Dabbing your shoes with wet cloth

Ji-Soo Woo Asked 14 years ago

Hi Alois

The following question was asked of me as our divisional coordinator.

Some players like to wet the soles of their shoes on wet cloth/towel for the grip.  Can they do this as often as they want, or does the same rule apply as for toweling down in general? (i.e. only every 6 points)

I said that they can do it as often as they want (based on video I've seen of players in the Australian Open who seem to do this almost every point from memory - usually people do this at the same time as they wipe their palm near the net and the professionals do that very frequently.

Was my ruling correct?

Thanks

Ji-Soo

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Ji-Soo,

I would say you are correct.  I think the rules states that play must be continuous.  The thing with wiping your feet with water is that it is a safety issue as well. Having slippery shoes can be dangerous.

I think if the player looks like they are deliberately wasting time then something should be done but in most cases it would be done out of necessity. 

In International matches this doesn't really happen too much now with all matches being played on Taraflex, but it certainly does happen at National level.