TENNIS

Tennis

The game of Lawn Tennis is highly refreshing and has a place of importance among youth as well as grown ups. Introduced United States of America in 1870 it has grown tremendously in most of the countries as a most-loved sport. It knows no international boundaries and over forty nations of the world compete for the Davis Cup Championship every year.

In a play of Lawn Tennis every muscles of the body brought in to play. It makes the mind alert, improves reflex action, makes eyes keener and quick muscular reactions. It keeps the blood pressure low and chest measurements up. It keeps one real healthy and active.
The court:  The full width is used for games of doubles (two players per side). Singles matches are played in a narrower court, the inner sidelines marking the edges of the court. The court should be rectangular 78 feet long and 27 feet broad in case of singles and 36 feet broad in case of doubles game. It should be divided across the middle by a net, suspended from a cord or metal cable. The height of the net should be 3 feet at the center.

Surface
Clay: Examples are red clay (used at the French Open and many other tournaments, especially in Europe and Latin America) and green clay (an example of which is Har-Tru and used mainly in the U.S.). Clay courts normally have a slower paced ball and a fairly true bounce with more spin.
Hard:  Examples are acrylic (e.g. Plexicushion used at the Australian Open, DecoTurf used at the US Open), asphalt, and concrete. Hardcourts typically have a faster-paced ball with a very true bounce.
Grass:  Used at Wimbledon. Grass courts usually have a faster-paced ball, and a more erratic bounce. Wimbledon has slowed its courts over the years.

Carpet:  Any form of removable court covering, including carpeting and artificial turf. The bounce can be higher or lower than a hard court.
 

Equipments:  All you need to play lawn tennis are a racket, suitable clothing and footwear, an opponent similarly equipped, a court and a supply of tennis ball.

 The ball:  Tennis balls are of hollow rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant color was gradually changed to Optic Yellow in the latter part of the 20th century to allow for improved visibility.
Miscellaneous:  Advanced players improve their performance through a number of accouterments. Vibration dampers may be interlaced in the proximal part of the string array for improved feel. Racket handles may be customized with absorbent materials to improve the players' grip. Players often use sweat bands on their wrists to keep their hands dry as well. Finally, although the game can be played in a variety of shoes, specialized tennis shoes have wide, flat soles for stability and a built-up front structure to avoid excess wear.
Rules of Tennis

1. The court should be rectangular 78 feet long and 27 feet broad in case of singles and 36 feet broad in case of doubles game. It should be divided across the middle by a net, suspended from a cord or metal cable. The height of the net should be 3 feet (91.4 cm) at the centre.  
2. Equipments:  All you need to play lawn tennis are a racket, suitable clothing and footwear, an opponent similarly equipped, a court and a supply of tennis ball.
3. Tennis Rackets - The usual tournament size racket is 32 inches long and 11 1/2 inches in width.
4. Tennis Balls- These vary in color, but for official tournaments the ball must be yellow or white in color.
5. Opponents stand on opposite sides of the court. The player who delivers the ball to start the point is called the server. The player who stands opposite and cross-court from the server is the receiver.
6. The right to serve, receive, choose your side, or give the opponent these choices is decided by a toss of a coin or racquet. If the choice of service or receiver is chosen, the opponent chooses which side to start.
    
7. The server shall stand behind the baseline on the deuce court within the boundaries of the singles court when playing singles and within the doubles sideline when playing doubles. See court dimensions. All even points are played from the deuce court and odd number points played from the advantage court. The server shall not serve until the receiver is ready. Serves are made from the deuce court to the opponent`s service box on the deuce court. Advantage court to advantage box. If the server misses his target twice, he loses the point. If the ball hits the net and goes in the correct service box, another serve is granted. If the server steps on the baseline before contact are made, the serve is deemed a fault.
    
