Hi and welcome to the Essential Tennis Podcast, your place for free, expert, tennis instruction that can truly help you improve your game. Welcome to episode number 387 of the Essential Tennis Podcast. Today we're going to be talking about why so many bad line calls exist in the game of tennis and also probably more importantly what practically you can do about it in the middle of match so that it doesn't totally kill your performance and take
your mind off of your game. We're going to give some examples of bad line calls and also take a little bit of a dive into the professional game as well and look at the changes and the evolution of the professional game and line calls. And first we're going to look at a few recent examples. I'm in a little bit of a unique position to talk about this, A, because
I've been in tennis for most of my life in general. I've been on a court with tennis players or watching tennis players for probably multiple tens of thousands of hours and I've seen millions of tennis line calls, some really bad ones. And so I have a little bit of a unique perspective as well not only because I've been in the game of tennis but because I've been doing videos for over a dozen years and many of those videos have been match
play. So I've had the benefit of viewing not only myself play tennis in slow motion replay but also dozens of other players that have played on my different channels on YouTube. And I've seen how they've handled line calls. I've seen mistakes made and and so I've gotten I've been able to witness like in a very detailed nuance matter how this happens and why it happens. So just a little bit of context about me. So so here are two practical
recent examples. One of them was made by Scott if you watch our videos on YouTube and probably familiar with him. His nickname on the channel is Angry Old Man and he's played a bunch of matches on my YouTube channel and he recently played a match against a young stutter kid you know kid air quotes in his 20s early 20s great athlete great player. Scott was kind of had his back against the wall a little bit in this match and a shotgun
hit down the line his opponent went for a winner. Scott didn't go for the ball and just kind of stood there and watched it was one of those shots where it was like well this is either going to be a winner or it's going to be out it's going to be close and I'm just going to stand here and watch it because he just you just you had no chance of getting
to it. So he stood there and watched it. It landed. He called it out right away and I actually happened to be commentating on this match with another player up in the viewing area and we both immediately thought it was a bad call. But both of us at not to throw a scout on the bus but just this is this is the situation and me and another pro watching were like wow I don't I don't think that was the right call. Scott was so confident in
the moment that he told the camera there in the corner. Oh the replay is going to totally you know vindicate me you know it yeah it was close and it was kind of an in our opportune time for a close call but but I know the replay is going to show that I'm right and he was wrong it was the it was the back it was the wrong call it was in by several inches and he called it out. Okay second scenario and we're going to start to
pull things together here but I just want to give some context first. Second scenario was made by another friend of mine his name is Ben he goes by most exhausting player on the internet. He's a four or five player was very unconventional game. He's become kind
of an infamous character in tennis YouTube. He wins a ton and he made a bad call in a match about a year ago the ball was probably five inches inside the line four or five inches inside the line well inside the line he called it out and again because he was playing on YouTube and there was slow motion replay it was easy to see that it was in fact the wrong
call. Now what are these two situations having common I'm using these for a reason. These matches weren't played in a tournament or league or there was any money on the line or professional matches so there wasn't like a trophy on the line or prize money or anything
they were played in friendly environments where both players were there to have a good time but also to compete and win and you know they both players are all four players in each of the cases combined were there to try to win as well but this wasn't like college tennis for like NCAA championships this wasn't professional tennis for a big check or anything like that and also both players knew that they were being recorded. They knew
that tens of thousands of tennis fans would see the outcome all across the internet. They're both very experienced players both very competitive and lastly what's kind of most important for me that this is a really important one they're both incredibly kind honest and gracious
human beings both on the court and on the courts and I know that I chose these examples purposefully because I know these are really good people I've spent dozens of hours with Ben and probably hundreds of hours maybe thousands with Scott playing matches and playing
matches with him playing matches against him playing on the same state league team together he's traveled with me to Hawaii to Costa Rica to coach with me and assist him by coaching and so I know both of these guys really well and they're two of the most passionate players
