Our latest episode navigates the amusing and often annoying moments encountered on the tennis court, from score-calling pet peeves to eccentric serving routines. We share our personal experiences and insights, ultimately exploring how we all have quirks on the tennis court!

Here’s A Complete Transcript of Our Conversation

Carolyn: 0:07

Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin and we have Jen back on the podcast with us. Jen was a self-rated 3-5 that became a 5-0 in three years. She currently coaches Red Ball and JTT. We thought it’d be fun to do an episode on annoying or irritating or funny situations that happen on the court or stuff that bothers us with Jen, because she has won almost all her matches the past three years, so she’s seen a lot of different behaviors. So, jen, can you start off and tell us what bothers you?Gin: 0:38

Yeah, I think I’ve, definitely. I think one that bothers me and this this sort of disrupts the flow of my tennis is when somebody announces the score, calls out the score right when they’re serving, like almost as a beginning of their service motion. Because I don’t have time to process in my mind yes, that’s also what I think the score is and then be ready to return. And so I actually have made a conscious effort. I call the score out, like even when I’m going to get a ball, like if I’m walking to the net to pick up a ball, I’ll say 45, you know, 15, all whatever, and then they look confused, sort of like well, are you about to serve, you know, but I’m like you know, I’m just making sure.Erin: 1:17

Yeah, you know.Gin: 1:18

I, I’m like let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about the score and then let’s start the point. You, you know, um. So I really don’t like that very last second serve score or score call out, um yeah, it bugs me.Erin: 1:29

I have a good thing to add onto that. First of all, I do the exact same thing you do when I’m fetching a ball. I’ll say it sometimes, and sometimes it’s for me to remember. But I’ll say, in singles especially, I think that’s more important because when someone does that to you, the rule is Carolyn correct me if I’m wrong the rule is, once you like, if someone’s called it out like, let’s say, they’re going to call 40-15, but it’s really like 15-40, they’ve got it wrong they call it out and then they start serving. You’re supposed to have accepted the score before you serve the ball, like your opponent is you’re supposed to. I don’t know if it’s an unwritten rule, but it’s like you’re supposed to agree that that’s the score before the point starts or you’re supposed to stop someone, right.Carolyn: 2:09

But if they call it and then just serve the ball. You don’t have that opportunity.Erin: 2:10

Is that right, carolyn, do you?Carolyn: 2:11

remember that. I have no idea on that. I don’t know if I’ve read a rule that specifically addresses that, but I’ll check. There probably is.Gin: 2:17

But, anyway, that is also the way I understood it, which is part of why it’s a problem, because you’re like, well, gosh, I hate to stop the point, right, but I didn’t have an opportunity to say, hey, wait, I thought it was you know something else. So, yeah, that’s why it’s a problem.Carolyn: 2:30

Yeah, and it is hard to process it. Like as they’re throwing and you’re trying to receive if they say it at the same time, it is really hard to process everything.Erin: 2:39

But another funny part to add on to that also is when someone in doubles and this maybe it happens in matches, but I just don’t play with these people in matches necessarily, but in a lot of practices at our club in the wintertime we play with a lot, you know, large group of people, all ages, all abilities, everything, and you know sometimes the opponent’s net player, maybe the one, that’s not certain then the non server opponent will call out the score. I’m like, yeah, isn’t that your server, your, your partner’s job to call the score if they’re the server. But sometimes, like they’ll just announce it as to like the entire court with the score is. I’m like, okay, maybe that’s helpful, but it’s kind of annoying when you should probably let your server do the score calling. Have you ever had that, carolyn? I haven’t.Carolyn: 3:28

I haven’t noticed that before, but it’s just so strange to me how people do these things differently.Erin: 3:34

And again, I think it’s like just her way of like getting it straight in her mind, but she’s announcing it to all four players when she’s not even serving the ball. I just I think it’s funny.Gin: 3:43

Maybe it’s annoying.Erin: 3:44

Maybe it’s funny announcing it to all four players when she’s not even serving the ball. I just I think it’s funny, maybe it’s annoying, maybe it’s funny, I don’t know how about Carolyn bouncing the ball a thousand times before someone talk about serving? Like when someone has like a really crazy routine to their serve and I have played someone that has bounced the ball so many times she’ll bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce and then stop and look at me. And there have been times before like I’ve told people now, when they play her, like she’s going to bounce the ball a thousand times and then she’s going to stop and then she’s going to look at you and then she’s going to bounce it again and then, sort of like I tell people what her service motion is or you know what her routine is, because she’s done that before, and then when she does the, stop and look at you. I’ve literally looked behind me Like I thought she was like saw someone behind me, but it’s just part of her annoying routine to serve.Carolyn: 4:33

And what do you do? Can you say anything? You really can’t. No, you definitely can’t.Erin: 4:39

