Annoying Situations On The Court - Part 2

If your opponent hits winners during warm up, does it bother you? What if your opponent throws or breaks their racquet?

We are replaying a few of our most popular episodes and this was one of them!

Dave and Tom are back to discuss more annoying situations! They are both NTRP 3.0s, who have been to states and sectionals numerous times.  It was interesting to see the differences in what bothers women versus men.

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Transcript

Carolyn: 0:06

Hi, this is Carolyn and I'm here with Erin, and this is part two of our episode with Dave and Tom discussing annoying situations that happen on the court. In part one, dave and Tom go through things that annoy them, and in this episode I go through a whole list of things that I think are annoying and then I want to check to see if they're annoying to Erin and to men. So here it is.

Erin: 0:27

Do you have a list of annoying things, Carolyn? I want to hear your list. Oh, yeah, I made a list. Do you make? Okay? Is your list about other people or about yourself, or About your partner, perhaps. About your partner. Maybe you played with recently.

Carolyn: 0:42

No, okay, I just have like a bunch of things real quickly. In general, I'm bracing myself. Because when I think of annoying things, I want to hear from a man's perspective does this bother you at all? Okay, first hitting winners during warm up. Absolutely.

Dave: 0:57

That's the only way Dave warms up and then.

Erin: 1:01

I mess up. That's so annoying.

Dave: 1:02

But I mean it's like so let me ask you a question.

Tom: 1:07

When you say, when you get on the court and you're warming up with your opponents, yes. So to me, the worst warm up that I really hate is the what we call baby tennis.

Erin: 1:16

Baby tennis.

Tom: 1:17

Those shots that you're never going to hit. In a real match I'd rather see somebody's best shot than in those shots I'm never going to hit. So I don't think I would get annoyed now if somebody drop shots me during warm up.

Erin: 1:29

That happened. That's annoying. Yep, yes, but hitting winners, that means you can't have any flow. There's no like baseline to baseline. I've had that happen. It's annoying. I'm going to say yes to that one, carolyn.

Carolyn: 1:41

Okay. So I would say, what if they pop it up?

Dave: 1:44

and you come running up to the net and are you supposed to just gently hit it back? In a warm up In a warm up.

Erin: 1:52

Well, I mean, if you've watched a warm up, because we're just like the pros, remember we're just like the roasts, the alt-rec tennis players. You know, they do baseline to baseline and then they come up and they hit volleys and they're not like yeah, it's cooperative.

Carolyn: 2:07

Oh, I have throwing rackets. I don't like it when my opponent throws the racket. It makes me feel really awkward. Yeah, me too.

Tom: 2:13

Yeah, I mean I've seen people throw it at the net, yeah, and I've seen people miss the net and throw it across the court to the other side. That's really bad. I mean that's the other thing I don't like and I will say I've done this before is when someone does a drop shot and you run in to get it and you can't reach it, so on the second bounce you nail it into the net. I did that. I'm a frustration. I'm not a frustration on a wrist.

Tom: 2:39

I miss the net, I could hit this guy.

Dave: 2:42

So I try not to do it, but it's just that that happened in a pro game where you got mad, hit the ball and hit the red. It was out of the tournament, yep.

Erin: 2:53

So going along the same lines, o'carroll, and do you have matches with men? Because you know I mean anyone can, any person can have a temper, but I've played very few matches against women where they've actually like beat their rackets on like the fence or yelled at themselves. I know, you know I hear that all the time in tennis, but have you played against people that, like you know, either hit the net or hit the back fence with their racket or just throw an all out hissy fit? I guess?

Carolyn: 3:20

Yeah, I mean women throw down the rackets and then it just feels awkward. I don't know Like. Then I'm like really, are you getting that upset? But I feel like a lot of times men don't care if they do that. I mean it's like they don't throw it over at them. But if they throw it down it's kind of like. I know Mike says he never cares if his opponent takes this racket and throws it on the ground. That does not bother him at all.

Tom: 3:40

Yeah, I guess I'd actually welcome it right, because mentally they're losing.

Erin: 3:45

Because you know they're frustrated.

Tom: 3:46

That's another advantage you have over them, right? So whatever shot you did, they didn't do that. Tried to do it again.

Erin: 3:53

I say that now, playing years later, but when I played as a two-five and a three-oh, it used to make me feel really uncomfortable. But I'm with you now. It's like. Now they're frustrated. Now's the time to go in and finish this.

Tom: 4:03

Now, have you ever had anybody actually break a racket slamming on the ground?

Erin: 4:07

No, no in a match.

Tom: 4:09

I think that's more of a men's thing. I think one guy actually do that and just keep beating this four racket until there was nothing left of it, and he just went and dropped it in trash and grabbed another one and came out and played.

