Alright, let’s talk about figuring out what’s ‘out’ in tennis. When I first started hitting balls with a friend, I thought, “how hard can it be? Hit it inside the lines.” Yeah, well, turns out there are a bunch of lines.
My First Confusing Games
I remember playing those first few times. We were just rallying, trying to keep the ball going. Someone would hit it near a line, and we’d both kinda stare. “Was that in?” “I dunno, looked out to me.” We wasted so much time arguing, mostly because neither of us really knew for sure.
Then we tried playing an actual game, with serves and scores. That just added more confusion. Suddenly, there were these boxes near the net. My serves were flying everywhere. Some landed inside the main court lines but were still called out. Why? Because they missed that darn service box. It felt like the rules kept changing.
Hitting the Court with a Mission
I got pretty fed up with feeling clueless. So, one afternoon, I went to the court by myself. No game, no opponent, just me, a basket of balls, and the lines. I decided I was going to sort this out.
- First, the serve: I stood at the baseline. Okay, gotta serve cross-court into that smaller box. I practiced just that. Anything landing outside that box, even if it was inside the bigger court lines, was out for the serve. Got it.
- Then, singles rally: After the serve, I started hitting balls back and forth in my head. Now, which lines matter? The inner sidelines (the ones making the long, narrow rectangle) and the baseline at the very back. The wider lines (the alleys) didn’t count for singles rallies. Okay, makes sense. So, the court is narrower after the serve in singles.
- Doubles time: This is where those extra side lines, the alleys, come in. I imagined playing with a partner. Suddenly, during a rally (not the serve!), that whole wide court, including the alleys, is fair game. The ball can land in that space between the singles and doubles sideline, and it’s in. But! The serve still has to go into that same small service box. That part doesn’t change for doubles.
Making Sense of It All
It clicked for me when I broke it down like this:
1. The Serve: Always has to land in the small service box diagonally opposite you. Doesn’t matter if it’s singles or doubles, same target box.
2. After the Serve (Rallying):
- In Singles: You use the inner sidelines and the baseline. Ignore the alleys.
- In Doubles: You use the outer sidelines (including the alleys) and the baseline. The court is wider.
Just standing there, walking the lines, pointing, and hitting a few balls into each section really helped cement it in my brain. It sounds simple now, but going through the motions myself, on the actual court, made all the difference. No more confused staring matches during points… well, fewer anyway!
