You definitely want to base your tennis racquet buying decision on your skill level too. Here are some examples. You probably don’t need to buy a $200 tennis racquet if you just want to go out and volley some balls with a friend to see if you like the sport. Also, if you are an advanced player who likes a little extra power and a racquet that helps you put you more spin on the ball as you return it, then a $70 tennis racquet is probably not going to fulfill that need.
If I had come too late to tennis to get very good, or for the game to play a role in who I am, there are experiences and sensations it has been providing me while I’m on the court that are new and surprising. I feel helpless when I tire and lose focus — focus has never been an issue for me. I get angry with myself at times while playing, Andy Murray angry, though I have never gone so far as to repeatedly slap my forehead with my palm. I think you have to be really good to get away with that.
Again, begin with the grip. Whether you choose to use a one handed backhand or a two handed backhand, it’s important to grip the racket closer to the top bevel with your dominant hand. For a two handed backhand, the non-dominant hand should grip the racket underneath the handle, and keeping your palm rested firmly on the racket handle. Fingers should be free of tension, and not too close together. The grip for the two hander should have your other hand adjacent to the first. It’s necessary to practice both the forehand and backhand tennis strokes as you learn to play tennis.
A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be used to create a tennis court, each with its own characteristics which affect the playing style of the game.
You have my dad and brother’s name! Yes, I agree that tennis becomes very technical. I have also struggled with being too technique oriented with my kids. Thanks to Tomaz, I have used feel and imitation a lot more. I think many people in the US are plagued with the notion that faster is better. There is this sense that children should grow up faster and that learning more earlier is better. This turns into the mentality of winning now is better than playing as well as you can later. The two-handed backhand is an example of this. A younger player is much more likely to win with a two-handed backhand at a younger age. The one-hander is very difficult to learn and requires strength and very good footwork. But as I told a local pro I think there is also a downside. By using two forehands it allows people to “cheat” on both sides. My son recently switched to a one-hander just before turning thirteen. It’s hard but he now realizes how important footwork is and his forehand has gotten better because the steps he uses for his backhand have transferred to his forehand. But he is like an alien. He faces almost no other one-handed backhands in competition. So yes, tennis teaching becomes technical because the adult (pros) forget how to think like kids. They also tend to want success fast. Europeans seem to take a longer view. Maybe because their cultures are much older than the American culture.
In standard play, scoring beyond a "deuce" score, in which both players have scored three points each, requires that one player must get two points ahead in order to win the game. This type of tennis scoring is known as "advantage scoring" (or "ads"). The side which wins the next point after deuce is said to have the advantage. If they lose the next point, the score is again deuce, since the score is tied. If the side with the advantage wins the next point, that side has won the game, since they have a lead of two points. When the server is the player with the advantage, the score may be called as "advantage in". When the server's opponent has the advantage, the score may be called as "advantage out". These phrases are sometimes shortened to "ad in" or "van in" (or "my ad") and "ad out" (or "your ad"). Alternatively, the players' names are used: in professional tournaments the umpire announces the score in this format (e.g. "advantage Nadal" or "advantage Williams").

A popular alternative to advantage scoring is "no-advantage" (or "no-ad") scoring, created by James Van Alen in order to shorten match playing time.[12] No-advantage scoring is a scoring method in which the first player to reach four points wins the game. No-ad scoring eliminates the requirement that a player must win by two points. Therefore, if the game is tied at deuce, the next player to win a point wins the game. This method of scoring is used in most World TeamTennis matches.[13][14] When this style of play is implemented, at deuce, the receiver then chooses from which side of the court he or she desires to return the serve. However, in no-ad mixed doubles play gender always serves to the same gender at game point and during the final point of tiebreaks.[15]
Picking a good one usually depends on your play style. Heavier rackets are slower, but give you more power. Lighter rackets offer maneuverability, but you won’t be able to hit a grand slam. Smaller racket heads concentrate power while larger ones help newer players get a hold of the ball. If you play at the net, you need something light, fast, and large, while baseliners need heavier rackets that give them power and help them drop spin on the ball. You must find the right mix of power and precision to suit your personality. To help you, here is our 7 best tennis rackets.
Throughout most of lawn tennis' history, most rackets were made of laminated wood, with heads of around 65 square inches (420 cm2). A small number of them were made of metal, such as a 1920s racket by Dayton.[15] Some, rarely, also had metal strings. In the late 1960s, Wilson popularized the T-2000 steel racket with wire wound around the frame to make string loops, after having purchased the design from René Lacoste, who produced the racket first in a more limited run. It was popularized by the top American player Jimmy Connors and was also, prior to Connors using it, by Billie Jean King in her early career. Many players said it lacked control but had more power, when compared with wood frames of the period. Connors used the rarer "firm" model that had additional throat welds to increase its stiffness. In 1968 Spalding launched an aluminum racket, called The Smasher. Aluminum, though lighter and more flexible than steel, was sometimes less accurate than wood. The biggest complaint, however, was that metal rackets caused strong cases of tennis elbow, especially the kind that had holes for the strings directly in the frame, rather than using an external wire wrapper, as in the T-2000. Because of that drawback in particular, most of the top players still preferred to use wooden frames.[16]
Vibration dampeners (also sometimes known as "gummies") may be interlaced in the proximal part of the string array, to reduce the percussive sound of the ball hitting the strings and/or to reduce perceived vibration. They do not, however, reduce impact shock significantly, so they are of no safety value.[13] Some professionals, such as Andrei Agassi, used rubber bands instead of specialized dampeners. Dampeners come in two main types. The first uses the two central main strings to hold it in place. The second is sometimes called a "worm" and it is woven between many of the main strings. Dampeners are nearly always placed very near the bottom of the racket string bed.

