The Burnside Park Tennis Club, Inc. - Line Calls

Line Calls - In or Out ?

Always contentious — here's the official verdict on those difficult line calls .....


	LINE CALLS: LTA guidance - was the ball IN or was the ball OUT ?? To get the definitive explanation of this rule the LTA have provided the following insight ..... The rule states "if any part of the ball touches the line, the ball is in" ..... Calls are made more complicated as the ball "squashes a little on impact". In fact, the ball squashes a lot on impact, especially on serves and smashes. You may have noticed on Hawkeye replays at Wimbledon that the marks the ball leaves vary in shape and size. For example, if it is a lob, the mark the ball leaves is likely to be almost spherical. If it is a smash, the ball is likely to leave a long, narrower mark. The graphic to the left can help us. Example 3 may come as a surprise to some .....! 1 — Both the overhead and the "along-the-line" view show the ball touching the line on impact. The Ball is IN 2 — The overhead view shows the ball touching the line on impact, but this is not conclusive. The "along-the-line" view shows that the ball squashed on impact and did touch the line. The Ball is IN 3 — The overhead view shows the ball touching the line on impact, but this is not conclusive. The "along-the-line" view shows that although the ball overshadowed the line, it did not touch the line. The Ball is OUT 4 — Both the overhead and "along-the-line" view show that the ball did not touch the line. The Ball is OUT