SF Tennis Freak

Monitoring the courts at Valley Vista (courtesy USTA Norcal)

It’s been a busy January in terms of my USTA and ITA “Official” duties. Between Junior events, Adult League Mixed events, and the Cal Winter Invitational, every weekend has been booked with time spent watching some great matches. While doing so, I’ve noticed a few things that might be helpful to others as they prepare for the 2014 Adult league and tournament season. Here are three tips to help your upcoming USTA season be more productive and sporting.

Come prepared for a five-minute warm-up!

One of an official’s duties is to time the player warm-up prior to matches in officiated league events and tournament play. While doing so, I’m often struck by how unprepared many players are for the quick pace of their five-minute warm-up. Five minutes seems like a good amount of time until you think about all of the tasks you might want to accomplish in your warm-up.

Here’s a short list of what most people include in their warm-up:

1. Short court balls to start
2. Easy baseline shots to start
3. Stronger baseline rallies
4. Volleys at the net
5. Overheads
6. Practice serves

When you attempt to do all of these things with one or more other people on the court also trying to do them, the results can be less than satisfying.

Remember that the five-minute warm-up is NOT your match warm-up. If you come to the court without having warmed up in some other way prior to the match, it’s not your opponent’s job to do that for you; nor is it the official’s job to give you extra time.

If possible, grab a side court to hit with a friend or doubles partner. If no courts are available, you can still do shadow swings and footwork drills to prepare yourself for the match. When you go to court for your match, know exactly what you want to accomplish so that you can stay focused and not lose time. And prioritize! You may not get to do everything you want to do, but you can at least make sure that your basic needs are met to start play.

Call out the correct score before every point

A lot of time is spent in matches correcting scoring errors. Whenever officials hear talking, then see players conversing at the net, it’s almost always a scoring discrepancy. This can easily be alleviated by calling out the score before each point in a manner that’s loud enough for your opponent to hear. If he disagrees, you can fix it before the point instead of creating more confusion “after the fact”.

Also, it’s extremely helpful for all if you use the correct terms for calling out the score. If the score is 15-40 and you say 5-4, or you say 3-5 for 30-15, you’re probably going to run into some issues. Remember, keep it loud, and avoid shorthand scoring.

Be honest with your opponent on line calls

This isn’t just about making correct line calls, it’s also about being honest with your opponent when asked about the call if it was out. Often, an opponent may balk at a close call of “out”, or ask as an FYI how far out the ball landed.

If asked, be honest about the distance. If the ball landed one inch outside of the line, don’t say, “It was WAY out”. You’re not being honest, and you’re also not contributing to an environment of “good sportsmanship”. Say it was close, or a couple of inches, or something along those lines. Your opponent will appreciate the honesty, and will less likely think that you are cheating on calls.

I was looking through my auto-uploaded phone photos online in my Google+ account (it’s a nice backup solution) when I noticed something pretty cool. Google+ will automatically recognize a series of photos and create an animated gif for you. Since I used my phone for pictures at every tournament, I ended up with some pretty decent shots of the pros too. I’ll post them over the next week or so. To start, here’s a series of captures I made when I was working on my serve a few weeks back. It’s just twisted enough in terms of making me look like a jumping bean that I kinda like it. 😉

I promise that the rest of the pics that’s I’ll be posting won’t be quite so quirky/freaky…

I recently posted 3 separate installments featuring tips to help you and your game in the off-season as part of my Ask Marla series . Here are all  three article links in one place for easy bookmark-ing:

Tips for the Off-Season Part 1:  Take Stock/Take Time Off

Tips for the Off-Season Part 2: Off-Season Training

Tips for the Off-Season Part 3: Equipment Changes

Good luck, and hope they help your upcoming season!

Vincent Jannink / AP

I woke up in a funky mood today because of an incident that happened yesterday on the courts. In a series of Friday tweets, I described an egregiously bad call that was made by one of my opponents during a set of social doubles, and the subsequent questionable behavior to that call by his partner.

More than just a rules issue, this incident bugged me so much that it clearly warrants a greater discussion on the broader issue of personal integrity within the game. This is how it all went down.

My partner was serving to the deuce court and hit a first serve wide that landed about a foot inside the sideline. The net man on the opposing team, confused by the ten and under lines on the court, called the serve out. Though we immediately stopped play to protest the ridiculousness of the call, he honestly believed he made a correct call.

I pointed out several previous bad calls, including an impossible call of a ball going under the net a few weeks ago, that he’d made in recent weeks and he relented, suggesting that we “Take two.”  I said, “No. The ball was clearly in and the call was bad, and you know it. It’s our point.”

(This type of dispute is outlined in Friend at Court – The Code, Part 2, #12 – Out calls reversed.)

That’s when his partner, the returner for the contested point, finally decided to chime in. Not to admit the bad call on a serve he knows landed well in, but to fight me on the point by saying with a straight face: “Well that’s just your opinion. I didn’t say anything. It was out in your opinion.”

