Physically Challenged Opponents

[TimothyO]

This topic is inspired by another thread which included discussion about an opponent 5-months pregnant. Please note, this is not about wheelchair tennis nor tennis involving persons with serious disabilities.

This is about opponents with physical limitations which may or may not be obvious and which may be "exploited" during the course of typical rec league play.

Examples include:

- extremely excessive weight

- knee and ankle damage requiring significant bracing

- age-related mobility impairment

- respiratory or pulmonary problems

- shoulder problems limiting arm range of motion for overheads

In the other thread a TT member mentioned hitting at a pregnant opponent and then drop shotting her after she pulled back. Other TT members chided him for drop shotting the pregnant opponent after forcing her back from the net. They thought it was wrong to make her run.

Question: whatever an opponent's physical limitation, is it legitimate to exploit that limitation during typical rec league play?

According to some TT members it was not legitimate to exploit the pregnant woman's limited mobility and the fellow was pilloried by some for doing so.

One facet of rec league tennis is that you meet a huge range of opponents, especially at mid-levels. In B-level ALTA we have everyone from perfectly fit 20- and 30-somethings to middle aged players wearing enough strapping/bracing to look like a Borg to folks in their 60s and 70s who enjoy playing in the "younger" divisions. (Please note that age alone won't determine a match's outcome. A 40-year old friend and her partner were recently defeated by relatively fit elderly opponents clearly in their 70s!)

Here's a very concrete example: we have a fellow on our men's team who has played since age 8, has beautiful strokes, but is extremely, seriously overweight. He can't move due to his weight. At net he's an easy target given his limited agility and at the baseline he can't reach "drop shots" that hit the service line!

If making a pregnant woman run for a drop shot is wrong is it also wrong to make an overweight individual run around? Is it wrong to make an elderly person run around? Or one with many braces on knees and ankles? Pregnancy, in the absence of an accident, is usually a matter of planning while weight is more complicated and age is inevitable.

Is it wrong to hit overheads to an opponent with limited range of motion due to shoulder injury? (I did this once unknowingly...in a singles match I noticed my opponent couldn't hit overheads and starting doing a one-two punch with drop shots and overheads...only later did I learn he had a shoulder injury).

I ask because I found myself surprised that some thought it was wrong to make a pregnant woman run for a drop shot. Keep in mind I have no problem jamming a male singles opponent who comes to the net during league play but league-play or not I won't hit at a woman in mixed doubles. And in casual play I won't hit at anyone, male or female, singles or doubles.

But if someone steps on the court with a mobility challenge I can't see a problem exploiting that in league play. However, in casual play I won't do that. For example, we have some older folks on our team and in casual play I won't run them around and I'll hit softer to them while in team practice I treat them as any other player changing pace and spin and running them around.

So what say you, is it legitimate to exploit an opponent's limited mobility or range of motion during league play? Or, whether the opponent is pregnant, elderly, overweight, or suffering from joint damage, must you change your shot selection to accommodate their limitation?

(I should also note that I though I am otherwise fit I face some mobility limits: right ankle has bone fragments and scarred tendons from youth football and left knee lacks cartilage from running/martial arts/racquetball/etc...I've worn some braces a few times but would never expect an opponent to go easy on me as a result.)

 

[ollinger]

"accomodate their limitation"....now I've seen it all!!!! Yes, by all means, be sure to hit it where your opponent can reach it, because his decision to play this game is YOUR responsibility.

 

[Turbo-87]

People choose to play the game regardless of limitations. In casual play, I would say don't attack the weakness but also don't fudge your game just to be nice. Pretty nebulous line there, eh? In league play, the point is to exploit weaknesses and you talk with your partner about exactly that.

 

[TimothyO]

"accomodate their limitation"....now I've seen it all!!!! Yes, by all means, be sure to hit it where your opponent can reach it, because his decision to play this game is YOUR responsibility.

Yeah, that's the same reaction I had when TT members chided another member for making a pregnant woman run for the ball.

I just don't get it. You choose to play with whatever limits you bring on the court. An opponent isn't obliged to accommodate them imo, at least in league play.

I also believe the same is true for tactics such as under-hand serves, moon balls, and pushing: if the shot or tactic is legal and effective don't complain. Some players seem to think they're entitled to have an opponent hit "to them", whether or not they have a limitation! That's just weird.

 

[ollinger]

^^ You CAN'T "make" a person run for the ball. That person chooses to run for the ball, or not to.

