For some players, tennis is not just a game: It's a science. The technical aspects of tennis shape your playing experience, whether considering the layout of the court or the make and weight of the ball. Before you jump into your next tennis match, make sure you know the rules and regulations of the game. Once you have the fundamentals down, you can focus on the art of play.
The Court
A standard tennis court is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide for singles. The court is 36 feet wide when playing doubles with two players on each side. The net is always 3 feet high and divides the court in half. The baselines and the sidelines mark the playing area boundaries. Each baseline is divided in half by a center mark. Within the actual playing area, the service courts are formed by the center service line, found an equal distance between the sidelines, and the service line parallel to the net and out 21 feet. Court surfaces range from clay to acrylic coated to grass.
Equipment
A regulation tennis ball is white or yellow in color, weighs around 57g and is around 6.6cm in diameter. A tennis racket includes a handle with a grip, a shaft, a throat and a head. Rackets come in a variety of sizes and are commonly made of carbon-fiber. The strings for a racket are usually nylon or polyester. To achieve the proper tension, the strings are attached to the racket by a machine in a grid pattern.
Serving
The first server of a game is determined by a coin flip. The winner of the flip gets to choose to serve first, select his side of the court or let his opponent choose one of those options. For the first serve of the game, the serving player stands anywhere to the right of the center mark behind the baseline. The server's feet cannot cross the line, or he incurs a foot fault and risks losing the serve. The server aims for the service court on the opposite side of the center mark. For the remaining points, the server alternates serving from different sides of the center mark and aims for the opposite service court. The player returning the serve must allow the ball to bounce in the service court before returning it. One server serves for the whole game, and then it is the opponent's turn. In doubles, the same rules apply, except that when a team regains the serve, the second player serves the whole game. The server should always call the score, saying his score first, before putting the ball into play. If the server misses the first serve, it is considered a fault, and he has one more opportunity to serve from that position. If he fails, it is a double fault and the opponent is awarded a point.
Scoring
Each game is played to four points, but players must win by two. Starting with zero, the scoring progresses: love, 15, 30, 40, game. If each player has three points, the score is "deuce." The score is then "advantage" for the next player to score a point. That player must score another point to win, or else the score goes back to deuce. To win a set, a player must win six games and be ahead by two. The set continues until this margin is achieved. In a tie-breaking set, the first player to seven games wins. The tennis match concludes when a player wins the best of three or five sets.
General Game Play
Players switch sides of the court after the first game and then after every two games. On a serve, if the ball hits the net and lands on the opponent's side, it is called a "let." It does not count as a fault; instead the server serves that point again. If the ball hits the net and goes over during regular play, it is a live ball. If the ball hits the boundary lines during play, it is considered in bounds.
Member Comments