Why do tennis players get mad about the littlest things?

[r2473]

Any explanation? Tennis players seem to get pi$$ed about the most insignificant things:

1) That guy bounces the ball too many times before he serves
2) This guy catches an "out" ball before it lands
3) The players on the neighboring court have haircuts I don't like (and it really affects my play).
4) That guy plays too slow
5) That guy plays too fast

And the list goes on.

I see it all the time. I read about it here all the time.

It seems MUCH worse in tennis than any other sport I can think of (and at all levels of play).

So what is it?

 

[Bungalo Bill]

Any explanation? Tennis players seem to get pi$$ed about the most insignificant things:

1) That guy bounces the ball too many times before he serves
2) This guy catches an "out" ball before it lands
3) The players on the neighboring court have haircuts I don't like (and it really affects my play).
4) That guy plays too slow
5) That guy plays too fast

And the list goes on.

I see it all the time. I read about it here all the time.

It seems MUCH worse in tennis than any other sport I can think of (and at all levels of play).

So what is it?

If you think that is bad, you ought to stick around here and watch how we digress into meaningless conversations.

 

[NiteFly]

Any explanation? Tennis players seem to get pi$$ed about the most insignificant things:

1) That guy bounces the ball too many times before he serves
2) This guy catches an "out" ball before it lands
3) The players on the neighboring court have haircuts I don't like (and it really affects my play).
4) That guy plays too slow
5) That guy plays too fast

And the list goes on.

I see it all the time. I read about it here all the time.

It seems MUCH worse in tennis than any other sport I can think of (and at all levels of play).

So what is it?

I think its because we can't beat the crap out of the other players like you can in Hockey, Football, Basketball, etc.... It's gentlemanly aggression! Just a theory...

 

[Cindysphinx]

Puh.

The real Insane Ones are golfers. Good lord, the pickiest little etiquette things make people go completely off the deep end.

"Don't walk across the line of my putt!"

Dude. You can't putt worth crap anyway. My footprints just might slow your ball down enough so it would have a shot at going in.

 

[chess9]

Puh.

The real Insane Ones are golfers. Good lord, the pickiest little etiquette things make people go completely off the deep end.

"Don't walk across the line of my putt!"

Dude. You can't putt worth crap anyway. My footprints just might slow your ball down enough so it would have a shot at going in.

I must tell you my second funniest Lee Trevino joke:

It seems Lee was playing a Pro-Am and his amateur partner asked him to look at his putting stroke. After the poor guy hit about 10 balls at the hole and missed them all, Lee put his arm around the guy and said:

"TAKE TWO WEEKS OFF, THEN QUIT!"



Anyway, golf would drive anyone crazy. It's an impossible game. Chess is infinitely easier. j/k

-Robert

 

[fer]

2) This guy catches an "out" ball before it lands

If you catch an out ball you lose the point, I wouldnt be mad if someone did that to me.

 

[r2473]

Puh.

The real Insane Ones are golfers. Good lord, the pickiest little etiquette things make people go completely off the deep end.

"Don't walk across the line of my putt!"

Dude. You can't putt worth crap anyway. My footprints just might slow your ball down enough so it would have a shot at going in.

I play both. Golfers are bad. Tennis players are much worse.

 

[raiden031]

Puh.

The real Insane Ones are golfers. Good lord, the pickiest little etiquette things make people go completely off the deep end.

"Don't walk across the line of my putt!"

Dude. You can't putt worth crap anyway. My footprints just might slow your ball down enough so it would have a shot at going in.

Tell me about it. One time I went golfing and accidentally left my putter on the putting green at the previous hole only to infuriate the golfer behind me as he noticed my putter laying down. His face turns bright red and he is screaming at me from a distance to get it off the green.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Tell me about it. One time I went golfing and accidentally left my putter on the putting green at the previous hole only to infuriate the golfer behind me as he noticed my putter laying down. His face turns bright red and he is screaming at me from a distance to get it off the green.

Heh, heh.

On my very first time out, I accidentally hit a drive onto the green while the previous group was still there.

I swear, if I tried to hit a ball that well, I could never in my life drive one that far and that straight. It was a total fluke that it reached the green. I thought it quite likely that these folks would string me up in the nearest pine tree.

Geez, what do golfers expect? All you hear is hurry up hurry up hurry up. You're playing too slowly. Don't waste time. Let's go.

And in response that relentless time pressure, you hit too soon and send your Titlest into a foursome on the green.

