BASE POSITION

There are six Ballkid volunteers on-court at any one time during matches at the Australian Open and AOS events. This consists of four baseline positions and two net positions.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Accurately service the players with tennis balls.
2. Collect any balls that are ‘out of play’ in the vicinity of the baseline and the back of the court in between points.
3. Assist players by servicing them with towels, string saver tools, etc…

The four baseline positions are located in the four corners of the tennis court.

You are required to stand up tall, straight and motionless with your feet shoulder-width apart.

You are required to stand well outside of the sidelines of the court and as far back as possible, next to the lines persons officiating in the match.

On most occasions, you will be located near the back fence or the back corner of the court. You must not lean on the fence behind you at any stage while on court.

It is your responsibility to hold the balls that are not in use during play. Keep them hidden with your hands placed neatly behind your back.

Once the point is completed, Base Ballkids at the server’s end should raise their arm and be ready to service the player. Your other arm should be placed by your side with your hand openly displaying how many balls you are holding.

Base Ballkids at the receiver’s end should bring their arms to their sides and display how many balls they are holding (even if they are holding none), so that all of the other Ballkid volunteers on the court know where the balls are located.

Always watch the player carefully and only service him/her with balls upon request.

Pay attention to each player’s particular signal for requesting a ball. The request may be by making eye contact with you or it may require you to listen for a spoken request.

Be aware that some player’s only request one ball before they serve and other players request three balls in order to choose the one they would prefer to use.

If you do not have tennis balls to service the player with, confidently hold out your empty hands to the side of your body with palms facing the player and court.

In the situation that a Net Ballkid has a ball to roll to you and at the same time the player is requesting a ball, you should always service the player first. After meeting the player’s request, you then attend to the ball(s) that the Net Ballkid is rolling/has rolled to you.

Be alert for any special requests and any preferences that players may have.

Always wait until a ball has bounced twice or impacted against an object on or around the court before handling it.

When a ‘first service’ fault occurs and the ball has not gone into the net and requires your retrieval, move to collect the ball as quickly as possible and return to your regular position on the court.

At the end of every second game, make eye contact with a Net Ballkid and roll the ball(s) to them so they can be relayed to the new server’s end of the court.

Ensure all balls are held behind your back and out of the players view during play.

When a Baseline Ballkid at the receiver’s end is holding a ball that should be at the server’s end, the Ballkid volunteer should display the ball until acknowledged by a Net Ballkid.

Once this occurs, the ball is rolled to the Net Ballkid so it can be forwarded to the server’s end. If the Net Ballkid does not acknowledge this prior to a point commencing, hold the ball behind your back and out of view until the point has been played.