Tennis Tips

·  Ace - a serve that is a winner without the receiving tennis player able to return the ball.

·  Ad court - the part of the tennis court that is to the left of the tennis players

·  Advantage - when a tennis player needs one more point to win the game after the score was deuce.

·  Alley - the extra area of the side court used for doubles.

·  ATP - stand for the Association of Tennis Professionals

·  Backhand - a way to swing the tennis racquet where the player hits the ball with a swing that comes across the body.

·  Backspin - spin of a tennis ball that causes the ball to slow down and/or bounce low.

·  Backswing - the motion of a swing that moves the racquet into position to swing forward and strike the ball.

·  Baseline - the line indicating back of the court.

·  Baseliner - a tennis player whose strategy is to play from the baseline. See Tennis Strategies for more.

·  Break - when the server loses the game

·  Break point - one point away from breaking serve

·  Chip - blocking a shot with backspin

·  Chip and charge - an aggressive strategy to return the opponent's serve with backspin and move forward to the net for a volley

·  Chop - a tennis shot with extreme backspin. Meant to stop the ball where it lands.

·  Counterpuncher - another name for a player who is a defensive baseliner.

·  Court - the area where a tennis game is played

·  Crosscourt - hitting the tennis ball diagonally into the opponent's court

·  Deep - refers to a shot that bounces near the baseline verses near the net

·  Deuce - when the score in a game is 40 to 40.

·  Deuce court - the right side of the court

·  Double Fault - two missed serves in a row. The server will lose the point.

·  Doubles - a tennis game played by four players, two per side of the court.

·  Down the line - hitting a tennis shot straight down the baseline

·  Drop shot - a strategy where the tennis player hits the ball just go over the net. It is used when the opponent is far from the net.

·  Drop volley - a drop shot from a volley

·  Fault - a service that is not in play.

·  First Service - the first of the two serves of a tennis ball a player is allowed. Generally the server will try a more difficult serve on the first service.

·  Flat - a shot with little to no spin

·  Follow through - the part of the swing after the ball is hit. A good follow through is important for accuracy and power.

·  Foot fault - when the server steps over the baseline while making a serve.

·  Forehand - a tennis swing where the player hits the tennis ball from behind their body. Often the forehand is the players best stroke.

·  Game point - one point away to win the tennis game.

·  Grand Slam - any one of the four most prestigious tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

·  Groundstroke - a forehand or backhand shot made after the tennis ball bounces once on the court

·  Head - the top part of the racket that has the strings and is meant to hit the ball.

·  Hold - when the server wins the tennis game.

·  I-formation - a formation in doubled where the both players stand on the same side of the court prior to starting the point.

·  Jamming - to hit the tennis ball straight to the opponent's body not allowing them to extend the racquet to hit the ball well.

·  Kick serve - a serve with a lot of spin causing the ball to bounce high

·  Let - when the tennis ball from a service touches the net but still lands within the service box. The server gets another try as this does not count as a fault.

·  Lob - a tennis shot where the ball is lifted high above the net. Can be a defensive shot in some cases, but also may cause a winner when the ball is just out of reach of the opponent, but still lands in play.

·  Love - zero points in a tennis game.

·  Match point - when one tennis player only needs one more point to win the entire match

·  Out - any tennis ball that lands outside the area of play.

·  Passing shot - when the tennis ball is hit such that it passes by the opponent at the net without them being able to hit the ball.

·  Poaching - an aggressive strategy in doubles where the tennis player at net attempts to volley a shot hit to their partner on the baseline.

·  Tennis Racquet - the main piece of equipment in tennis. It has a long handle and a oval shaped head with a string mesh stretched across it. It is used by the tennis player to hit the ball.

·  Rally - when players hit the ball back and forth to each other while the ball is landing in play.

·  Set point - when a tennis player needs one point to win the set

·  Singles - a tennis game played by two players

·  Second Service - the second serve that the server is allowed after missing the first serve. This serve must be successful or the server will lose the point (called a double fault).

·  Serve - starts the point by the server hitting the tennis ball into the opponents half of the court

·  Serve and volley - a tennis strategy where the player serves and then charges forward to the net for a volley off of the return.

·  Spin - rotation of the tennis ball as it moves through the air. Skilled tennis players can control the spin and, therefore, the ball's trajectory and bounce

·  Straight sets - when one player wins every set in a match.

·  Topspin - when the tennis ball spins forward. This can cause it to bounce higher as well as dip down quickly.

·  Unforced error - a missed shot by a player that was not caused by any excellent play by their opponent.

·  Volley - a shot where the ball is hit by the player's racquet before the ball hits the ground.

·  Winner - an outstanding tennis shot that cannot be returned by the opponent.

·  WTA - stands for Women's Tennis Association