8. The receiver is deemed ready if an attempt is made to return the server`s ball. The receiver can stand where he likes but must let the ball bounce in the service box. If the ball does not land in the service box, it is deemed a fault and a second serve is given. If the ball is hit by either opponent before the ball bounces, the server wins the point.
    
9. The server always calls his score first. If the server wins the first point, he gets a score of 15. Scoring is done like a clock. See example below. Love means zero in tennis. The second point is called 30. The third point is called 45 (now-a-days known as 40) and game is won when the score goes back to love. If the score is 40-40, also known as deuce, one side must win by two points. Advantage-In means if the server wins the next point, he wins the game. Advantage-Out means the receiver has a chance to win the game on the next point.
    
10. After the game, the opponents serve. Games equal 1. The first to win 6 games, by two, wins the set. The first to win 2 sets wins the match. If the score is 6-6, a tie-breaker is played. This is scored by one`s. The first team to score 7 points winning by two wins the set. The tiebreaker continues until one side wins by two. Hence, Game-Set-Match.
     
11. If the ball goes into the net, or outside the boundaries of the court, the player who hit that ball loses the point. 
12. If the ball hits the net during the point and goes into the opponent`s court, the ball is in play. A player loses the point if he touches the net, drops his racquet while hitting the ball, bounces the ball over the net, hits a part of the surroundings such as the roof, or a tree, the ball touches him or his partner, he deliberately tries to distract the opponent.
     
13. A let is called during the point if a ball rolls on the court or there is a distraction from someone besides the players on the court.
     
14. If players serve out of turn or serve to the wrong person or court, the point or game will stand and order will be resumed following the point or game.
     
15. In matches were an umpire is appointed, his decision shall be final; but where a referee is appointed, an appeal shall lie to him from the decision of an umpire on a question of law, and in all such cases the decision of the referee shall be final
16. Play should be continuous from the first service till the match is concluded; but after the third set in case of men and second in case of women, there may be an interval of 10 to 15 minutes, as agreed up on.

Major Techniques
Foot work
A good runner can achieve a correct foot-work. The idea of correct foot-work is to face the net and be prepared to move in any direction. Bending the knee is a prime requisite for correct foot-work; it gives you a spring and speed of movement you do not get if your knees are stiff. Play from a crouched position with your knees slightly bend, start quickly and get to a place where you can return the ball wit6h time to spare; and once they turn sideways to net to execute the shot.
Grip

• Continental grip
• Western grip
• Eastern grip

Continental grip- By holding the racket in front of you, again with the left hand at the throat and with the cross strings pointing skyward, and gripping the hand directly on top. It is fine for low balls but not so good for a shoulder high ball
Western grip- It is obtained by laying the racket flat on the floor and simply reaching down and picking it up. It is good for high balls on either side. It is difficult to execute below the waistline. It is also awkward to chop or volley especially low balls with this grip.
Eastern grip- Holds your racket in the left hand at the throat with the cross strings pointing upward. Then grip the racket handle with the right hand as through shaking hands with it. You can execute all of the strokes such as volley, drive, or chop to the best advantage with this grip.
Fore Hand Drive
It is most important in the game and about 75 per sent of all the shoots are hit by a player during a match. There are two ways of making the shoot; (a) Circular Back Swing; (b) Straight Back Swing
Circular Back Swing: It imparts rhythm to the swing and circular motion generates momentum that in turn enables the ball to the hit harder. To use the circular swing, hold the racket out in front of you and swing it up and around in a half circle to a point where it is straight out behind you; then bring it forward to meet the ball with the follow through being allowed to take its natural course.
Straight Back Swing: It is easier to learn, it does not give a player a sense of rhythm nor does it make for hard hitting. The racket is held in front of you and whipped straight backwards on a level plane until it is stretched full length behind you. There it is brought straight forward in to the ball with the follow through coming after the impact in the same manner as in the circular drive. The start of your forward stroke, the actual impact, and the follow through should be as nearly as possible on the same level. This makes for an even, well hit shot.
Back Hand Drive
It is most difficult of all shoots to master. Hop your racket at the throat in your left hand with the cross string perpendicular, and then grasp the handle directly on top. Now turn the racket with your left hand so that the top rim of the frame moves one or two inches to the right. Never play a backward with a grip where your thumb is pressing up the back of the handle.
(a)Circular back swing,(b) straight back swing. The back hand should be nearly a flat stroke, although it is even better to play this with a little under spin; to get this the racket is leveled backward slightly at the moment of impact. The reason for playing the back hand with underspin on the ball is that the ball has a tendency to rice over the net and also a ball with underspin is generally a safer shot to play then one with topspin on it. Avoid any tendency to lift the ball over the net and keep the ball on your racket longer, for better control. The head of the racket should not drop below the wrist. Bend the knees and get your wrist down the height of the ball and on a level with your racket head
Service
The service is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The service may be hit under- or overhand. If the ball hits the net on the first serve and bounces over into the correct diagonal box then it is called a "Let" and the server gets two more additional serves to get it in. If the server misses his or her first serve and gets a let on the second serve, then they get one more try to get the serve in the box.