Erin: 4:22

No, I play with the same two rackets that I've had since I started playing tennis almost 10 years ago, so I've never hit my racket hard enough to do it. I literally have my original rackets.

Dave: 4:32

As long as we're still paying for them, we're free, and it takes a little.

Erin: 4:35

Exactly. That's why I'm like, when I heard that story, that guy just threw away like a two or $300 racket.

Carolyn: 4:40

Yeah, yeah, and this goes to it again. This is your opponent talking to themselves at the time. This is more for singles, for me. Does that bother you when they're like, oh, I should have done this or oh, are they get mad Any of that?

Dave: 4:54

no-transcript no no.

Tom: 4:58

If I can't tell if they're talking to me or talking to themselves, because I did have that happen once. Yes, I'm asking what, what and nothing. I'm just I'm talking to myself.

Carolyn: 5:08

Yes, we had. I played someone and she kept calling herself stupid. Like she would call herself stupid, but now, because of that, her name's not Sarah, but let's say her name Sarah. She'd be like oh, that's so stupid, sarah. And she said it so many times that now, every time I go to play her, aaron is like did you play stupid?

Tom: 5:26

Sarah.

Erin: 5:30

She would protect the innocent.

Dave: 5:33

Well, along that line, karen, kind of related is it's really easy, when you make a Shot that doesn't do what you want it to do, to say, oh, I'm sorry to your partner, guess what? Yes, that means every point somebody's apologizing Mm-hmm, right, yeah, no, and Tom and I said that under the rule. No, forget about it. No, there's no sorry's here. Yes, you know, we're all trying, we're all you know. Adult recreational tennis, it doesn't matter, and you know, if you stop trying, then then that's what. That's an issue. But, right world, fine, we're gonna mess up and let's celebrate our victories and not focus on the failures.

Erin: 6:18

I agree that's a bad habit that so many people have that I feel like we all need to break.

Dave: 6:23

Yeah, we're all gonna say so.

Tom: 6:25

I have one cheering for your own shot. Like that's what I think no, you hit a good shot. It's a winner.

Dave: 6:35

Yeah, and you sorry, and you celebrate and you get a little yeah, and you're down five.

Erin: 6:51

Wait, I do have a story about that. That did happen. It made me feel really uncomfortable. I was playing a singles match years ago and the woman next to me was down. I mean, she wasn't winning at any any games. You know it was sick. Let's say it was six oh Five something, five, you know, five oh five, one or something and she hit a shot that hit the top of the net. You know she had a baseline shot. It hit the top of the net and it trickled over and she maybe won that game on that trickle and she celebrated as if she won the match. I was embarrassed for her. She didn't care and she said nothing has gone my way tonight. I'm celebrating that and I was like it's a little weird, but go you let her victory.

Erin: 7:31

Yeah, she celebrated that victory, but it was a little like she really celebrated that trickle over the net point when most of us are like sorry.

Tom: 7:40

Yeah, just say don't say sorry.

Carolyn: 7:44

Yeah, let's see what else do I have? I've got a lot. This is Aaron actually brought this up and I had never really noticed it before, but I'm noticing it more now when we play is that they'll just throw the balls at you, you, randomly over the net, like they don't wait for you to catch them. They throw them in random places to you know what I'm talking about, aaron, where they just take the balls and, yeah, I feel like it happens.

Erin: 8:11

For instance, I think it happens more if, like, you just broke their serve, if they won their serve, then they're happy. And then they hand you the ball, like, if you're not on a changeover and it's you know, you're staying, you're staying on your side and and it's hard to.

Carolyn: 8:25

Nicely hand them, are they?

Erin: 8:27

directly to you yeah, right or yeah, but usually it's out of frustration. If someone has lost their serve, they literally just check the balls on the other side. They don't care where they land, you know, they just get frustrated.

Tom: 8:38

I think it's out of that would definitely Anoint me. The other thing that that COVID has changed that really used to bother me is, when you're doing the changeover, not handing the balls to the person dropping them on the court. That that used to really bother me, you know. Like you see, you're not good enough. I'm not good enough that you're gonna hand. Yes, you can make me bend down to pick them up, but now, with with COVID in, you know, that period we went through where people were so afraid and they bring free cans of tennis Balls so that you didn't have to, you know, touch touch something else.

Tom: 9:09

It doesn't bother me as much, but that's annoying.

Carolyn: 9:12

Okay, my next thing is let's see when someone slowly goes to get the ball and you feel like it's some sort of strategy.

Tom: 9:21

Annoying. So the other part of that is Somebody hits a ball to the other court or over the fence or something. You still got two balls finish. Finish the game. Don't go wandering off the court to go pick up a tennis ball.

Erin: 9:36

Yes, sometimes they're just slow, but sometimes you're at Carol and it is strategy and you can tell when it's strategy and that is annoying.

