Volleying.
By PTN Readers

Warm-ups From Hell

Warm up with 2 new balls - so much nicer than hoping the new ball comes your way. You can always use the other one later in the  match, and it will be already warm. Take serves before, otherwise a player can use that time to turn around momentum, while others get cold. If it is a friendly match FBI is ok, too.  Adrienne Wald

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I prefer the 10 minute warm up with one ball. You can use two if you can keep it on your side. You do not need any more than that.  Two guys at net for volleys and overheads and two guys back practicing  screens and drives, then switch. Then do about five serves apiece and then start. TEN Minutes only. 
Jim McGovern, APTA. PPTA, USTA, USRSA, USPTR, Cape Cod

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We started a little exercise this year, that i think has been around for a while. Each guy will serve two points and we rotate through twice. we simulate a little match, play a few points and everyone gets to serve "two" games of two serves. Lasts about 10 minutes.  Tim McLaughlin

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Here’s a horror story that keeps repeating itself week in and week out in many of the Series 8 women’s matches. Each team warms up by itself on separate courts for 15 minutes. Teams then warm up on the same court but hit only to their respective partner for 10 minutes. Both teams leave the court to warm up in the hut for 7 to 10 minutes. Teams return to the court , warm up with each team hit to the other for 5 to 8 minutes. Serves are taken for five minutes. The match starts and is completed in 45 minutes.  Name withheld upon request.

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What a great title and great article. I guess I have experienced all of the scenarios that you describe and am pleased to vouch for your reference to the 1992 Nationals on Long Island at John Burns Park.  That is a wonderful example. Here are my answers to your closing questions: Maybe a ten minute Warm-Up before the first match of the day and then five minutes thereafter; practice serves are expected under the etiquette guidelines to be taken during the warm-up with one practice serve before the first serve in the first four games; maybe two new balls for tournament warm-ups but inter-club matches and “pick-up” play a used ball should be adequate; stretching should certainly be performed before entering the court.

I will only add one thought that I have offered in the past.  In order to avoid possible injury when using two balls in the warm-up, I have suggested that one player on each team play at the net and one opponent on each team play back.  With strong players this may not be necessary because they have good control over where they are hitting the ball but with beginners and weaker players the two warm-up balls can go anywhere, which increases the danger of being struck by an errant drive.  I believe this is less likely with a one up, one back, style of warm-up when using two balls. Chuck Vasoll

Footfaults Again!

Foot faults SHOULD be called, either by a line judge if present, or by an opponent (presumably visually experienced as some can be close) during any serious play/match. Or any time it is seen.  There is way too much foot faulting going on through tennis/paddle and there seems to be ‘intimidation’ by those viewing it, to call it.  Thanks for the article.   Robin Leech

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I think foot faults should be called as is indicated in the rules. particularly on a paddle tennis court which is so short;(compared  with a tennis court) one extra step can be most helpful. but more to  the point it's a rule of the game; if you play a game play by the  rules!   Belinda Morrow

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Good article !  Lets not get wrapped up in foot faults. The players  who do it constantly are not aware of it and probably should be spoken  to about it, and I be they will be aware of it then.  It is not an  issue in my mind. And I believe it is not an issue in most players  minds, unless they are losing !

Education in the matter is the on the matter is the only solution.  Just keep saying and putting signs up, please watch you foot  faulting .. BE AWARE of it all the time.  Let it go, play the game,  have a great time, hit the ball 40 times before a point is lost or  won....  
Jim McGovern, APTA. PPTA, USTA, USRSA, USPTR, Cape Cod

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On a court as small as a paddle court, the foot fault is a real advantage to the server and should be enforced. It seems as though the worst offenders get really upset when called and it definitely creates an awkward situation. The fact that the serve in picture from the Premier Cup was not called is an absolute joke! At that level somebody really needs to step up and take responsibility. 
Rob Parker, Tennis Director Woodstock Racquet & Fitness Club