about the game of tennis they both love and respect the games of tennis tremendously they're both competitive but they're also very fair minded people they're very just good decent people I've spent a lot of time with both of them I know them both very well so
I can say that beyond a shadow of a doubt so in spite of all those things they both made two of the worst calls that I've seen on the internet like on YouTube you know tennis not the worst calls I've ever seen in person I've seen some bad calls but they we didn't
have the benefit of like hindsight like these I know for sure they're good people and I know for sure they were wrong and I know for sure they thought they were right in the moment so how how is how do all of those things coexist how how are all of those things true
at the same time how is that possible well we'll come back around to that in a second but first I want to tell you a little bit about professional line judges which I'm recording this in kind of mid 2023 and kind of slowly but surely it looks like the professional line judges are kind
of becoming a thing of the past I think most of the majors now maybe even some ATP 1000 events and WTA 1000 events they're just relying completely on the computer but they're still there but just not for certain events and the biggest ones the thing is like up until this point for decades and
generations we've had to rely on human beings and they're actually trained to do it I went through and I just I did a little bit of reading and research on like what does it take to be one of the people on TV as a tennis fan everybody kind of always bags on the on the line judges and
they're just kind of like the the what's the best phrase they're kind of the the people that everybody like to to make fun of a little bit like oh like they're so bad at their job and all they're just gonna mess it up again and it's just kind of we don't really notice them when they
do positive things it's just kind of they're there when they mess things up right just kind of the position unfortunately that they tend to be in like they're supposed to get it right like that's their job right it's just it they got one thing to do stand there call the lines they're they're
trained it's expected that they get it right the vast majority of the time so to be one of those people there's an application that has to be signed by here in the United States by USDA sectional chairman then you have to take a written test before any training just to pass like a general
proficiency test in your knowledge about the game and rules and stuff like that you have to have 2020 vision either corrected or or uncorrected so you can have glasses or contacts but you need to demonstrate that you have 2020 vision you have to attend an annual training course specifically
for these line judges and if you want to climb the the ranks and go up from like a 250 level you know line judge to a WTA or ATP 500 and then 1000 and then maybe grand slams you have to complete increasingly difficult certifications for for higher and higher levels and so let's also consider
in addition to that training those people that up until very recently have been totally we've been totally dependent on them and competitive like professional tennis they're getting paid no matter who wins and loses so it doesn't matter to them like if like string of wins this point or if sheripova like wins this point on me I really want like sure you would hope that they're not biased right and they just want to get it right like they don't really care who wins and loses they don't
get paid more if one player wins or if the other player loses they just want to get it right especially since they're on TV and there's a lot writing on it that's number two if they get it wrong everybody's going to hate them and there's huge pressure on them to make sure it's right because the last
thing they want is to be that line judge from that match where they totally screwed it up and it like potentially like hinged the match in the other direction or whatever you know whatever it might be so it's number two they're only responsible for calling one line on the quirt and they're standing
there perfectly positioned to view that one line they don't have to call all the other lines just that one line I'm talking about the actual line not to chair empire but the line judges that are out there just to call that they're assigned a one line they get to position themselves
and that one spot to watch that one line they're standing perfectly still and steady to maintain their visual focus their heart rate is calm and relaxed they're just standing there they're not under any physical challenge or stress or duress I mean sure you know there's some pressure on them
but my point is they're not running around chasing the ball and having to call the lines so let me repeat all that real real quick they're getting paid the same no matter who wins doesn't matter who wins if they get it wrong everybody is going to throw them under the bus
and hate them they're only responsible for one line on the quirt they're perfectly positioned for that one line they're standing perfectly still and steady to maintain their focus and physically they're calm and relaxed and they're just hanging out in spite of all the training
all the preparation and being in a perfectly ideal position with no physical stress they still get calls wrong all the time please just digest that for a second do me a favor and just reflect on that they have all of those benefits all of that training and they still get calls
