TENNIS: A Fun Sport

Tennis is quite a fun sport. It can be played by both male and female. It is truly a game for life once you know how to play it, you can continue to enjoy the game by yourself and with others for many years. A little of practice is all that it takes to make a difference of your playing level. Tennis is a mental game almost as much as it is a physical game. Staying positive and focused on the game or during a match can have a huge influence on the way you play the game. Alertness and concentration are also very important in this kind of game. Without these two, you will have a hard time learning tennis.

Tennis courts can either be indoor or outdoor. Usually, the courts are made up of a hard material like cement or concrete, grass or clay. Each tennis court is divided in half by a net and divided further by several painted white lines. The horizontal line bisecting each of the court is called the service line. The two rectangles between the service line and the net are the service boxes. The outer boundary lines, on the other hand, are the baselines.

Knowing the rules in playing tennis is necessary before one can proceed with playing the game. The rules, though, are simple. Like badminton, a coin toss is done. The player who wins the toss has the option to serve or not to serve the first game and can choose a particular side of the court. To begin, a player serves from the right side of the court. The server stands behind the baseline and between the center line and the side line. Serve the ball by throwing it up underhanded and hitting it. The ball should be hit and should land on the service box that is diagonally opposite to where he/she is standing. If the serve is in, the players continue to hit the ball back and forth until one player wins the point. The players may move inside or outside the boundaries of the court as needed just to hit the ball. The ball should only bounce once on one players side. If it bounces more than once, the player loses the point. If a player fails to return the ball over the net or if a player hits the ball over the net but it lands out of bound, that player loses the point. Other faults that could make a player lose a point are: touching the opponents’ ground, the net, posts or any other person or official in the game; if the ball hits or touches carrying the ball or catching it in the racquet; throwing the racquet or any kinds of racquet abuse.

The scoring of tennis is quite different from other games. Instead of using numeric scoring such as 1, 2,3,4,5 right away, the scoring of tennis progresses from love (0) to 15, then 30, then 40, and then the game is won. In case of tie, that is 40-40, it is known as deuce. To win a game that stands at deuce, a player must win two points in a row. The first player to win 6 games wins the set, but must win by at least two sets.

If you are a beginner in playing tennis, it is advisable for you to practice as often as you can. It is also helpful if you will play with an opponent who is already familiar with the rules of tennis and is already skilled with this kind of game. In this way, you will easily improve as a tennis player and can appreciate tennis even better.