BY: SULLIVAN P.

Tennis

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1: Rules Chapter 2: On the court Chapter 3: Ground strokes Chapter 4: Volleys Chapter 5: Over Head Chapter 6: Slice Chapter 7: Serve Chapter 8: Split step Chapter 9: Life of Maria Sharapova Conclusion Glossary Bibliography

What is Tennis?

Kapow! The ball goes flying through the air. The ball lands on the other side of the court. The ball goes so fast that your 0pponent has to reach for the ball. But the ball is going too fast! Your opponent reaches for the ball and misses. Game. Set. Match.

Tennis is a very popular racquet sport and the whole world plays it. This sport includes many different ways to hit the tennis ball and many different ways to move on the court. Tennis is a sport that professionals play. There are many different kinds of racquet sports in this world but none of them are as active or fun as tennis. This book will teach you all different tennis shots, how to play by the rules, and it gives you a little story about a girl who had to fight her way back to get to play tennis after injury.

Chapter 1 Rules

There are lots of rules in tennis and some rules can get confusing. After you read this section you will understand the scoring, and if the ball is in or out of bounds.

Scoring

In a match your scoring should be set just like this: fifteen, thirty, forty, game. If you are winning by one point its fifteen love. Love means zero. If you are winning by two points the score is thirty love. If you are winning by three points it’s forty love. If you win another point after that then you win the game. The score can also be two to three (thirty forty) and ex. You play up two two sets. One set is six games. Whoever gets to two sets first wins the match. If the score is five games to five games then you play up to seven games. If the score is then tied at six games you play a tie breaker. To play a tie breaker you play points up until someone reaches ten points. After the first person serves the first point of the tie breaker, The next person serves two points then after they serve two you serve two and so on.

In or out

To determine if the ball is in or out you have to pay attention to the lines on the court. If the ball goes over the baseline then the ball is out. If the ball stays inside the court the ball is in. If the ball you hit hits the net but does not go over to the other side then your opponent gets the point. If the ball goes into the doubles alley and you are playing singles then the ball is out of bounds. If you are playing doubles then the ball is in. If you hit a serve and it goes over the service line, into the other box, or in the alley then the ball is out of bounds. If you hit the ball out of bounds then your opponenet gets the point but if your opponent hits the ball out of bounds then you get the point.

Chapter 2On the Court

The tennis court is a big rectangle with a net and lines drawn onto the court. The net is placed in the middle of the court. There are five lines drawn on each side of the courts. There is the doubles ally which is only used in doubles. The Baseline is the line at the back of the court where you serve. The service line is near the net and that marks if your serve is in or out of bounds. The “T” is the middle of the service line.

Chapter 3Ground Strokes

Ground strokes are the shots you mostly hit in tennis. There are two types of grounds strokes. Forehand and Backhand.

Fore Hand

To hit a forehand you have to stand near the baseline. You hold the racquet by the grip. Then when the ball is ready to be hit take the racquet back behind you and then swing through the ball. When you swing through the ball make sure you swing from low to high. You hit a forehand on the strongest side of your body. If you are right handed you hold the racquet with your right hand.

Forehand

Finish your swing up to your shoulder

Start your swing from low to high

Back Hand

To hit a back hand you do the same thing as a forehand except you hit the ball on your weakest side of your body. If you are right handed hit the ball on the left side of your body. Hit the back hand with two hands on the racquet grip. When the ball is ready to be hit, swing through the ball low to high just like you would do as a fore hand.

Backhand

Start your swing from low to highFinish your swing up to your should-er

Chapter 4Volleys

Stand on the service line when doing a volley. This shot is usually hit in doubles but its sometimes hit in singles.

Fore Hand Volley

When you are doing a forehand volley your strongest arm will be holding the grip of the racquet. Use a continental grip when holding the racquet. When the ball comes to you you block the ball back to the other side of the net with your racquet. When you hit the ball you always step with the opposite foot. That means when you are holding the racquet in your right hand you step with your left foot and vise versa.

Have your racquet out in front of you

Step with opposite foot.

Backhand Volley

To do a backhand volley you do the same thing as you would do as a fore hand volley except on your weakest side of your body. If you are a righty you would hit this shot on your left side of your body. If you are a beginner tennis player you will hold the racquet with two hands. If you are not a beginner you hold the racquet with one hand. If you are holding the racquet with one hand you use a continental grip to hold the racquet. When the ball is ready to be hit block the ball back with the racquet and step into the ball with the correct foot.