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Thanks for the article.  It's an important point. The only improvement in the article would be for you to taken a position on foot-faulting and provide recommendations on how to handle a foot-fault in a match.  I assume you are against this practice and this is implied in reading the article, but it would seem a governing organization has taken a position on this and if yes, this position could have been stated in the article.  Charlie Brown

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I am just beginning my 3rd wonderful season of paddle. I read your article last year about foot faults and so have paid more attention since that time. A comment I heard was that the newer players are the culprits. Last week at our Series XII match, I watched the serves and did not see anyone foot fault. We were away and so I had the chance to watch the Series III players. EVERY ONE of the 8 players I observed, repeatedly faulted. And it was not just a foot “on the line”, they were usually 3-4 inches over the line. Maybe as you move up you have to look for ways to keep up with the competition so it is common behavior? Being new to the game, I was very surprised to see this. In golf, if the better players were teeing it up ahead of the tee markers, I believe they would receive a penalty. Why not in paddle? Keep the articles coming, I appreciate the info!  Larry Butz

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I find it amazing that in tournament tennis when people serve and stay at the baseline if there is an umpire footfaults are always called and the player isn’t gaining that much advantage because he is not volleying the next shot. i have seen in the past 20 years at the highest level in paddle more than 25%of the top players foot fault and not only gaining an advantage on a better serve they are all over the net for the first volley. at the club level its way more than 50%. if you call it on someone you look like the bad guy. i think line calling in paddle is better than tennis, i think this gives people a free pass on the footfault rule because they wouldn’t think of making an in correct line call. i hear people say i only footfault a little, what a joke, let’s be honest people can’t hold serve when they footfault, so if they didn't they fear they would lose serve most of the time. most people at the club level can return way better than they can serve, so if they footfault they don’t want to call it on their opponent. any way you look at it its cheating big time there is no difference between a bad line call and a footfault its exactly the same cheating. since both players that are receiving stay back its harder to see a footfault from all the way from baseline to baseline. it’s the worst part about paddle and being a pro at a club i  don’t want to tell opposing team members that i play against their footfault. however when i play in a national tournament i bring it up the first time the server serves rather than waiting until late in the 3d set. that's when players really get upset. the only way this will stop is if it’s called all the time. i don’t see it happening in my life time do you? 
steve siegel, head tennis pro plandome cc

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I suspect that our views on "foot faulting" are the same.  Every sport has its share of 'hacks'.  Nonetheless, even young hoopsters know that you don't shoot foul shots from "in front" of the free throw line.  This violation would be (and is) called on playgrounds across America.  What's more, it astonishes me just how many 'very talented' players foot fault almost all of the time…or at least in situations where they figure they can get away with it.  It is cheating, plain and simple.  No one wants to lose…but for Heaven's sake! 
Two other observations:  Foot faulters typically show shocking indignation when called for their violation.  Also, "All Conference" foot faulters are frequently the ones who not only complain the loudest when their opponents call a ball 'out' but also call the 'tightest lines' themselves.
I have little sympathy for those who claim to 'foot fault only a little' as if they are still somehow siding up with those who play by the rules.  In other words, they are cheating and they know it.  But since it is only cheating a little, it is somehow not really cheating, and therefore ok.  Sheesh!-----If a ball is out by 'only a few inches,' is it in or is it out?
Notwithstanding the evidence in your recent 2009 Premier Cup photo showing the fellow in the red shirt an impressive full stride into the court, the number one advantage (IMO) enjoyed by the foot faulter is the increased percentage in getting the serve "in".  Inches and angles are everything in paddle.  I'm sure that many, many serves clear the tape by only an inch or two.  If all foot faulters had to stand back far enough so as to be sure that they weren't going to tramp on or over the line, they would miss many more serves…or at the very least, there serves wouldn't be as effective.  How comfy to never have to worry (even in tight moments in a match) about serving from behind the line, particularly when you only get one chance at it (one serve).
Judging from the 'ready' position of the red-shirted server's partner at the net in the aforementioned photo, the server may have been getting his serve pounded; hence, he had decided to throw the rules out the window rather than face the music.  My experience indicates that two-thirds of all of the people who have ever picked up a paddle foot fault nearly 100% percent of the time.  The others (those playing by and within the rules) almost never do.  It's a choice.  You either cheat, or you don't.
Jack Sutherland

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I COMPLETELY agree that it is well past the time to ENFORCE the foot fault RULES. 

