair -- resurfacing was loooong overdue.

Quite often, when looking for courts with students, we would often go to courts that were in pretty bad shape. Especially if we were looking close to prime-time. Better players generally avoided those courts. Most ppl who used those courts typically had "Walmart" rackets & stayed for 30 minutes or less. So, even if we had to wait for a court, the wait was typically very short.

When those courts were repaired, they would become somewhat popular again -- until cracks started developing and chunks of the top surface would break off (a sign of a poor resurfacing job).

 

[Creighton]

In my experience, the wait time rule is not meant to minimize wait time, but help players know how long they need to wait.

In our group and a few others, it’s common for players to show up at the park and jump in immediately for a set or some rallying. This confuses any waiting players who interpret the sign as simply a time-limit rule.

When they approach us to ask if they have to wait longer because a new player joined, I explain that it’s a wait time limit of one hour regardless if a player joins in last 5 minutes, etc. So, I see it as a rule designed to benefit the waiting players no matter how it’s interpreted.

You realize you're interpreting this in what is in your best interest right?

It's better for everyone if you would just limit your play to an hour. It would ensure the players waiting got on the courts quicker.

 

[5sets]

If everyone clears the court an hour after the first people got there and independent of when the newcomers arrived, it's nebulous whether it's line-jumping because the waiters have to wait another x minutes regardless of whether the newcomers arrived or not. From a strict "letter of the law" approach, it is line-jumping.

If I was waiting, I wouldn't care if the newcomers joined as long as it didn't increase my wait time.

If, OTOH, the clock is reset when the newcomers arrive, that's line-jumping. This is what we are trying to avoid.

Right, but that’s never the case, that’s why these groups do this. They want to have an orgy of hitting for four hours rotating partners and have no intention of leaving after an hour.

 

[msun6]

Are you in NY?

By reading through some bits and pieces, it looks like you had been occupying two of these courts as a group of 6-7 people, from sometime in the afternoon till 10.25pm, 5 days a week for more than two years. If someone comes in, you leave one court, after making them wait for 1 hour, but you are back in line, and claim that court back after 1hour?

Also it looks like in the last two years you had only two incidents of unhappy people trying to get court. If that is the case, I would just say consider yourself lucky and ignore those 2 "jerks". Also ignore all those jerks who does not want to wait for 1hr.

We start around 6:30 pm, both courts or just one. I like a pick-up tennis atmosphere where anyone can join us, all levels..whether they rsvped or just showed up.

If both courts are full, 8 people..we still try to see if they want to join to avoid them having to wait (rotating hitting or king of the hill doubles/singles with a line, triples drill, etc.) Obviously, it helps because I don’t have to worry about people waiting, but I do like meeting new people and I give them the link for our group. 10-12 players on average every night in our group and everyone knows we might lose one or even both courts, some are willing to wait.

If people leave, we can move over to one court and only occasionally do people have to wait an entire hour. Weekends is pretty empty I noticed.

If I have a feeling people might have to wait a while, I’ll let them know I set a timer. Somebody will give them the court at 60 min. at the latest, even if other court (maybe not our group) got there first. Somebody has to give up the court, worse case we can get in line for the other court.
I never get back in the queue for the exact same court because those people have already waited an hour, plus the other court would be the next logical court to wait on.

On our court, it really is a perfect system. I’ve had several hundred meetups at this park and 99% of people seem happy with this system and I’ve met countless new people this way.

The only two problematic encounters I’ve had were with a pair of guys who seemed to have social/communication issues (they couldn’t comprehend how 10 people can justify two courts if we all know each other.) And those pickleball ladies who will never get to play their pickleball if they physically push people off. Who does that to anyone, regardless of time?

The occasional people will show up and leave without waiting. If it’s full, I’m not going to chase them down. It’s their choice to not wait and it’s also a relief. I feel a little bad when I suddenly notice people walking off with rackets (it’s dark at night w/windscreen +trees) and they didn’t get to play…probably they waited a 15-20 min and I didn’t notice.

( It’s a maximum wait time and there’s no confusion when others come in late. I actually stagger the start time for two meetups (early and late night.))

 

[Moveforwardalways]

Those signs are posted all over the place at public parks around here. But trust me, if you walked up to a court and said you’ve been waiting an hour and according to the sign’s rules they have to leave and give you the court, you would be first laughed at and then if you persisted you’d get your *** kicked.

