1-
History & Object
2- The
Essentials (Scoring, Rules,
Etc.)
3- Strokes and Spins
4- Court
Diagram and Positions
5- Glossary
of Tennis Terms
Strokes and Spins
There are several different
kinds of tennis strokes. The
serve
starts each point, and is
hit from behind the baseline.
Serves alternate each point
between the “deuce court,”
the right half of the servers
side to the left half of the
receivers side, and the
“ad court,” the
left half of the servers
side to the right half of the
receivers side. One player
serves for an entire game, but
players alternate service each
game, and switch sides of the
court after each odd-numbered
game.
A groundstroke
is hit after the ball has
bounced once, and is usually
hit from the backcourt. A volley
is hit before the ball bounces
on the court, usually close
to the net. A half-volley
is when the ball is hit
immediately after it bounces
on the court. An overhead
is a serve-like shot hit
when returning high, short shots.
A lob
is a high, arching ball
that is usually hit over the
opponent when he is at the net.
Most strokes are hit either
forehand
or backhand.
A forehanded hit is on the dominant
side (ball to right side of
the body for a right handed
player); a backhanded hit is
on the non-dominant side (ball
to the left side of the body
for a right-handed player).
Shots are hit with different
spins as well. A topspin
shot spins the ball forward,
and seems to jump off the court
in the direction it was travelling.
A slice
has backspin, and bounces
back in the
direction from which it was
hit. A flat shot has little
spin, but often skids (instead
of bouncing) when it hits the
court.
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