Last nite I was playing a game of doubles with a couple of intermediate players when a return shot from my partner barely made the other side. I had moved to the front of the net, anticipating my partner was smashing. I had conceded the point by turning my body and face away from the net. My opponent took the opportunity to smash the bird directly at me from 6 ft away, hitting me on the side of the neck. I told him that I took exception to his agressive play. This was not a tournament nor a league play nite, just a scrub game. Do you think I was right on telling him my objection to his aggressiveness or should I have just kept my mouth shut and kept on playing.
did he say sorry? a lot of times, at the heat of the game, your opponent may unintentionally hit you, however, if they say sorry, i think that is OK.
You have 3 options (i) speak up and risk more smashes from him (ii) wait your turn and smash back at him (iii) say and do nothing and don't let it bother you The chances are if he was an intermediate player then he was not aiming for you and it may have been a lucky return, it depends wholy if he meant to hit you or not. As far as I am concerned the correct reply if someone concedes and turss their back is a tight drop/net shot so it is played away from them. If I concede then even if the shot goes over I say it was a no shot.
The guy should definately have not smashed it. Then again, he may not have noticed that your back was turned (some people focus solely on the shuttle and ignore everything else). I guess for me the question is whether the guy was aware that your back was turned. If yes, then obviously he breached etiquette. If no, then I would have to say that it was a fair hit.
that's true. there are a lot of intermediate level players who has no clue what's going on at the other side of the net. he may think he is smashing at the empty space. furthermore, if you are standing close to the net and so is the birdie, you may not be giving him enough clearance to hit the birdie on the floor, and add to that some lacking of skills, he may hit you unintentionally...
Thanks for the input. This individual did not say sorry and does have a reputation of aiming and hitting players during the game. As the famous quote says, Don't get mad, get even! I will! Thanks
I tend to hit where I am looking, and my eye is usually attracted by movement... that would be the players. So I have beemed a few people. Also sometimes when the opposing side would turn to conced the point, and I would gentally tap it down but for some reason or another, they would manage to turn aroudn again when they hear a tap only to drive it back at me. So don't take it too personally if you happened to get smashed at. It's entirely possible he's a jerk, but it's also possible he's just got bad aim. You can only judge on a person-by-person basis.
That happened to me many times on the court but most opponents would say sorry right after the smash. It did not really bother me even they did not say that because I thought most smash will aim at opponent's body. At least I was always told by advanced players to aim at body when driving and smashing. Maybe in this case, the situation on the court was different.
Quite right Alan, the best place to aim for if you can manage is the inside hip. Most people have a bit of difficulty defending on their forehand side so the nearer to the body the shuttle at speed the more difficult it is to defend against.
I think its pretty harsh if they intentionally aim for you then dont even say sorry. If i hit somone by mistake i say sorry and feel really bad. Anyway if i was aiming for someone i would probably never hit them.
Given the situation you described, I would duck so that at least the net protects you since you were in front. But me personally, I'd like to at least attempt to return the opponent's smash.
It's a valid tactic but good manners would have dictated an apology. A raise of the hand is enough. It would also stop tit-for-tat type escalation of tempers. Next time try walking off court - see if he'll hit the shuttle out
TBH, The attacking person shouldn't deliberately aim for you but if they do hit you then they should say sorry. Either way, whether being hit or not I think your owed an apology from your partner for such a weak return that puts you in danger. You need to trust your partner to play attacking shots if your at the front of the net otherwise your at risk of getting hit exactly the way you where.
If he's a jerk and an agressive player, there's no point seeking apology from him. You could seek revenge and play him again in hope of returning the favor. Or you could take the more challenging choice-- do nothing and let nothing affects your play. I think this is a perfect opportunity to challenge yourself to remain calm and maintain equilibrium. Many times when we play, we get disturbed mentally by our opponents' tactics (ie. lack of court ettiquette, calling perceived valid shots out). Your situation is no different. Take this as a test of your mettle. Overcome your emotion and focus on your game. Let it go and move on. Of course, it's easier said than done. However once you manage keep calm despite whatever injustice others have done to you, they have no power over you. If you want to concede a point in the future, have your racquet up and protect your face while you face the attack... no point losing an eye or two for a game. If you still feel dissatisfied about it, avoid playing the jerk and pick better partners next time.
its not very nice of him, but then again its fair play....no rules about where you can and cant hit the shuttle. And to be honest, if it was me, i'd smash as well....although not at you cos when people do drop shots from those positions, its often easier to retreive than a full smash. i guess next time you can try smashing at him. also, i wouldn't deliberately not play him. think of it as good exercise if you ever do meet up with someone agressive in a competitive setting. if you learn to kep your cool now, then in a competition, you'll do so too
I would think it is at least good manners as a human as much as a sports player to apologise in that situation. I'm at a level where to be fair I am only beginning to really have an eye for what's going on at the other end of the court when I am about to hit the shuttle, so a situation like this could happen to me. However I would certainly apologise straight after, no question about it. I have smashed a shuttle into the back of my partners head before. That didn't go down very well.
I dunno, this is all revolving around whether or not he intentionally hit you. And even if he was intentionally aiming for you, this doesn't even necessarily mean he was wrong. I often aim for places like the temple or the hip in the attempt to make my smash difficult to return. If I was intent on your temple and you turned at the last second, I might not be able to change my shot. At any rate, the ettiquette should always be to raise your racket in apology (you do the same when you make a point by hitting the tape). I do this all the time, even though often, I really was aiming to hit the tape, or the other person.
That was the one I was going to ask about. Whilst it is acceptable to aim for the person to make a shot hard to return I would never question the general good grace of apologising when they get hit. It's not about them being hit by accident (although this may be the case at a beginners level) it's more of a "sorry I hit something into you at a rather quick pace". However, when you aim very tight on the net and take a point because the shuttle actually touches the tape and tumbles over, is this really something to apologise for? I personally think no.
I had An opposition a few weeks back in a game of mixed where the opposition male kept smashing it hard at my lady partner one hit her on the head and another on the neck and the 3rd in her chest. i got even and smashed one his head. he didn't say sorry so i never said sorry when i smashed it on his head.
Hi Dropshot51 I played doubles with this hotshot who is my opponents. This is something uncall for.This guy is known to be hot headed. When he gets angry i know i will beat him,while playing half way thru the game i was attacking him with flat lob and finally he return one weak lob to me i smash him real hard and ended up on his face,immediately i said sorry to him,guess what was the respond i get from him.He told me it's okay no problem i will get you with a very agreesive tone and his face was so black.During the game he still repeat the same thing,finally half way thru the rally i stop the game and walk to the net and told him,look here i already apologise to you that i m sorry anyway if it's a half court i will smash,the reason he is not happy it's because of pride i smash him and he is losing badly at the same time.When i went there to tell him finally he was embarrased and he shoke my hand to apologise but after that his game collapsed. I guess sometime you just got to stand up like a man to tell the other party to cool down,if you can't take the heat don't play. Cheers
