Next time Wimbledon is about to be held, organise 4 or 5 of the sort of dogs who are insanely obsessed with retrieving balls to fill in for the ball boys/girls.
Not only would the balls be returned quicker, but the added obstacle of getting to the ball to hit it before the dog, would provide an interesting addition.
Also include one big slow dog - the type who once they have the ball and have run back to the player - won't actually let it be taken out of their mouth.-- benfrost, Jul 10 2001 (??) Bald Ogs Bald_20OgsA joke [DesertFox, Dec 02 2004] Stringball StringballBall! String! Stringball! [Trout, Jan 04 2005] Dog Hockey [Goes]'s link [Worldgineer, Jan 04 2005] Dog Hockey Dog_20HockeyThis post inspired me to write about my idea Dog Hocke [Goesta Berling, Jan 04 2005] Oh my...baked Ben Frost http://mashable.com...WIxaGI4N3VoaTQ1MCJ9 [blissmiss, Jan 10 2015] It happened again https://www.youtube...watch?v=WUk4yYvK09k [Cuit_au_Four, Aug 12 2016] I have never played tennis in my life. Yet, I buy tennis balls constantly.....I vote for this on the grounds that my Russells would have a blast and it would be so much more fun to watch a match!-- Susen, Jul 10 2001 I use a handball raquet to hit tennis balls for my labrador/border collie mix. At the end of a good session the spit flies off the ball in a lovely spiralling arc as it flies through the air. "Venus is wiping her face now, getting ready to serve, it looks as if there's some slobber on her left shoe as the ball dog fades back to the sidelines..."-- Dog Ed, Jul 10 2001 According to a labrador/springer-cross-owner of my acquaintance, anything which will almost fit into a dog's mouth is, by definition, edible. (And my wife once had a boxer which ate paper bags, sand and house-brick fragments.)-- angel, Jul 10 2001 now this is a good idea! good on you, benfrost!-- mihali, Jul 10 2001 ahem. .-- benfrost, Jul 10 2001 Great idea! One minor alteration -- make it golf, not tennis. Wouldn't this add a little something to the sport? Like actually making it a sport instead of, er, a stroll?
Of course, the ball might need a little alteration to protect the dog's teeth.-- Dewey, Jul 10 2001 Sounds like a way to liven up an excruciatingly dull game. Though I can't see my own mutt even bringing the ball back, never mind letting go of it (At the moment I have the shredded remnants of three different tennis balls underfoot in my house).
<<Images of Goran Ivanisevic and Tim Henman chasing mongrel round court>>-- Guy Fox, Jul 16 2001 I'm happy with just the images of Goran Ivanisevic......... ;-)-- Susen, Jul 16 2001 This is a simply marvellous idea. I'm not sure organisers of the grand slam tournaments would be too happy though: no-one would go as you can see this game anyday of the summer down at the local park! Have you seen it, it is as good as it sounds I assure you, especially when players get so fed up they hit the ball dog with the racquet and then we have a whole new ball game... (sorry animal lovers, but dog tennis?)-- sven3012, Sep 18 2001 Is it plausible to construct a slobber-proofing device to fit to a dog's mouth; something akin to a mouthguard, but bigger? If so, all you need is a handler or two, and you could potentially have some very effective ball retrieval!-- jabbers, Sep 18 2001 To borrow an idea off Steve Coogan, the human players could be replaced by monkeys making the game far more entertaining. Pete Sampras would still be hairy enough to get away with entering too.-- Redbrickterrace, Sep 18 2001 Mmmmm. Kornikovaaaaa.-- phoenix, Sep 18 2001 What a great idea. This would be much better than Cliff Richard singing when it rains. Tennis ball chasing dogs don`t care about rain, and providing that you could find the right professional human players, it could be a sport in its own right. Bets could be made upon which dog destroys the ball........or otherwise.-- March Hare, Sep 18 2001 With the slobber factor - 'In' and 'Out' calls would be easier to make.-- thumbwax, Sep 18 2001 I think the actaull ball boys/girls would just get job changes though, they would stay there to clean up after the dogs, otherwise it would be more than dog slober you would have to worry about-- shaggysin, Sep 18 2001 I think tennis would be entirely more interesting if you maximized the slobber potential. I'm thinking a St. Bernard. Now the only question is this: what would the players wear? Those white shirts are out, if we're to keep this a family-oriented sport. Would Nike still sponsor it? Or would we see Purina commercials? Of course the dogs would develop their own following and fan club.
Do you know how much I would pay to see a dog take a leak on Macinroe? Or get "friendly" with Boris' leg?-- RayfordSteele, Feb 08 2002 Now as far as 'dog tennis' is concerned, I'll have to reserve that for only specific breeds--chihuahuas, rat terriers, miniture poodles, and the like, and perhaps cats. (sorry to all you cat lovers).-- RayfordSteele, Feb 08 2002 the slobber factor - is it something to do with the women spectators and the male competitors - there was a french tennis player awhile back, Henri LaConte? any dog would slaver!-- po, Jun 24 2002 I know I annoed this once upon a time. It is one of my all time favorites. The big slow dog is a touch of incandescent genius.-- bungston, Nov 17 2004 Laughed out loud. My border collie would live for this, I think she thinks the ball is God.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 18 2004 Nice. I think the slobber could be used to swing the tennis ball a lot. I have played a lot of tennis ball cricket & I can tell you - wetting the ball makes it skid like crazy. The only challenge would be to keep the ball from getting punctured. (memories of losing many tennis balls to the german shepherd)-- energy guy, Dec 02 2004 And the slobber?-- shinobi, Dec 04 2004 slobber is a nasty issue......not too good when playing a game of tennis because the ball will slip and slide all over the court...eww.-- lumpysausage007, Jan 04 2005 Hey! Idea! We could fuse this with Stringball [q.v.] and then use cats!-- Trout, Jan 04 2005 Can't believe I missed this one. There's nothing funnier/more embarrassing than than the chaos that descends after Sammo finds a hole in the fence around a tennis court where a game's going on.-- wagster, Feb 06 2006 Tennis games already take long enough as it is.-- quantum_flux, Nov 30 2007 great for a social game, poor for a proper competition... some slobber problems could be reduced by removing the balls fur. [+]-- xxobot, Nov 30 2007 //some slobber problems could be reduced by removing the balls fur.// Lorna - is that you??-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 03 2007 Must resist the urge to say . . . Ball Dogs as opposed to Dog's . . . oh I can't say it.-- Brett-Blob, Dec 04 2007 good idea until I get the image in my head of my dog getting hit by the tennis racket while trying to get the ball-- keithbrunkala, Dec 06 2007 I have done this. Very fun, but there is a minor flaw, the dog cannot cross the tennis net. I recommend simply taking pair of shears so that the dogs can chase the ball back and forth. Would also be fun to apply to racquetball.
Oh yeah, you also might end up smacking a startled chiwawa over the net. Does that count for bonus points?-- ultra-toaster 3000, Oct 13 2009 This....Could....Work!-- Altoidian, Jan 12 2015 Could ? does: there's a Youtube video. Big [+] btw-- FlyingToaster, Jan 13 2015 Come back frostie! Even the Rio Olympics have used one of your ideas.-- xenzag, Aug 12 2016 random, halfbakery