 

[TimothyO]

^^ You CAN'T "make" a person run for the ball. That person chooses to run for the ball, or not to.

Fully agree.

 

[spot]

According to some TT members it was not legitimate to exploit the pregnant woman's limited mobility and the fellow was pilloried by some for doing so.

Intentionally hitting a pregnant woman to make her move back is a total D Bag move. I don't care about the dropshots but anyone who hits a pregnant woman in the stomach with a shot and isn't mortified needs to readjust their priorities.

 

[Relinquis]

why are you playing tennis with pregnant women?

doesn't make sense.

 

[Herdsman76]

I'm a player that has cerebral palsy and I'm starting to get up their in age. Most of my opponents immediately see that I walk with a limp and I'm slllloooowww (LOL). Their only thought is that they think I'm hurt. When they walk away defeated (most of the time ), they usually ask how I could play so well "hurt". You should see the looks on their faces when they find out I wasn't hurt at all.

My point is that if you see me on the other side of the net, be ready to play!

In the senarios you brought up, I would be the first to exploit ANY and ALL of those weaknesses. Does that make me a jerk? No not at all. Think about it, if they are willing to step out on the court and play, then they should expect to be treated like any other opponent.

Once when I was younger, I was playing doubles with a friend in a tournament. We had to face a tennis "instructor" and a very young kid in the first round. It was obvious that if we just kept hitting it to the kid, we would easily win. My partner on the other hand felt that it was not the "right" thing to do. Needless to say that we lost because the "instructor" was well above our level and made us pay for each shot we hit to him.

It wasn't until after the match my partner said "we should've hit it to the kid"... I just had to chuckle about it and say "oh well..."

Simple version, no matter what your future opponents have as far as physical limitations, visible or not, just play your game.

Just my $.02

H76

 

[tennis_ocd]

re: rec play. It's supposed to be fun. I get no pleasure out of exploiting the mobility of the recent hip replacement patient with drop shots and lobs. To some degree it's naturally going to impact his play but to aggressively attempt to take advantage? Can't do.

Same with the 60 lb overweight guy who just wants to hit; more fun to win points at his own game than watching him hobble over to the net to get a short ball. Other's will attack this relentlessly; to each his own.

 

[spot]

why are you playing tennis with pregnant women?

doesn't make sense.

Because you don't pick your opponents in mixed doubles league tennis? If a pregant woman wants to play then I will certainly play against her. I will simply do what is in my power to not hit her and I will just assume that whatever benefit she gains by my unwillingness to go at her is compensated for by her reduced mobility.

Lots of women can play good tennis far into their pregnancy. If tennis is what they enjoy doing then I am certainly not going to be the one to tell them that they shouldn't be doing it.

 

[gmatheis]

Aside from ripping a shot directly at the pregnant woman at the net I say it's all fair, even making that pregnant woman run.

 

[spot]

But back to the thread. In social tennis you don't exploit the weakness. In a league match it is fair game.

The only other line comes with playing in a way that could cause an injury- that is where hitting at the pregnant woman is over the line.

 

[Spokewench]

In league play, I'll run anyone and take advantage of slow feet, or whatever. I try not to hit at anyone at net, i.e. at their head. I will pepper their feet a lot, or most often try to hit just passed them. It is not that I will not hit a dipping ground stroke at a net person every once in a while to catch them off guard, but they have time to defend themselves.

Would I hit at an obviously pregnant woman, probably not! But, I would run them if they were in a league match.

In social situations, I have friends that have issues with their knees and sometimes they play phenomally well, but sometimes, their knee is acting up and a lot of the time, I will not drop shot them much. Mostly because we are playing some social tennis and I do not want them to get hurt in a social wednesday game when they will be playing later on my league team. So, I will practice deep shots to the baseline. It is good practice and it is a social match with my friends and teammates so why not!

It really depends on the situation.

 

[sureshs]

I would only accommodate the pregnancy condition, none of the others.

 

[NLBwell]

As someone who is quite mobility-challenged, I would neither expect nor want anyone to make adjustments to "help" me. I am at the level I play because of the mobility problems and the fun and challenge is in being able to figure out ways to overcome them and still beat the 20-somethings. (If they hit the ball back to me, I would win very easily.)
A man hitting a pregnant woman in the stomach in order to win a tennis match is a completely different thing. Would you punch a pregnant woman in the stomach? In certain types of competitions, I would punch a man in the stomach, but I would never punch a pregnant woman in the stomach area.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Intentionally hitting a pregnant woman to make her move back is a total D Bag move. I don't care about the dropshots but anyone who hits a pregnant woman in the stomach with a shot and isn't mortified needs to readjust their priorities.

