Tennis Rituals & Superstitions

[gahaha]

What are your rituals and superstitions?
I always forehand with one racquet face and back hand with the other, not vice versa, I always check my racquet to make sure I am holding it with the Wilson logo on the side of the frame facing up. I never bounce balls before I serve. I loosen my wrist by moving racquet side to side after every unforced error. I always have to have at least 2 balls with me before serving.

Some of these things a lot of people do, anyways what do you do? :O

 

[Fuji]

I never serve with less then 2 balls as well....

Also, whenever serving, I place the ball into the throat of the racket. Only this past season I picked up this habit, but I believe it helps me feel out placement of the ball and lets me take a deep breath before I let a monster serve go!

Oh, also; During a rally I will only hold one side of my racket. IE the logo facing the same way all the time. I spin my racket a lot, but it doesn't feel the same if it's not on the same side every single time.

I know, crazy.

-Fuji

 

[TheBoom]

If i win with a pair of shorts i wear the same pair the next match but never more than twice and if i lose with one of my 300 tour's i use the other one but if i win i play with it till i lose or the strings break. I only hold the racket with the logo facing down

 

[gahaha]

Ya I hold it with logo facing one side always also. Before I serve I hold ball on the top part of the racquet face.

 

[Mauvaise]

In doubles, when my partner is serving, before every point, I have to touch the net with my racquet before moving back into position.

I always put on my left shoe before my right.

I've been known to switch which ball I play with if I've double faulted and/or lost more than point in a row with it. Likewise, if I'm "winning" points, I like to continue to use the same ball.

 

[Caloi]

OCD at its finest in this thread.

I always play my forehands with the non-knotted side of the rubberband damper. Serve too.

When receiving serve I hold my racquet towards the server and make sure it goes, right, left, then right...of the server.

I also HAVE to have a cleared area of the service area where I bounce before serving. There can't be ANY pebbles or leaves where I'm bouncing the ball. Freaks me out.

 

[blakesq]

If it is a very important match, I will kill a hobo prior to the match.

 

[dak95_00]

I try my best not to think about anything but hitting the ball. Therefore, I'm not going to read any of these posts previous or after this one for fear of thinking too much on the court about ridiculous things!

That said, I used to not serve a second serve w/ the ball I missed the first serve w/ if it came back to me. I believed that the ball was destined to not go in. I don't believe that anymore and I make a point to use it. I still find myself fighting (inside my head) to toss it out as those negative thoughts come creeping in. Instead, I just say concentrate on the ball and hit it.

 

[blakesq]

Seriously though,

I will never serve with three balls. This arises from a high school match, when I had two balls in my pocket and served the third ball, and during the point i was trying to hit a back hand close to my body, and my hand/arm bumped into the balls in my left pocket, causing me to miss the shot. NEVER AGAIN! Also, if it is an important match, I will never hold balls in my pocket when receiving, for the same reason.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Oh, nevermind!

 

[TheBoom]

Oh and if i serve an ace or an unreturnable i use that ball again

 

[Bacterio]

I've worked extra hard to get rid of anything I find to be ritualistic. I feel like it takes away more than it gives because it ends up being things I'm thinking about and if I don't do them or I feel they were done incorrectly it actually gets into my head.

The only ritual I can think of is that I fix my glasses by pushing them closer to the bridge of my nose before serving. I didn't realize how diligent I was about doing this until I used contacts and couldn't stop myself from doing it. When I tried to stop it threw off my whole service motion, lol.

Another one might be that I feel more comfortable having all 3 balls when serving as opposed to two. If the third one goes too far off court and I'm left with two, I think about it for a little but it doesn't affect my game.

Other than that, I go out of my way to not develop rituals or superstitions.

 

[fireice]

It's a baseball thing for me that's carried into tennis - between points, if I can avoid it, I like not to step on the lines. Also, for some reason, I like having a ball on the tarp or the fence behind me when I'm playing.