 

[Creighton]

Those signs are posted all over the place at public parks around here. But trust me, if you walked up to a court and said you’ve been waiting an hour and according to the sign’s rules they have to leave and give you the court, you would be first laughed at and then if you persisted you’d get your *** kicked.

This thread has really made me thankful for my private club. You tend to forget how awful people can be over something as trivial as a tennis court.

 

[msun6]

This thread has really made me thankful for my private club. You tend to forget how awful people can be over something as trivial as a tennis court.

If you give people more credit, you might enjoy playing for free at a public park.

 

[Morch Us]

Glad to know. It happens only in NY though.

On our court, it really is a perfect system.

 

[Creighton]

If you give people more credit, you might enjoy playing for free at a public park.

No. The lengths you guys are going to justify ignoring a sign, I can't even imagine how you guys justify bad line calls.

 

[msun6]

Those signs are posted all over the place at public parks around here. But trust me, if you walked up to a court and said you’ve been waiting an hour and according to the sign’s rules they have to leave and give you the court, you would be first laughed at and then if you persisted you’d get your *** kicked.

Glad to know. It happens only in NY though.
(I lived in 20+ cities myself but NY was unique).

I used to play at Crotona Park in the Bronx. It’s the Wimbledon of the Bronx. But this park I’m referring to is in Texas.

I’ve done it countless times (not in the Bronx.) Around 45-50 min mark, if somebody on that court picks up a ball near me I’ll just politely ask how much longer they’ll be. If they say they have another set to play, etc. I just let them know it’s an hour wait limit.

Never had to ask, “how long have you been here?” That would make people defensive.

 

[Morch Us]

Well, according to OP they are not completely ignoring others. If someone comes in, and pass the 1hr wait test, they can have the court for 1hr. This 1hr is including the warmup and packup, since there is a timer they watch, and they are back in line, the second they step out of the court.

but that’s never the case, that’s why these groups do this

 

[msun6]

I used to play at Crotona Park in the Bronx. It’s the Wimbledon of the Bronx. But this park I’m referring to is in Texas.

Well, according to OP they are not completely ignoring others. If someone comes in, and pass the 1hr wait test, they can have the court for 1hr. This 1hr is including the warmup and packup, since there is a timer they watch, and they are back in line, the second they step out of the court.

They could play on their court indefinitely unless different people show up to wait. I avoid waiting on people who waited for us to leave- it would feel too weird.

But I sometimes sit on the bench to save the court for us, when they leave. It’s usually after they have played a while and I wouldn’t ask them to leave at one hour mark.

It’s a perfect system..

Max play time is easier to understand for new people. But it leads to a lot of asking players on court how long they will be, etc. Players also feel rushed.

Max wait time is ideal when players are familiar with rule and nobody feels rushed. I don’t need to ask anybody unnecessary questions.

 

[Morch Us]

yes

It’s a perfect system..

 

[Morch Us]

Good idea. That will discourage any new jerks coming and trying to wait and use the court after they are done.

I sometimes sit on the bench to save the court for us, when they leave.

 

[zaskar1]

At our public park, we have a sign posted that reads, "Please Limit Play to One Hour When Others Are Waiting."

My interpretation of this rule is that nobody should be made to wait longer than one hour (unless there are multiple groups waiting in line behind one another, which is rare.)

I noticed many players interpret this sign literally, in that you are not allowed to be on court more than one hour in total if somebody appears and starts waiting.

To me, this encourages poor court etiquette, with pushy behavior and players approaching people on court to ask how much longer they plan to stay and even how long they have already been playing.

If I first approach players on court to ask if they will be much longer, it's only because I'm deciding whether to move to other courts and I make sure they know I'm not trying to push them off.

If I'm waiting, I like to wait on a bench in front of the courts, so they don't feel anyone is hovering. At 40 min. or so, I will politely ask if they plan to play longer than 20 min. more simply because many people are not even aware of the sign/time limit.

I'm only asking because a very aggressive group of pickle ball players barged their way onto the court while it was still in use, even though I told them it was still 20 more min. wait time remaining.