Needless to say, his brazen “lying by omission” didn’t help the discussion. Particularly since this was the second instance in which he was dishonest about a clearly blown call during a set. Also, it must be added that this isn’t a newbie. This guy has been around the game for years. For someone of his level, his behavior was actually pretty outrageous!

My partner and I finally settled on up playing the point over so as to avert WW3. After all, this was just a tennis game and not worth a protracted fight. We went on to win the game, but the damage to the social aspect of the set was done. We lost the set, and then both moved over to the second court to avoid playing with them again.

I’ve said it before and will surely say it again: we all make bad calls. Even veteran officials, with training, make errant calls. The point is in how you deal with the call. Thankfully, the USTA has rules to deal with most of these types of issues in sanctioned events. In social settings, however, all you have is the integrity of the participants.

I’d much rather play with someone who makes the occasional (and unintentional) bad call than the guy who looks me in the eye and then lies to me to justify the cheating response after the call. Some may say this is extrapolating too much, but that action – good or bad depending on your point of view – tells me an awful lot about what someone’s willing to do in order to win a point.

In the end it’s all about what’s personally more important to you. For me, foot faults and minor stuff like that don’t really matter. Trying to make good calls (and being honest when you don’t) does. If you can’t trust the person on the other side of the net, then why bother?

If those things don’t matter to you AND you can keep the game social and fun, then more power to you! Also, I’ve got a bridge to sell you…

This is the third of a three-part series (Take Stock/Take Time Off, Training Tips for Upcoming Season, and Equipment Changes) that will focus on things you can do to help your game during the off-season.

Question: Is this a good time to make equipment changes?

Answer: With regards to equipment, this is definitely time to think about making changes. Start doing some research, find out what’s new and what’s coming out (that may help your game), and talk to someone who knows about the equipment you’re interested in i.e. racquets, strings, etc.

If you’re going to demo a racquet I’d highly recommend waiting until the first of the year. That’s when the new products will be out and in the stores. It’s the best time to demo and hit with all the latest and greatest! So hold off on any new racquet purchases until then.

Question: How about changing strings. Is this the best time to make a change or is it okay to experiment throughout the season?

Answer: If you’re going to get a new racquet, I would hold off strings because it all depends on your game and the racquet. Talk to a local pro about your game and what you’re looking to achieve. Do you need more control? Do you want to develop more spin? Get advice on strings that might be able to help you achieve the goals of your game.

With respect to racquets, there are many factors that can affect your strings such as open/closed string patterns and racquet stiffness. Are you looking for durability, or are you looking for playability. Keep in mind that changing your string tension can also make a big difference in your game without changing strings. Just remember that you have to be willing to experiment to find what works best for you.

(SFTF Note: I wholeheartedly agree on talking to a trusted local pro before making any major equipment changes. Because I’d previously taken lessons with Marla, she knew my game, knew my goals, and successfully guided me to my current racquet (HEAD Speed MP 315).

Marla also convinced me to string my racquets with a hybrid combo that gives me great playability yet also helps my string jobs last for more than three weeks. Lastly, her familiarity with my shoulder issues led to a push for reduced string tension from 60 pounds to 52. Besides feeling better on my shoulder, the reduced tension helps my string jobs last even longer.

These are the type of customized suggestions you could never get from random online reviews. I love my racquet, love my strings, and feel like my game continues to evolve and improve. All thanks to the help I received from my local pro.

You want my advice? Take the time to get help from a trusted pro/coach in your area. Any type of equipment changes you want to make, and their associated mental/financial costs, will be well worth the effort when you successfully come out on the other side!)

Got a tennis question? Send it via email or tweet for “Ask Marla”, a (hopefully) weekly (or biweekly) question-and-answer with Marla Reid of San Francisco’s City Racquet Shop.

About Marla

Marla Reid is a respected tennis pro/coach in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s coached nationally-ranked teams and players, and has over 15 years of experience at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels. Marla owns and operates City Racquet Shop in San Francisco CA.

About City Racquet Shop

City Racquet Shop offers, superior products/services, outstanding customer service, and a community-oriented destination for tennis players to shop, hang out and talk about tennis.

City Racquet Shop online: www.cityracquetshop.com
City Racquet Shop on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/city-racquet-shop-san-francisco
City Racquet Shop on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cityracquetshop

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco today, so I decided to share a little of that sunshine love with my readers and make a short video message for you all.

Since I was already at my gym (FitnessSF SOMA), I drove a few blocks over to Jackson Playground and set up my tripod near the tennis court. I talked about my recent “Off-Season Tips” postings as well as some upcoming postings where I plan to share some of my own training regimen. And in this run-up to Thanksgiving, I also talk about reaching out to others who are desperately in need this holiday season.

If you have specific suggestions for training tips in this series, send me an email and I’ll do my best to accomodate the request. Have a great week!
(FYI: my occasional looks to my right are to avoid getting hit by softballs hit towards the guys practicing in the field near me. Sorry.)