Montauk Pioneer - August 29, 2008

A lot of players ask me about the proper etiquette in obtaining your court, how to start a match, what happens when a ball rolls onto your court, in and out calls, as well as reaching and hitting the ball near the net. In the following article I will cover all of the above points.

When it your court time you should allow the players on the court to finish their game. It is considered rude to walk onto a tennis court when play is in progress. So for this reason you wait outside the court for your time. When you leave your court you should walk around the tennis court or if not able to walk around the court you should wait for play to stop and then run across the court.

The proper way to start a match is to spin the racquet. A player will either call up or down. Whoever wins the spin has the choice of picking who serves first or which side he will play on. The winner of the spin can not pick both who serves first and which side to play on.

If you hit a ball onto the court next you should say "ball on your court "so nobody will get hurt by stepping on the ball. Once a ball has rolled onto your court you should stop play and start the point over.

If you cannot tell if the ball is in or out, you must call the ball in. Sometimes when you are playing doubles, your partner may make a bad call, unintentionally, you ask him if he is sure? If he says yes then you will back him up on his call. Never disagree with your partner's call during play. Maybe after the match you'll want to bring the call to his attention and let him know that you thought that the ball was in.

If you call the ball out and catch or hit the ball in the air, the ball is considered in. The rule states that you must allow the ball to hit the ground. If you do not allow the ball to hit the ground the ball is considered in. It does not matter if you are standing five feet behind the baseline calling the ball out, you must allow the ball to hit the ground at all times.

Another rule is that if a ball hits you or touches any of your equipment, you lose the point. You may not make contact with the ball on your opponent's side of the court. The only time you can make contact on your opponent's side is when the ball bounces back own its on power. Then you can reach over the net to hit the ball. But, if you touch the net you loose the point. So, the rules states the following you can contact the ball on your side of the net and follow through over the net.

Now that we know the proper etiquette, we can all go out and enjoy the game of tennis.