I need to tell you about something that happened with two of my students that completely changed how I think about line calls in tennis.
Scott, one of my long-time students, was playing a tough match when his opponent hit a big offensive shot down the line. Scott was standing still, had a perfect view looking right down the line, called it out… and the replay clearly showed he was wrong.
Then there’s Ben, another student I’ve spent dozens of hours with. In a recent match against a former NCAA player, he made a call that was so obviously incorrect that the owner of the Tennis Troll channel actually went to his house with a camera to ask him about it.
Here’s what makes this fascinating…
Both matches were friendly but competitive. Both players knew they were being recorded by multiple cameras with tens of thousands of people watching. And here’s the kicker: I know both of these guys incredibly well, and I can say without hesitation they’re two of the most genuine, honest people I’ve ever spent time with on or off the court.
Neither of them would EVER purposefully make a bad call.
So how did they both get it so wrong?
The answer is going to surprise you, and more importantly, it’s going to help you handle bad calls way better in your own matches.
Let me share something most amateur players don’t realize…
Professional line judges, the people we’ve seen on TV for decades calling lines at the biggest matches in tennis history, go through incredibly stringent training. They have to fill out applications, take written tests, prove they have perfect vision, attend annual training, and complete increasingly difficult certifications.
And you know what?
They STILL get calls wrong all the time.
According to the United States Tennis Association, when they compared human line judges to the Hawkeye computer system, the humans got the call wrong twenty five percent of the time during challenges. That’s one out of every four calls… and these are trained professionals whose only job is to watch ONE line while standing perfectly still in the perfect position.
Think about that for a second.
These line judges have zero stake in who wins or loses. They know if they mess up they’ll be despised by fans and players. They’re not running around the court. They’re perfectly positioned, perfectly calm, and perfectly prepared to do just that one job.
And they STILL get it wrong a quarter of the time.
Now consider what you’re dealing with as a player…
You’re running all around the court doing crazy stuff with your body trying to hit the ball. You’re in a bad position having to look across to another random line. Your heart rate is at like one hundred and forty beats per minute. You’re responsible for calling ALL the lines, not just one.
Of course you’re going to get it wrong sometimes.
It’s not about being dishonest or a cheater or having bad character. It’s about the simple reality that making accurate line calls is really, really hard. The statistics prove it. You’ve been wrong before. I have too. So has every other tennis player who’s ever played this game.
Does deliberate cheating happen in amateur tennis? Yeah, it does. It’s happened to me. But is it the majority of bad calls? Absolutely not. The large majority of bad calls are honest mistakes made by honest people who really thought they were making the right call.
So what can you actually do about it when you’re pretty sure a bad call just happened and you don’t want your quality of play to completely tank?
Here’s what I teach my students…
First, remind yourself that it’s very possible YOU’RE wrong about what just happened. Remember, this is your best judgment from the other side of the court and you’re running around too.
Second, remind yourself that the vast majority of bad calls aren’t malicious. They’re just honest mistakes.
Third, and this is crucial, remind yourself that if you choose to fixate on the negative emotions, if you allow yourself to think “oh man they just cheated me” and “I should be winning this match” and all that mental garbage… your quality of play WILL decrease. That’s not an opinion. That’s a fact.
Fourth, grab onto something very practical and tangible that you can focus on that’s positive for the very next point. Maybe it’s where to aim your serve, or what pattern you’d like to play, or what target you’d like to shift to.
And fifth, hold onto that positive mental shift and continue to reinforce it. That will give you your best chance of playing your best tennis for the rest of the match.
Look, bad calls are part of tennis. They always have been and they always will be. Even with all the technology in the world, even with perfect training and perfect positioning, humans make mistakes.
The question isn’t whether bad calls will happen.
The question is: what are you going to do about it when they do?
Your mindset in that moment, your ability to let it go and focus forward, is what separates players who crumble from players who finish strong.
I’ve seen it happen over and over again with my students. The ones who master this mental skill don’t just play better tennis… they enjoy the game more.
And isn’t that what we’re all here for?
Your Coach,
-Ian