I first noticed a lady waiting at 7:25 pm and set a timer for 60 min...she said later that she had arrived at 7:11 pm, fair enough. But at 7:50 pm, with the doubles set finished and two players deciding to rally, they stormed the court with their nets and decided that we were finished. (Later, one of their group said they had arrived at 6:30 pm and they were waiting in their car, which I don't think counts as waiting.) Any number of people could be waiting in their cars, etc. You have to at least be reasonably visible, that only makes sense, right? Their logic is that you get one hour, and then you're gone. It doesn't actually matter if anybody was waiting for 59 of those minutes, but since they happened to know our schedule, or saw us when sitting or even just passing by in their car, they know we've been playing for over an hour. Cue the interrogation and accusations, rather than simply wait one full hour.

I've waited a full hour countless times, and to me that is the only logical interpretation of this rule which seems to be straightforward but it still easily misinterpreted. Even if you can't agree, nobody should ever barge onto the court without even having a discussion and agreement. If I were in their shoes, I would have waited an hour. If any group intentionally disregards this rule and continues to make others wait one hour+, I'll just do the same to them next time. But you never storm the court like a commando and just take the court by force.

(Btw, these "ladies" didn't get to play their pickle ball and preferred to call the police instead of waiting another 20 min. Nobody ever came...understandably. And one of their wiffle balls is now in the big oak tree lol.)

sorry to hear about the "pickle" people incident, but at public courts you get all sorts of behavior that can be extremely rude. at public courts there are all types camped out on courts when others are waiting, not able to tell time.
i dont think its just "picklers" who are rude and cant tell time. i have experience poor behavior when tennis people are waiting on
public courts.
thats why i joined a tennis club, but oocasionally i play on public courts as some of my opponents dont want to join a club.

i personally feel that the time limit is a good thing, and expect "civilized" people to obey the rules.
dont we have rules for tennis and pickleball?

anyway, even at my club, there is a 1 1/2hr time limit, which all members seem to obey

 

[Morch Us]

Only problem would be that the new comer didn't have to "wait 60 minutes" to play. So technically 1 person can take care of the "wait" for the whole group. This can easily be used for exclusive continuous usage.

Let us say the group see one guy Joe, waiting for court outside, the group can send Jack (who is part of the group), to claim the place just behind Joe in que.

If Joe pass the 1hr waiting test, the group might have to leave the court, but can claim the court next to it, within a few minutes for Jack, who had been waiting for 1hr.
If Joe fails the waiting test, Jack can come back and continue playing with group.

Of course Jack too one for the team now, but next turn would be someone else.

If everyone clears the court an hour after the first people got there and independent of when the newcomers arrived, it's nebulous whether it's line-jumping because the waiters have to wait another x minutes regardless of whether the newcomers arrived or not.

 

[tavarua]

Our public courts say "For Tennis use only"... Does that mean no pickle Ball?

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

No. The lengths you guys are going to justify ignoring a sign, I can't even imagine how you guys justify bad line calls.

No, not ignoring it. Just not misinterpreting its intent like you are.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Those signs are posted all over the place at public parks around here. But trust me, if you walked up to a court and said you’ve been waiting an hour and according to the sign’s rules they have to leave and give you the court, you would be first laughed at and then if you persisted you’d get your *** kicked.

Probably one of the reasons that those signs are disappearing in this area. Several that had the contentious "wait time" signs for a few years now have new signs that indicate a 1.5 hour playing limit (but no mention of "while others are waiting").

Sure, some ppl will still "Bogart" the courts but a lot of singles users will comply. But a group of 4 or more will, no doubt, be another matter.

 

[msun6]

Only problem would be that the new comer didn't have to "wait 60 minutes" to play. So technically 1 person can take care of the "wait" for the whole group. This can easily be used for exclusive continuous usage.

Let us say the group see one guy Joe, waiting for court outside, the group can send Jack (who is part of the group), to claim the place just behind Joe in que.

If Joe pass the 1hr waiting test, the group might have to leave the court, but can claim the court next to it, within a few minutes for Jack, who had been waiting for 1hr.
If Joe fails the waiting test, Jack can come back and continue playing with group.

Of course Jack too one for the team now, but next turn would be someone else.

For us, if we do this it’s because new players are showing up late and our one court is maxed out (6-8).

But I ask the latecomers to wait apart (and always off court) from us so we are two separate groups.

I don’t wait an hour so our group can shift over and push off another group. Just to save the spot.

