What does "go by" mean?

Question

What does "go by" and "be in no position" mean in the following passage about tennis.

"If you stand inside the service box to return the ball, you have no way of telling whether the ball would land in or out, and you will be in no position to see it bounce and make the call even if you do let it go by."

Thanks a lot.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

"go by" -- pass you.

"be in no position" -- be in the wrong position/location

Avangi · Answer

Jin_H"If you stand inside the service box to return the ball, you have no way of telling whether the ball would land in or out, and you will be in no position to see it bounce and make the call even if you do let it go by."

You have two choices: (1) hit it (play the ball); (2) let it go by (don't hit it, hoping your opponent has hit it long, and the point will be yours.)
As MrM says, go past you ("pass you"), as in "watch the ball/bus go by."

"Make the call" is the really ambiguous part. If you let the ball go by, and it bounces inside the court, you've lost the point.

What the sentence means is that if you're playing forward, and let the ball go by, you'll be in no position to return the ball, should you need to.

It doesn't seem like a very good sentence.

The advice seems to be against playing close to the net (assuming "singles").
But if you must play there, you'd better hit the ball;
because it's the only chance you'll have (and you cannot judge if the ball might go long).

As an aside, "to be in no position" is used figuratively in many life situations having nothing to do with logistics.

I'm in no position to help you right now. (financially)

You're in no position to tell me what to do! (in terms of authority)

What does "go by" mean?

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