Why Honest Opponents Make Bad Calls

[Steady Eddy]

I play against other adults for fun. Sometimes I've played tournaments, but even the tournaments don't have cash prizes. So I've never had an opponent I felt was deliberately trying to cheat. I believe that it happens, but that it's unusual.

Some players think that an in ball is out because their mind tricks them. It's like, "I couldn't reach that ball, he's not that good, so...it must have been out." These are the situations where it's most likely to happen,

• an overhead angled away, they can't get to the ball, sometimes they can tell that I angled it more than I meant to, this adds up to an "out" call,
• a service ace that's hit extremely wide, this is usually a lucky accident, but if it lands in the box, it should be my point.
• passing shots that the opponent doesn't come close to reaching, called out for similar reasons to those listed.

Our minds do not work like we think they do. Ever watch the video of the gorilla in the basketball game? Some people forget to watch for where the ball lands, and think it's out because they get the impression it's out. This isn't good enough. Maybe you could ask them, where did they see it land? If you forgot to watch, you shouldn't make the call.

 

[ollinger]

In the psychology literature, it's long been said that "perception is motivation," i.e we see what we want/need to see.

 

[r2473]

In the psychology literature, it's long been said that "perception is motivation," i.e we see what we want/need to see.

That's strange because when an opponent asks if a ball was in or out I usually respond "bacon".