 

[puppybutts]

Personally I hate courts that have a sign that mention a 1-hour limit. As we can see, even among people who play tennis, there is disagreement. An average best of 3 set match takes 90 minutes. Which is already past 1 hour, and forces you to skip the warm up or sacrifice more match play. When someone asks, "how long have you been here?" I think, well 20 minutes so I basically just got here and warmed up, but according to the sign rule, I've already used 1/3 of my time. I feel 90 minutes should be the minimum...I mean come on, sometimes driving to the court and back takes 30 minutes to an hour, you're telling me I have to sit in the car longer than I can be on court? (I abide by the sign when courts are busy, I just don't agree with it).

I understand you shouldn't hog the courts when it's busy, but also if you are a pickleballer trying to force your way onto a tennis court with no designated pickleball lines because you didn't want to wait at pickleball-specific courts, don't expect to play at peak times on a tennis court. If you are a parent whose kids will be spraying balls every 20 seconds into the courts next to you and you don't have the courtesy to fetch them, maybe don't play during peak times. I find these signs are usually present in more neighborhood-nested courts with lots of people like this who get so entitled while breaking 10 other basic etiquette rules far worse than playing a little over an hour.

The sign just causes both parties (both the current occupants of the court and the ones waiting) to get super anal. Someone who is stalking and timing you is incorrect to do so. Someone who is overmilking their time is also incorrect. I feel a soft rule would be better, like "When new players have arrived and are waiting, please wrap up your court time in the next 6-8 games. If you yourself have just arrived, please limit your total court time to two sets when players are waiting." That way, no one can time you, but both parties can agree on a concrete wait time. "Hi, how long will you be?" "Oh we actually just arrived, so we'll be done after two sets." "Hi, how long will you be?" "We'll play a few more games to decide a winner then be done." "Hi how long will you be?" "Oh, we just finished a set, so we have one more to go."

I'm sure someone will come roaring back at my comments...I say these things while being open to being wrong. Oh well, I tend to avoid peak times anyway since I know I like to play longer.

 

[5sets]

Our public courts say "For Tennis use only"... Does that mean no pickle Ball?

I wish it did, but Pickleballers are stating that the signs were created pre Pickleball and the courts can be used for all racquet sports.

 

[Creighton]

Probably one of the reasons that those signs are disappearing in this area. Several that had the contentious "wait time" signs for a few years now have new signs that indicate a 1.5 hour playing limit (but no mention of "while others are waiting").

Sure, some ppl will still "Bogart" the courts but a lot of singles users will comply. But a group of 4 or more will, no doubt, be another matter.

Why would they literally have to change the signs in your area if you guys were doing it correctly?

 

[Ronaldo]

I wish it did, but Pickleballers are stating that the signs were created pre Pickleball and the courts can be used for all racquet sports.

Street Hockey!

 

[msun6]

Street Hockey!

At least they’ll never say, “get off our court!” like those pickleball ladies who didn’t even wait an hour (except they counted 1st person waiting in their car) and started setting up their net while we were still rallying lol.

 

[Ronaldo]

At least they’ll never say, “get off our court!” like those pickleball ladies who didn’t even wait an hour (except they counted 1st person waiting in their car) and started setting up their net while we were still rallying lol.

The Ladies never used get outta our kitchen!

 

[Ronaldo]

Never had a problem with Picklers as there are dedicated/re-purposed public courts with a local association along with 4 hrs from 8:30 - 12 Noon at each YMCA just for them.

Btw, it is the basketball courts being used for Pickleball at the Y

 

[5sets]

Street Hockey!

Jokes aside, there was a time in all of our lifetimes when tennis was losing popularity. I guess post McEnroe, Borg but pre Sampras, Agassi, and then again post Sampras, Agassi pre Rafa Fed. It was during those times when other sports ventured onto abandoned tennis courts to play their other sports. So playing Devils Advocate I can kind of see how their like, oh well you never had a problem with us 10 years ago, what gives?

 

[Ronaldo]

30 yrs ago we had over 200 public tennis courts. Nearly all are in disrepair. Only fresh courts are in the burbs.

And those dedicated to Pickleball

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Why would they literally have to change the signs in your area if you guys were doing it correctly?

You tend to only see one side of things don't you? I can think of multiple reasons why they were changed (have already mentioned a couple of them). But don't think I am going to continue this discussion with you. Brick wall. You like to twist everything to fit your own narrow perception and you appear not to hold fellow posters here in very high regard... making assumptions about us based on very little evidence.