Rules & Etiquette

You must be a member of the Ball Machine Club in order to use the machine.  You can join this Club by making an appointment with one of the teaching pros.  The court is booked on the hour from 7 am to 7 pm.  The ball machine and Court 7 can only be reserved throught the new MyClubLives App.  When they check out the key at the Front Desk, they will be provided two Club Wipes, one to use before they start on the machine, and one to use afterwards.  They must wipe down any common touching areas.

Be understanding of those who are learning the rules of the Club and the etiquette of the game.  If someone makes a mistake, help them understand how to correct the problem rather than reprimand them.  The more an experienced player passes on good information, the better off we all are, and hopefully, our tennis world becomes a more enjoyable place to play.

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Make sure you do not go onto your court earlier than your scheduled time.  You should also be prompt about leaving the court when your time is up.  Avoid lingering to gather your belongings or to engage in a conversation.  Make a quick exit from the court area to allow the next players taking the court to get started.  It is a good habit to put all your belongings near the net post.  Leaving items behind the court can interfere with play.

Please wait until a point is over before walking behind courts.

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Do not interrupt between serves.

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When a ball comes onto your court from a neighboring court, wait for the point to end before returning the ball.  Never roll a ball behind the players hoping it will rest against the wall or be out of play.  This is both a distraction and safety risk to those players.

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Never enter or walk behind a court when a point is in progress.  Wait for the point to end and make sure you have the attention of the players before passing.  It is also courteous for the players to pause and allow you to pass.  When entering the indoor courts, look through the door windows to make sure that play is not in progress.  Use the door near the Reception Desk to get to courts 9 and 10 and the door in the cafe to access courts 11 through 13.

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Making any loud noise is a distraction to the neighboring courts.

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Please wait until a point is over before returning any ball.

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Use 3 balls only per court.

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No same day reservations on the indoor courts.  
JUNIORS (under 18) are restricted from play on weekdays from 5:45 pm to 8:15 pmand are allowed to play on indoor reserved courts on weekends/holidays , but only with their parents before 2 pm. Juniors can play after 2 pm on weekends/holidays on any court with any one.

Loud, abusive or profane language, racket throwing or hitting balls indiscriminately is prohibited.

All Members and their Guests must wear appropriate tennis attire including tennis shoes and shirts.

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Wearing proper tennis attire means using tennis shoes that are appropriate for tennis courts, not running shoes that can leave marks.  Shirts are always required.  Sleeveless shirts may have become popular with the pro tour, but are still not acceptable at most Clubs, including Mt. Tam.

Members can access the courts in one of 3 ways: reserve, walk-on, or challenge

Court change times are: 6:30 - 7:45 - 9:00 - 10:15 - 11:30 - 12:45 pm – 2:00 – 3:15 – 4:30 – 5:45 – 7:00.

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If a member fails to confirm a reserved court, that court becomes a challenge court and the next four names on the challenge court list will take the court.

The sign-up for challenge courts is located indoors at the end of the bar.
INDOORS – Court 11, 12 and any indoor reserve court that is not taken. OUTDOORS – Court 1 and Court 2 (only on weekends). Players sign up one at a time – not in pairs. Members begin play two at a time in the order on the list. If there is only one player signed-up they need to wait for a second player in order to challenge. Note: If you are the first players to go on to a vacant challenge court, you do not need to sign-up on the list, just simply take the court. When your name is first on the list and you are not present or you do not wish to play, your name will be CROSSED OFF. Matches on challenge courts are for one set and must use no-add scoring with a 12 – point tiebreaker at 6 all. Winners may play one additional set only. If one of the players of the winning team cannot play a second set, the next two players on the list go on.

Warm-up time is five minutes. After each set, the winning team must check to see if there are any other members wanting to challenge. Indoors use the challenge “light” to indicate that other members are waiting. Guests are not allowed on challenge courts. When leaving a challenge court, spin the racket to determine the resign-up order.

The reserved courts 10 and 13 have to accept challenges if they are playing singles. Do not challenge a reserved court with less than one-half hour reserved time remaining. Both challenge courts must be used before a reserved court should be challenged. The order of challenge on the courts is 11 or 12, then either courts 10 or 13. Do not challenge any court if you have a reserved or walk-on court within the next 25 minutes. JUNIORS (under 18) are restricted from challenge courts on weekdays from 5:45 pm to 8:15 pm and on weekends/holidays before 2 pm.

Due to Covid, there are currently no Walk-on Courts in use.

The sign-up board for walk-on courts is located on the outdoor deck. Courts 3, 4 and 7 are walk-on courts. Court 2 is also a walk-on M-F and a challenge court on weekends. Court 7 has a Ball Machine- see Ball Machine Sign-up Procedure if you wish to use it. Any outdoor reserve court that is not taken is also a walk-on court.

Court change times are: 6:30 - 7:45 - 9:00 - 10:15 - 11:30 - 12:45PM – 2:00 – 3:15 – 4:30 – 5:45 – 7:00.

PROCEDURE
Sign your name on the walk-on sign-up sheet. This is the waiting list for future walk-on courts.
Members signing up for a walk-on court must remain on the club premises. All players must be physically present to check in for a court. If you are not present, you lose the opportunity to sign up for a court and your name is crossed off if your name was called.
Courts 8 is a teaching courts and is available as a walk-on if not in use for a lesson.
On a first come, first serve basis – At the court hour, i.e.: 9:00a.m., cross your name off the waiting list and transfer your name to the chalkboard and add the time in which you are playing. You may not pass once your name is called unless you are waiting for a doubles court and only a single court is left. Take the court.

You must allow any club member with the appropriate rating to join your team roster. You can advise them if you think they will get little or no playing time, but you cannot close your roster to further sign-ups. If this means you have many more players than you need, so be it.  You are not obligated to play everyone on your team, unless there is a team vote to play everyone a certain number of times. Even this situation can prove impossible if there are too many players on the team. 

When you register for a team you do so at your own risk.  There is no guarantee by the club of how many times you get to play in line-ups.  If the captain wants to make promises to some or all of their players, that's up to them.  Team captains control who is played in match line-ups and the contributing factors are your availability, compatibility with other doubles partners, and most importantly, your skill level.  

1. If there are not enough members at a level to form a team, Mt.Tam will consider combining with another private club to form a team.

2. All captains must contact the club League Coordinator before registering a team with any league.

3. All captain positions are subject to a team vote.

4. Teams can vote on the competitive profile of their team and the minimum number of times each team member is promised to play.

5. Any team that wants to schedule an organized practice session, must do so through League Coordinator, Joel Garrett. There are a limited number of practice sessions per team.

Please consult the USTA site here.