Tennis is one of the oldest sports to exist till today where its origins can be traced back to the 12th century in France. The game which is played on a court, have standard measurements throughout the world with different surfaces such as clay, grass and hard courts.
Tennis is a well known sport with famous players and tournaments. The names of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are commonly heard in the tennis world. These players are at the top of the ranking system.
In order to earn ranking points in tennis, players must participate in the tournaments hosted by International Tennis Federation (ITF), Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Have you played tennis before or considering learning how to play tennis? There are classes suitable for all age groups from children to adults. You can join a group or individual classes according to your preference. Did you know that besides being a fun sport, it offers a wide range of benefits as well?
If you are unsure if you should play tennis, read on to find out why tennis is such a good sport to pick up.
Aids Weight Loss
Many people struggle to lose weight and do not enjoy going to the gym. Using the treadmill or other equipments in the gym, doing repetitive exercise might be boring for some. If you like being outdoors and have fun, playing tennis is the right move for you.
When you play tennis, you are stretching you arms and legs as you serve, you are running fast across the court to return a ball, where you are working your thighs, calves, arms and shoulders. You end up getting a full body workout by playing tennis.
It is a good cardio workout that will lead to weight loss if it is done regularly and combined with a healthy diet to maintain a healthy weight.
Strengthens Your Bones
According to experts we reach peak bone mass around the age of 30. After that point, as we grow older, our bone density and strength starts to decrease. Bones like muscles responds to weight bearing activities.
Tennis is a great weight bearing exercise that forces you to work against gravity while your feet and leg carry the weight of your body. This leads to an increase in bone mass which in return will strengthen your bones.
Furthermore, playing tennis has been shown to help maximize the bone mass before the age of 30 and afterwards help to slow down bone loss.
Improves Cardiovascular Health
The goal of tennis is to hit the ball over to the opponent’s side in a way that the opponent is unable to play a valid return. This involves running up and down the court, jumping to hit the ball using multiple strokes such as drop shot, smash or slice. You have to move quickly or risk losing a point.
These activities will increase your heart rate as you play tennis. Your breathing will become deeper and faster as you heart rate rises and lead to the increase in oxygen and blood flow throughout your body. This will ultimately contribute to a stronger cardiovascular system.
A 2017 study found that participation in racquet sports was related to a 56% reduction in death from cardiovascular disease and a 47% reduction of risk of death from any cause.
Improves Agility
Playing tennis require players to move quickly in random directions to hit the ball. Players don’t move in a straight line but from side to side, front to back and even diagonally in different speeds.
This leads to them builds up agility where the players are light on their feet and is able to move over a distance in a short time and still be accurate in striking the ball. Being agile allows them to have quick reflexes, balance, coordination, speed and respond accurately to the constantly changing conditions.
Playing tennis regularly will improve agility which will benefit you in other areas of life such as doing other physical activities or reacting in an emergency.
Develops Better Decision Making Skills
One of the most important element of playing tennis is the ability to make the best decisions fast. Anyone can learn how to play tennis and acquire the skill to strike different shots like backhand or drop shot but the player who makes the best decision is the one who will ultimately win.
The ability to make decisions like when to let a smash bounce before hitting it or choose the right shot to return the ball is crucial when you play tennis. If you make the wrong decision, it will end up with you losing points.
By practicing regularly and watching matches played by professionals, will help you make decisions quickly in this fast paced game. Your decision making skills will improve in the long run and you can use it in other areas of your life.
Provides Social Interaction
Playing tennis helps you meet people as you cannot play the game by yourself. You either play with a team mate in a doubles game or against one opponent in a singles game.
Either way, you are engaging in an activity together with another person. It can be challenging sometimes to meet new people at any age. Taking lessons and learning to play tennis can provide the social interaction that you have been missing and gives you a chance to form friendships outside your normal circle.
You can be a teenager who is having difficulty fitting in, making friends and socialising, working adult who is looking to meet new people outside your work circle or a retiree who is looking to boost your social life, playing tennis is a fantastic way to meet new people.
Improves Self-esteem
The positive changes that comes with playing tennis will help improve your self-esteem. Since tennis serves as a good overall workout, you body will get healthier and will eventually lead to weight loss. Once you start to feel healthier and see you body get fitter, it will boost your perception of yourself and improve your self-esteem.
The other aspect is when you start learning to play tennis and slowly start improving your game, you will start feeling more confident of yourself. Your improves self-esteem will serve as a motivation for you to maybe join a competition or even invite other people to play the game with you.
Furthermore, since you managed to learn how to play tennis, you will realise that you can learn anything you want as long as you put in the effort. Your improved self-esteem will bring you further in life by encouraging you to try new things.
Beginner’s Guide to Playing Tennis
We are sure that you would like to learn how to play tennis the game bring with it a wide range of physical and mental benefits. Read on to find out the basics of the game which will help you along in the journey of mastering this game.
The essential equipments needed to play is the racquet, ball and shoes. The game is played on grass, clay or hard court. Tennis is either played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams consisting of two people on each team (doubles).
A tennis match usually begins with a coin toss. The player who wins may choose:
a. To be server or receiver in the first game of the match, in which case the opponent(s) shall choose the end of the court for the first game of the match; or
b. The end of the court for the first game of the match, in which case the opponent(s) shall choose to be server or receiver for the first game of the match; or
c. To require the opponent(s) to make one of the above choices
These are some of the general rules and regulations that apply for all tennis tournaments:
- Player cannot hit the ball outside the area of play
- Players cannot hit the ball twice in succession
- Players/teams cannot touch the net or posts or cross onto the opponent’s side.
- Players must return the ball using the racquet and no other part of the body.
- If the racquet leaves the hand or verbal abuse occurs, a penalty is given.
- Players must wait until the ball passes the net before they can return it.
- A player that does not return a live ball before it bounces twice loses the point.
- If the ball hits or touches the players, that counts as a penalty.
- A serve must bounce first before the receiving player can return it.
If you are looking to learn tennis, but you are unsure how to find a good teacher, you can always reach out to a tutor at Superprof for help and guidance!
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