Could you yeah, could you please change your whole routine, That’d be like asking Rafa Nadal, like don’t you know, don’t wipe your nose and tuck your hair between behind your ear, and but it is. It’s like someone’s little quirky routine that they do and that’s just hers. But I’m telling you, when I say a thousand, that’s obviously an exaggeration, but I’ve tried to count before. I was like, well, maybe it’s, maybe it’s a certain number, you know, maybe her lucky number is 11, but sometimes it’ll be 11. Sometimes it’s 20. Sometimes it’s five, sometimes it’s 20. Yeah, I like it.Carolyn: 5:08

It’s all over the place. Oh yeah, yeah, that’s crazy.Erin: 5:12

It is. It’s just like a million bounces before, I’m like. I feel like we could have played an entire game by the time she started her service routine.Gin: 5:18

So I think also there’s a lot of issues with warming up, you know, I think maybe because it’s not sanctioned or as clear. You know we played this game, this is how it goes, you know that. But I have found it very annoying in the past where you know players come out to the club and they they’re hitting with their own team first. You know, you kind of have this I don’t know if this is where it is all across the nation, where all of your listeners are but here you know you kind of hit with your own team, sort of before the match time, and then you start warming up with your opponents and I’ve had people have a long warmup with their own team and then they come over and have a long warmup with us and then, you know, then they decided you know what, I’m going to run to the bathroom.Erin: 5:58

And I’m like no, no, no, no.Gin: 5:59

Like that was what you should have. Now, I understand there’s emergencies or you know, but then this one woman actually, even after all of that warming up, then she went over and put her racket down and took out her sunscreen and did a full body sunscreen application on herself and then needed to go to the bathroom and I really did think my head was going to explode that day because I I just it was just so irritating. I mean, I really do think we were half an hour after match start time starting that match. Um, but she did double fault an entire game. That was the only time that had ever happened to me, so I thought maybe it was a little bit of payback for her slow, her slow warm up Little tennis karma coming down.Erin: 6:39

I always wonder is that people’s just like? Are they just so clueless that they don’t do? Are they not on a time crunch? Is that strategy? Like, are they trying to annoy me before the match even starts? Because that is really annoying and everyone has their own like. I need this amount of time, I need to hit this many balls, you know, to play a decent match, for their warm-up or whatever, but that’s both annoying. I feel like it’s somewhat rude, like my time is just as important as someone else’s time. So to have that super long warm-up and then to do your whole routine of it when I get ready in the morning, I literally put on sunscreen in my bathroom when I’m, if I know, I’m playing a morning match in the sun. That’s part of my like routine. But I’ve had a lot of people do the sunscreen thing, do the okay, now it’s time to go to the bathroom and I’m like, oh my gosh, let’s just get started.Carolyn: 7:26

Do you say anything?Erin: 7:27

No, how can you yeah?Carolyn: 7:28

you can’t, you can’t say anything, because then you’re the jerk.Erin: 7:31

That’s what I always say If you call, I mean there is a rule. And again, like we, if you have a 9.30 am start time, you default that court at 9.45. But if you’ve already warmed up.Carolyn: 7:43

I mean do you have to?Gin: 7:44

start right at March at match time.Erin: 7:47

I mean you could say like hey, you know, we were supposed to be, like, hitting the ball and starting the match by now.Carolyn: 7:54

But if she’s like oh, I just need her into the restroom.Erin: 7:56

What do you say, Carolyn?Carolyn: 7:57

I mean, they’re allowed to go to the restroom. And I used to go to the restroom in between sets and my husband was like you’re taking way too long to do that Because I used to change clothes. No longer do that, because I don’t want them to think it’s gamanship or strategy or anything like that. So maybe they don’t even realize it. So this is why this podcast is good, because you learn like okay, this does bother other people, although people, if it does bother you, they may start doing it even more, who knows Well, so actually that’s a good lead into the next one, which is just people being slow in general, right, and I feel like there are two different people.Erin: 8:34

There are people that are just really slow, and gin is the opposite of that. Gin is like running you know everywhere all the time, but then it’s very tactical for some people too. Um, so we just had a uh tournament at our club, uh, a couple a week ago or so, and there was someone one of our friends had played someone that just literally like walked to the ball, walk to get the ball and she our, our friend felt like it was very much strategy that that woman, her opponent, was trying to annoy her just by being really, really slow.Carolyn: 9:05

Jen, do they tell you to slow down?Gin: 9:08

No one has ever told me to slow down. But you know, when we talked about this episode at first we thought about being, you know, talking about neurotic tennis players and we’ve kind of switched that. But Aaron said, you know, you have a little bit of a neurotic thing you do, and so I was going to share that it. I don’t know that it annoys people, but it’s funny.Gin: 9:24

