All tennis competitions at St Ann’s Tennis follow the LTA Code of Conduct. This covers Parks League, LTA tournaments, our club tournaments and competitions, Box Leagues, and even club sessions.
LTA Code Of Conduct: click to download
Happily, we have not – in recent history – had any cause to take action against a player for inappropriate behaviour. But this is a gentle reminder for everyone taking part in our tournaments, including Parks League, that these competitions are played in public, and that a degree of self-control is required, for yourself and your opponents.
Over the last few months, I have seen a handful of relatively minor and rare incidents of ball whacking. Players should not hit the ball aggressively under any circumstances, and ‘being frustrated’ or ‘having a tough week’ is not an excuse. Nor is getting a bad line call, or several bad line calls, grounds for bad behaviour.
If a player hits a ball in frustration during a match, that is against the LTA Code of Conduct. If a player hits a ball in anger and it hits an opponent or bystander, or causes them to take evasive action, whether intentional or not, St Ann’s Tennis would take that offence very seriously indeed. Ditto verbal abuse.
Specifically, the Code of Conduct states that players must “not violently, dangerously, in anger, or with the intention to cause harm or damage to a person, the object itself or another object or property, hit, kick, throw or use as a weapon, a tennis ball, racket, or other equipment.”
The Code of Conduct requires players to “not act or do anything (physically and/or orally) in a violent, threatening, intimidating, harassing or deliberately provocative way or in a way which may reasonably be interpreted as such (which interpretation may arise from the repetitive nature, cumulative effect and/or pattern of behaviour), or which is, or may reasonably be interpreted as, intended to offend, insult, humiliate, ridicule or cause harm or fear.”
In summary, St Ann’s Tennis expects all players to conduct themselves in a fair and sporting manner in all situations. This is more important than winning or losing tennis matches. If you have any questions about the Code of Conduct, and the rules of tennis, then please contact us at St Ann’s Tennis. We have three LTA registered referees at the club: Jimmy Smith, Matt Weaver and Conrad Brunner.