 The server may employ different types of service including Flat Service, Topspin Service, Slice Service, Kick (American twist) service and Cannon Ball Service. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness. If the ball is spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter's point of view and curve left if spinning clockwise.

Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an "Ace".

• Slice Service
• American Twist Service
• Cannon Ball Service

Slice Service:  Toss the ball slightly to the right of you right shoulder, not too high and strike it in a slicing manner so that the racket finishes its swing drown on the left side of your left leg. It is easy to direct the ball with it; and the resulting shot is difficult for an opponent to handle successfully or severely.
American Twist Service:  It can be hit harder because the ball is tossed higher and the swing of the stroke is a little longer. Toss the ball above your left shoulder rather high and in striking the ball Endeavour to come over the top of it, finishing the stroke on the right side of your right leg. This puts both a forward and a clockwise spin on the ball which makes it jump, on hitting count toward your opponent’s hand.
Cannon Ball Service:  The ball is tossed up directly above the right shoulder and slightly in front of your body. The ball is then struck with in full force of the racket.
Volley
It requires great deal of anticipation, quick action and agility.

• Now crouch for low balls. Also keep about 8 feet distance behind the net, so that it is impossible to be lobbed over.
• While playing a low volley on forehand, bend knees, body sideways to the net with the feet parallel with the net.
• To play backhand volley the wrist is one the same level as the racket head. The racket is tilted a backwards to help the ball over the net.

Try to bloke the ball instead of making a stroke. You can get plenty of speed on a volley simply by making use of the speed of your opponent’s shot. It is vital in making a volley sidewise to the net, with your feet parallel to it. This keeps you well balanced and enables you to watch the ball more easily.

Hitting a volley
A regular volley is hit with a short backswing and a punching stroke. While standing at the net, a player usually has no time to take a long backswing. When the ball comes at less pace, though, the volleyer can take a longer backswing to impart more force on the ball, which is called a swing volley.
The lower the ball comes at the volleyer, the harder it is to hit an effective volley. In some cases, a player is better off to let the ball bounce rather than attempt to volley it; he then hits it on the rise right after the bounce. This is called a half volley (although technically it is not a volley) and is one of the most difficult shots in tennis; John McEnroe was considered a master of it.
Another type of volley is the drive volley. This is done by hitting a volley with more backswing and followthrough than a normal volley. Effectively this is a volley groundstroke and a very aggressive shot, giving your opponent less time, which can be used as a way to approach the net (approach shot).
Smash
Neither nets the ball bounce and hit it nor hit on the fly. The smashes close to the net are best taken on the fly, while the ones at the back of the court are best handled after bouncing. Smash or over head kill should be treated as such, do not take it easy; sock it hard for an outright winner.
There are some important strokes which are used to baffle the opponent. They are lop, the chop, the drop and half volley.