I just this past week mentioned to the pro at my club to kindly let the majority of the Series 1 team to watch their foot faults. The top four players on that team blatantly foot fault...the pro's response was that they don't take lessons from him so he doesn't feel the responsibility to handle the issue. Well someone in this sport needs to handle the issue. It is a BIG problem. I hope there are roving foot fault judges at Charities...I don't want to be known as the "spoiled sport" who calls foot faults on opponents...I just want them to stop doing it.  Name Withheld

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It’s Time to Give the Foot Fault Its Due – (as printed in Racquet Sports Industry magazine)

The Serena Williams incident during the US Open shows a disappointing side of our sport. Plenty of people have already taken her to task, and I see no need to continue that. But I do want to comment on what prompted her meltdown — the foot fault. Williams, remember, didn’t lose the match on the foot-fault call — that call was made on second serve, 15-30, which gave Kim Clijsters two match points.

What bothers me is that foot-faulting is considered the ugly stepchild in tennis — when in fact, it’s a longstanding rule that often is misunderstood and simply isn’t enforced enough. That’s why players, both pros and recreational, feel the need to complain and whine about foot faults.

In the Williams incident, many people blamed the lineswoman for calling a foot fault. But the official was doing her job. It’s simple: If a player steps on or over the baseline before striking the serve, it’s a foot fault. (Btw, it’s Rule 18 in the ITF Rules of Tennis.) It’s just like if a serve lands outside the service box — it’s a fault. In either case, it shouldn’t matter when in the match the infraction occurred.
It doesn’t help tennis when commentators like John McEnroe say officials should not call foot faults late in the match or on critical points. That’s just nonsense and sends the wrong message to millions who play the sport. If anything, pros should know they’re being scrutinized more for foot faults.
And it’s just as irresponsible when such generally esteemed tennis writers like Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle say the USTA should release the name of the lineswoman who made the “inexcusable call,” that she “had no feel for the circumstances,” and that she should “be banned” from working at the Open. That’s not only flat-out wrong, but it again sends the wrong message.
The lineswoman did everything right; in fact, how she handled her job should be a lesson in exemplary duty and stepping up when the occasion calls for it. To have handled this situation any differently than any other — whether a pro or rec match — would have been unfair to the players and to the sport.

Whether it’s at the Open or on the local park, club or school courts, everybody immediately assumes a foot-fault call is incorrect. But we all know foot faults are common in rec play; we’ve all played with and against players who do it. For both adults and juniors, we can’t overlook this unfair advantage — we have to make sure they know foot-faulting is against the rules. In clinics and lessons, we need to make sure students are aware of this aspect of the service motion. Get rec players used to the fact that foot faults should be called and it will save a lot of squabbling on the courts later.

Of course, whether you want to enforce the rule in a hit-and-giggle social game is one thing. But for tournaments and leagues, players need to be aware that they may get called on it. Let’s not leave it up to John McEnroe to pick and choose the rules of tennis we should enforce.

Peter Francesconi, Editorial Director, Racquet Sports Industry Magazine

“Why? Because”

“All of the above” is the answer.  What great reasoning.  Everyone has their own one particular reason for joining the governing body of a favorite sport whether it is golf, tennis or platform tennis.  But our sport is different because it has no “money-making” machine like the other sports and must rely on financial support from membership dues. Certainly cost is not an issue because a majority of the APTA membership are country club members.  Making the dues part of League Memberships was a great step forward but the APTA must find other means to include more non-league players for its financial support.     Chuck Vasoll

what do you think? let me know! info@platformtennisnews.com

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