 

[Donny0627]

In doubles, when my partner is serving, before every point, I have to touch the net with my racquet before moving back into position.

I always put on my left shoe before my right.

I've been known to switch which ball I play with if I've double faulted and/or lost more than point in a row with it. Likewise, if I'm "winning" points, I like to continue to use the same ball.

guilty as charged! except I try to keep it subtle lol

 

[salsainglesa]

If it is a very important match, I will kill a hobo prior to the match.

its a sacrifice to the gods of the net so every time the ball hits it, it wins you the point. done that!
kill two just to be sure!

 

[Xzebetz]

I always play with 2 balls in my pocket.

If I make a forced/unforced error I can't play with that ball right away. And if my opponent touched the ball right before a point I can't play with it. I leave it on the ground until next point.

If I serve an ace I'll serve with the same ball.

 

[goran_ace]

Oh and if i serve an ace or an unreturnable i use that ball again

I do this one as well. also if I miss badly on a shot I will not use that particular ball for the next few points. but that's about the extent of my truly superstitious things.

routines/rituals are another story. my coach made me develop good habits. I used to eat the same thing before tournaments/matches, not for luck/superstition, it was more out of knowing what works and not wanting to risk an upset stomach. I made it a habit to arrive at least 30 minutes early so I had time to relax, wrap some fresh overgrip, fill up my water jug, go to the bathroom before the match. you don't want to have to rush from the parking lot and jump right onto the court. the between point rituals were to fix strings and to walk back to the back fence/tarp to slow it down and re-set (I had a habit when I was young of 'playing too fast'). serving was to bounce the ball 3x.

 

[brownsfan456]

I do the same thing as Fuji with the ball lined up with the throat not the middle of the stringbed. When returning serves I always spin my racquet in my hands. Before serving I always hit the baseline with my racquet.

On clay I always knock my shoes with the racquet, but that's for practical reasons I guess haha.

 

[Fay]

I always play with 2 balls in my pocket.

....

If I serve an ace I'll serve with the same ball.

When I start my serve I like to bounce the balls to see which ones are springier ... there is always one that seems deader than the others.

If I get a great serve in, invariably the person across the net calls out
"well don't you have two." obviously the server can have the balls back,
but here resentment reins supreme and people don't like to give the ball back that lost them a point so I just say

:twisted: "I'd like my lucky ball back please." :twisted:

 

[jaybear1909]

Before I serve I always pick a wedgie, sniff my fingers and put my hair behind my ears. Works like a charm!

 

[Xizel]

I always spin my handle between shots beside the volleys (and I do pay dearly on certain groundstrokes). I also do the Roddick shirt tug thing.

 

[dizzlmcwizzl]

I never touch the score cards on the posts. One time I did it by accident and had to ask a teammate from the next court to change the score to wipe off the bad mojo I had put on them.

and

Just before a serve I always touch the inside of my left foot with my racket.

 

[ace_pace]

Well the only thing I cant think of is that every time I serve, I dont bounce the ball. If I am, it means im in a bit of trouble lol. Also I try to never rage, cuz I dont want karma to get back at me. So even when Im losing, I just play with a poker face.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Bahahahahahahahaha! You guys have so many rituals it's amazing you can remember the score much less your gameplan.

 

[fuzz nation]

I don't worry about the ball I serve with, but when I'm playing doubles and my partner double faults into the net, I assume that ball needs a rest. I put that 2nd serve ball in my pocket and give my partner the other ones.

My only other quirk is that I avoid racquets made by Babolat... D'oh!!!

 

[corbind]

If it is a very important match, I will kill a hobo prior to the match.

HA HA -- and you thought I perished -- but this hobo lived! See you in court, er, I mean on the court...

I'm amazed at all the idiosyncrasies. Sure makes me feel, well, normal by comparison.

 

[2ManyAces]

Second serves on a big point- 8 bounces

Second serves on normal low risk points- 7 fast bounces



Never bounce the ball on a first serve. Dunno why!