Beginning Tennis - Study Guide One of the enduring beauties of tennis is that people of all sizes, shapes, ages and physical abilities can enjoy playing tennis for the rest of their lives. Tennis is a skill sport that is based primarily on learning to handle the racket in order to direct the tennis ball. Tennis is a sport where “love” means zero, and the scoring system is different for games, sets and matches. We get it: that's confusing. Thanks to the USTA Officiating department, it doesn't have to be. This handy guide will teach you the basics of scoring, and playing the sport for a lifetime, with helpful tips and buzzwords that you may want to know before you take to the court.
Terms In Tennis Game
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Many terms are used in a table tennis game to describe points, fouls, etc. A list of some of the frequently used terms is given below.
Tennis Language Terms
Heavy − Used to describe a strong spin.
Blade − Wooden part of the racquet.
Anti-spin − A defense spin used to confuse the opponent or even as a reaction to one strong spin. Top-level players rarely use this technique, but it is very famous among amateurs. Player uses the pimpled side of rubber of racquet.
Inverted rubber − Smooth side of rubber which is used to play and the pimpled side is glued to bat. The smooth side gives more spin as there is a larger contact area.
Pimples (Pips) − Rubber side of the racquet that gives different spin effects unlike inverted rubber. There is no much contact surface on this side of the racquet.
Crossover − Change of stroke from forehand to backhand. A player needs to change his/her stroke as this is often an easy target for attack. It is not easy to return a service in this area.
Tight − A strong return which is difficult for the opponent to handle. It is usually a combination of spin and strong stroke.
Loose − A weak return that has insufficient spin or stroke or both, and is easy for the opponent to play.
Early − This is to refer raising of ball.
Late − The fall of ball’s bounce.
Loop − A strong stroke that usually overpowers the spin of the incoming ball.
Multi-ball − A ball robot or another player continuously feeds another player in training. This method is used to reduce time waste.
Penhold − This is a style used to hold the paddle. This resembles t-holding a pen.
Shakehand − Holding the paddle with index finger perpendicular to handle. This is the most common way of holding the racquet and it resembles holding of racquet in tennis.
Sandwich rubber − This is to describe inverted rubber with sponge.
Speed glue − As the name, it is a glue with high volatile solvents, used to glue sponge of rubber to the blade (the wooden part of racquet). It increases the speed of stroke.
Third ball − This is a stroke that’s hit by server in response to the opponent’s stroke after serve. This is the first attacking stroke in table tennis rally.