Tennis Basics

The sport of tennis is played on 4 different surfaces and is a non-contact game. The different surfaces used for tennis include grass, clay, carpet and hard court. Racket and a hollow rubber ball are the tennis equipment that are used. To understand tennis basics, let us focus more on the techniques of playing and scoring rules, instead of getting into details of history of tennis and who invented tennis, what material was used for equipment (rackets, balls), etc.

Basics of Tennis

It is necessary to get information about tennis court size before dealing with other tennis facts. The modern form of tennis is played on a court with dimensions, 78 feet x 36 feet. Width of the court is kept 27 feet in a singles match. Line along the width of court is known as the baseline. A net is used to divide the length of the court into two halves. Each half is divided into 3 boxes; the two boxes near the net (together known as the serving area) have an equal size of 21 feet x 13½ feet each. The third and larger box (adjacent to the baseline) is 27 feet long and 18 feet wide. Height of the net is 42 inches near the posts while it is 36 inches at the center. This is because the net at the center (due to lesser tension) curves a bit.

Teaching Tennis Basics for Kids
To state it simply, tennis involves scoring points in different ways by hitting the ball across the net. There are many techniques to be learned for playing shots well and thereby scoring points.

Serving: The first thing to learn in tennis is the serve. Serving the ball with the racket starts the game. A player can serve only in the serving area. To serve the ball, one has to take a sideways stance. Racket should be held in one hand while the ball in the other. The ball should be tossed a little bit (18 inches overhead and 12 inches forward is recommended) and then thrown (hit) by the racket. The ball should be thrown over the net so as to fall safely into the serving area.

Scoring: A match is divided into 3 or 5 sets. One has to win 2 sets in a 3 set match and 3 sets in a 5 set match. To win a set, at least 6 games have to be won with a difference of 2. One cannot win a game, 6-5. If the scores tie at 6 games each, the tie-breaker is employed as a decider for that set. In a tie-breaker, one has to win 7 points and if it goes beyond 7 points, a 2 point difference is necessary for winning. A game starts with 'love-all' (0-0) score and is won by scoring 4 points. These points in sequence are named as '15', '30', '40' and 'game'. If the game ties at 40-40, it is called a 'deuce'. An 'advantage' point, prior to the 'game' has to be scored to win. The tennis scoring explained in this paragraph should clear most of the doubts related to this.

Strokes Used in Tennis
The forehand and backhand are grips used in tennis which enable players to hit a variety of strokes. In the forehand grip, the racket is held in such a manner that the palm faces the ball while a shot is played. The backhand grip is one in which the palm faces away from the ball to be hit. Mastering the forehand and backhand shots is very important.

Volley: It is a shot played before the ball bounces after being returned by the opponent. A punching motion that takes place without the wrist being moved is the characteristic of a volley. Hitting a ball on the rise, just after it has bounced is termed as half-volley. There isn't much force applied in playing the half-volley; it is just that the momentum of the ball is used properly.

Drop Shot: The drop shot is played in such a manner that the ball is just sliced (with a backspin) or touched to make it travel just over the net and fall as close as possible. The objective of playing a drop shot is to keep the ball out of reach for the opponent. If the opponent is playing at the baseline, a drop shot places the ball near the net and thus, he/she cannot reach out to hit it back.

Lob Shot: This shot is played from near the baseline. When an opponent approaches the net for playing a volley shot, one can play the lob. The ball is hit in such a manner that it goes past the opponent from above his head and lands behind him inside the court.

Overhead Smash: The overhead smash is a forceful hit that is generally played near the net; the shot is also played in the mid-court region. The ball is hit with tremendous force and therefore, bounces to a great height, such that the opponent cannot return the ball which is hit in this manner.

The information presented above, should give you a better idea of the basics to be learned for playing the tennis properly. With this amount of information, one can at least start playing tennis as a beginner.