Tennis

Robertson

The Story: Between 1859 and 1865, in Birmingham, England, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera, a Spanish merchant, combined elements of the game of rackets and the Spanish ball game Pelota. In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield devised a similar game for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate in Wales. He based the game on the older “real tennis.” Wingfield named it "lawn tennis," and patented the game in 1874.

The Type of Sport: Tennis is a individual/dual net game. Individual/dual sports are always played one-on-one, or two-on-two. Net games are played with a net separating the opposing players or teams. Similar sports are badminton, pickleball, and ping pong.

The Objective: The scoring system in a game of tennis is somewhat complicated, see below. The first team to win six games wins a set. The first team to win two sets out of three wins a match.

The Scoring: Each team begins the game with zero points, which is called “love.” If Team A scores first, they have 15 points. So the score would be 15-love. If Team B scores next, then the score would be 15-15. The next time Team A scores would take them to 30 points (30-15). The next time Team A scores, that will take their score to 40 points (40-15). If Team A scores again, that game is over. If both teams reach 40 points, then the teams are in “deuce” (deuce meaning now you have to win by two). The next team to score is said to have advantage. Let’s say that is Team B. If Team B scores again, then the game is over. If Team A (who currently does not have advantage) scores, then both teams are back in “deuce.” Just remember… love, 15, 30, 40, deuce (40-40), advantage (one team up a point), game.

The Rules:

  1. You may serve overhand or underhand.
  2. You must serve to the opposite serving box (also called, crosscourt).
  3. The server switches serving boxes every time you serve.
  4. The server is allowed to make one mistake (fault, also called single fault). On the second mistake (double fault), it is a point for the opposing team.
  5. One player serves an entire game. Every game, the server switches. The order is me, your team, my partner, your team, me again.
  6. Your team only gets one opportunity to hit the ball over the net.
  7. You or your partner may not “help” any ball over the net.
  8. There are no “play-ons.” You may not ignore rules and keep playing.
  9. Like all other net sports, lines are “in.”

The Shots:

  1. Forehand – A shot on your dominant/strong side.
  2. Backhand – A shot on your non-dominant/weak side.
  3. Drop – A shot softly hit over the net (also called, dink).
  4. Drive – A flat shot hit with some speed.
  5. Lob – A high, deep shot hit toward the back of the court (also called, clear).
  6. Smash – A hard overhand shot angled down, with a lot of speed (also called, spike).