I think I do have a game that I play with myself where when a ball rolls onto someone like the next court over or just in a, you know, in a sort of a faraway spot, and I mean I’ll do it if the ball goes three courts over, like if you know, no one’s playing on those courts or something, it is my goal. I mean I sprint I’m talking full out as fast as I can sprint to that ball and sprint back to the baseline and as my goal to be in place before the server. And so you know, it’s sort of like I have gone and retrieved the ball and I’m back, like I didn’t mess up your pace of your serve, like I’m back before you and I love like it’s like a little mini victory if I get there and back and they’re still not ready and I’m like, yes, I won.Carolyn: 10:04

Whereas I would be like, oh my goodness, I’ve wasted so much energy. That’s the reason Jen’s so good and went from three five to five.Erin: 10:12

It’s true. Now I kind of do it like jokingly, like if she’s near me I try to sprint to a ball first, just to mess her up.Carolyn: 10:19

Cause it’s normally the opposite. It’s like yeah, most people are like oh.Erin: 10:29

I’m playing singles. Can you go fetch that ball for me? Yes, yes, or Jin takes it upon her. So if she’s the receiver and she doesn’t want to mess up her opponent’s serving motion, she will sprint and get back before that person’s even ready to go, which I’m sure throws them off. They’re like, oh my gosh she’s already sprinted and back and ready to play, and I haven’t even gotten ready to serve my ball yet.Carolyn: 10:44

Or I’m tired. I’m tired as a server and she’s doing sprints over here in between points. That’s crazy. Yeah, should we talk about a yoga situation? Yes, okay.Erin: 10:55

So Jen and I were playing a combo match several years ago In the summertime. It was blazing hot, right, do you remember Like it was? I just remember it being so hot. There was like one little, uh, shaded part on the court. So we were getting ready to do a tiebreaker maybe.Erin: 11:14

So three of us left the court to go get water and we came on the court and one of the opponents was doing yoga. I don’t mean like stretching against a bench. Have her towel down on the ground full out doing yoga, stretches, positions, whatever, and like kept doing that while we were back. So we walked back on the court, we had our water. We were like, oh, interesting, she’s got a towel down on the court doing her yoga. And so Jen and I just went to our side of the court like, okay, we’re ready, we’re ready to start this tiebreaker. And she just continued doing her yoga. That’s crazy, that’s a crazy situation. And yoga, so that’s crazy. That’s a crazy situation and annoying. So Jen was actually very annoyed by it and I think you asked me like what’s the rule? Right?Gin: 11:52

Like we got to get going Like what’s the rule on this right?Erin: 11:55

And I remember thinking I looked at her, at our opponent’s partner, and she was almost had an embarrassed look on her face Like she knew it was weird and annoying that that woman was doing it. And so I said to Jen I said her partner is more annoyed than we are. Let’s just let her kind of let it get under her skin. And we just sort of stood there for a few minutes and then the lady got up and, you know, put her towel away and all that. But super weird and annoying and it annoyed Jen more than anything. But I was like we’re going to keep our cool because this is going to work in our favor, because her partner is even more irritated with her right now.Carolyn: 12:29

Did it work. We did beat them. Oh good, okay, yeah, I’ve never seen anyone do yoga like that Full on, yeah, full on yoga. I think people taking a long time and it’s hard because I’ve had in doubles where people meet in the middle for strategy, but it just instead of a quick okay, this is where I’m going to serve, or something like that. They take a really long time and you think it’s some sort of strategy to annoy you, versus them coming up with a strategy on how to play the next point.Erin: 12:57

Yeah, and then I’ll just throw one more out there, but it just has to do with organizing tennis in general. We get a lot of texts like hey, can someone sub for me? Or um, and there’s so many times where people will text back and be like let me check, let me, you know, I might be able to hold. You know, basically like hold that spot. And it’s like, well, there’s 12 other people on the group text, maybe they can. We’re not gonna. You weren’t like first one in, so we’re going to hold that hot spot for you until you figure out your schedule, maybe like eight hours later.Gin: 13:28

But a lot of texting, annoyances, yeah we often talk about that we could do a whole etiquette class on sort of the group me or however you organize your you know, friendly tennis. And, like Aaron said, you know, hey, we need two more for Sunday. Hey, we need two more for Sunday. There’s a lot of sort of odd etiquette that happens that we feel like we could really make people attend a class on like you know, don’t, do not write back, like that you cannot play and that you’re taking your dog to the vet because nobody needs you know it’s 16 people are on this text.Gin: 13:57

You know everybody can only reply if you can play. Do not say let me check, that is so good, that is so good.Carolyn: 14:11

We have a part two of this episode where Jen tells us the thing that we have said on our podcast multiple times that she thinks is incorrect. So much so she says she finds herself yelling in her car for us to stop saying it, and we think she may be right. Also, I checked friend at court and I didn’t see anything that said you have to accept the score if they serve. But I do agree that the sooner you can correct the score from a practical standpoint the better. We hope you check out our website, which is secondservepodcastcom. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.