 

[fastswingVD]

#1 & 4 - patience is the key to success lol
#2 - the guy shouldn't be doing that
#3 - 0.0 that's just stupid
#5 - tell the guy to slow down(that's what i hate the most, people who plays fast ex: they just fault the first serve and and then 'snap' second serve :|, i'm like man! i'm not ready)

 

[officerdibble]

Any explanation? Tennis players seem to get pi$$ed about the most insignificant things:

1) That guy bounces the ball too many times before he serves
2) This guy catches an "out" ball before it lands
3) The players on the neighboring court have haircuts I don't like (and it really affects my play).
4) That guy plays too slow
5) That guy plays too fast

And the list goes on.

I see it all the time. I read about it here all the time.

It seems MUCH worse in tennis than any other sport I can think of (and at all levels of play).

So what is it?

The reason is this:
1. Tennis is a sport where you can't hide your performance behind a team; you see the results of how you're playing.
2. Playing tennis is an unconscious exercise; try consciously scheduling the thoughts involved in hitting a tennis ball standing still, let alone on the move; impossible.
3. When it doesn't go well people consciously search for a rationale: we do this all the time with everything, it's just we usually come up with something more self-(and other-) convincing. So rather than recognise one has played badly for unconscious reaons (which one can't access anyway), people prefer to confabulate conscious external reasons.

There you go.

 

[chipsbuzz]

Mental stress.

If you think about it, in any other sport there are bigger gaps between each moment you need to focus the most. For tennis, you have to focus on hitting the ball every coupla seconds for a duration of probably more than an hour.

A person who complains is just subconsciously lengthening the time they have between focus periods (sort of mental relief).

That's the way I see it anyways.

 

[LuckyR]

Mental stress.

If you think about it, in any other sport there are bigger gaps between each moment you need to focus the most. For tennis, you have to focus on hitting the ball every coupla seconds for a duration of probably more than an hour.

A person who complains is just subconsciously lengthening the time they have between focus periods (sort of mental relief).

That's the way I see it anyways.

Right on the money. Matchplay tennis (not rallying), is the mental equivalent of actual combat, unlike any timed sport. There is no "running out the clock" after building up a big lead. Every point won, constitutes an equivalent loss by the other player. And each point, no matter how spectacular, is only worth one point, then you've got to do it again, then again etc until the match is over. If you don't, then even with the biggest lead, you can lose (see all of the threads on comeback wins).

 

[raiden031]

I played high school football and also watched some other HS sports on occasion. Take a look at the coaches and you will see them constantly screaming at the referees about every little thing. The difference is that the coach takes care of it in team sports and the players take care of it in tennis. Also in team sports there are strict time constraints so players don't have time to complain to the refs about every little thing.

 

[crazytennis]

I don't think anybody would care that if they were winning. They are just trying to justify their loss and trying not to accept the defeat.

LOL at number 3.
Also, I say that to myself. I'm losing because my hair is getting in the way. Having straight long hair that comes over the face is not good for tennis. So, if I forget my cap, it's a pain playing tennis or any other sports.

 

[krz]

LOL I was playing with my friend the other day and these randoms asked us if we wanted to play doubles so we did.

One guy would stop play every single time someone walked behind the fence... its not like we were going to hit them they were behind a fence, I'm guessing it messed up his vision or distracted him.

And little time later these guys next to us were being a little loud with the talking and he yelled at them and told them to quiet down...

I find that stuff hilarious its not like we are at the US Open or anything. Honestly that kind of stuff doesn't mess up me up at all, its ridiculous that tennis players complain about it.

 

[kv123]

Tennis is a very hard game of patience. Its not only physically tiring but also very mentally tiring. Players need something to do to take thier minds of manual and put it into automatic. Players in rhythm like to stay in rhythm. Small things that happen irregullary to them throw them off and that pisses them off because they can lose thier rhythm. Doesn't everyone like to do things in tennis with a set mind. For instance ball toss or same form or same footwork or even same laungage like instead of calling long of wide some people say NO!!!!

 

[GuyClinch]

I play with the same guys - so I don't have problems like this. Maybe it's not the greatest for my game but who could put up with people like that? It's not that I don't agree with you though..

Of course the biggest problem with random players is the ridiculously suspect self-apprasial of their abilities (Mr. I'm a 4.0 but I play down to my opponent)and the cheaters. If the guy is just complaining about haircuts and is honest - consider yourself lucky.

 

[Supernatural_Serve]

I think it has to do with the fact that we spend so little time actually playing points relative to standing around, fetching balls, talking to ourselves, etc. in a match. One is challenged to find their natural concentration, mental release, tension and relaxation cycles.

People choose to let odd things occurring in the environment disrupt that rhythm.

The littlest things I haven't mastered yet: cheaters, rule inventors, and opponents who talk to me, and to some extent sun/glare. Everything else is "pink noise".