Agreed. It was the one-two punch that was the problem.

Punch One: Guy hits pregnant woman in the belly *hard enough for people to be concerned she is all right.* She says she's OK, but moves back to the baseline to protect herself from the lunatic who is trying to peg her in the stomach.

Punch Two: Guy, who should be mortified, isn't. He exploits her fear of being at the net and hits droppers.

Yuck.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Regarding the OP (and removing women who are about to deliver babies on the court out of the equation):

I never, ever exploit physical limitations in social matches. Like, one friend with a 1HBH sometimes struggles with elbow issues. I do not hit topspin moonballs to her at the baseline, even though it will win me the point every time. In a league match, I would.

Regarding the rest of it . . . frankly, I don't have the Mad Tennis Skillz to change my game to exploit much of anything. If I try, I will only beat myself. The exception for me is that if a heavy person or senior parks in no-man's land and plays well from there, I will start lobbing their partner for easy points.

I did play a 7.0 match with a partner who had a double-hip replacement. He couldn't move at all. This included not being able to take more than a step to line up a shot.

In league matches, no one eased up on him at all. At that level, players don't really possess the touch and control to move him, but they didn't need it. Usually, if someone is mobility-impaired, their inability to set up on the ball is enough to beat them soundly.

 

[Maui19]

In a league match, I'll exploit just about any weakness I find. Once the match is in hand, then I stop hammering at weaknesses.

I played against a pregnant woman in a mixed match once. I was mortified that I would drill her. It was pretty stressful.

 

[Brian11785]

I am not sure this qualifies, but I once played two different guys with no right hand in the same flex league playoffs. Not much to exploit, other than the fact that they had not-so-good one-handed backhands....but that was pretty typical for most guys at that level.

 

[pabletion]

WHY U MAKE BIG DEAL OUTTA EVERYTHING???

Just kidding... but really, what IS Rec League Play? Is it competition or do you guys mean playing just for fun on clubs?

Anyone who has lost to a much older person because they were a bit condescending (I mean me...) at a tournament knows it is just bull$hlt that you have to go easy on them... I dont mean smash balls at them directly at the b@lls or anything like that but, cmon, if youre playing tournaments/leagues you want to win.

Ive had my share of times where, because I ease up on an "easy" opponent things get complicated and I almost loose. You know when theres no way you'll loose and you can ease up a bit and not be a total tennis bully, but if thats the case, then definitely either you or your opponent is playing in the wrong division.

 

[goober]

yeah I watch out for those old folks that claim disability. last time I played one, this guy claimed limited mobility and he told me let's not hit any drop shots. Since this was a friendly match, I said ok. He then proceeded to dropshot me 3 times in the first 3 games. I hit one ball short, not even a drop shot but in the service box while he was on the baseline and he blows up at me.

In social matches generally I will not exploit a weakness but in league matches I will pretty much always do so unless it is obvious we are going to win no matter how we play.

 

[sureshs]

yeah I watch out for those old folks that claim disability. last time I played one, this guy claimed limited mobility and he told me let's not hit any drop shots. Since this was a friendly match, I said ok. He then proceeded to dropshot me 3 times in the first 3 games. I hit one ball short, not even a drop shot but in the service box while he was on the baseline and he blows up at me.

In social matches generally I will not exploit a weakness but in league matches I will pretty much always do so unless it is obvious we are going to win no matter how we play.

He probably thought his shot was a short slice, or perhaps he tried to hit hard and that is all the distance the ball went!

 

[OrangePower]

For me the key is the likelyhood of me causing injury to the opponent.

Obviously there is always the risk of injury in tennis, but it's a question of degree and causality.

For example, I have no problem exploiting mobility issues and so on by making my opponent run. My actions are going to result in the opponent losing points but are unlikely to directly injure him/her.

But I would not be comfortable hitting hard at an opponent at net that is physically unable to react or get out of the way because of an obvious physical condition. Even though if I hurt them it is technically their fault, I still don't want to play any part in that.

 

[TimothyO]

For me the key is the likelyhood of me causing injury to the opponent.

