Violence used on the court! Can't believe it!

[martini1]

This is something I never heard of let alone experience on the court! Unreal!

It's a group class for adults, with all kinds of people at the 3.0-3.5 level I suppose. I arrived early along with a couple other students, we were still waiting for the coach and the others to arrive. A teen (the only teen in the class, the rest are in their late 20's to about 40's) saw one of us started to warm up with some serves so he tried to follow. I stood on the other end of the court pretending to return. And the story begins...

At that time a few more people arrived, along with the coach. There is bench by the side of the court and people are laying their bags down to get their gears out. Naturally if you are putting your bag down your back would be facing the court. The teen misfired a serve and hit a guy probably on his butt. It was a ball with some force but no way faster than 50mph had it landed on court. We all knew it was a mistake and somebody made a "UUHHH" "AAAAH" sound. This guy suddenly charge at me with a water bottle in his hand. I must say he acted normal in the past classes and we had no problem getting along. At first I thought he would come to me make a joke or something.

He charged at me and threw the water bottle right at me at full force. I had little time to react and could only turn my body a little. The water bottle hit me on the side of my body. Just to say how hard he threw the bottle, the cap broke and water was spilled. Yes, it did hurt. Like somebody punched me.

He then walked away and acted like nothing happened. I was furious and started to drop the f bomb on him. He then said he thought I was the one to hit with a ball on purpose. He gave a half hearted apology after he found out he made a mistake, but kept saying I needed to chill out and it was "only a water bottle". I immediately said I could call the cops on this. The coach, who I have known for a few years asked me not to escalate the situation and tried to end the matter.

And he did let him stayed in the class. After a 10 min warm up the coach gathered the class again and ask the kid to apologize to the crazy guy, and the crazy guy in return gave me a more serious apology.

Anyway, I thought the coach should really kick him out of the class right at that moment (he did the following week after I called him). Yes, I know it would make the coach look bad if cops showed up and made a big scene where everybody else would watch it like a TV show. I did not call the cops only because the coach keep begging me not to, but in hindsight I think it is better to just let the police handle the situation, and more importantly have him on the record. You never know these days. He could show up in the next class with a knife or something. If we have a arrest record we can easily call the cops again as soon as we see his face, just to scare him not to show up ever. I swear to god if he ever tries to charge at me again I would just swing my racket to defend myself.

Hopefully he is out for good and doesn't try anything stupid like trying to come back to class or register for other future classes I am in.

 

[Hi I'm Ray]

Good job on not letting yourself get out of control and into a fight. I used to be way too confrontational and have gotten into too many fights in the past. In the past few years I have in been at the brink getting into a fight quite a few times, but I am glad it did not escalate. I can see no good result to it and potential arrest or lawsuits. Although it seems like a sissy move, it sounds like a good idea to just call the cops. Why? Because guys like this are obviously out of control and its a habit, probably because he has gotten away with it in the past (I've been down that road). Maybe some consequence will force him to take a look at himself and give him a chance change (yes, been there too, and glad for it). Otherwise, this weirdo is going to end hurting someone (imagine someone you know), and probably an innocent person, like you experienced.

The coach just seemed like he was looking out for the best interest of his income and not anyone else. Who would let someone like that around a group of ppl?

 

[Buffster]

Even thinking about calling the cops is ridiculous in my opinion. I wouldn't have pushed my coach to kick him out of the group either. Just handle stuff like this on the spot. Hit him in the face or hit a ball between his eyes and then shake hands like men and move on. What did you end up gaining with him being kicked out?

 

[The Meat]

Wow, a guy runs at you and throws a bottle of water for only hitting him with a 50mph serve(even though it was the kid's fault)......I think I've heard it all now.

Also, it was probably for the best not to get the authorities involved. Yes the guy was probably one of those "special" individuals we all dealt with on a tennis court, but you have to let it go and be cool with it.

Mad respect.

 

[pkshooter]

I think you handled it like a boss. Assertive, not passive or aggressive in handling the situation.

 

[Overdrive]

Yay, you handled it better than that TMR guy..

