Be the Referee: Fixed Obstruction in Tennis
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
May 21, 2025
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Fixed Obstruction in Tennis - Listen
We’re playing tennis today and due to the rain outside, we’ve moved our match to an indoor court. In the second set, after a couple of volleys, I’m forced to retreat to the back line and hit a high lob shot. Too high in fact … as the ball hits the ceiling and then comes down on my opponent’s side of the net.
What should happen next?
Should my opponent play the ball as they normally would? My shot landed on their side, so it doesn’t matter if it hit the ceiling?
Or, do I lose a point because my shot hit the ceiling?
In tennis, if a ball touches a permanent fixture, like the ceiling, before hitting the proper court, the player who hit the ball loses the point.
In this case, I lose the point since it was my shot hitting the ceiling.
Previous 2024-25 Editions
May 13: Golf Cart Path Roll - Listen
May 6: Illegal Softball Bats - Listen
April 30: Golf Relief - Listen
April 22: Soccer Scoring Area Penalty - Listen
April 15: Fair or Foul? - Listen
April 8: Girls Lacrosse New Stoppage Rule - Listen
April 1: Base Runner Interference - Listen
March 25: Pine Tar Usage - Listen
March 11: Basketball Replay - Listen
March 4: Gymnastics Deduction - Listen
Feb. 25: Competitive Cheer Inversion - Listen
Feb. 18: Ice Hockey Delay of Game - Listen
Feb. 11: Ski Helmets - Listen
Feb. 4: Wrestling In Bounds or Out? - Listen
Jan. 21: Block or Charge? - Listen
Jan. 14: Out of Bounds, In Play - Listen
Jan. 7: Wrestling Scoring - Listen
Dec. 17: Bowling Ball Rules - Listen
Dec. 10: Neck Laceration Protector - Listen
Dec. 3: Basketball Goaltending - Listen
Nov. 26: 11-Player Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 19: 8-Player vs. 11-Player Football - Listen
Nov. 12: Back Row Setter - Listen
Nov. 5: Football OT - Listen
Oct. 29: Officials Registration - Listen
Oct. 22: Volleyball Serve - Listen
Oct. 15: "You Make the Call" - Soccer Offside - Listen
Oct. 8: Roughing the Passer - Listen
Oct. 1: Abnormal Course Condition - Listen
Sept. 25: Tennis Nets - Listen
Sept. 18: Libero - Listen
Sept. 10: Cross Country Uniforms - Listen
Sept. 3: Soccer Handling - Listen
Aug. 24: Football Holding - Listen
Performance of the Week: Portage Central's Sam Schumacher
September 25, 2025
Sam Schumacher ♦ Portage Central
Junior ♦ Tennis
Schumacher tops the lineup for Portage Central, currently No. 6 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, and ranks among the state's winningest No. 1 singles players this season at 20-0. Five of those victories came last week including three at a Midland Dow quad that also included the No. 2-ranked Chargers, No. 8 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and Division 1 No. 9 Rockford. He's lost just one set this fall, and eight of his victories were by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
While building a high school career record of 74-14, Schumacher entered his first two MHSAA Division 2 Finals among seeded players at No. 1 singles, reaching the quarterfinals as a freshman and finishing as flight runner-up a year ago. This summer he played at the USTA Boys 16 National Championships, receiving direct acceptance into the tournament field and winning his first of three matches during the event.
@mhsaasports 🎾POW: Sam Schumacher #portagecentral #tennis #highschoolsports #performanceoftheweek #MHSAA ♬ Bright and fun upbeat pops, Kids, Animals, Pets, Fun, Cute, Happy, Playful, Upbeat(1465232) - SAKUMAMATATA
@mhsaasports 🎾POW: Sam Schumacher #funfacts #tiktalk #performanceoftheweek #highschoolsports #MHSAA ♬ Girly and cute synth pop - SAKUMAMATATA
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Previous 2025-26 honorees
Sept. 18: Kaylee Mitzel, Saline field hockey - Report
Sept. 11: Natasza Dudek, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
Sept. 4: Kate Posey, Big Rapids golf - Report
(Photos courtesy of the Portage Central boys tennis program.)