The art of stomping

chuckjordan2 said:

If stomping by the server is fair game, then me waving my hands (as the receiver) in a distracting manner is fair too. True/false?

Der-echte, what would your ruling be then?

BTW, stomping doesn't phase me. I can tune it out.

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With stomping during the serve, the sound happens on your contact. With waiving your hands during the other person's receiving of the ball, that happens when they are going to contact. And just like making sound or vocalizing while the other person is setting up for the ball or in process of hitting it, waiving your hands could be interpreted as an attempt to distract the opponent. I have seen a player who does wave his hands while the other person is hitting. I have also seen the same person stomp while the other person is hitting. And I have seen him get called for it and get points deducted for it.

But I have also seen him get away with it.

D_Nizzle said:

Let he who has not boosted cast the first stone ...

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Who do I throw it at?

Not sure if how I said it is clear. But purposely stomping while the other person is going to hit, I believe that IS against the rules. And waiving your hands to try and purposely distract the opponent while he is hitting, I think that would also be against the rules.

It might be a judgement call for the umpire, but I believe you are not allowed to purposely create a distraction while the other person is in the process of playing the ball.

So stomping your foot while you are serving is an entirely different issue than creating a distraction while someone else is about to play the ball.

One time I played a match where this guy kept talking under his breath to purposely distract me while I was serving. He was saying stuff like, "come on, miss," or "no, no, don't do that one." After a few I looked at him and asked if he had a problem. He said he didn't know what I was talking about. I told him he knew exactly what I was talking about and that if he wanted to win by cheating, what was the point of playing a match in the first place. He still denied it. So I just started doing it to him. After he apologized. But that is the kind of thing only a jerk would try to pull. Same thing for stomping feet while the other person is hitting or waiving your hands while the other person is hitting.

It is totally different than stomping while you serve as part of the motion. That being said, I don't stomp when I serve.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

The stomping on service should be ok, as long as it seems natural.. The unnatural moaning is worse. I tend to stop and ask if my moaning opponent is hurt or in pain, then they tend to stop the moaning

Even stomping while hitting the ball is annoying, especially when it is an unnatural stomp. On serves, the rules allow it. After that, it is umpire judgement. There is a guy who I play at tournaments who stomps when hitting the ball and he knows I will call him out on it so to his credit, he did not do it during our last match.

IMO, that Primorac, Ovtcharov and Assar can get away with what they do is annoying. I also hate it when a silent opponent suddenly moans or grunts while hitting the ball.

Doing anything distracting during an opponent's stroke is definitely against the rules. In the event of a loud noise, a let can even be called.

What constitutes distraction or a loud noise isn't exactly specified to the detail.

hi there, I had the exact same thought as the OP but I've never tried it, actually never had time to practice it. It's so unnatural for me, so it would take a lot of time to practice the stomp before contact. I do think it would mess up the timing of the opponent more or less. It's not against the rules, isn't it? It's a legal (and acceptable) trick IMO.

That said, I played a guy who stomped very hard before almost every shots and it was really annoying. He did that on purpose, it definitely messed up my timing and concentration.

I'm a stomper, I've hurt my leg a few times by stomping too hard, and then when I'm not able to stomp because of the pain it makes service extremely uncomfortable.

maybe people should stop worrying about rules so much and apply the old rule of

don't do unto others what you don't want others to do unto you