No wonder what would happen if he was in your shoes...

 

[max]

You both didn't handle it well. Of course mistakes will be made playing tennis. But ramping it up by your threats didn't help much.

 

[NickC]

Go for a ball shot next time you are playing him. Or, alternatively, whack him in the kneecaps next time you see him with your racquet. And hit him hard. Or, hit him in the back of the knee with as much force as possible next time you see him walking.

Violent? Yes. But some folks who live in their own little world only react and learn when their own medicine isn't thrown, but launched with excessive force back at them.

 

[ollinger]

^^ interesting to see what the universities are turning out these days.

 

[martini1]

First thing - if it escalated to a fight nobody could predict what would happen. I do have a racket in my hand and if I did smack his face open, the cops would should up anyway. But I would have to a really good lawyer to get out of this. And for what?

Had he charged at the kid instead of me. Who knows what would happen? The kid might fight back and got beat up by this guy in a fist fight or something.

What could be the worst is this guy is one of those "normal, friendly guy" but could snap in any given moment and comes back for a payback with an weapon like a big knife or something worse. You never know who this person really is. A call to the police to not far fetched imo. If it wasn't for the coach I would have called.

For a non contact sport, I strongly believe any kind of violence is not acceptable. Plus when you step into the court you are expected to get hit by a ball BY MISTAKE at some point.

 

[jaggy]

Go for a ball shot next time you are playing him. Or, alternatively, whack him in the kneecaps next time you see him with your racquet. And hit him hard. Or, hit him in the back of the knee with as much force as possible next time you see him walking.

Violent? Yes. But some folks who live in their own little world only react and learn when their own medicine isn't thrown, but launched with excessive force back at them.

Living in america I would say you have 2 choices. Contact your lawyer and give him a darn good suing or alternatively pack an assault weapon in your bag like most of us do.

 

[dParis]

The proper and respectable course of action would have been for you to challange this man to a duel. I understand the reasoning for your restrained approach, but your honor has been compromised.

 

[martini1]

The proper and respectable course of action would have been for you to challange this man to a duel. I understand the reasoning for your restrained approach, but your honor has been compromised.

Funny you say that. I did fencing in college. Give me a 36" long blade and the rest is history. Just kidding.

 

[Hi I'm Ray]

First thing - if it escalated to a fight nobody could predict what would happen. I do have a racket in my hand and if I did smack his face open, the cops would should up anyway. But I would have to a really good lawyer to get out of this. And for what?

Had he charged at the kid instead of me. Who knows what would happen? The kid might fight back and got beat up by this guy in a fist fight or something.

What could be the worst is this guy is one of those "normal, friendly guy" but could snap in any given moment and comes back for a payback with an weapon like a big knife or something worse. You never know who this person really is. A call to the police to not far fetched imo. If it wasn't for the coach I would have called.

For a non contact sport, I strongly believe any kind of violence is not acceptable. Plus when you step into the court you are expected to get hit by a ball BY MISTAKE at some point.

Well I think the OP handled well. I've been in fights for lesser things. The water bottle freak needs to go - if the ball hit him higher on his back or on the back of his head he probably would've just started swinging at ppl.

 

[Power Player]

You did the right thing. I would have probably not...lol.

 

[sureshs]

Guy is also probably violent to his wife and kids. You should have called the cops.

 

[NTexas]

Funny you say that. I did fencing in college. Give me a 36" long blade and the rest is history. Just kidding.

Not with a fake sword, with some pistols. like in the wild west.

 

[max]

^^ interesting to see what the universities are turning out these days.

Yeah. The thing to do would have been to understand that the guy was pretty confused and upset, rather than jack up the problem. In that situation, I would have just taken the water bottle shot, and forgiven him. People make mistakes. A temperate response would have been the way to go.

 

[sureshs]

^^ interesting to see what the universities are turning out these days.

That depends on what they were turning out before

 

[mikeler]

Hmm, his weapon was a water bottle which he lost after throwing it. At that point, he is defenseless against my Prince Exo Tour in hand assuming I can catch him...and I probably can...