Obviously there is always the risk of injury in tennis, but it's a question of degree and causality.

For example, I have no problem exploiting mobility issues and so on by making my opponent run. My actions are going to result in the opponent losing points but are unlikely to directly injure him/her.

But I would not be comfortable hitting hard at an opponent at net that is physically unable to react or get out of the way because of an obvious physical condition. Even though if I hurt them it is technically their fault, I still don't want to play any part in that.

That's precisely how I felt against our heavy teammate during practice.

Normally during practice I'll play aggressively and to win. But that night when I met the fellow for the first time I didn't feel comfortable doing that to him in the context of practice. Even though he stood on top of the T when observing serves for his partner and missed several calls as a result (thank goodness for our spring pollen!) I couldn't bring myself to ping him with the ball during serve (he's a HUGE, SLOW target).

 

[jrs]

Recreational play - respect the players limitations.
League or tournament play - player on the other side of the net is completely healthy - otherwise they wouldn't be participating!
Also, I am not good enough player to take the foot off the accelerator and then turn it back on again if I'm in trouble.

 

[spinorama]

You guys take this all pretty seriously... In rec doubles or singles I cater to the opponent to make it a fun match for everyone, that doesn't mean that I won't throw in a winner here or there....but I'm not actively trying to win, just hit some nice shots.

In a tournament or league match (singles), I will exploit any weakness I see IF I need to....if I can beat you without doing that, then I will (more fun for everyone). In doubles, I NEVER intentionally hit the person at the net, I think that's super messed up. If you have enough control to hit them, then you have enough control to not hit them and still win the point. Usually people turn around anyway if I get an overhead or poach while we are both at the net. No need to make them hurt, I just angle it around them for a winner.

Don't forget, even the top pros aren't trying to hit either other when given the opportunity.

 

[Clive Walker]

I probably (no definitely) fit into the mobility challenged group- I'm a big guy, more suited to rugby than tennis (it was MY sport until my mid 20's when injury took over) although I'm too heavy for Rugby these days

I habe no issue with people dropping me from the back of the court, I'm well over 6 foot and have a decent overhead and am hard to lob so I should be in at the net, it's part of the game and I know that my major weakness, other than extreme pace to my backhand, is my mobility. I have decent hands and heavy groundstrokes for my level, as well as a big serve which at it's best is my major weapon. Why should someone play to my strengths?

I also play socially occasionally with a guy in his 70's, who played a far higher level than I at our respective peaks- He has dodgy knees and a suspect ticker (he fully expects to die on a tennis court) He wobbles over little dolly serves due to shoulder issues and comes waddling into the net to volley, his volleying is still superb and he has great touch, therefore I can get a game with him by returning low to his feet and playing out a "proper" tennis point with him, with both of us coming into net and trying to take the upper hand- neither of us get anything out of me lobbing him for the sake of it, although I will do it if, and only if, it's the right shot to hit.

 

[TennisCJC]

OK, I think it is bad manners to intentionally hit a pregnant women. Mothers and babies get special privilege in our society. But, I don't have a problem with running her.

Short of that, all is fair.

I see no problem drop shotting a person with poor mobility due to weight or age. Also, I don't have a problem with exploiting an injury either.

Dick Stockton knocked Borg out of the 1977 USO because Borg had a shoulder injury and could not hit anything above his head. Stockton lobbed every single chance he had and sometimes several times in a row. Borg retired in the 3rd set.

 

[Relinquis]

Because you don't pick your opponents in mixed doubles league tennis? If a pregant woman wants to play then I will certainly play against her. I will simply do what is in my power to not hit her and I will just assume that whatever benefit she gains by my unwillingness to go at her is compensated for by her reduced mobility.

Lots of women can play good tennis far into their pregnancy. If tennis is what they enjoy doing then I am certainly not going to be the one to tell them that they shouldn't be doing it.

I would refuse to play them. Just walk off the court/forfeit the match... they can do whatever they want with their bodies... none of my business, doesn't mean i want to be involved.

I don't spar or wrestle with old ladies either... that's just my thing. Not judging.

 

[beernutz]

OK, I think it is bad manners to intentionally hit a pregnant women. Mothers and babies get special privilege in our society. But, I don't have a problem with running her.

Short of that, all is fair.

I see no problem drop shotting a person with poor mobility due to weight or age. Also, I don't have a problem with exploiting an injury either.

