Okay, so today I decided to really dig into this whole “point after deuce” thing in tennis. I’ve always been a casual player, you know, hitting the ball around with friends, but I never really understood the scoring system past the basics. “Love-15,” “30-all,” that stuff I got. But “deuce” and “advantage”? It always confused me, especially when it kept going back and forth.
So, I started by grabbing my phone and… well, you know… searching. It turns out I am not alone. There really is a lot of articles out there. I found a few explanations, and, at first glance, they were kinda dense. It also seemed like no one knows.
Then I found a simple visual online, that’s how I learn! Finally got it! It took me to imagine myself actually playing, it make it stick. Basically, you gotta win by two points, and the “advantage” just means you’re one point away from winning the game after you hit deuce. I still not sure if I explained it right but I do know how to do it, so there’s that!
After that, I went to the local tennis court and thought, this is gonna help people. Well that was a struggle. I went back and forth between “deuce” and “advantage” like, a million times. My imaginary opponent was probably super annoyed. I also was very annoyed at my imaginary opponent! Anyway, I practiced visualizing the score in my head as I went through the motions.
How I Kept Track
- First, I just yelled the score out loud. “Deuce!” “Advantage me!” “Deuce again!” (My neighbors probably think I’m nuts.)
- Then, I tried drawing little marks in the dirt with my shoe to keep track. That didn’t really work.
- Finally, I just started saying, “Okay, I need this point to win.” It was way simpler and kept me focused.
- Getting use to the idea.
I was also thinking about, “Advantage in,” “Advantage out” and even that didn’t really do it. It helped a little when I yelled, “I’m winning!” (advantage) and then, “They’re winning!” when I lost the next point. Yeah, it was a whole thing.
After a couple of hours… yeah, I spent hours on this… I finally felt like I had a decent grasp on it. I even managed to “win” a few games against my imaginary opponent! Progress, people, progress!
Next up, I’m tackling the tie-break rules. Wish me luck!