 

[goober]

Yeah. The thing to do would have been to understand that the guy was pretty confused and upset, rather than jack up the problem. In that situation, I would have just taken the water bottle shot, and forgiven him. People make mistakes. A temperate response would have been the way to go.

I have been hit with a 90 mph serve in the back of my neck. Somewhat who reacts like that after a 50 mph serve in the butt is out of control. Letting him get away with a violent response lashing out at the wrong person is not doing him any favors. This guy is an adult not a little kid. Starting a fight would not have been right, but having this guy being charged with something would not be totally crazy either. At some point you have to learn the are consequences for your actions. Maybe if he faces consequences for this minor act, he will think twice if he is going to lash out at his wife or someone at a bar where the consequences could be much more severe.

 

[Mike Bulgakov]

Martini, what scenario do you envision if you called the police: they handcuff him, take him to jail, press charges, then hold a lengthy trial? Isn't kicking him out of the class enough?

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Take the high road: urinate in his tennis bag.

 

[martini1]

Martini, what scenario do you envision if you called the police: they handcuff him, take him to jail, press charges, then hold a lengthy trial? Isn't kicking him out of the class enough?

My goal was not pressing charges or sue for anything, but to scare him enough so he won't do anything stupid later. A mere kicking him out is enough IF he is a normal law binding citizen who made a stupid mistake. But what if he does that all the time or he is a psychopath? Only the cops can find out on that one. At least we got a heads up.

You never know these days...

 

[martini1]

Hmm, his weapon was a water bottle which he lost after throwing it. At that point, he is defenseless against my Prince Exo Tour in hand assuming I can catch him...and I probably can...

I was holding a brand new Steam 99S. Not worth breaking it IMO! :lol:

 

[jaggy]

Yall are not giving the assault rifle thing a chance now are yall

 

[goran_ace]

A lot of different things went wrong here. Poor court etiquette all around. When you have a lot of people on a court you need to be aware of each other.

- You shouldn't have been practicing serves with people entering the court or unpacking bags on the side in the first place. They are in the line of fire and may not be paying attention.
- Likewise the crazy guy knew people were hitting so he should be aware that balls flying in his vicinity and getting hit is not out of the realm of possibility.
- The teen should have immediately stopped and apologized when the guy was hit by his serve. Doesn't matter if it was a 15 mph serve or a 100 mph serve. Did you guys keep playing like nothing happened? If so, then yeah I can see someone getting upset about getting hit.

I think the part that I find worst about it is that the coach didn't have control of his court. Its common for students to show up early and get in some extra warm up, but once he's on the court he needs to be in charge. He let everyone warm up for 10 more minutes and then tried to resolve it? When I was teaching I never had adults get in a fight, but little boys do all the time and you have to know how to handle that. One or both of you is getting sent off the court. If he's worried about potentially losing the crazy guy as a student he needs to think about if he lets him stay he may lose several students (e.g. you, the teen, or maybe other people don't feel safe anymore with the other guy around knowing the coach won't do anything if he snaps again)

You must have been playing on public courts because if this were at a tennis club the coach probably would have had some paperwork to fill out after an incident like that. The other guy would likely have been kicked out of the lesson and management would probably want to have a sit-down talk with him about how assaulting another member may result in forfeiting his membership.

 

[goober]

Yall are not giving the assault rifle thing a chance now are yall

Nah Biden told us to switch to shotguns. Easier to aim. But harder to fit into your tennis bag. I will probably have to saw it off to fit.

 

[WildVolley]

I wasn't there, but I tend to think that the OP could have been fully justified to call the police.

A water bottle, especially if full, is heavy enough to do some serious damage. I could probably easily cause a concussion by chucking a water bottle into someone's head.

I might have called the police, especially since my natural reaction would be to settle that particular problem with my fists. Better to have clearly defined boundaries than to potentially escalate into a situation in which I might be arrested.

 

[martini1]

A lot of different things went wrong here. Poor court etiquette all around. When you have a lot of people on a court you need to be aware of each other.