wrong now I did a little bit of research on this a little bit digging on this and you can look up this this article it was published by NPR in late 2022 and it was it was an article about the US opening how the human line judges are being replaced so from that article according to Sean
Kerry who oversees officiating for the USDA human officials and this is just what they say publicly human officials got it wrong 25% of the time at the US open when a player challenged so 25% of the time when a player challenged a call these officials with all that training and all
those benefits were wrong and that's just 25% of the time when there was a challenge those are those are just the ones when somebody actually said no let's take a look at that they're we've all watched tennis you know if you've watched a lot of tennis on TV then you know that
there's lots of cases where there's a close call but a challenge isn't made and it was the wrong call right we've all seen that happen so that's just the time those are just the times when it was challenged 25% of the time this professional who has all the benefits possible gets it wrong
so why are there so many bad line calls well in short because being right is really really hard even in perfect conditions in the heat of the moment so let's take out that list so if you are a competitive tennis player and you're out there battling for your own team for your own
self like it's a tournament or it's a league match or whatever you it matters to you very deeply who wins is in loses okay like you have that subconscious like bias baked in immediately and you're also responsible for all the lines all of them if especially if you're a singles player
if you're doubles player you're still responsible for all the lines on your side of the court but you know you have a little bit of help but in singles every line every bounce you're furthest thing from the truth perfectly positioned to view every line half of the lines any given
point in time you are not in a good position to view and have a great perspective on whether it's inner outs you're not standing still watching the ball you're running around which makes your vision dramatically compromised compared to just standing there watching the ball and your heart rates
elevated your whole biology and physiology is like totally cranked up all of those things are all mixing together it's hard even without all of those things even without all of those things close calls you're gonna get wrong 25% of the time even when you're getting paid to do it even without
all of those challenges in the way so in the heat of the moment when our winner loss is on the line and we're positioned in an awkward spot and we're on the run our heart rate is super high we're breathing heavy it's super easy to get it wrong incredibly easy to get it wrong and that's true
for all of us no matter how nice we are no matter how honest we are no matter how fair of a person we are we all make bad line calls because it's really hard can you can you just take a moment please just take a moment and just kind of let that sink in a little bit please because we're going to
get around to the solution here in a second but before we get around to it like you have to really kind of believe that and if you don't believe that if you're the type of tennis fan and you're the you know the sports fan I don't mean tennis now but just like sports fans in general
that are just so dramatic about everything and like every little mistake they're hypercritical of and like oh I could have I could have kicked that you know fuel goal or I could have I could have made that you know free kick you know and soccer or in European football or whatever oh man it
totally dropped that that that rough is blind I totally messed messed that up please if you're that type of person in the middle of a tennis match it can only escalate the situation it can only cause you to view the other person as a villain it can only cause you to view them as malicious it
can only cause you to view them as incompetent or yeah fill in the blank right I go a million different names that like we can call them but if we come to the table with like a with a deep appreciation and understanding of how hard it is to make the right call then automatically we're
coming to the those difficult sticky situations viewing the situations are totally different ones with much better likelihood that we could actually have a positive outcome for ourselves so now let's let's address that being said I know some of you out I can I can feel it some of you
out there saying well yeah yeah but what about the people that cheat on purpose does deliberate cheating happen in just normal everyday tennis matches yes it does happen there are people out there who aren't fair there are people out there who aren't honest for not nice people that just
want to win and maybe they're fooling themselves into thinking it's the right call or maybe it's actually totally malicious does that happen it does happen okay I got I'm not trying to say it doesn't happen it does but is it most of the bad calls that happen absolutely not the large large majority
of bad calls that happen are honest mistakes including yours yes you've made bad line calls I promise you and including mine I've definitely made bad line calls too it happens to all of us because it really is that challenging so even if you're a good person you're trying to do the right thing
and you're trying to be a good sport and a fair competitor and all those other things you're still going to miss it part of the time and that's the vast majority of bad calls does cheating happen yes is it a small minority of the bad calls that happen yes so here's the solution in the moment
