How to Start Watching Tennis? The Beginner’s Guide!

Tennis is not really for everyone. So if you are wondering b whether your entire family would sit down together to watch a Wimbledon match, then maybe you should rethink. The reason behind this is that tennis is very audience-specific. It is like an acquired taste. Some like it from the beginning while some love the sports once they start watching tennis matches and championships. But again, there also remain a group of people who may not love the game even after they start watching tennis. In a nutshell, whether to watch or not to watch the game is a very personal opinion.

But if you feel an attraction towards the sport after watching a few matches and wonder what should be the correct method to start watching tennis, we got your back!! Here in this article, we shall discuss the baby steps that one must take to start watching tennis. 

Because let’s face it, one cannot just understand every single shot and move by watching just a few games with no one to make them know. So read along to get all the necessary information to make you a die-hard tennis fan.

The Baby Steps to Start Watching Tennis

We shall answer every possible question that you might have regarding “how to start watching tennis?”

Where to Watch?

If you are skeptical about the perfect time of the year to watch tennis, then there is a surprise for you. Various matches or Championships are available on television all year round. This is because different surfaces are available due to the weather conditions. Suppose the ground becomes more clayey during the rainy season, whereas during the summers, the ground becomes extremely hard due to the scorching heat. All these different soil profiles affect the gameplay. You may wonder how is it possible that weather changes are affecting how a match goes?

Let us explain!! During the summer season, the ground is arid and stiff. The ball bounces much higher when they are hit with the racket. But during the rainy season, due to the showers,’ the court often becomes a but clayey resulting in lower bounces once they strike the ground.

There are four Grand Slams taking place in a year, and they last approximately two weeks. the Names of the four grand slams and their respective duration are as follows:

• The Australian Open in January
• The French Open starts from early May to late June.
• Wimbledon in late June to early July
• the US Open lasts from August to September

These air on all the sports channels, and if you want to start watching tennis, staying updated with the Grand Slams is a must.

Know the Players and Rules

It is crucial to know the names of the current best players if you want to start watching tennis. Knowing about these players is not very difficult in the present times. Just surf the internet, and you will be educated about the players in minutes. And, this is not a test that you need to remember every match, every championship they have played for, or have won. Just knowing the names is more than enough for the starters. And if you can recognize their nativity, that is just the “icing on the cake.”

Now knowing about the rules requires some guidance. You will find great videos available on YouTube where every stroke and every move of the players has been broken down for the ease of the spectators to understand. The best way to study this is to pick any player of your choice and watch a few of their matches. You will find some explanatory videos on YouTube of the star players. Watch a couple of them, and this will help you a lot when you start watching tennis as a newbie.

Be a Good listener

We need to be good listeners first if we want to learn about anything. When you start watching tennis, it is essential to listen to the commentaries of the matches. You may find it a bit difficult with all the terminologies and everything initially, but gradually you will get the hang of it. You will be able to decipher the meanings of those terms and the reason behind their usage.

When you start understanding the meanings of the terminologies used after watching tennis, you gradually begin enjoying the matches. The more you watch, the better you know, and finally, you, yourself, will be able to understand the moves and shots used by the player, and you won’t require commentary guidance for the same.

Basic Rules of Hitting a Ball

When you start watching tennis for the first time, it is evident to get confused by how a player hits a ball. You might wonder why all the shots are not the same or why they allow the ball to bounce once or twice before taking a shot? All these questions are pretty typical for a person who is just started watching tennis. So here are a few heads-ups to make it easy for you to understand the game.

There are two ways to strike a ball, either the backhand or the forehand. But whatever shot a player chooses. He must hit the ball before the ball bounces twice. If the ball is found to have bounced more than once, then the player loses.

The Forehand shot is the shot taken by the player with his dominant hand. If the player is right-handed, he uses his right hand for writing, eating, etc. He will be using his right hand to hit the ball. The backhand stroke is when the ball is struck with both hands or rarely with one hand.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)