After playing men's doubles exclusively for the last ten years, I have recently started playing some mixed doubles again. I played competitive mixed doubles in high school and a couple of times on a USTA league long ago. Now that I am older, I am struggling with playing against a female opponent. I feel guilty hitting some of my heavier shots in the direction of the lady. I even find myself slowing down my serve against the lady if I see she is struggling with the return. I have always been instructed to go through my opponent in doubles which means you must hit right at the women. I have been reluctant to do so. In fact I feel guilty, even when my mixed partner tells me to do it. Apparently, it is the strategy to pick on the women. I have heard players say that mixed is fun but what is fun about picking on a lady on a tennis court? I feel that the levels are not equal in ability but that is how the USTA has structured the league. From what I can tell a 3.5 lady has about the same ability as a 3.0 man, and so on. Maybe if the format were different, then the ladies would not always be the weaker players.
I should mention that one of my last mixed USTA matches long ago, ended with the lady retiring from the match. A hard shot hit her racquet and deflected to hit her in the face. The ball was just hit with pace and she reached for it. Her contact lens ended up cutting her eye. She also busted a blood vessel in her eye. Her eye was actually bleeding and she went to the hospital that night to make sure it was OK. Here eye was hurting her pretty bad and she was crying tears and blood when she left. After this, you can see why I struggle with mixed. She simply misjudged the pace and spin on the ball. She was simply trying to play above her level.
Please comment with your thoughts. I am competitive and I just have a hard time motivating myself to go out a pick on a lady every Sunday. Ladies, I have heard you say ,"this is what we signed up for." I find that hard to believe. I just feel like a jerk hitting aces and hard shots at the girls. Hitting a ball and then feeling guilty deep down is not fun. Hopefully, some mixed doubles players can comment.
I too faced the same dilemma when I played mixed a few years ago. The first match I played in, I pulled the team captain aside and asked, “Do we treat the ladies the same or do we take it easier on them?” He gave me an authoritative, “Go at her!” Like you I felt a little uneasy whizzing hard passing shots past her or slamming overheads in her direction. What worked for me, I ended up resorting to lobbing a lot to keep her back away from the net so I wasn’t as uneasy hitting hard ground strokes and it also caused quite a few unforced errors on their part since they couldn’t return deep lobs. I think this is when I started to develop my lob shot. That has been the only season I have played mixed doubles.
ReplyDeleteI really like your suggestion of a format where the female player is of a higher ranking. I think a 3.5 male and a 4.0 female or a 4.0 male and 4.5 female would make for a more formidable match up than both being of the same ranking.
Why does a picture of a bunch of obese men in bright green shirts pop up on the bottom of this page?
ReplyDeleteI agree and have stopped playing Mixed Doubles because it is fun for advanced male players.
Are you really surprised by a bunch of obese men in San Antonio. The camera adds 10 lbs and blog adds about 20 more.
Deletemaybe if you would have learned to read, the picture does state spring 2012 mens 4.0 san antonio tennis champions...lol, great job guys on a great undefeated season.
DeleteI think "obese" is such a harsh word. I think "pleasantly plump" is a little more politically correct.
DeleteWe're not fat....we're FLUFFY!
Deleteit's like a collection of man boobs ("moobs").
ReplyDeletewhen is the sectionals tourney?
all i can say is .....if they want to play mix ,they better expect the ball coming right at her , i know is tough for some guys to go right at the lady at the net, but what a heck !!....is just a rubber ball !!
ReplyDelete