The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD) Club

SVP

SVP

Semi-Pro
There's a "Cheap Players Club" on these boards. A Volkl Club. A Wilson Club. In the many months I have reviewed what people post here, I realize that that there are many here who suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Just look at the long thread about keeping your racquets from banging against each other in the tennis bag. Like it's normal to have long conversations on such a topic.

I believe that there is a predominant percentage of tennis players who suffer from OCD. Proof of this: all the fussing around with extremely small measurements, strings, grips, compositions, etc. And hey, I'm not one to cast stones without sin. One of my obsessions is with library books I check out. The books I check out must not have dog-eared corners and no one in my family is allowed to touch the books I check out from the library.

So who wants to confess to being OCD? Please provide examples of your obsessions, preferably tennis-related, but other obsessions are acceptable. Come on, you know who you are, going through your mindless little rituals just to get through the day.
 
I was thinking about starting a club like this as well.
Let's see...
-Overgrip must be wrapped perfectly and feel right in my hand
-Overgrip color must match racquet (not really a problem since white matches with anything)
-String color must match racquet for solid color strings
-If hybrid, strings can only be white/grey/natural
-Only play with one side of the frame and feels uncomfortable to hit with other side
-Overgrip must be wrapped just alittle above the replacement grip and trimmed so there is not extra overlap. Finishing tape is a must
-Lead tape must be applied cleanly and evenly
-Racquets must be matched in balance and swingweight, drives me insane when switching between the two. Weight can be off by a few grams
-Dampener is a must, hate that annoying pinging sound. Some racquets though don't need it because they don't ping
-Socks must be at the right height up my leg, not to high, not too low


Mine's not too bad
 
I suffer from very severe OCD.

I ADMIT IT - DAMN IT :D

Now where do I start......sigh.....

1. My racquets don't have to of the same brand as my bag, but the colors do have to match. Also I would never play with a racquet that I didn't like the look of, no matter how great it played for me - hence if a purple racquet played great I would never bag it.

2. I always use white over grips, so I can change them as soon as they get worn or dirty.

3. I keep my racquets in small thin Vantage polyester bags inside my Wilson Pro Tour Eco Super Six Bags, for extra protection and I always use Babolat Super Head Tape to protect the frame. However, I go 110% to reach for a shot no matter if I scrape the tape on the frame, but only because I use the protection tape.

4. I always color match or color coordinate my cloths, shoes and caps and sweat bands - same thing with my golf gear and cloths and also in ordinary life
.
Color coordinating is to avoid using colors that don't match. Hence brown & navy blue, yellow & green, red & orange, blue & green and color mis-matches like that is NOT AN OPTION for me.

5. If one of my Babolat dampeners touches the ground and gets very dirty, I throw it out and fetch for a new one in my bag

6. I often 'donate' a fluid hand soap bottle to my local tennis club, because they often don't bother to check if the old one is used up. If there's no soap, I go into the ladies room and wash my hands there.

7. Last year I played in very wet and muddy conditions on red clay and had my 2 months old Nike Cage II on. After the match they looked so gross, that I threw them out. Didn't even bother to wash them......

8. I put on deodorant before I play tennis, to avoid smelling like sh#t after a match......what if I 'bump' into a nice lady at the club house and smell stinking gross :D

9. Even if I have only played tennis for 15 minuted for some reason, I always wash all the cloths I wore on the tennis court, no matter what.

10. My strings have to match my bag and racquet - so only can use strings in natural, black, silver and white color.
Love the look of my Bab nattty gut natural and Signum Pro Hyperion & Tornado black :D

11. My overgrip, leather grip and black finishing tape has to be applied perfectly - and I have to do it myself, because no one else can do it properly.

12. My dampener has to match my strings and racquet.

13. My lead tape is placed at 10 and 2 under the Babolat head protection tape, so I avoid touching and looking at it during play.

14. I always check if my strings are in line - and use Copoly and Recoil in hybrids, not only because I like how they play, but also because it helps to keep the natty gut and multi strings straight in line.

15. Unfortunately for me, I could go on for ever.......sighhh..... :D
 
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My racquet brand has to match my bag..

Dunlop Aerogel 100 Racquets. Dunlop Aerogel bag.

All racquets have to be identicle..

I have to wear all the same brand.

If I decide to wear Nike, it all has to be Nike, same if I decide to wear Adidas.

I also have to colour co-ordinate. So if I wear red shoes, I wear red shirt.. Same with black and Navy..
 
