We have all been there. You play a close match and your opponent starts to make suspect line calls, frequently forgets the score in their favor, and calls let every time you serve an ace.
For most recreational players, there are very few recourse against these types of players. There are countless videos and articles on how to handle hooking, but those simply involve hooking back or “play better”. Here at South Bay Tennis, preserving the integrity of the game is paramount to our mission. We are therefore honored to present our Hooking Insurance Policy (HIP).
With HIP coverage, you are assured that you will never be a victim of hooking again. You will walk into every match, even against those who enjoy a lavish reputation of hooking, with positivity and confidence. You can just focus on your game and play at your best.
Here is how it works. When you are playing a match and your opponent is hooking, call or text our HIP hotline with the location and court that you are on. One of our anti-hooking experts will be dispatched to your court immediately. Depending on the situation, the expert might approach you to wait for your court, or if you have the court reserved, the expert might just be watching as an admirer of the match. In any case, the expert will make themselves known and you can ask them to be an unbiased, third party line judge.
Once our anti-hooking line judge is in place, the following services levels are available
Honest line calls: This is the basic level. Our anti-hooking expert will make accurate calls on every ball, serves, baseline, singles and doubles lines, foot faults (if requested), hindrances, lets, etc..
Hooking correction: You text our hotline how many crucial points you like to have back from your opponent, and our expert will make sure you get those points back.
Hooking overcorrection: With this level, you are guaranteed to frustrate your opponent. Our expert will strategically call your balls that are an inch out as in and their balls that hit the line as out. With this service level, you need to always agree with our anti-hooking expert. This should be employed against habitual offenders and leave them never wanting to play you again.
You will always be able to communicate to our anti-hooking expert via text during changeovers. For instance, if you like to upgrade the service level or increase the number of Hooking correction points.
Please contact South Bay Tennis for pricing details.
In addition, if you sign up for our comprehensive, baseline-to-baseline Hooking Insurance coverage, you will be able to choose the type of expert line judges we deploy to your court. Below are some example personas
Very confident and arrogant looking 4.0+ looking player. Any challenge to a call will be taken as a severe personal insult. Making your opponent hesitant to challenge the call again.
Retirees who might have vision problems. Not to worry, any “vision problem” only benefits you. If your opponent questions the call, this line judge will give them a guilt trip about how young people don’t respect their elders anymore. Will keep ranting until your opponent concedes the call.
The unsure but very insistent line judge. This line judge will call a ball out/in with a timid and non-committal tone. However, when questioned, will refuse to change his/her mind while staying very non-committal. “Yes, I understand your frustration and it is really close, but if you put a gun to my head, I have to lean towards out”.
Apologetic line caller. Will humbly apologize for all the hooking calls. “Sorry, that was just a bit long”, “really sorry, but I think the serve was in”. When your opponent challenges the call, the line judge continues to apologize but will refuse to change the call.
Laid back Gen-Z surfer: “No bro, that was totally out”, “Nah, that was in bro”, “Dude, you can’t be hooking bro. That was in”.
The overaggressive feminist. Anytime your opponent questions the call, the line judge will take it as a personal affront to their gender and will “mansplain” that a woman can line judge as well as any man and refuse to change the call.
The different personas are custom designed for specific types of hooking opponents. As part of your coverage, we will work with you on which personas works best against which type of player.