- You shouldn't have been practicing serves with people entering the court or unpacking bags on the side in the first place. They are in the line of fire and may not be paying attention.
- Likewise the crazy guy knew people were hitting so he should be aware that balls flying in his vicinity and getting hit is not out of the realm of possibility.
- The teen should have immediately stopped and apologized when the guy was hit by his serve. Doesn't matter if it was a 15 mph serve or a 100 mph serve. Did you guys keep playing like nothing happened? If so, then yeah I can see someone getting upset about getting hit.

I think the part that I find worst about it is that the coach didn't have control of his court. Its common for students to show up early and get in some extra warm up, but once he's on the court he needs to be in charge. He let everyone warm up for 10 more minutes and then tried to resolve it? When I was teaching I never had adults get in a fight, but little boys do all the time and you have to know how to handle that. One or both of you is getting sent off the court. If he's worried about potentially losing the crazy guy as a student he needs to think about if he lets him stay he may lose several students (e.g. you, the teen, or maybe other people don't feel safe anymore with the other guy around knowing the coach won't do anything if he snaps again)

You must have been playing on public courts because if this were at a tennis club the coach probably would have had some paperwork to fill out after an incident like that. The other guy would likely have been kicked out of the lesson and management would probably want to have a sit-down talk with him about how assaulting another member may result in forfeiting his membership.

The rec classes in this particular area is pretty free flow. The coach was a little bit late that night so it is not out of line if ppl just started to warm up. However I do agree with you the kid was a little too careless on his choice on firing his own "fast" flat serves with no aim.

Once I was yelling at him I know the kid was probably a little scared to step up to do anything. And I intended not to direct at blame at him at that point. I did not want the crazy guy to do anything to the kid! It happened too quickly, the kid did say sorry but the crazy guy never heard him.

I had a brief conversation with the coach last night at the class and he agreed he should have thrown the guy out immediately to prevent any further development of the confrontation. He then explained he knows this guy a little bit and believed he is a good person (which I think he is just too kind to his own students). Of course he is reluctant to call the cops in his own class. I am not sure if this is the right mindset for him. He agreed.

The coach said the same thing. He sees little kids fight all the time and he handled the kids well. He have never had adults fighting in the class so it caught him off guide. He knows me pretty well and may be because of that he thought if he asked me to clam down and not retaliate may be the situation would be resolved. At the end he did agree in the conversation it was not enough.

 

[martini1]

I wasn't there, but I tend to think that the OP could have been fully justified to call the police.

A water bottle, especially if full, is heavy enough to do some serious damage. I could probably easily cause a concussion by chucking a water bottle into someone's head.

I might have called the police, especially since my natural reaction would be to settle that particular problem with my fists. Better to have clearly defined boundaries than to potentially escalate into a situation in which I might be arrested.

I totally agree with you. It's always a good preventive move. And I also talked to the coach about not knowing who this guy really is. May be he has prior records. Who knows?

 

[NoZak Djokovic]

Take the high road: urinate in his tennis bag.

BEST OPTION

 

[Deleted member 232704]

BEST OPTION

I second this. Maybe if you have a dog, feed him some yummy dog food and let him poop out a "monster". The "monster" is key in this situation. I would like you to figure out the rest if you may.

 

[sureshs]

Take the high road: urinate in his tennis bag.

Isn't that the usual thing to do? Does anyone really "go to the bathroom" during a break in a tennis match?

 

[Steve Huff]

public court--fairly new players--no bag, just a racket

 

[norbac]

Props to OP for handling the situation well and keeping a cool head.

 

[Deleted member 232704]

public court--fairly new players--no bag, just a racket

Replacement grips and overgrips are absorbent for a reason. If you know what i mean.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Props to OP for handling the situation well and keeping a cool head.

Yes, but OP should have told the coach to make the guy leave the class that moment and for good, and if not call the cops.

 

[NoZak Djokovic]

steal his racket and GONZO it

 

[Bobby Jr]

It entertains me greatly to see a situation like this discussed by mostly American people and it basically revolves around the "you should sue him.." theme.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Living in america I would say you have 2 choices. Contact your lawyer and give him a darn good suing or alternatively pack an assault weapon in your bag like most of us do.