I never overgrip, I just replace the grip with a new one...
Does this qualify to enter the club?
Maybe the existence of such topic is the best and clearest confession of all...
 
Here's my list

1. I always use my rqts with the same side up. So as I use Wilson's then the Wilson logo on the side of the frame points up.

2. The butt cap logo must face to the left. Easy to do on Wilson's with trapdoor butt caps.

3. If 1 piece-ing the stringjob, the knots must be on the side of the loge (see 1 above) so that I can't see them when looking down at the rqts.

4. Always the same dampener.

5. White grips, and always wrapped the same way to get the same feel from 1 rqt to the next.

6. Rqts are weighted, balanced & swingweighted matched.

7. Rqts match bag.

Regards

Paul
 
let's see...

- racquets hafta be in the bag in the same direction
- racquets hafta be overgripped the lefty way
- dampeners must face same direction as stencil (for example, I've got the Wilson "fun" dampeners with the skull & crossbones, so the skull has absolutely GOT TO be aligned with the "W" stencil)
- I got over this one awhile back, but I once separated my single wristbands from double wristbands using clearly marked ziploc bags when not wearing them
- when wearing the smaller, single wristbands, the logo must be visible (as in not upside down) on my serve toss. I'm a lefty and I wear the wristband on my right wrist.
- when wearing the larger, double wristbands, the logo must be visible (not upside down) when I hold my right forearm against my chest.
- my hat has to match what I'm wearing, color-wise.

And the worst part is, I know I've got more, so just lemme mull it over for awhile.
 
Interesting thread... I like those OCD about side of knots :D
Here's mine:
-I like to watch my stringer, because I fear of big breaks during stringing (WC, telephone calls, coffie break etc.)
-I like 2piece stringjob because of physics law of overall balance between two forces.
-I like strings without added colors because I believe that all those pigments made macromolecular structure weaker.
-I avoid both high and low temperature and direct sunlight. Not because of strings but because of my lovely frames :)
-On the court, I always turn "racquet side" of my bag oppositely to sun.
 
Hi, My name's Bubba... I have Tennis Racquet OCD.
- Rubber band tied the same way on all my frames
- 5 bounces prior to a serve
- Racquets must weigh and balance the exact same :-)
- Overgrips can't have that hump on one side (I have a great solution to this, but that is for another thread)
...
 
Tennis related:

Always use the same face of my frames for serves/forehands, as has been discussed in several past threads...

Dampener always goes in the same direction: It's a Gamma dampener, the word 'gamma' always has to be oriented the same.

Always take a shower asap after tennis. Can't stand being all sweaty once I stop playing.

One non-tennis example:

If I'm baking cookies (or anything else that you have to bake in several batches) you DO NOT touch my food until the last batch is out of the oven.

There's many more, but I kinda don't even realize I do some of them anymore, so I can't really sit here and list everything.
 
I also had the OCD bag/racquet combo. It got too expensive to buy matching bags with whatever my main stick was. so I ended up buying a sweet Nike 10 racquet bag. Now I can use whatever racquet I want. I still only wear Nike (no reason other than some of the sneaks fit me better than Adidas). I have 6 pairs of the Nike Air Trainer (best shoe I have worn since the Oscillate). Shirts and shorts are all Nike.
 
Like others...

Frame always facing the same way.
Overgrips cannot overlap at all, but also cannot have spaces in between them (it takes me about 20 mins to apply one).
Finishing tape on the OG must be perfectly aligned.
 
in[k];4053682 said:
Like others...

Frame always facing the same way.
Overgrips cannot overlap at all, but also cannot have spaces in between them (it takes me about 20 mins to apply one).
Finishing tape on the OG must be perfectly aligned.
Click to expand...

Lol you have the same ocds than me. I cannot play when the overgrip is overlapped, it feels uncomfortable for me. Also I always play with the same side of the racquet, because the grip feels more comfortable in that one side.
 
I have to play with PS 6.1 classic.. if I play with anything else I blame it for every fault or misshit.. after 15-20 min I break it!

besides that I only play with sticks strung by myself, I would never consider putting on a grip thats not white:)
 
Fascinating!

1. My overgrips (which must match my frame) overlap, but because I start wrapping in the same spot on each grip, they feel the same in my hand. They also only feel "right" one way, so I also hit serves/forehands with the same side of the frame everytime...that is until I replace the overgrip, at which time I start wrapping on the opposite side of the grip, which makes me flip the frame in-game. Wear and tear on alternating sides cancel out over time.

