Fiend at Court Unplugged
When reviewing posts from 2020, I had two realizations. First, I somehow still do not yet own a set of singles sticks. Second, I missed a subtle detail of the rule in my initial pass through that section. I wrote more than I would have anticipated about the singles sticks last year.
As for the ownership portion, I would observe that there will be suitable gift giving opportunities in 2021 for my immediate family to correct that deficiency. Valentines Day, Mother’s Day, my birthday, my wedding anniversary, and Christmas will all reliably occur in 2021. Of course, those events were all still in the future in 2020 when my desire for a set was originally disclosed, but I digress.
As I revisited this site’s posts from 2020, I became aware that I missed a subtle point on the placement of the singles sticks. It was a detail on placement that is embedded in one to the USTA Comments.
Where should singles sticks be placed? The center of the singles sticks should be placed 3 feet outside the outer edge of the singles lines and should be diagonally opposite each other.
USTA Friend at Court, USTA Comment 1.2
I completely missed the instruction that the singles sticks be placed diagonally opposite each other. Another way to state that requirement is that there should be one singles stick on each side of the net.
Thinking through the reasons for diagonal opposition placement, it is most likely for equity between the two sides of the net. If both single sticks were on the same side of the net, then the net might slightly tilt to one side or the other. When the singles sticks are placed on opposite sides of the net, any distortion would be equivalent from both sides of the net.
It is a subtle point. I think it serves as a reminder that I still have a lot to learn about the rules of tennis.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
