athiker
Hall of Fame
How somebody feels about it is one thing. But it is not illegal, as the videos of: Chang, Lendl, and Hingis prove. But to those who think it's cheating, I'd like to ask, do you also think that the bunt in baseball is cheating?
Ted Williams was a left-handed player who pulled nearly all his hits to right field. This led one manager to shift all the fielders, except for the left-fielder, to right field. It was called the Boudreau Shift. Williams complained about it in his biography, and felt that it hurt his batting average. At one point he became so frustrated that he bunted to the open field for a hit. Ty Cobb told him that he should just do that every time until they give up on the shift. Williams was too stubborn to do that, and just swang away into right field, complaining about how the shift was "stealing" hits from him. I don't understand Williams attitude, and I think Cobb was right.
If you're a player with a big serve, and opponents stand way back to nullify your power, somewhat, I think it's completely fair for you to counter their deep position with an underhand serve. Force them to come in more, and then go back to your power serve. Tennis is full of little ploys like this, and they make the game more interesting and fun.
Some counter by saying that tennis "ought" to be only about strength, and that winning a point by out-witting the opponent is "unfair". If you really feel that way, you're in the wrong game. Because of tactics, the faster, fitter player doesn't always win. If you want a sport that takes thinking out of the equation, take up competitive weight-lifting. There's almost no thinking at all. The clever competitor doesn't get an "unfair" advantage by out-thinking their dull opponent. Then you can be happy.
I agree its fine as long as everyone is "set" as normal. Never heard the Ted Williams story...interesting. I agree, he was stubborn not to change and there was no "stealing" of hits involved! Baseball players shift around regularly according to the batter and situation...plus they can play wherever they want as far as I know. Ted still did alright though!