Tennis for beginners

as someone who's only occasionally dabbled in the sport, i'd say it depends on how serious you wanna get.
if the goal is getting a good workout, any racquet should suffice...

good luck with this leg of the LNSP

My advice, look for group lessons...maybe $5 a pop. Tennis is a mechanics intensive game. Learning the right motions at the get-go gives you a lifetime of fun.
I've played all my life, the last 10 years in a men's doubles league which is a hell of a good time. We even have an 83 year old who still plays. By all means, go for it.

And a $59 Wilson raquet is about all you'll need the first 5 years.

Tennis is my favorite sport for cardio workout and I've been playing for years. The $20 racquet is fine to start with.

If you become addicted (as I did) and as you advance in ability, you'll want to improve your game with better equipment.

Pan's right on getting the basics - forehand, backhand and serve learned properly from a good instructor will add to your enjoyment.

Have fun!

Hi Craven,

Since you are just learning tennis...perhaps one of the most important things for you to know in the beginning is how to condition your body before you get on the court. Tennis is a very high impact and intense sport.

I ALWAYS stretch beforehand. From the top of my body, starting with my neck all the way down to my toes. It only takes a few minutes and your body will appreciate it After I stretch I like to hit a few controlled shots at mid court (or against the net) just to warm up. Gets the heart rate up a little bit.

Off court.......as a part of my exercise, I like to jog. Personally I think jogging is one of the best forms of exercise for a tennis player as it not only gives your heart a good work out...but your legs also.

I guess one thing I would say to you as you are learning to play is this:
Learn to focus on your opponents weakspots. Everyone has them. You will quickly spot them. One of the biggest ones, is a high backhand. Most people are out of their comfort zone the higher up they have to jump to hit the ball. You can take advantage of this by learning to hit the ball high and slow and hit it well. What you want to happen when you do this is cause your opponent to be behind the baseline with their weight on their back foot. From that point they will generally hit the ball short or into the net.

If you have access to a tennis ball machine.....they are great to practice on when you can't be on the court!

Good luck! You'll love tennis!!!!

my advice... though it might not be the greatest but its still soild:


If you hit them with the ball they cant return it... thus your point... so aim well and strike body parts...

end result you win without much work

I just came back from my first time playing tennis.

It was a LOT easier than I expected, and as I expected it took a LOT less physically than basketball (even when I played alone against doubles).

I love this game, and intend to get good at it.

Right now I'm serving pretty well right off the bat and my forehand is ok.

My backhand is lame, and my other problems are court positioning ( need to remember to hang back)and really bad timing on the bounces (over running it).

I'm sticking with this one.

I'm really pleased...you won't regret it.

I played again the day before yesterday and am going to meet someone to play again in a bit.

Good game, this tennis thing.

Merry Christmas Craven, I'm hoping that one day we'll have the first A2K tennis doubles tournament.

Update - been raining too much to play tennis. I haven't played in weeks.

Update-Mama went through Sports Authority with a cart and a credit card. 12 year old got a bat, a mitt, 6 baseballs, cleats...and batting gloves.
She got a tennis raquet so now I'm off to do a little teaching....

No indoor courts?

Take up snowboarding and drive up to Big Bear. Wave at my friends for me

I don't know of any indoor courts. Here in San Diego it's not supposed to rain so I'm not sure if there are any around me.

Snowboarding is actually on my really long list, but surfing comes first.

The difference between cheap racquets and usable ones is substantial. Decent racquets run around $60 - $110 on ebay. One excellent choice which can be had on ebay for a hundred dollars all day long is the Head IS12.

Tennis consists of several different kinds of skills, different kinds of shots and different kinds of body motion and footwork.

One thing I tell beginners is that your basic groundstrokes are more like baseballl than like pingpong or anything like that. Aside from the question of stepping up into shots properly and turning your hips and body weight into them, there is the question of how you swing a racquet; the basic idea is that you try to swing your whole arm from the shoulder rather than from the elbow, and you try to use your shoulder and wrist as much as possible but your elbow as little as possible.

That is basic physics. From the elbow down on me might weigh ten or twelve pounds so that if I try to swing a racquet from the elbow the way one might a badminton or pingpong paddle, the ball is being hit with no more than ten or twelve pounds which isn't enough. From the shoulder down on the other hand is more like 30 or 35 lbs so that when I swing from the shoulder the ball is being hit by more like 30 lbs, which is a much heavier blow. I don't need to swing terribly hard making the shot more easily controllable and the shot is much harder.

Great tips Gunga. May I add , with a full body follow through you're adding 100 to 200 lbs to the equation.
One of the dangers of swinging with the elbow is a nasty malaise called tennis elbow.