Chapter 5Over Head

This shot is considered as a smash. When doing a overhead you have to stand near the service line of the court. You hold the racquet grip as a continental grip. You usually hit this shot out of the air. When the ball is about to come you hold your racquet in the air with your strong hand while your weak hand points to the ball. Then when the ball is ready to be hit you swing straight down at the ball and finish across your body.

Overhead

Left arm pointing up

Swing high to low

The slice is a shot where the ball is hit with lots of spin. Spin makes the ball bounce further into the court. It can also make the

ball bounce and go in a certain way so it hard to hit back. To do a slice you have to hold a

continental grip on the racquet. This means to hold the grip of the racquet like you are

holding a hammer. To do a slice you open up the face of the racquet and instead of swinging

low to high you swing high to low.

Chapter 6Slice

Slice

Open faced racquet

Chapter 7 Serve

To hit a serve you must stand behind the baseline. Make sure you stand sideways as well. First you hold the racquet up like you are hitting an overhead. Then you throw the ball up towards the sky with your weak

hand and with your hand with the racquet in it you swing at the ball like you would hit an overhead. When you serve make sure the ball lands on the other side of

the net in the box diagonal from you. Also when you serve make sure your foot does not go over the baseline when you serve. If it does its called a foot fault and you

will lose the point. When you serve you only get two try’s to get the ball into play. If you miss both then you

automatically lose the point.

Serve

Swing high to low

Serve in the box diaginal from you

Chapter 8Split Step

A split step is a quick step you take right before you hit any shot except a serve or an overhead. To do a split step you have to be in ready position.

Ground Stroke Split Step

To do a ground stroke split step you have to start in ready position at the baseline. Then you jump about two inches high and land back on the ground like you started before. This shot is meant to help you get ready for the next shot that is about to be hit back to you.

Volley Split Step

To do a volley split step you start standing on the baseline of theCourt. Then you run up to the net and when you are a little bit farther thenThe service line jump in place and land in a ready position. This tecniqe is Also called an approach shot.

Chapter 9Life of Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova is a tennis player from Russia and is currently a professional tennis player. As a kid she would play tennis all the time. When Maria was older she got to play many tournaments. By playing so much tennis she hurt her shoulder and had to stop playing tennis for a very long time. Maria was very disappointed but she knew she should quit for a while or her shoulder would get worse. Maria’s shoulder was so injured that people started to think that she would never play tennis again. Maria did not care what other people thought about her. She always had hope and she would never give up. Finally her shoulder healed and Maria was able to play tennis again. Maria fought through her problem and proved everyone wrong.

Maria Sharapova

Conclusion

Tennis is a fun sport that many people like. Are you interested in playing tennis? Try playing on your school tennis team or you could play tennis tournaments. Tennis courts are found in many local places so it should not be a trouble to find a court to play on. Tennis is a very fun racquet sport and it is good exercise. You can hit many shots in tennis like forehands, backhands, volleys, and even more. I know that after you play tennis you will fall in love with it just how I have.

Glossary

Baseline: The line on the tennis court that marks where you serve. This line is also a line that is in the middle of out of bounce and in the court.

Backhand: A shot you hit in tennis on your weakest side.Backhand Volley: A shot you hit out of the air in tennis.

This shot is also hit on your weakest side of your body.Continental grip: The grip you hold on the racquet to hit

a volley, overhead, or a serve.Doubles ally: A part of the court that is only allowed to

be hit in doubles.Forehand: A shot you hit in tennis. This shot is

considered a ground stroke.

Glossary

Ground Strokes: Shots hit in tennis mostly at the baseline.

Maria Sharapova: A proffesional tennis player.Over head: A shot in tennis that you hit in the air

with more pace and speed you usually hit with.Racquet: The object you use to hit the tennis ball.Ready Position: The position you pose in to get

ready for the ball.Serve: A shot you hit in tennis to start the point.Service Line: A line on the court drawn near the

net where you usually hit volleys.

Glossary

Slice: A shot you hit in tennis that has lots of spin on the ball.

Split step: The foot work that gets you ready to hit the next shot.

Tennis: Tennis is a racquet sport that is played all over the world.

Volley Split Step: The foot work you do to hit a good volley.

Bibliography

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02597/maria-sharapova_2597664b.jpg