Tennis etiquetter

by veeds

25 May 2024

Tennis etiquette for non-beginners

I’m deliberately calling this a help list for non-beginners because newcomers are often either coached about the rules as they start or (hopefully) are politely advised in their first matches. But long-time players pick up differing customs and practices at different locations, especially in casual/friendly matches where there’s no printed rulebook (like the ITA supplies).
  1. Server needs to announce the score in a clear voice so both sides can hear it before starting service. That is, don’t just mumble it to yourself [This is probably the #1 etiquette foul]
  2. Server needs to announce the score before beginning the serving motion. This gives everyone at least a few seconds to absorb and agree…and maybe even lets the receiving team adjust their ball return strategy.1
  3. It’s the server’s job to call the score. The receiving team should not try to pre-empt or appropriate the server’s score call job by loudly announcing the score before each point—though anyone can raise a question, politely, while players are getting in place. Some players literally attempt to take over or dominate the situation, as though they were a sports announcer.2 The point of the server calling score is both to give everyone a moment to challenge the score and, more importantly, alert all players that the serve is about to start.
  4. The score is always given from the serving team’s perspective.3
  5. For deep line in/out calls, make the call clear with at least an unmistakable “in” (palm or finger pointing down) or “out” (ideally, single finger pointing up), perhaps accompanied by either a vocal “Good!” or “No!” Many players simply stare at each other, seemingly in frustration, at the far end of the court when their opponent’s ball has landed in, probably very close to the line. This means the hitting team has to guess from the receiving team’s dour expressions. (By contrast, they’re always clear about calling the ball “out,” apparently implying that “no call” means the ball landed in.) See Signals.
  6. If the player closest to a shot is not sure if it’s in or out, the point automatically goes to the other team…unless the player’s partner has a clear view and calls “out” immediately. If the two players need to huddle to confer on the call, that signals indecisiveness and it probably should go to the other team.
  7. If you hit a shot and disagree with the opponent’s call, all you’re allowed to say (politely) is: “Are you sure?” No call-outs disputing the call or growly face or gestures.
  8. If a ball rolls onto the court’s general area before a second serve you can either ignore it, (e.g., if it goes to the back fence or just nudges up against the net) or just kick it off. You don’t get a “second first serve.” The only time you may get a second first serve is if the service is disrupted for several minutes. (Casual tennis courtesy usually allows a “second-first” if the delay is more than a few seconds)4
  9. The serving team doesn’t get to call “second first serve.” This is a courtesy reserved for the other team. And you don’t get to make a big commotion about getting rid of that errant ball, like walking back to the fence where the ball isn’t remotely obstructing anything, just to earn a second-first. Anything the server’s side does to cause a delay (like the server bouncing a ball that hits their foot and rolls off) automatically disqualifies a “second first.”
  10. The team receiving a ball should not call “out” until the ball actually lands. (You can call “Bounce it” or “Let it go” or “Watch it” to alert your partner that the ball is probably going out.)
  11. Returning stray balls to the serving team. Don’t just whack the ball over to the back fence or wall; wait for a player to see you and politely bounce the ball(s) to that person.
  12. Regarding scoring nomenclature. The ideal way to keep score is the traditional “love-15-30-40-game” sequence (it was originally “45,” reputedly in keeping with ancient clock motif, but eventually got shortened to save a syllable). Many players shorten the “15” to “five” for much the same syllable-saving reason. However, when players go about shortening the entire sequence — five-three, three-oh, four-five, three all, etc — it makes everyone do another mental calculation. Also “all” sounds a lot like “oh” (zero), which creates another mental calculation. I suggest saying “apiece” when the score is tied, avoiding the whole “oh/all” vs “zero” dilemma. In my view, this abbreviating of score terms is one of the key reasons so many players—server and receiver alike—forget the score. Part of this is because not everyone uses the same abbreviations. And to make it worse, in “no-ad” scoring, some groups simply count: zero, one, two, three, four, so 4-4 is literally “next point wins.” But “fifteen” can only mean “fifteen”
  1. The receiving team may want to quickly adjust positioning strategy depending on if they’re up, say, 15-40, or down 40-15. If the server is down15-40, they’re probably going to hit a modest, down-the-middle serve rather than risk a game-ending smash.
  2. I first came across this discourteous strategy during my volleyball tournament days when a player from the receiving team would shout out the score, just as I was stepping up to the line to call the score and serve. I call it a strategy because there’s simply no reason for the opponent to loudly announce the score.
  3. I’ve actually known a couple players who, when asked during a time-out or side-change, give the score from their perspective: Thus, if we’re down love-30, they’ll say “30-love.” Meanwhile, others are just sort of admittedly dyslexic about it.
  4. Just a suggestion to avoid giving the server an unnecessary “second-first”: If you’re receiving a clearly out serve, just let it bounce past rather than hitting a pointless return. Often, your casual return bounces off a net post or the between-courts shaded rest area into an adjoining court causing them to stop play, run down the ball and return it…thus triggering a second-first.

Leave a comment