2. Racquets, of course, must match in weight and balance and be stored in the same orientation in my bag.

3. Clothing has some rules. Black shoes = black socks. Socks will wear themselves into left and right socks, which must always be worn on the appropriate foot. Socks must match hat in color. Between shorts and shirt, at least one must be white, black, or gray. Black/black is okay. Gray/white is okay. Blue/red is not. Brand logos are not to be mixed. If there's no logo, brand mixing is okay. Wristband logo cannot be easily visible to me.

4. My Gamma Shockbuster must be woven through through the strings the same way as the bottom cross, such that takes the most direct route across the mains.

5. I switch frames at each change of sides so that both of my racquets get roughly equal wear and so that I can keep my grips as dry as possible. Since each racquet is getting equal wear and theoretically playing the same, if I break a string in one, I get both restrung.
 
I always hold on the same side of the racquet. If it's facing the wrong way, I rather spin the racquet around and risk losing the point, no matter how critical it is.

I always spin the racquet around before I serve. Same when I return serve as well.
 
Tennis & OCD

I just knew that there would be a lot of OCD sufferers out there in tennis land when I posted this thread. It's the nature of the sport. The obsession with small measurements, subjective feel, desire to control. Tennis attracts OCD types, then aggravates their condition.

I'm not a psychologist, but I have enough contacgt with the mentally ill to know that while some of you are just goofing on this topic, some of you (especially the ones who really express their rituals in extreme detail) are truly suffering.
 
Do any of you OCDers spin your racquet on the ground to determine serve? I would think you would always wait for the other guy to do it so you can avoid any scratches on your frame or grip.
 
Bubba said:
Hi, My name's Bubba... I have Tennis Racquet OCD.
- Rubber band tied the same way on all my frames
- 5 bounces prior to a serve
- Racquets must weigh and balance the exact same :-)
- Overgrips can't have that hump on one side (I have a great solution to this, but that is for another thread)
...
Click to expand...

I'm OCD when it comes to grips, too; no humps allowed. I've had issues not so much with overgrips but with replacement grips. My solution is to start wrapping and overlapping the new grip in the same places on the buttcap as the original grip, assuming it was installed properly with no humps. When I follow the line of the original grip to begin wrapping the replacement, it looks and feels great.
 
retlod said:
Fascinating!

1. My overgrips (which must match my frame) overlap, but because I start wrapping in the same spot on each grip, they feel the same in my hand. They also only feel "right" one way, so I also hit serves/forehands with the same side of the frame everytime...that is until I replace the overgrip, at which time I start wrapping on the opposite side of the grip, which makes me flip the frame in-game. Wear and tear on alternating sides cancel out over time.

2. Racquets, of course, must match in weight and balance and be stored in the same orientation in my bag.

3. Clothing has some rules. Black shoes = black socks. Socks will wear themselves into left and right socks, which must always be worn on the appropriate foot. Socks must match hat in color. Between shorts and shirt, at least one must be white, black, or gray. Black/black is okay. Gray/white is okay. Blue/red is not. Brand logos are not to be mixed. If there's no logo, brand mixing is okay. Wristband logo cannot be easily visible to me.

4. My Gamma Shockbuster must be woven through through the strings the same way as the bottom cross, such that takes the most direct route across the mains.

5. I switch frames at each change of sides so that both of my racquets get roughly equal wear and so that I can keep my grips as dry as possible. Since each racquet is getting equal wear and theoretically playing the same, if I break a string in one, I get both restrung.
Click to expand...

Same here on nos. 1 to 3. I have to contribute some of my own OCD's though:
1. I mark my socks left and right.
2. Socks must be the same height on my legs.
3. Overgrips must overlap 1/8 inch. and change them every 4 sets no matter
what the score is.
4. Most OCD's already posted by other members.

I'm just glad that I'm not the only one.
 
I have to pee before any hitting session or match, whether I need to or not. Otherwise I will have a nagging feeling all the time.

I have to do about 10 minutes of stretching prior to play, which I guess is a good thing.

I have to arrange my strings to be all straight and parallel before commencing play.
 
Sorry to revive this topic, but I too have this OCD you all speak of. In fact you might laugh at my situation.

Just bought the new APD GT, restrung with Tecnifibre Black Code 17. The stringer had the liberty to stencil the Babolat stripes in white ink. I didn't like it, because the sexy shiny black string in itself looks stunning against the APD colour scheme.