It entertains me greatly to see a situation like this discussed by mostly American people and it basically revolves around the "you should sue him.." theme.

What "sue him" theme? In 40 posts there was one (obviously facetious) reference to suing for monetary damages (and jaggy's assault rifle reference along with it should've put it into context for anyone with two brain cells).

No, the posts here did not stress "suing for money" but instead addressed a potentially injurious assault with the varying avenues of response available to the OP .... not to mention the over-the-top humor as well.

Besides, why should anyone care whether you're "entertained greatly" or not, especially when you disingenuously prefaced it on a false premise? Poofter.

 

[max]

I wasn't there, but I tend to think that the OP could have been fully justified to call the police.

A water bottle, especially if full, is heavy enough to do some serious damage. I could probably easily cause a concussion by chucking a water bottle into someone's head.

I might have called the police, especially since my natural reaction would be to settle that particular problem with my fists. Better to have clearly defined boundaries than to potentially escalate into a situation in which I might be arrested.

This is called "ramping it up." Again, the mature thing, for me at least, and most people I know, would be to chalk it up as an error (for the server and for the water bottle thrower) and not compound the problem by escalating it. I think forgiving and asking for an apology is the thing to have done. But heck, I live in the *******, and not crazy land.

 

[Nostradamus]

This is called "ramping it up." Again, the mature thing, for me at least, and most people I know, would be to chalk it up as an error (for the server and for the water bottle thrower) and not compound the problem by escalating it. I think forgiving and asking for an apology is the thing to have done. But heck, I live in the *******, and not crazy land.

Just call the police right away and file a report. That is the best way to handle things.

 

[max]

Just call the police right away and file a report. That is the best way to handle things.

What really does this do for anyone? It creates hard feelings all from an error. It settles nothing but creates more hatred. Not the way to go at all.

Often people who say "call the police" or who recommend going to law have very little experience with either, and modest notions of how much justice really gets accomplished with these things.

 

[Power Player]

Just call the police right away and file a report. That is the best way to handle things.

Really? A guy throws a water bottle at you and you call the police?

LOL..what a complete waste of police time. I hope you are not serious.

Hang on, wait..it's Fedace.

Of course you aren't.

 

[Overdrive]

Really? A guy throws a water bottle at you and you call the police?

LOL..what a complete waste of police time. I hope you are not serious.

Hang on, wait..it's Fedace.

Of course you aren't.

Yeah, um Nostradamus.... that sounds pretty ridiculous... :neutral:

If you called them, what would you actually say?

"Hello operator,

At a tennis club, an adolescent was serving the ball when other players were around the court and hit a guy. Then the threw a water bottle at me (which hurt really bad)..... "

I don't know if I would laugh or just hang up if was the operator...

 

[martini1]

In most of the civilized world it is called assault and battery. I hope you do not use yourself to test the boundary of the law and see if the operator would laugh and hang up on somebody calling the cops on you.

It will not be funny to say the least.

 

[SwankPeRFection]

What ever happened to the old days when this would happen, you could deck his ass and when he's on the ground rolling around you stand over him and say "It was this other guy who accidentally hit you with the ball you ****ing idiot!" Now maybe you'll think twice about just acting like you did next time something like this happens and at least blame the right person.


Oh yeah, that's right... people call the cops now or try and sue you over a bloody nose. Can we rewind back 20-30 years please? Things were simpler back then.

 

[NLBwell]

You guys must live in crime-free areas where the police have nothing at all to do if you think someone throwing a water bottle should take precedence over whatever else the police are dealing with at the time. Thank goodness the OP was good enough not to call the police.
Kicking the guy out of the group was probably a good idea. It wouldn't be good if, say a woman in the group, felt unsafe because of the guy's actions. Not so much to punish the guy so much as to have courtesy to the good people in the group.

 

[5point5]

LOL. You wanted to call the cops because he threw a water bottle at you?! Talk about being a baby...