Second Serve

By JIM ALBRECHT

PTR Instructor

I am often asked questions by tennis players regarding courtesy, consideration, and protocol during tennis matches, particularly when play is in progress on adjacent courts. Many times a ball which is in play on your court suddenly goes astray and winds up on the adjacent court where a similar match is taking place. Eager to continue play a member of the the team with the errant ball runs over to retrieve it, thus disrupting play on the adjacent court.

Not a good practice! To do so while an important point is under dispute on the adjacent court is disruptive and discourteous and should never be practiced! Simply because your tennis ball has wound up on the adjacent court and you feel compelled to get the ball back quickly, does not entitle you to disrupt the play on that court in order to retrieve it! What to do in that case? Wait until the point is ended on the adjacent court and then courteously ask, "ball please" while pointing to your errant tennis ball. Naturally, in response to your request, one of the adjacent players should retrieve the wayward ball and return it directly to you or to the player on your court who is presently serving! When an errant ball has come onto your court they should wait until the point is ended on your court before requesting from you "ball please." The ball should not be haphazardly kicked, thrown, or struck with a racquet in such a manner as to cause the members of the requesting team to have to chase it. Courtesy is a civilized way to solve this dilemma and all players benefit from the consideration that one tennis player shows another. The game is better played and enjoyed that way.

Appologizing for errors! To apologize for an error that you have made is unnecessary and a waste of time! I will say that again…to apologize for an error that you have made is unnecessary and a waste of time! There is nothing to be gained from such a habit, conversely, the practice serves to high-light the error and give aid and comfort to the enemy (the opposing player/s). it is also likely that your doubles partner will become irked with you, for, as you waste time on something that is now history and cannot be changed, you now direct your focus, not on the next point to be played, (which is where it should be) but away from it and center it on a futile apology which does not make anyone feel great and merely centers attention on something that you did not intentionally do. (Recently, I watched a local tennis doubles match during which it seemed that every fifteen seconds someone was saying "I'm sorry!" for making an error).

Forget it! Remember it no more! Go right on to the next point! Play tennis…it is a wonderful and rewarding activity, waste no time in apologizing for what is now history and cannot be changed!