Serving Names

By Stephen James Hall (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

One of our local players who recently returned from The Villages, Florida, started adding the recipients’ names when she said the score before serving. For instance, “Four, Two, One, Jeff.” I immediately liked it, but didn’t know why. So I asked her why she was doing that, and she told me there were two reasons:

1. In Florida, one meets a lot of new people all the time. By stating their names when serving, it helps the server, and everyone else, remember the new player’s name.

2. It just feels more sociable – more friendly.