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History and Development of Lawn Tennis
Tennis was originally called lawn tennis when the playing was done on lawns only. The name was changed to Tennis when the playing court included clay, asphalt and cement. The game was introduced to England in 1873 by Major Walter Clapton Winfield. It was introduced to U.S in1875 by Mary Ewing Outer bridge of New York. The game is popular in most countries of the world. The game of tennis was introduced to Nigeria by the early missionaries and colonial masters. The game is played for competition, recreation and both sexes can enjoy it. Tennis is a lifetime sports and is for individual or dual game.
Basic Skills and Techniques of Lawn Tennis
The fundamental skills are:
- The grip (Western grip, eastern grip and continental)
- The serve
- The stance
- The footwork
- The strokes which includes forehand drive, backhand drive, volley, lobs, drop shot spin, net shot, smash and half volley
Rules of Lawn Tennis
Scoring in a Game
The score of a player who has won no points is said to stand at LOVE i.e.
No Score – LOVE
1st Point – 15
2nd Point – 30
3rd Point – 40
4th Point – Game
Deuce: If the players score three points each (i.e. 40 – all) the score is called deuce
Advantage in (Van-in) is the next point won by the server after a deuce.
Advantage out (Van-out) is the next point won by the receiver after a deuce
Other rules of Lawn Tennis
- The server should not serve until the receiver is ready.
- The service is “let” if the served ball touches the net and the receiver fails to return the ball.
- The receiver wins a point, if the server serves two consecutive faults.
- A line ball is good ball.
- The service is faulted if the server misses the ball in attempting to strike it.
- Player losses a point if the ball touches him or anything he puts on (except the racket) while the ball is in play.
- The maximum numbers of sets in a match shall be 5 for men and 3 for women.
Officials of Lawn Tennis and their Functions
The officials are:
- The referee
- The ball boys
- The umpire
- The linesmen
- The net – cord judges
Equipment and Facilities Used in Lawn Tennis
The equipment and facilities used in lawn tennis include the following:
- The playing court
- The net
- The balls
- The white “T” Shirt
- The canvass shoes
- The racket
- The towel
The Court
Single court = 23.8m by 8.2m
Double court = 23.8m by 11m
The Net
Height of net = 0.9m
The Racket
The racket has the following:
The butt, grip, handle, throat, face and racket edge.
EVALUATION
- Who introduced tennis into Nigeria?
- List 3 basic skills of tennis
- Outline the scoring system in tennis.
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