120. ROUGH OR SMOOTH?

Back in the day, when tennis racquets were made of wood (they really were!), there used to be an extra piece of coloured thread on the top or bottom rows of the cross strings. This thread was looped over and around each string horizontally by a process called trebling, and this was done to help prevent string movement. On one side of the racquet, this thread would be ‘smooth’ if you passed your finger over it, whilst on the other side, it would feel ‘rough’, and it was from this threading that the saying ‘rough or smooth’ came about.

At the start of a match players used to decide who was going to serve first by simply spinning a racquet on its end, during which time, one player would choose either ‘rough’ or ‘smooth’. If the racquet landed with the option they chose on the top then that player would decide if she served or received.

As the design of racquets progressed, and people started to use things like string savers to reduce the movement of the strings, players adopted a different method to decide who served first. Instead they used the logo at the base of the racquet handle to determine the outcome of the ‘spin’. Players would choose either (logo) up or (logo) ‘down and this method is still used to this day by the majority of recreational/club players.

On the pro tour however, things are a little more sophisticated, and instead, the umpire will perform a coin toss at the start of the match. The players who win the toss then have to decide to serve, receive or choose ends. Now there is much debate over what to choose. Some players will choose to serve, if they are confident in their serve and feel that they can hold. Others prefer to receive, to maybe put a little pressure on the other player at the start of the match. Alternatively, a player might choose which end of the court she would prefer to start the match – a choice made if the wind is particularly strong in one direction or the sun is positioned awkwardly in the sky making serving more challenging. This decision in effect passes the choice back to the person who ‘lost’ the coin toss and this can throw them off track somewhat as the decision is now in their hands.

So what would you choose to do? Serve and hope that you can hold and then be in a dominant position with the pressure on your opponent to win their service game? Receive and hope that you can break and so put your opponent on the back foot right from the start? Or choose ends and so make your opponent decide, which in itself can have a psychological effect as it makes your opponent have to assess how confident they are feeling in their serve and returns. There are no strict rules on this and even the top ranked players don’t always stick to one decision. Players who have a strong serve will most likely choose to serve first but not every time. Sometimes the decision is made simply on how the player feels on the day or on the body language of their opponent during the warm up. If a player is looking stressed and nervous then maybe getting them to serve first could be advantageous. Who knows and who realised that tennis can be so psychological even before the first point is played out! #realitytennis

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