Carolyn: 9:45

And that's it kind of. The next one is the same thing, which is like someone taking forever to serve.

Tom: 9:49

I'm not the fastest server in the world, so I usually not a problem.

Dave: 9:55

Everybody's got their own little routine and you allow them to do that. You know, what's almost more offensive is when somebody walks up there and they do that little quick, a quick serve. And also, you didn't see them bounce the ball three times and swing their arms a couple of times. They just it's like whoa, not expecting that.

Erin: 10:17

And that's also strategy.

Dave: 10:19

Yeah, like a hand serve or something very similar.

Tom: 10:23

So if I'm serving to you and I obviously serve it out what do you do with them all? I don't know why that's always so much. But catch it, hit it behind you, let it go back to the fence, let's keep going, but you know what?

Erin: 10:42

I hit it back. I probably hit it back 85% of the time and I'll tell you why because a lot of times they're quick serves.

Tom: 10:51

So I'm just not sure it's in or out. You have to hit it back.

Erin: 10:54

Yeah, or if it's really fast, even if it's bad. You know, I might just be swing, but I do it. That's a bad habit. And then I say I'm sorry. And then I get mad at myself for saying I'm sorry because I didn't do it to annoy somebody. I did it out of habit and out of muscle memory and whatever else.

Tom: 11:08

But because I'm in my routine, I miss my first serve. I'm thinking about what I want to do with my second serve.

Erin: 11:12

Now I got to worry about this ball.

Tom: 11:13

Now it's my responsibility to worry about the ball right, or they hit it so far over. Now I've got to run over and get it.

Dave: 11:20

But here's the other side of that. If somebody serves me the ball, and it's first of all, it's not out until it's caught, it's called out right. So if it's three feet out, you know, but also if you take a swing at it, you just got that much more practice on returning serves. Oh yeah.

Tom: 11:41

I'm here to help you practice Absolutely.

Dave: 11:43

Absolutely. I'm going to take all I can during a match. I love that, that's awesome. But the thing is, if it's six inches out, you know now it is, you know, a few inches out or whatever, it's not out until it's called out yeah. So I've played balls that were out.

Carolyn: 12:02

Yeah, okay. Okay, my next one is saying come on after someone, like they hit you, and then they are like yes, or a spectator cheers, when something like that happens.

Dave: 12:15

I've never had it happen to me. You play with evil people.

Tom: 12:17

I know, I mean, I can practice, you can save.

Erin: 12:22

Yes, that's how to say it. We've done it in practice against our friends, just as a joke, because it's funny, but never in a match.

Carolyn: 12:32

I've had people cheer when I got hit.

Tom: 12:34

Wow, wow, I couldn't even imagine. Yeah.

Dave: 12:40

It's like immediate apology if it just kind of comes out. Yeah.

Tom: 12:45

And, like Aaron, you were saying right, it's different if you're playing with friends and people laugh. When Dave and I are playing with other guys in the courts and he and I end up on the opposite sides of the court, we try to hit each other. We are absolutely guaranteed trying to hit each other.

Dave: 13:01

And if we miss, we apologize.

Carolyn: 13:06

Oh, that's great. It bothers me if my opponent is mean to their partner. Yes, does it bother you guys?

Dave: 13:15

No, no, I actually love this.

Tom: 13:18

I love to see when they start bickering with each other. That's a great sign. It's advantageous.

Erin: 13:23

I should think of it that way.

Carolyn: 13:25

And this is my last one I will. I mean, I probably have a bunch more, but I know you guys have other things to do tonight. But people who don't call the score.

Tom: 13:33

Oh yeah, drives me crazy, absolutely drives me crazy. And so if someone's you know they're about ready to serve and they haven't called the score, can you yell out what's the score?

Erin: 13:45

Can you? You can ask them yeah, yeah, and then they get upset that you're asking them a question. But they didn't say the score to begin with, right? That's annoying, yeah.

Dave: 13:57

But the other thing. There's two things I noticed. Some people will mumble the score. Yes, yes and you're outside. There's a freeway and trains and planes going by, Planes and automo. Yeah, yeah. Or the other thing is, if their score is behind, if they're losing, rarely will they say the score If they're winning 40.

Tom: 14:21

Love is really loud. It's really loud.

Erin: 14:24

It's really mumbled.

Dave: 14:27

That's so true.

Carolyn: 14:29

Thanks again to Tom and Dave, even though I know there are things that annoy me on the tennis court. I'm probably doing a number of things that annoy my opponent, including one thing that we discuss in the next episode that I have no attention to annoy my opponent, but my husband informed me I definitely was doing that. We hope you check out our website, which is secondservepodcastcom. You can listen to all our episodes directly on the website and under the resources tab we've listed the rules and the websites we go to to check people's ratings. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the courts soon.