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Baseline Battler: This is top spin guru Rafael Nadal’s racket of choice. It has a very stiff body that allows for better ball feel on each hit and can help improve control for those looking to tighten up their game. Aero is still using their wing shaft design in conjunction with an 11.2oz weight for fast speed both from the back court and for quick exchanges at the net. It has a 100 square-inch head with a nice, big sweet spot which makes is good for players of any experience level. While you’ll be able to move the ball with precision, you can also really flatten it out. Even from deep in the back court you can rack up some fairly vicious speed to cut your opponent off at the knees. [Purchase: $194+]
"Carpet" in tennis means any removable court covering.[7] Indoor arenas store rolls of rubber-backed court surfacing and install it temporarily for tennis events, but they are not in use any more for professional events. A short piled form of artificial turf infilled with sand is used for some outdoor courts, particularly in Asia. Carpet is generally a fast surface, faster than hardcourt, with low bounce.[7]

The Challenger Tour for men is the lowest level of tournament administered by the ATP. It is composed of about 150 events and, as a result, features a more diverse range of countries hosting events.[92] The majority of players use the Challenger Series at the beginning of their career to work their way up the rankings. Andre Agassi, between winning Grand Slam tournaments, plummeted to World No. 141 and used Challenger Series events for match experience and to progress back up the rankings.[93] The Challenger Series offers prize funds of between US$25,000 and US$150,000.

The best marks for this racquet were awarded to the services on which the racquet split the air with power on contact to allow them to reach their targets. However, the EZONE 98 (305 g) will not suit everyone. Some players will enjoy the more damped feel of the DR, while others will prefer the firmer, more powerful response offered by this new version.
I accept your thesis — kids & adults learn tennis differently. But there’s a corrolary: As someone who began tennis 10 yerars ago as a retirement activity, I’m confronted by others in my over-70 age group who — I swear — began hitting tennis balls before they could walk. There’s no way I can catch up with them. Should I give up, & just play with others “at my level”? [This is a serious question.] Or should I attempt one-person drills with the aim of improving?
A frequent topic of discussion among tennis fans and commentators is who was the greatest male singles player of all time. By a large margin, an Associated Press poll in 1950 named Bill Tilden as the greatest player of the first half of the 20th century.[95] From 1920 to 1930, Tilden won singles titles at Wimbledon three times and the U.S. Championships seven times. In 1938, however, Donald Budge became the first person to win all four major singles titles during the same calendar year, the Grand Slam, and won six consecutive major titles in 1937 and 1938. Tilden called Budge "the finest player 365 days a year that ever lived."[96] In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer said that, based on consistent play, Budge was the greatest player ever.[97] Some observers, however, also felt that Kramer deserved consideration for the title. Kramer was among the few who dominated amateur and professional tennis during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Tony Trabert has said that of the players he saw before the start of the open era, Kramer was the best male champion.[98]
3. They often take only private lessons and play points when they play on their own – which means that they do not have enough repetitions in situations without pressure where they could automate their technique. In other words, they don’t practice enough – they only get more information in private lessons and do not groove the strokes in practice.
During informal play of tennis, especially at tennis clubs in the U.S. (also in other English speaking countries), score announcements are frequently shortened with the use of abbreviations. For example, a score 15 is replaced with "five", or in some cases "fif". "Love" is often substituted to indicate "zero". Similarly, the scores of 30 and 40 may sometimes be spoken as "three" or "four" respectively. A score of 15-all may sometimes be announced as "fives." To further confuse score announcements, a score of 30-all (30–30) may often be called "deuce", and the following point referred to as "ad in" or "ad out" (or "my ad" or "your ad"), depending on which player (or team) won the point. The logic for this is that a 30-all score is effectively the same as deuce (40–40).[34]