when you think you just got cheated and it was the wrong call I've got five steps here and to be honest like it might totally be done by step one but but here's a suggestion here's five suggestions okay like you don't have to do all these steps but here's five suggestions on
different things that you can bring to mind number one remind yourself that you very well maybe wrong about what you think you just saw keep in mind like your opponent probably just did the best they could from their end of the court 40 50 60 70 maybe 80 feet away from where you're standing
they just tried their best and they may have gotten it wrong but it might also be the right call and from your perspective again for like minimum 40 feet away it's 40 feet from the net to the baseline so you're obviously on your side of the court so well that's that's not minimum I guess
if the ball landed like by the sideline right in front of you so it might only be technically might only be a yard away I was just thinking about the baseline but let's just say you know the balls 20 30 40 feet away from where you are is it possible that you're wrong about it and they actually
got the call right that's that's totally possible like that's that's definitely it could happen right so how about just let it go you you actually might be wrong and they might be right so you might as well just let it go number two remind yourself even if they are wrong about it it probably wasn't
malicious the vast majority of the time it was just an honest mistake they're not trying to cheat you they they really think they saw something and even if they're wrong they're not something they're trying to like steal this match from you so you might as well just let it go number three remind
yourself that if you fixate on the call that just happened there's a very large likelihood that your play will decline you're certainly not going to play better tennis because you're ruminating on how much you how bad you just got cheated you know 30 seconds ago and then five
minutes ago and then 10 minutes ago and then half an hour ago if that's still where your mind is there's like a 99% chance that you'll be playing worse tennis and not better tennis so again let it go and now number four give yourself something super tangible and practical to focus on in the
very next point so it's not just enough to tell yourself don't focus you know you've probably heard the cliche don't think about a pink elephant and of course that's what you think about it's not enough to just tell yourself it's not a big deal like don't focus on it give yourself something
to transition your focus to so it might be your target for your serve on the next point it might be the pattern that you intend to play once the point gets started it might be I got to remember to pick on their their backhand whatever give yourself something really practical and tangible to
focus on and give yourself a task to give your mental energy to for the next 30 seconds and finally move forward and focus on your best tennis and continue how many times it takes continue refocusing on what can I do next what can I do next that's practical that's tangible that's positive that's
going to give me a better chance of winning because you know and I know that allowing your mind to continue bouncing back to how bad that call was will not give you a better chance of winning period so here's those five steps again use as many of them as you need remind yourself you may very well be wrong about it and not your opponent remind yourself even if they are wrong it probably wasn't malicious remind yourself that if you fixate on the call your play will decline and then give
yourself something super tangible and practical to focus on and then move forward and continue refocusing on tangible practical things hopefully this episode gave you some a little bit deeper perspective or a little bit different lens to view this through it listen I'm super competitive so I get it
like I I want to win just as badly as anybody else out there so I totally understand getting triggered by it but I've seen I've seen this escalates so many times and and I don't I just don't think there's enough understanding of a how hard it is or b how often honest mistakes happen
and so hopefully just hearing a little bit of perspective on that helps to diffuse some of this tension and anxiety and like escalation around these situations for you and then even if that's not enough just bottom line like very practically understanding like I got a shift my focus to something
positive or else there's no way I'm going to play a good tennis that in and of itself is super super important just as far as your performance is concerned so hopefully all together this gives you a little bit of relief and when it comes to to line calls helps you move on it doesn't mean that
you're not going to get cheated sometimes that's part of the game it happens on your side of the court too so hopefully this helps you let it go play better tennis and be more successful thank you so much for listening I'll talk to you next time for more free game improving instruction be
sure to check out essential tennis.com where you'll find hundreds of video audio and written lessons also be sure to subscribe to essential tennis on iTunes and YouTube where we are the number one resource in the world providing passionate instruction for passionate tennis players thank you so much for listening today take care and good luck with your tennis.