Dick Stockton knocked Borg out of the 1977 USO because Borg had a shoulder injury and could not hit anything above his head. Stockton lobbed every single chance he had and sometimes several times in a row. Borg retired in the 3rd set.

Me neither. In my last singles league match my opponent hurt his calf in the beginning of the second set and while he was still mobile from side to side had difficulty moving forward and backward.

In a key game in the second set with him serving at 2-4 I think I hit a drop shot return on every serve. The last one he managed to get to and return, because he was on to me by then, but I lobbed a reply back over his head and he didn't even attempt to get it. My shots weren't great at all but were good enough to take advantage of his temporary lack of mobility.

Why should I not hit those shots? I didn't whine to him beforehand that I'm 10 years older than he is, that I ache for hours after every tennis match, that it takes me an hour to come close to warming up before a match, that I should buy stock in Advil the way I go through them, or that I have a gimpy ankle which acts up periodically making it painful to run.

Everybody comes to a match with something someone else can exploit. Sometimes the exploitable things are temporary and sometimes they are there for every match. I don't see the big difference.

 

[spot]

I would refuse to play them. Just walk off the court/forfeit the match...

You sound like a wonderful teammate. I don't get to pick my opponents in a league match. But if the other team has a woman who wants to play mixed doubles while pregnant then I am not going to quit on my team because of it. Instead I am going to do my best to not hit her and play tennis.

One of our mixed team just put a pregnant lady in the playoff lineup and she clinched city finals for the team at AA3. (around 4.5 equivalent in USTA) She is a damn good tennis player even while visibly showing. If the opposing guy would have refused to play against her then I think the captain would have kicked him off the team.

 

[LeeD]

I"m one of your gimps. 64, torn tendons in ankle, no running now for 6 years, not one step.
I play tennis for exercise and fun, and the challenge.
Smart player's drop shot me, lob, and make me run side to side. I do my best, applaud your line shots, and respect your tactics. My challenge is to neutalized your speed advantage, and to anticipate and react to reach the shots you think are winners.
Fair game. Your challenge is to ignore my gimping around, play your game as best you can, and hope the tennis experience is fun for both of us.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

Agreed. It was the one-two punch that was the problem.

Punch One: Guy hits pregnant woman in the belly *hard enough for people to be concerned she is all right.* She says she's OK, but moves back to the baseline to protect herself from the lunatic who is trying to peg her in the stomach.

Punch Two: Guy, who should be mortified, isn't. He exploits her fear of being at the net and hits droppers.

Yuck.

This is so hilarious to me for some reason. I know I should feel bad, but I just can't stop laughing at this.

 

[Relinquis]

Captain? Sorry, I play tennis. I don't answer to anyone.

FYI, I'm an awesome doubles partner though as long as it is a team of equals kind of thing. Partnership, we go out and kill it together, or not at all. Also, how do you kick someone off who refuses to play? That kinda defeats the purpose.

You sound like a wonderful teammate. I don't get to pick my opponents in a league match. But if the other team has a woman who wants to play mixed doubles while pregnant then I am not going to quit on my team because of it. Instead I am going to do my best to not hit her and play tennis.

One of our mixed team just put a pregnant lady in the playoff lineup and she clinched city finals for the team at AA3. (around 4.5 equivalent in USTA) She is a damn good tennis player even while visibly showing. If the opposing guy would have refused to play against her then I think the captain would have kicked him off the team.

 

[spot]

Captain? Sorry, I play tennis. I don't answer to anyone.

Some people weren't meant to play team sports.

 

[Relinquis]

Some people weren't meant to play team sports.

Agreed...

10Agreeds

 

[Mike Y]

I think I will act like I am gimpy and/or pregnant in my next match, lol.

 

[Angle Queen]

*Sigh*

I'm one of those who played, shhhhhh, preggo. And thank you, OP, for starting this thread because I had many of the same thoughts going thru my head...like...how is a pregnant woman any different than someone grossly overweight? Or hampered by injury?

None, really, except that for pregnant women it's a gradual (yet relatively quick) transition to that mass attached to your front section. And I'll tell ya, if I learned nothing at all during my two playing-pregnancies, it was when to let things go. Some balls just ain't worth chasin' or reachin' after. Just hold up that racquet and say, "Nice Shot."

Intentionally hitting anyone especially the young/inexperienced, old/immobile, injured/pregnant. D-bag for sure. But in a league match, eh, you step on the court...you gotta be ready.

