Alright, so I jumped into tennis a while back. Seemed straightforward on TV – hit the ball, run around a bit. Man, was I in for a surprise. There’s actually a bunch of little things, rules you gotta get, otherwise you’re just flailing and nobody has fun. I thought I’d jot down some of the real basic stuff I had to wrap my head around from my own fumbles and stumbles.
Getting the Court Lines Straight (Eventually)
First up, the court itself. All those white lines! Seriously, when I started, I figured as long as my shot landed somewhere on the other guy’s side, I was golden. Nope. My mate, who’s played a bit, kept shouting “Out!” and I’d be standing there baffled. “Looked in to me!” Then he’d patiently point out the singles lines versus the tramlines for doubles. That was a biggie. For singles, which is mostly what I play, you gotta keep it inside those narrower sidelines. The baseline at the back, that one was easier to get. But for ages, any ball near any line was a total guess for me. I spent a lot of time just aiming for the dead center of the box to be safe. It took a while, and a lot of “Are you sure?” before I started to get a feel for it.
The Whole Serving Saga
Then came the serve. Oh boy, the serve. I used to think you just toss it up and give it a good whack. Wrong again. There’s a whole procedure.
- First off, you gotta stand behind that baseline. I kept stepping on it or over it just as I was hitting the ball. That’s a foot fault, my friend told me. And you lose the point on that serve attempt. Wasted a lot of good (well, potentially good) serves that way.
- And you have to serve into the correct box on the other side – diagonally opposite. And you switch which side you serve from after every point. My first few times out, I was just launching balls hoping they’d land somewhere over there. My playing partner was pretty cool about it, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh.
- You only get two shots at it. Miss the first one (hit the net, hit it long, hit it wide), that’s a “fault.” Do it again on your second try? That’s a “double fault,” and your opponent gets the point. The pressure! I must have hit a million serves into the bottom of the net or ten feet out. Still do sometimes, if I’m being totally honest.
Really, just getting the serve in, legally, and somewhat consistently, was a huge learning curve. I spent a good few afternoons just practicing that toss and swing, trying not to step over the line, and actually aiming for that small rectangle.
Scoring: What’s All This “Love” and “Deuce” Business?
And then the scoring. “Love, 15, 30, 40, game.” I was like, “Huh?” Why not just 1, 2, 3, 4? My buddy tried to explain it, something about old French terms, but it just sounded like a weird code. “Love” means zero points. Okay, I can remember that. But then when it’s 40-40, it’s called “deuce”? And then you have to win by two points, so it becomes “advantage in” (for the server) or “advantage out” (for the receiver)? For the longest time, I just let whoever I was playing with keep score. I’d just nod and ask, “So, what is it now?” after every other point. It did eventually sink in, mostly from just playing and hearing it called out so many times. But yeah, definitely not straightforward when you’re just starting out.
The “Let” Ball – A Second Chance!
This one took me a moment too – the “let.” This usually happens on a serve. If you hit your serve, and the ball just nicks the top of the net but still lands in the correct service box, it’s called a “let.” You just take that serve again, no penalty. Which is pretty decent, actually. The first few times it happened, I wasn’t sure if I’d won the point or faulted. My opponent would just say “let,” and I’d be standing there like, “Let what happen?” Now I get it. It can also happen if a ball from another court rolls on, or some other interruption. You just stop, call a let, and replay the point. Fair enough.
Touching the Net or Hitting a “Bad” Net Ball
A simple one, but one I definitely messed up early on. During a rally, if your shot hits the net cord and then bounces over into your opponent’s court and is in, that’s fine. Play continues. But if your ball hits the net and doesn’t make it over to their side, you lose the point. Seems obvious, right? Well, when you’re scrambling and just trying to flick the ball back, sometimes you hit it soft. I’ve definitely had a few where it hit the tape and just dribbled back on my side. Gutting. Even worse, if you touch the net with your racket or your body while the ball is still in play, you lose the point immediately. Learned that one the hard way by lunging for a drop shot and practically hugging the net. Point to the other guy. Oops.
So, yeah, those are a handful of the basic rules that I had to get hammered into my brain. It’s definitely more than just smacking a ball around. Knowing these little things makes the game flow so much better, and honestly, it’s more fun when you’re not arguing about whether a ball was in or out, or whose serve it is. Still learning a ton, but at least I feel like I can play a somewhat proper game now without looking like a total beginner. Well, most of the time.