So I went and got the turps and rags out, carefully removing the paint off. Got some excess on the matte yellow side, and forgot to wipe, and there was a small bit that looks like the turp faded some paint off (but you can only see this in bright light)

Now I'm kicking myself all because of this "small defect".. Arggghh :cry:
 
Hmmm, my racquet must be on my right hand during the entire game( I'm not a lefty ):lol:

Sorry, just joking, I understand most of you guys, since OCDs is not only for tennis. Most of us have them and don't even realize it.

Cheers,
 
Oh yeah forgot to mention, that I always get a microfibre towel and clean my racquet after every session. I try to remove as much ball fluff from the strings too. Its a mix of OCD + showing a lot of pride to your prized possessions.
 
Sangria said:
Oh yeah forgot to mention, that I always get a microfibre towel and clean my racquet after every session. I try to remove as much ball fluff from the strings too. Its a mix of OCD + showing a lot of pride to your prized possessions.
Click to expand...
Actually, it's a good idea to clean it after each match.
 
1. Rackets has to be exactly equal on weight and balance. Have to use the same grip, overgrip, and dampener.
2. The overgrip must match the racket.
3. The dampener must match the racket.
4. May have scratches but must be devoid of chips.
5. The overgrip has to be wrapped exactly how I like it.
6. Racket must be cleaned every now and again.
7. Must have the same setup of lead.

Not too bad I guess. To solve the bag matching racket issue, I got one of those Nike 6-8 pack bags in black and white. Matches just about anything and looks great, haven't seen a single other player with one. People always find it unique at tourneys.
 
I am almost sure I really do have OCD. Three of my favorite obsessions are:
1. I would never ever serve with the same ball twice in a row. Even if my opponent brigs it back right to me. Not only does this include hitting a second serve with a different ball than the one I used for the first, but also not hitting a first serve with the ball I seved with for the last time in the previous point first or second serve).
2. I cannot start a new point when there is a ball inside the court (on my side). It doesn't matter even if it's stuck to the bottom of the net. I can't bare the sight of it.
3. I have two identical racquets, and I must rotate them. If I played with one the previous time, I must play with the other the next. I also always string them together (at the same time) so if one of the strings break - they both get strung.

I do have some more, but I think thouse are the most important ones.
 
I'm surprised no one has brought up not stepping on the lines between points. Maybe there aren't a lot of us, but I can't stand the thought of stepping on the white lines on change overs or between points. It's like the kid's game when the floor is "hot lava" and you have to jump from one piece of furniture to the next. I'm sure it looks absolutely ridiculous, but I've actually stopped short and lost my balance on several occasions trying to avoid the lines.
Ball bouncing is a big one for me too. I always have to bounce the ball an even number of times before a serve but never 6 times. The only exception is if I'm hitting a topspin or flat serve up the middle. Then and only then do I bounce the ball once.
There are a bunch more but If anything I think these idiosyncracies help me to focus on my game and keep me from getting distracted. It's all part of rhythm and that's probably why, for me anyway, they come through more prevalently on my service games where developing a rhythm is so crucial.
 
Yep that's me too!!!

Head protective tape must be clear and it must come to exactly the same amount on each side.

Rubber band dampner must be long enough to tie but no so long that it hangs down onto the racquet or goes above the lowest string.

Lately the racquet I play with must have orange on it somewhere (with my nPro Opens had to put an orange overgrip on them).

Wristband must be worn slightly above my wrist and must match the outfit I'm wearing.

Must only have two tennis balls at a time.

Must bounce the ball four times on my first serve and three times on my second serve.

Can't play if someone has hung their towel on the side of the net.

The drink I take to the courts must be around 30% Gatorade and the rest water.

Grip must be extra tacky, typically wet my grip on changeovers, I find myself licking my hand to make the grip more tacking when it's not a change over (I know, gross...both for me and the people I shake hands with after the match).

TripleB
 
Alec78 said:
I'm OCD when it comes to grips, too; no humps allowed. I've had issues not so much with overgrips but with replacement grips. My solution is to start wrapping and overlapping the new grip in the same places on the buttcap as the original grip, assuming it was installed properly with no humps. When I follow the line of the original grip to begin wrapping the replacement, it looks and feels great.
Click to expand...

Yes, but you have to start the overgrip off the end of the butt cap so it has 'rounded edges'... and have to wrap in a was so as to avoid that one sided hump. :-)
 
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