tennis paper -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several different aspects of playing and improving your tennis game. Different strokes, rules, boundaries and many other aspects make up the game of tennis. Over the next few pages, I will do my best to explain the forehand and backhand stroke, the serve and volley, the rules of tennis, and without a doubt the grandslam.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The forehand stroke is the most popular in tennis. Stand facing the net, knees slightly bent, weight evenly distributed and forward on the balls of your feet. The racket is held in front of your body, elbows in close and parallel to the ground. The racket is supported with your free hand. From the turn position, the racket goes back until it is parallel to the ground- the angle between forearm and racket still remaining the same. The butt of the racket is pointing toward the net and the racket is on edge. The ball is contacted opposite the left leg, approximately waist high; the arm is relatively straight and the wrist firm. The follow through is a long, continuous sweeping motion finishing high with the racket butt opposite the left eye, (for right handers). The backhand is for the most part very similar just reversed. Tilt the face of your racquet down more on your backswing. Your racquet face naturally opens up (tilts upward) as you swing forward. You need to start your swing with it facing somewhat downward in order for it to end up at vertical as it meets the ball. Hold your racquet face vertical at the point where you normally meet the ball, then, without turning your wrist(s), pull the racquet back to your normal backswing position. It should face somewhat downward, and that's the angle you want at the start of each swing. The serve is, to me, the best way to take advantage of your opponent. For players of average height, hard, flat serves have to just barely clear the net, or they will go long. Only very tall players can get hard, flat serves in consistently enough to make them pay off. Adding some topspin will increase your margin of clearance over the net to several times larger. The most preferred power serve among advanced players has a mix of topspin and slice. On the serve, the feet are flat, the ball is tossed slightly over the head and out in front of the body. The forehand motion is used only straight over the top of your head. The volley becomes most ... ...1988) are the only three women's tennis players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year. Pete Sampras is tennis's all-time biggest money winner with over $40 million in career earnings. Helen Wills Moody, whose serious demeanor on the court earned her the nickname â€Å"Little Miss Poker Face†, finished the year as the no. 1 ranked women's tennis player nine times, including seven years straight from 1927 to 1933. In 1997, 16-year-old Martina Hingis became the youngest women's tennis player to be ranked no. 1 in the world since the rankings began in 1975. One of the most difficult accomplishments in professional tennis is winning all four of these tournaments. These tournaments are therefore known as the Grand Slam tournaments, and rank as the most important tennis tournaments of the year in the public mind as well as in terms of the ranking points and prizemoney awarded for performances in them. Though it may seem like tennis is entirely too complicated, it can be one of the most fun sports to play. Even if you’re not that good at the game, you still get great exercise, keeping you in shape. If you’ve never played tennis, start. And if you’ve played before, don’t ever stop.