About Tennis
Tennis #4 in the world, Tennis has 1 Billion Fans. (Europe, Americas, Asia)
Tennis is a sport played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court.
The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century as "lawn tennis" which has heavy connections to various field/lawn games as well as to the ancient game of real tennis. After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. In the United States, there is a collegiate circuit organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The rules of tennis have changed very little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1960 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and then the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the line (or chair) umpire's call of a point.
Tennis enjoys millions of recreational players and is also a hugely popular worldwide spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (sometimes referred to as the "majors"): the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
How to play Tennis
Recommended Tennis Resources
Training for Tennis
Tennis Warm Ups
The importance warming up offers three major benefits to a player, namely:
- 1. Low risk of injury – by doing low intensity exercises that simulate the movements you'll be doing in a match or training session, you prepare the body for them and avoid the risk of getting a muscle or joint injury by a high percentage. Think of your muscles as an elastic string. Stretch it in a fast snapping motion and the string might break, but if you stretch it slowly and gradually, it will get used to its new form and successfully stretch. The warm-up phase stands for the gradual and slow stretching of the string.
- 2. Higher performance – a player that is warmed up will dish out a better performance than if he jumped straight into a match, because of two reasons: he will not be worried about injuries and will be able to play at the best of his abilities and his heart rate, respiration and mental setup will already be fixed on the same wavelength needed for a match. This also works for training sessions, so if you want your players to train at their fullest potential, make sure they warm up well beforehand.
- 3. Flexibility – Most warm up programs include stretching exercises and these have a double role: they prepare your muscles, tendons and joints for the upcoming effort, much like any other warm-up exercise and they increase your flexibility, making you more agile and a better player.