I played competitively until ~7-mos and never missed a beat. But I was lucky to have a captain willing to put me in the lineup and a partner willing to play with me. On the flip side, I know several of our opponents were, shall we say, spooked. One pair even complained. "You mean we have to play the pregnant one?" Their captain was like, are you really gonna put her at #1 (dubs)? My captain's response was: "Yeah, she'll kick your butt too. You wanna play her?"

We won 6-0, 6-2.

That was my second child, at age 42. With my first, I wasn't so sure what my limitations might be so I didn't play quite so hard. Still, after I stopped league play, I continued to practice with my teammates and told them, at some point, they would have to play someone in my "condition" and they'd better get used to it. Sure as shootin, it happened later in the season...and my diligent teammates, who'd stuck it out in practice against me, went out and won a crucial match.

Deep down, I know it's gotta be hard (especially for guys) to play women, in the family way, so to speak. Socially, by all means, take it a bit easier on her...just like you might someone twice your age. But in league, hit at her feet, take the win...and wish her a quick, uncomplicated delivery.

 

[Overdrive]

Um..

I really don't feel like playing pregnant women when I get older...

Nomadic singles tournaments for the win!!!

Maybe not because they are starting to get expensive for 1-3 guaranteed matches ..

 

[RogueFLIP]

Playing a league/ladder match:

I have to play smart tactical tennis because I don't have a lot of weapons.

So I have to look for and exploit any weaknesses I can ascertain from my opponent during the warmup and in the early stages of the match.

I will experiment with drop shots, slices, hitting straight at you if you're at net, etc....all to gather information and to formulate a plan to get you out of your comfort zone.

The problem is even if I have a plan, it's the execution part that I still have trouble with

And I'm sure my opponent would do the same to try to win.

So to answer the OP's question, no I don't have a problem taking advantage of physically challenged persons during a tennis match.

And after the match is over, I'll be the first one to extend my hand and thank you for your time and good match win lose or draw.

 

[Velvet Ga el]

As a fit, early 30 something, I actually like inflicting physical pain on my opponents as one way to win a match. Not so much anymore, but back when I couldn't close points at the net and I lacked a finishing shot from midcourt, I'd run opponents from alley to alley until they wore down. Living in Vegas at the time, I basically stole the Vegas to Bradenton style from Agassi, especially during matches where the heat index was above 100. If I saw an opponent that was over 200lbs or wearing any type of leg brace, he was going left to right as much as I could get him to move. Then, once he was starting to get a bit pissed, and they all did, I'd start mixing in drop shots. :twisted:

I have more finishing shots now, as well as a lack of free time, so I generally try to keep things short and sweet. But, in tournaments, if I can't finish a guy with my strokes, then it's back to the Vegas to Bradenton strategy.

Never played a pregnant woman or someone over 60 in singles, so not sure about that. Can't ever see myself doing so either, so I could only speculate.

 

[asimple]

I guess I was and still am a "physically challenged" player as a 40+ 200 pound guy who used to weigh 250. Its funny as a lot of people tried the drop shot strategy on me which in general was not very effective since drop shots weren't part of their natural game. Recently an 18 year old kid did make this work in the 3rd set of the 3rd round of a tournament which was my 4th match in 3 days. I had huge momentum and would have probably easily won otherwise but I really can't blame him since it was the right play. I have to admit I was irritated at myself while it was happening though. My legs and knees were just completely spent.

I in general look to exploit my opponents weaknesses, but I normally only try play relatively even matches. In general, I am picky about which league matches I am playing to avoid weak teams with the slight exception of playing down on one of my teams. In the weak matches though, I try to beat the opponent straight out quickly rather than pick on weaknesses as it isn't fun for me or them. Hitting at a women (or old person) especially a pregnant one is not something I would ever consider, and a drop shot is actually probably worse. As bad as losing to a pregnant lady would be, I would feel far worse having to stoop to this level.

 

[rkelley]

Wow.

I'm generally in the camp that if it's supposed to be a competitive match then anything legal goes. Old, overweight, bad joints . . . it shouldn't matter if it's a competitive situation. If I'm playing mixed and it's supposed to be competitive, then I'm not going to shy away from hitting at the woman until she proves to me that it's not a good strategy.

With that said, pregnancy is kind of a special deal. There's another human life there that didn't ask to be on the tennis court and actually could be hurt by the ball. You can't hit at a pregnant woman. I could never forgive myself if anything happened. Now one could ask why a pregnant women is playing competitive tennis, and I think it would be a reasonable question.

