Foot Faults

During a match play session, I served an aced a girl on my first serve and she immediately called a foot fault. I served again and aced her and she said it didn't count because I foot faulted on that serve as well. Rather than argue with her, I proceeded to the deuce court, backed twelve inches behind the baseline but she continued to call foot faults on me and take away points. I told her I wasn't committing foot faults, but it proceeded to be an issue the entire round I had to play her. Is she allowed to call foot faults on me and deduct points?

-Phantom Foot Faulter

Dear Phantom,

According to USTA Comment 18.6, "The receiver or the receiver's partner may call foot faults only when all reasonable efforts such as warming the server and attempting to get an official to the court have failed and the foot faulting is so flagrant as to be clearly perceptible from the receiver's side." Of course, this is in USTA-sanctioned matches and events. Still, your opponent should not have taken points away from you without cautioning you about your alleged foot faults.

WSU Community Event

Just had to share again!

http://wsuathletics.com/news/2014/1/22/MTEN_0122142654.aspx

Nike Air Max Cage: A Shoe Review

At times I feel very fortunate that I am so tough on my sports equipment. It affords me the opportunity to try out different shoes and equipment. At other times, like in my hockey game last night when I got body slammed to the ice by a moose and I land on my elbow that is not covered because the elastic in my elbow pad fails to keep them secured any where close to that joint, being tough on equipment definitely stinks.

 After last year's dislocated ankle, my shoe rotation actually got way out of order and I found myself wearing holes in the outsoles of two pairs of Adidas Barricades roughly around the same time and scrambling to find a pair to replace them as I packaged them to go to the Adidas Barricade Outsole Guarantee's return center. I usually buy my tennis shoes online. Part of that is the convenience of shopping at all times of the night in my pajama's and part of it is I love to use Adidas' Customization website to put together never-before-seen color combinations. Ordering customized Barricades is a three-week process that include the highs of anticipation as I stare at the screen of my newly created shoe to the lows of ambivalence two weeks later when I've all but forgotten about the shoes to the frustration of coming home in the evening to see that "MISSED YOU" tag from the delivery company and knowing that I will have to wait another day or two to receive my shoes.

 Time was of the essence as I was about to embark upon my summer season having to go to the store and buy whatever stock shoe was available. I settled on a couple of pair of women's Nike Air Max Cage shoes, a pale blue pair accented with navy and a black and white pair with a splash of hot pink that reminded me of Good and Plenty candy. I used to wear Nikes a long time ago, but as most of you can commiserate, I hate when they change the design of a perfectly good shoe from one year to the next. All of a sudden a few years ago, Nikes became a comfortable fit to being incredibly very hard on my feet. Nike's tennis shoes' recent designs seem to narrow in places my foot doesn't naturally narrow. So, I switched to Adidas Barricades and have been wearing them ever since. I liked that they were a heavier shoe and felt steadier than a lot of other tennis shoes. They also came in cool colors and I could also customize them to any color I liked.

There was an All-American red, white, navy and metallic silver pair...

There was a navy, yellow with purple stripes and purple laces...

There was the Float Like a Bumblebee yellow and black pair...

My favorite was an orange pair with neon yellow strings and stripes that reminded me of summer...

And there were others. That Ode to Blue; navy, royal and North Carolina blue. The pink, black, silver and rose ones.

 But all good things must come to an end and my relationship with all of those pairs ended with huge holes in the outsoles. I'd done some quick research online and found many reviewers who claimed these particular generation of Air Max Cages did not cause the foot problems like plantar fasciitis that I am prone to due to my slightly flat feet. I always replace shoes' original insoles with insoles by Sof Sole anyway, so I was mostly worried about the fit. In the store, the shoes felt great. The toe box was a little wider than I remembered and the shoe didn't cut off my circulation near the instep. I bought the two pair and went on my way.

 At first, the insoles didn't feel like they fit right in the shoe, so I spent one morning practicing in the shoes while using the original insoles. The blisters that appeared immediately on my feet felt worse than walking barefoot across hot coals. The rest of that day, all I did was ice the bottoms of my feet. I found a pair of insoles that fit better and have been wearing the shoes all summer but I still developed a sore fascia on my right foot that requires me to tape before playing. Nike also has a 6-month Outsole Guarantee. I've heard from tennis friends that Nike can be much more discriminate in accepting and replacing shoes that are submitted for their warranty. Three months before I hit the six month mark, the outsoles of both pair of shoes, which I rotate frequently, were almost completely bald with excess wear on the heels.

I probably won't be buying another pair of Nike's anytime soon, but the Air Max Cages continue to draw my eye. There were no colors for the fall to compliment their fall clothes collections and I expect their will be more colors some time after the new year. For those who have the feet to fit these shoes, they certainly look good. And if you look good, you must play good, right?

Stay tuned,
KS

Wayne State University's All-City Tennis Tune-Up

Wayne State University Men's team opened their facility to run a three hour clinic for the tennis players in and around the city of Detroit. The three hour practice helped get many girls ready for their upcoming season.

Link to Mean Streets to Hardcourts

This is one of the best articles I've read in awhile and what inspires me to continue working with the kids in Detroit. I am looking forward to our first annual All-City Tennis Practice in January. Look for pictures!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/sports/tennis/mean-streets-to-hardcourts-for-chicago-youth-tennis-program.html?smid=pl-share

Stay tuned,
KS

Split Set Intermission

Dear, Official,

Over the summer, I had a doubles match for my 2.5 team. Our opponents won the first set. We won the second and before we could start the tiebreaker, one of our opponents said she had to go pick  up her son from school and she would be back. She didn't want to start the tiebreaker and leave in the middle, so her solution was that we all reconvene at the courts an hour later. My partner and I protested, but felt bullied into letting her have her way. She came back an hour later, we started the tiebreaker and lost. But my question is, was she allowed to do this?

-Delayed in Dallas

Dear, Delayed,

ABSOLUTELY NOT! I don't even know where to begin with this but I think the most appropriate rule is Rule 29, regarding continuous play, which states: "As a principle, play should be continuous, from the time the match starts until the match finishes." Furthermore, in adult league matches, the break between the second and third sets, when a match tiebreaker is being played in lieu of a third set, is two minutes. Lastly, matches are not permitted to be delayed for more than fifteen minutes, unless an official suspends play, in which case you would have been entitled to another warm up. Your opponent's "break" far exceeded the fifteen minute stoppage guidelines.

Rover's Job

In a local junior match, the parent of my child's opponent was upset with the rover who did not overrule two calls that the parent believed to be "in" even though my child called them out. After the match, she proceeded to tell the official that it was her job to correct the call. I know I am biased but the calls looked close to me.

-Trying To Stay Out Of It

Dear Trying To Stay Out Of It,

It is a rover's job to overrule erroneous "out" calls, but only if he clearly sees it in. Many times parents are sitting in positions to see the ball better than a rover who may not be standing in the best position to overrule a close call. The Friend at Court Comment VII. D-4 states "A rover should never overrule an extremely close call. Players are playing under The Code and are expected to give their opponents the benefit of the doubt."