The word let, when used as a noun, is literally defined as “something that impedes: obstruction.” The idiom “without let or hindrance” is commonly used in British law to mean “without being interfered with.” With those two sentences this project has now covered the full spectrum of possible content gravitas, ranging from language arts on one end to funny YouTube videos on the other.
The next section of the ITF Rules of Tennis in the USTA Friend at Court is the let during a serve.
The service is a let if:
The ball served touches the net, strap or band, and is otherwise good; or, after touching the net, strap or band, touches the receiver or the receiver’s partner or anything they wear or carry before hitting the ground.
USTA Friend at Court, ITF Rules of Tennis, Section 22
As a reminder, the net post is NOT included in the definition of a service let for good reason. A serve that strikes the net post is a fault rather than a let. That subtlety of the rule was discussed previously in “Illegal Contact of the Tennis Serve.”
An alternate statement that the serve “is otherwise good” could be more clearly phrased as “the ball bounces in the correct service court.” Succinctly stated, a service let is a serve that contacts the net, strap, or band, and still falls “in.”
There may be an opportunity to structure a bar bet or riddle around a correct call of a service let where the ball did not bounce in and without external obstruction or hindrance. The answer to that riddle is in the last part of the rule quoted above. In related news, bar bets are in close proximity to funny YouTube videos on the spectrum of material covered by this project.
If the ball strikes the net, strap, or band and touches the receiver or the receiver’s partner before bouncing, it is still a let even if that ball was clearly heading out. The ball becomes dead after bouncing rather than contacting the net, strap, or band.
The reason this rule is included is to prevent the receiving player or team from intercepting the ball before it bounces into the correct court to cause a fault. I actually wouldn’t mind all that much if that rule was an option. The mental image of a player diving to touch a ball to generate a service fault makes me smile.
Sadly, that scenario is not among the approved alternate service let procedures, which is one of the additional future topics that will be discussed in conjunction of section of the rules.
- “let,” Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, page viewed 17 April, 2020.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