 

[r2473]

For those of you who responded with "mental stress" and "rhythm", etc., can you tell me why the anger lingers for so long? What I mean is, people seem to be angry hours (and even days) after the fact (and they post and discuss it here).

 

[hoodjem]

Because tennis is such a mental game.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Tennis is a game of repitition, where one is striving to, as nicely as possible, hit the ball exactly the same way over and over.

People who do well with this kind of exacting sport are often very obsessive-compulsive.

You see many players, including pros, with little habits, adjusting their cap, pulling their socks, touching the racket to the court, and on and on.

Not only are those habits annoying to others, they are even more annoying to the obsessive-compulsive player on the other side who feels his own rhythms being disturbed.

On the other hand, in a game like rugby, the problem might not be so evident.

 

[baek57]

dont squeek your shoes while im serving! please no more grunting. please stop shouting "come on!" on my unforced error. stop towelling off your face while i'm trying to serve. and so on...

 

[r2473]

Tennis is a game of repitition, where one is striving to, as nicely as possible, hit the ball exactly the same way over and over.

People who do well with this kind of exacting sport are often very obsessive-compulsive.

You see many players, including pros, with little habits, adjusting their cap, pulling their socks, touching the racket to the court, and on and on.

Not only are those habits annoying to others, they are even more annoying to the obsessive-compulsive player on the other side who feels his own rhythms being disturbed.

On the other hand, in a game like rugby, the problem might not be so evident.

I like this answer. I never thought of it like this.

In addition to being a tennis nut, I also like high-end, 2-channel audio (vinyl, tubes, etc). You should see the nutty things I have done to get a record to sound its best (and the nutty things talked about on the "audio asylum" web site).

 

[pushing_wins]

Tennis is a game of repitition, where one is striving to, as nicely as possible, hit the ball exactly the same way over and over.

People who do well with this kind of exacting sport are often very obsessive-compulsive.

You see many players, including pros, with little habits, adjusting their cap, pulling their socks, touching the racket to the court, and on and on.

Not only are those habits annoying to others, they are even more annoying to the obsessive-compulsive player on the other side who feels his own rhythms being disturbed.

On the other hand, in a game like rugby, the problem might not be so evident.

u are only compulsive obsessive if u keep repeating a solved puzzle.

tennis is a unsolved puzzle for most.

so is tennis compulsive obsessive?

 

[Kobble]

Heh, heh.

On my very first time out, I accidentally hit a drive onto the green while the previous group was still there.

I swear, if I tried to hit a ball that well, I could never in my life drive one that far and that straight. It was a total fluke that it reached the green. I thought it quite likely that these folks would string me up in the nearest pine tree.

Geez, what do golfers expect? All you hear is hurry up hurry up hurry up. You're playing too slowly. Don't waste time. Let's go.

And in response that relentless time pressure, you hit too soon and send your Titlest into a foursome on the green.

People ***** about taking 20 seconds to line up a putt. I wonder why they two putt everything.

 

[Tarboro]

There is an expectation within the population who take games like tennis and golf seriously that their fellow golfers and tennis players are gentlemen and ladies, and as such are above petty gamesmanship like toweling off while I'm trying to serve, playing dramatically faster than I'd like, playing dramatically slower than I'd like, etc.

That's ridiculous on many levels, and most players can deal with some variation in their routines. They get angry when their opponents gain some advantage from their disruptive habits.

For instance - I generally could care less whether I have all three balls on my side when I'm serving. Let me get two, and I'll let the third fall where it may. My opponent stops play routinely to go two courts down to retrieve the third ball, and seems to be taking his time to do so on big points. If I'm winning comfortably, I'll just let him take his time and prolong the match in this fashion. If we're even (or worse, if I think I'm better than my opponent but am losing anyway) I'm going to be really torqued off.

That's my explanation for why tennis players can blow up on court for seemingly insignificant problems. As for why they can't let said problems go when the match is over, I'll chalk it up to an overactive competitive drive and the feeling that, if everyone here agrees that they were wronged they are somehow vindicated. Ultimately, I try to remember that, as a group, we're playing for nothing more than pride, and I am simultaneously

a) too successful in other, real-life endeavors

and

b) not a good enough tennis player

to let pride in my tennis abilities dictate, in any significant fashion, how I feel off the court.

 

[Ferrari1190]

2) This guy catches an "out" ball before it lands

that actully does pi$$ me off, dont know why but it does

 

[Political Thunder]

I play with a core group of friends almost all the time. I usually don't have an issue with being annoyed because we are all just joking around and having a good time.

