[Heuristics]

Tennis is a fantastic sport for men, and much like golf, it’s considered one of the quintessential gentlemen's sports. It’s been played for hundreds of years, along with its precursor sports.

This datasheet is intended for people of beginner to intermediate skill, but nevertheless, I think everyone can get something out of it. I will try to cover some key things for those looking into the sport or casual play.

Basics

I can’t be much help of describing the mechanics of it. Videos or hitting time is what will really help you. Maybe even someone more experienced than you

Forehand—This is hitting with your dominant hand/ side. Usually one handed.

Backhand- This is hitting opposite your dominant hand/ side. It can be either one or two handed. Basically always weaker than your forehand.

Serve- This is how you hit the ball to start the point. No bounce as opposed to a groundstroke. Practice, practice, practice.

Volley- Hitting a ball in play without bouncing (usually near the net).

There are other strokes but this about covers it. Here are some good primer videos for the tennis basics:

Scoring

Full description here: https://www.tennistips.org/tennis-scoring.html

Simple version:
•earn a minimum of 4 points to win a game.
•play at least 6 games to win a set.
•win no less than 2 sets (at times 3 sets) to close out a match.

Racquets

I think the most important part of your gear for obvious reasons. Really the piece of gear you should be concerned about doing right. If you are playing occasionally you can borrow from a friend or go buy a cheap store racquet (which are crap, but cheap and will get you started). Usually you can find a player willing to get rid of an older racquet for a cheap price. Nothing wrong with getting a used racquet as long as you find out if it is suitable for you after testing it.

Courts

Hard- Majority of play for tennis courts in the US and other places happens on hard courts. Points can be fast because of ball bounce and ample opportunities to put the ball away.

Grass- Was actually the surface tennis started out on. They are few and far between because of costly maintenance and the amount of wear that happens to the grass. Wimbledon (one of the four “Majors” as they are called in tennis) is the only one of the four majors still using grass. Not surprisingly, grass is most popular in the UK.

Clay- Very popular in Europe. Usually “clay” is crushed-up brick. The surface has to be regularly smoothed out to ensure the court is playable. Thus it costs to play on clay.

Having played on clay a lot of my tennis career, I can tell you several things about it: the red clay tends to get all over you, which is annoying; it is a slower surface than hard courts so the points are longer and favor more defensive play; and, the ability to slide well is what makes a good clay court player (because clay has a lot of “give” in it compared to hard courts).

Where to play

There are really two options. The first option is a public court, which is normally free. You find these all over the US. Abroad, not so much. Your public courts are typically hard courts. Generally you find them at parks or schools, and just walk on and start playing unless someone is using the court or there is a tournament. All you really need to get started at tennis is some time on a public court.

The second option is a tennis club or country club. These places offer memberships (paid monthly) or you reserve the court by the hour. The fees vary. If you’re out of the US, you’re going to have to pay to get court time. Some of these places may offer indoor courts (so you can play in the middle of winter), clay or grass courts (as opposed to hard), tennis pros (who can coach you for a price), and even equipment shops or racquet stringing services.

This is just a short outline of some of my experiences in the sport. I can elaborate on pretty much anything if you have questions.

-H