Fall 2013 Wasatch PE

TENNIS

Modern Tennis

• At first glance tennis seems like an easy game to play. You just have to whack a ball over a net, right? Well, yes, but there's a little more to it than that.

• You soon discover this when you start playing. Serving is difficult and scoring the game can be quite confusing.

• Tennis is played on a court of regulated size, in which two to four players attempt to hit a ball with racquets over a net of regulation height, placed in the center of the court.

The Aim of the Game• The game of tennis is played on a court 78 feet long by 27 feet wide on a variety

of surfaces including clay, grass, carpet and hard. The court is divided in half by a net over which players must hit the ball. There are white baselines at each end of the court, where serves are taken and beyond which the ball must not bounce - if it does, then the ball is out and the hitter loses the point.

• Each side is lined with two white marks to indicate the width of the court. The inner line shows the dimensions for singles play and the outer for doubles play. Stretching from the net, to halfway down the court, there is a short white line dividing it into boxes - this is the service court.

• Players stand on opposite sides of a net to hit a ball back and forth to each other.

• Each player has a maximum of one bounce after it has been hit by their opponent to return the ball over the net and within the boundaries of the court.

• Once a player fails to legally return the ball, their opponent wins a point.

• The aim is to win enough points to win a game, enough games to win a set and enough sets to win a match.

Tennis Court Dimensions: single court 27 ft by 78 ft., 3 ft. net

History of Tennis • Tennis is said to have originated in 13th • century in French monasteries. By 1500,

a wooden racquet frame strung with sheep’s gut was generally used and balls were cork-centered. In 1850, players began to try the game with the bouncy rubber balls on outdoor grass courts.• Modern tennis is credited to British Army Major Walter

Wingfield - patented a portable equipment set, making tennis more accessible.

• First world tennis championship was held in 1877 in Wimbledon, Great Britain. The Wimbledon Tournament is still played today and is considered one of the most prestigious tournaments in tennis.

Tennis Comes to the United States• Tennis came to the United States around 1874, via a

New Yorker, Mary Ewing Outerbridge, who was introduced to the game by a friend of Major Wingfield’s.

• She helped establish the first US Open played in Newport RI in 1881-men only. Women were allowed in 1887.

• Today- Equipment has continued to improve, with wooden rackets disappearing in favor of graphite.

How the game is played• When playing a game of tennis against one opponent, the singles

game must remain in first set of sidelines. The server must play the ball inside the service line in the service box diagonally across from him. The receiver can return the ball over the net to any position within the singles sidelines.

• The hits which each opponent can use are called forehands, backhands, volleys and slams. A forehand is the most basic stroke, a play hit with person's predominant hand.

• The backhand is hit across the body from the other side and is usually a two-handed stroke. A volley is a short hit, generally used when a player is close to the net.

• A slam, also known as an overhead hit, is a very powerful shot and similar to a service hit, but often hit closer to the net.

Serving the Ball•

• Serving - Standing with both feet behind the baseline• you need to take-up a sideways stance. Keep your left • foot pointed towards the right-hand net post. Your left • hand is holding the ball and will be raised into an upright position to release the ball above your head-a good height to throw the ball is about 18 inches above your normal reach. Make sure you don't release the ball too soon - it will fly at an angle towards the net and force you to lean forward to hit it. Ideally the ball should be thrown about 1 foot in front of your left foot.

• While the ball in the air you need to bring your racket back and up towards the throwing action you will use to hit the ball. You should be ready to hit the ball atfull stretch, with your racket arm straight, at the highest point you can reach it. At this stage you are switching the weight of your body from your back foot to the front one to give added strength to your shot.

• Make sure that you hit the ball with an "up and over" action - as if you were throwing the racket at the ball. After you hit the ball, follow through with your swing and this will carry you forward into the court to hit the returned shot. (Note: right-handed player.)

Continuing Play after the Serve • Once the serve is successfully hit, the play continues with a

variety of different shots. The most common shot you will play is the ground stroke (the name given to a shot that is taken after the ball has bounced once).

• These can be broken down into the forehand (made with the face of the racket, with the palm of your hand facing the ball) or the backhand (made with the reverse side of the racket, with the palm of your hand facing away from the ball).

• Hitting these shots successfully very much depends on how you grip the racket. There are two distinct shots in tennis - the forehand and backhand - so it important to learn each grip to play the shot well.

The Forehand Swing• The most common grip in tennis

is the eastern forehand and the one you will use for your forehand drive and the majority of your shots.

• It has often been dubbed the "shake hands" grip because you take the racket in your hand as if you are going to shake hands with it. To ensure that you have the correct grip, it's a good idea to place your hand flat on the racket strings, then slide your hand down to the handle. Now wrap your fingers around the racket and keeping tension out of your fingers. Your first finger should be forward slightly as if your were holding the trigger of a gun.

• For play on hard courts, players have developed a western grip and it is good for those high bouncing balls. For

• this grip, move your thumb clockwise on to the top • of the handle and your palm will slide under the • handle, making it easier to play waist-high shots.

The Backhand Swing

• -first adopt the eastern forehand, then move move your hand anti-clockwise around the handle,

• tucking your thumb underneath and making sure your palm is more on the top. Wrapping your thumb the handle like this, allows the grip to be more firm. You must make sure that your fingers are not too close together.

• Many players adopt a two-handed backhand for extra strength. Adopt the same grip, bracing your second hand adjacent to the first. As a general rule, adopt the eastern forehand for the serve and overhead smash, as well as the forehand ground stroke.

• For volleys (made when you hit the ball without letting it bounce first) simply adopt the forehand or backhand grip, depending on the direction of the volley.

Scoring• The Game - Each game

is divided into 4 scores - "15", "30", "40" and "game". • If a player has no score in a game, then he is at "love". So the

players start their game. When one scores a point he will be at "15-love".

• The second player wins the next point and the score goes to "15-15" and so on until one reaches "game".

• If both players tie at "40-40", this is called "deuce" and now the win-by-two rule comes into play again.

• At "40-40" the next player to win a point will go to "advantage" and then to "game".

• Point to remember- The server's score is always given first, so if the core is "30-15" you know that the server has won 2 points in the game and is at "30

Game, Set & Match

• The Match- Firstly, the full game is called a match and a player wins a match by winning either 2 out of the possible 3 sets or 3 of the possible 5 sets (as in some men's games).

• The Set- A player wins a set by winning 6 games (but he must win by two games. For example, he cannot win a set at 6-5. He must win one more to make it 7-5). If the players tie at 6 games each in a set, they must play a tiebreaker. The player who wins this must get to 7 points but again he must win by 2 points. The tiebreaker will continue after one gets to 7 until one player is two points ahead - it is not unusual, therefore, for a tiebreaker to go to 12-10 or some similar score.

Grand Slam

• Four major championships are won in one year– Wimbledon, French Open, US Open, Australian Open

• Tennis Winners over the YEARS. • American Don Budge Won Wimbledon 1838, • Rod Laver won Grand Slam 1962, TV classics= Jimmy Connors vs

John McEnroe 1970-80• Martina Navratilova= Won most tourneys, 167 singles;162 doubles• Chris Everett: 125 match winning streak with

Two-handed backhand• Current Top pros, Novak Djokovic , Andy Murray , Rafael Nadal ,

Roger Federer, Serena Williams , Maria Sharapova