Now if you're just playing for fun then it's a whole different deal. Lighten up. Let folks hit the ball. Don't lob the old and immobile. I used to play doubles with this guy who must have been 80. He was very good given his age. I'd hit him a decent-ish top slice second serve and he could get it back. It was fun.

 

[ttwarrior1]

Im 320, and i drop shot people to death. Drop shot the guy , make him run or whatever.

Doesnt both me at all. Trust me, they want you to do whatever it takes to win

 

[Big_Dangerous]

Wow.

I'm generally in the camp that if it's supposed to be a competitive match then anything legal goes. Old, overweight, bad joints . . . it shouldn't matter if it's a competitive situation. If I'm playing mixed and it's supposed to be competitive, then I'm not going to shy away from hitting at the woman until she proves to me that it's not a good strategy.

With that said, pregnancy is kind of a special deal. There's another human life there that didn't ask to be on the tennis court and actually could be hurt by the ball. You can't hit at a pregnant woman. I could never forgive myself if anything happened. Now one could ask why a pregnant women is playing competitive tennis, and I think it would be a reasonable question.

Now if you're just playing for fun then it's a whole different deal. Lighten up. Let folks hit the ball. Don't lob the old and immobile. I used to play doubles with this guy who must have been 80. He was very good given his age. I'd hit him a decent-ish top slice second serve and he could get it back. It was fun.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I would imagine at a certain point doctor's would be like you really shouldn't be doing something that strenuous. Just shut it down and come back to the game after you have the baby.

 

[TennisDawg]

It's all about how you choose to win a point. I don't aim for the net person no matter their condition, if the ball accidentally hits him/her, it's not a trivial thing to me. Doesn't matter if they are able bodied or disabled.

I'd much rather win the point some other way. No, I'm not gonna pick on someone's fat 80 year old grandpa/grandma just because I noticed their wearing a two knee braces, ankle braces, elbow braces and a neck brace and using an inhaler during changeovers. I'm also not going to pick on a woman with child (5 months pregnant). But, that's just me.

It's just recreational tennis to me, not "Operation Desert Storm"

In professional tennis it's different when two elite athletes are playing. No 3.5s (day job as accountants) on this forum make a living playing tennis.

Again, that's just me!

 

[LuckyR]

If it is league: just win the match. If you can win by hitting balls right to the fat guy, great. If you need to hit them away from him, fine.

In a social match, make the match fun for all involved, which usually means not wiping the court with lesser competition, whether their limitations are physical or stroke based.

 

[beernutz]

Wow.

I'm generally in the camp that if it's supposed to be a competitive match then anything legal goes. Old, overweight, bad joints . . . it shouldn't matter if it's a competitive situation. If I'm playing mixed and it's supposed to be competitive, then I'm not going to shy away from hitting at the woman until she proves to me that it's not a good strategy.

With that said, pregnancy is kind of a special deal. There's another human life there that didn't ask to be on the tennis court and actually could be hurt by the ball. You can't hit at a pregnant woman. I could never forgive myself if anything happened. Now one could ask why a pregnant women is playing competitive tennis, and I think it would be a reasonable question.

Now if you're just playing for fun then it's a whole different deal. Lighten up. Let folks hit the ball. Don't lob the old and immobile. I used to play doubles with this guy who must have been 80. He was very good given his age. I'd hit him a decent-ish top slice second serve and he could get it back. It was fun.

If it was my pregnant wife I'd be fine with her playing same gender tennis but we would have a serious debate if she told me she wanted to play mixed.

Ok, so not so much a debate as me saying, "please honey for the sake of the unborn child..." I'm visually-challenging enough that the last thing we'd need is a child with a tennis ball shaped intention in his or her head.

 

[spot]

If it was my pregnant wife I'd be fine with her playing same gender tennis but we would have a serious debate if she told me she wanted to play mixed.

Ok, so not so much a debate as me saying, "please honey for the sake of the unborn child..." I'm visually-challenging enough that the last thing we'd need is a child with a tennis ball shaped intention in his or her head.

I'd guess that the odds of something bad happening to the child are significantly greater in the car ride to the match than they would be during the match.

That said- I personally would be absolutely mortified if I hit a pregnant woman in the stomach even if I wasn't trying to go after her so I would just put significant effort into not hitting her even if it meant losing a few extra points.