 

[autumn_leaf]

\
3) The players on the neighboring court have haircuts I don't like (and it really affects my play).

So what is it?

man, i once was walking by a tennis court and saw this guy with a multi-color mohawk and piercings, it infuriated me so much i went after him with my tennis racquet.

 

[Taxvictim]

My opponent stops play routinely to go two courts down to retrieve the third ball, and seems to be taking his time to do so on big points.

FYI, that is a violation of the Code (#23), which says distant balls shall be fetched from off court only between games. At least it gives you something to tell the guy.

Catching a ball that is going out is also a violation of the rules. An opponent did that once in a USTA tournament. The umpire cautioned him about it, but still let him have the point. I don't like people to do it unless the ball is clearly headed onto another occupied court, and the opponent is stopping the ball to avoid disruption of the other court.

In doubles, you can hit a serve that is clearly out, but if you hit the opponents' net player, you win the point. I wouldn't tolerate it if they said it didn't matter because my serve was going out. I have deliberately hit the other net player when she was playing on the middle line during my serve. (Hey, it was my teenaged daughter, and we all got a big laugh, but I might consider it in a real match.)

Generally, if people don't play by the rules, it bugs me, even if I'm not in the game. I saw some old guys playing doubles on the next court at a nice indoor facility in a beach town. The tallest and best player would sometimes stand so far to the side to serve, that one foot would be way outside the doubles line. Under the rules, that's a foot fault, but nobody ever called him on it. When I went to the office to pay, I asked for a copy of the rules. They didn't have any rules there (?), and the CLUB PRO said he didn't think it was a foot fault. I had to make him look up the rules on the internet before he believed me.

 

[Tennisman912]

Best Line I ever heard from a caddie was after a bad shot from a player hacking all day, the player says "I think I am just going to go drown myself in that lake." The caddie turns and without missing a beat says "You think you can keep your head down that long?"

I see the same complainers on both the tennis court and the golf course. The biggest common theme seems to me that the worse the player in either sport, the more problems you can have and the more they complain or try to play games. I just try not to let much bother me, which is obviously easier said than done.

Taxvictim, I am probably going to regret mentioning this, but speaking of playing games, you cannot return a serve that was out at your opponents, hit one of them and claim the point. The ball was never in play if the serve was out. Now if you think you can justify it by saying you never called the ball out, even though you know it was and are thinking this is a good tactic, then that says a lot about what kind of person you are. I am happy I have never had someone try it on my court. That doesn't seem very honorable to me. That is all I will say on the matter.



I guess I am lucky I never have real problems.

Good tennis all

TM

 

[BeHappy]

because it's socially acceptable to behave like a 2 year old on a tennis court, in no other walk of life would people pt up with that kind of crap from someone.

 

[Ambivalent]

A guy i once played hated the way my strings sounded and asked me if i could use a different racquet.

Hell no.

 

[heycal]

Mental stress.

If you think about it, in any other sport there are bigger gaps between each moment you need to focus the most. For tennis, you have to focus on hitting the ball every coupla seconds for a duration of probably more than an hour.

A person who complains is just subconsciously lengthening the time they have between focus periods (sort of mental relief).

Right on the money. Matchplay tennis (not rallying), is the mental equivalent of actual combat, unlike any timed sport. There is no "running out the clock" after building up a big lead. Every point won, constitutes an equivalent loss by the other player. And each point, no matter how spectacular, is only worth one point, then you've got to do it again, then again etc until the match is over. If you don't, then even with the biggest lead, you can lose (see all of the threads on comeback wins).

Jeez, you guys may be right. And that's totally depressing. It makes me realize how wearying playing tennis can be. Hell, I may quit the game after reading these posts...

 

[heycal]

"Don't walk across the line of my putt!"

Dude. You can't putt worth crap anyway. My footprints just might slow your ball down enough so it would have a shot at going in.

Cindy, if you are over 40, I'm going to have to ask you retract your use of the word 'dude'.

 

[Taxvictim]

Taxvictim, I am probably going to regret mentioning this, but speaking of playing games, you cannot return a serve that was out at your opponents, hit one of them and claim the point. The ball was never in play if the serve was out.

Okay, looking back at my post I see it was confusing. What I meant was that, if you are serving, and your serve is clearly going out, you still win the point if it hits an opponent before it hits the ground. So when my daughter was trying to intimidate me in doubles by standing right next to the center line while I was serving, I served the ball right at her. The serve was clearly going to be out, but because it touched her before it hit the ground, the ball was still in play and I won the point. I even warned her I would do it if she crowded the line. We had a good laugh.

