INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Cruising around the courts looking for two Vermont friends of mine competing in a USTA tournament going on around the grounds, I came across this perpetrator.
The roving USTA umpire called it – on the first serve. And then on the second serve. The worst kind of double-fault.
It takes guts to do it, and not in the same way as the pros, for whom it’s just a misstep most of the time if they do foot-fault.
For many recreational players, it’s an integral part of their serving technique. And there’s no way to penalize them for it most of the time, so they get away with it – until they get to a tournament, and it’s actually enforced.
The solution, of course, is just not to ever do it. Back up a couple of inches,; it’s not going to diminish your usual 20-ace total or anything.
But it takes guts for the officials to call it, because they can get so much grief.
This dude, however, sheepishly just accepted it. Because he knew he was GUILTY!!!
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