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PostHeaderIcon Calling Foot Faults in Social Doubles

footfault-header

I play social doubles with a group of guys pretty much every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in SF’s Mission District. And though I love playing with these guys, our sets sometimes provide perfect fodder for discussions of “Tennis Etiquette”! Today was one of those days.

While serving at 5-4 for the set, the receiver said, “Hey Kevin, you should watch your feet on the line.” Bugged by his intrusion, I responded, “Hey…everybody out here’s been on the line.”

The fact of getting called out for a foot fault doesn’t bother me. In fact, it’s something I’m well aware that I need to watch for whenever I step up to the line (because of my bad knees and wonky toss). What bothered me was that the guy who said that had stepped on the baseline at the start of every serve he hit in the set. I also felt like this was only an issue because he couldn’t get a racquet on my serve. I’m all for playing by the rules with respect to foot faults, but not selectively.

I stepped backed, then proceeded to hit my hardest serves “just because”, ending the set with an ace that sailed under my opponent’s racquet. Not quite vindication, but definitely a step to take the bad taste out of my mouth from his comment.

Was I wrong for being peeved at (selectively) being put on foot fault notice? Should foot faults even be called in a social doubles match that’s supposed to be fun? Let me know what you think by answering this two-question survey. Thanks.

Question 1

* Do you think foot faults should be called in social doubles?

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One Response to “Calling Foot Faults in Social Doubles”

  • Joe says:

    I seriously think most social folks who call foot faults are the control freaks. They are so rigid they have to follow every letter of the law in fear of mass chaos.

    Most of us at the recreational level have zero advantage / disadvantage to foot fault. Nobody rushes the net. I always ask people why they care about foot faults and they never give me any real answer beyond its the rules. If we follow every rule during recreational play we’ll be out there all day.

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