I would like to propose that we advanced intermediates discuss adding an informal rule for our games:

if a player hits a hard shot (slam) that hits an opponent in the head or body a fault will be called, and the slammer will lose that volley.

The player that has been hit decides if the shot is a fault. Hopefully this won't lead to abuse of the rule, like leaping in front of a shot and calling a fault, or calling a fault every time a ball comes any where near you.

The idea is that if a player is going to hit slams, the player must be able to hit accurately enough to avoid hitting the opponent's head or body. Nobody slams the ball intending to hit their opponent, but it happens frequently enough that I think we should consider a rule like this or some other way to encourage softer or more accurate shots. I think losing the volley might be an incentive to be more careful.

We could even make the rule optional - the four players could decide before every game it they want to include the "slammer rule" for that game.

What do you think?

Bob R