How to Play Tennis Well

Playing tennis does take skill, but with anything in life, practice is the best way of gaining better control and presence of both the ball and the court.

Tennis is a sport that originally began in England as a lawn game; the modern game that we know today still remains somewhat similar in play as the original. The game can be played between two people, often called a singles match, or with a team of two people, called a doubles match. The point of the game, like many modern sports, is for the first person to get as many points as possible, thus defeating their opponent.

The scoring within tennis also hasn’t changed much since its original conception, with only a few modern things involved, such as the tie-breaker, the use of technology to preview disputed calls, as well as the players being able to counter a call that has been called by the referee.

The quickest way to begin to play tennis well is to understand the rules and concept of tennis. This is often accomplished by having a tennis lesson with a qualified tennis coach, by watching games of adult tennis matches, having private tennis lessons, or taking group tennis lessons. There are even kids’ lessons available for those who want to start their child on a sport at a tender age.

Many local sport facilities or that of park and recreation centers offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced tennis lessons for all ages, either as an after school program or a family activity for the weekends or the summer. Depending on the level and where the lessons are held, there may be different areas that are learned; for example, beginners may be asked to purchase or borrow books on tennis, in order to learn about the rules for the game, while intermediate players may be asked to upgrade their equipment in order to perform better.

Again, the best way of becoming a better player is to practice. Many team sports will devote several hours per day to practice; if you decide to take private lessons, the instructor may set up several times during the week for beginning practice, but this can also be true for intermediate and advanced players as well. Remember that while daily life can be hectic, if an individual truly wants to be better at tennis, they must devote the time and commitment into playing the sport and getting better at it.

Hiring a tennis coach to help you improve your tennis game is an important step towards bettering yourself. A qualified and experience tennis coach can guide you towards improving your technique. Of course, there are many ways of hitting the same stroke but there will always be certain fundamental techniques which cannot be left out. All good coaches must also have a good eye in discerning the student’s errors and must be able to provide practical solutions.

Practicing with better players is another method to raise your level of play. But alas, in society, it is very difficult to find better players wanting to play with you. Such is life. The order of life tends to highlight the selfishness of humankind. Knowing this, one must not lose heart but continue to persevere and be a little thick-skin and knock on doors of the better plays for a friendly hit. You will be surprise by someone nice who is willing to help.

Watching tennis tournaments and how the professional tennis players go about their sport is another good way of learning the game. Watching video clips of forehands, backhands etc is another good way of picking up tips on various tennis techniques.

Reading tennis manuals, magazines and books is also an excellent method to improve and garner new insight towards improving your tennis game.

Another important facet to learning is to have a humble spirit and be extremely teachable. You must not be hard headed and do not want to change your incorrect technique when told to do so.

Learning and practicing are certainly very important in improving your tennis game. However, another equally critical area is to improve on your own physical fitness. This entails improving your stamina through running, skipping and improving your strength through gym work outs. Care must be taken to ensure your do the relevant weight-related routines which are suitable for tennis.

Lastly, make sure you enjoy the game as you practice. Do not put undue pressure on yourself. It is supposed to make you happy and not sad. An important facet is to also be aware that not every new beginning or even advanced player makes it to Wimbledon, which is the international tennis championship that is held in England every year. There is nothing wrong with playing just for the sake of playing and that of learning something new.