This whole issue was intended to relate to the point about people who catch or block balls that appear to be going out. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[LuckyR]

Jeez, you guys may be right. And that's totally depressing. It makes me realize how wearying playing tennis can be. Hell, I may quit the game after reading these posts...

Happy to be of service...

 

[Tennisman912]

I understand what you mean now Taxvictim. Playing with family always gives you the extra incentive to play around a little more. I would do the same thing and have if I thought they were just standing there to mess with you. I like to hit a big slice so it curves around them so there partner can then hit them as well.

Good tennis

TM

 

[FaultsNAces]

Okay, looking back at my post I see it was confusing. What I meant was that, if you are serving, and your serve is clearly going out, you still win the point if it hits an opponent before it hits the ground. So when my daughter was trying to intimidate me in doubles by standing right next to the center line while I was serving, I served the ball right at her. The serve was clearly going to be out, but because it touched her before it hit the ground, the ball was still in play and I won the point. I even warned her I would do it if she crowded the line. We had a good laugh.

I was unaware of this rule (and doubles rules in general!), so I looked it up and it seems you are correct in the strict rules. But I asked a friend who has occasionally umpired at the USO, and he told me that if it is obviously deliberate -- and in this case, since you issued such a warning, it was as you said -- you would definely loose the point based on the basis of a hindrance and poor conduct. In the event that hitting the receiver's partner with the serve did not appear obviously deliberate, you would generally win the point but be given a warning about further conduct. He suggested that a better approach would have been to claim a hinderance yourself, in that your daughter was making it impossible to serve properly. Obviously no one can rule on a point they didn't see, but the take-away was that the person serving in doubles really doesn't have the option of target practice: tennis is combat, but gentlemanly combat!

 

[r2473]

I was unaware of this rule (and doubles rules in general!), so I looked it up and it seems you are correct in the strict rules. But I asked a friend who has occasionally umpired at the USO, and he told me that if it is obviously deliberate -- and in this case, since you issued such a warning, it was as you said -- you would definely loose the point based on the basis of a hindrance and poor conduct. In the event that hitting the receiver's partner with the serve did not appear obviously deliberate, you would generally win the point but be given a warning about further conduct. He suggested that a better approach would have been to claim a hinderance yourself, in that your daughter was making it impossible to serve properly. Obviously no one can rule on a point they didn't see, but the take-away was that the person serving in doubles really doesn't have the option of target practice: tennis is combat, but gentlemanly combat!

Thanks for illustrating the point of this thread.

 

[Taxvictim]

Wow, it's hard to argue with an umpire from the US Open. I'll have to look back at the rules about hindrances, though, because technically the receivers can stand anywhere they want on the court during a serve, so I don't see how I could claim a hindrance if the non-receiving opponent crowds the line.

Edited to add:

Rule 26 deals with hindrances, but does not define what a hindrance is. Here's an ambiguous case from Rule 26:

Case 5: In doubles, where are the server’s partner and receiver’s partner
allowed to stand?

Decision: The server’s partner and the receiver’s partner may take any position
on their own side of the net, inside or outside the court. However, if a player
is creating a hindrance to the opponent(s), the hindrance rule should be used.

What is the hindrance here? If the players can stand anywhere they want, when does it become a hindrance? Did Michael Chang's standing right at the edge of the service box to receive create a hindrance to Lendl?

Edited again to add:

Here's one description of a hindrance from the Code (which I realize is not the same as The Rules, but it is indicative of what is generally considered a hindrance (though women now ignore the Grunting part)):

34. Feinting with the body. A player may feint with the body while the ball
is in play. A player may change position at any time, including while the server
is tossing the ball. Any movement or sound that is made solely to distract
an opponent, including, but not limited to, waving the arms or racket or
stamping the feet, is not allowed.

 

[FaultsNAces]

My conversation with the unpire about this was actually really interesting, in that he emphasized that tennis rules have a lot of room for interpretation, with the interpretation of rules and circumstances generally leaning to a gentlemanly orientation (his words).

I suppose it's a good thing that tennis rules are not (yet!) like sailing (with it's courts of law and lengthly and drawn out legalistic arguments), though this does have the effect that an umpire can quite significantly influence the outcome of a match under certain circumstances....

 

[tarheels2323]

Puh.

The real Insane Ones are golfers. Good lord, the pickiest little etiquette things make people go completely off the deep end.

"Don't walk across the line of my putt!"

Dude. You can't putt worth crap anyway. My footprints just might slow your ball down enough so it would have a shot at going in.

How about those guys flip out when you blow an air-horn as they're about to tee off? What's with that; where's their sense of humor? And no, I've never done it - I just saw Jackass one too many times.