Tennis is a game played with rackets and a light, small ball that is played by two players or two pairs of players on a court divided by a net. Tennis could be played on grass court (lawn tennis), on hard court, or on clay court. To fully gain knowledge of the fundamentals of tennis, one has to learn the essential skills, tennis rules and tennis etiquette. Learning the essential skills of tennis is very important to any tennis player. There are essentially two principles of tennis, which are keeping the eyes on the ball and moving into shots (moving or running to the ball) when it is in play. Three basic skills will be discussed here.
When a tennis ball is allowed to bounce (once) before being hit, the shot is known as a ground stroke. Ground strokes are the most commonly hit shots amongst players, therefore making it extremely important in any tennis game. Ground strokes should be hit by first turning sideways to face the path of the ball. Racket preparation is important in hitting ground strokes, in order to hit them correctly, the racket should be taken back until it almost points to the fence at the back of the court. The racket is then swung and makes contact with the ball, following through in front of the player. The ball is not punched or slapped; it is stroked across the court with a long, continuous racket movement. When a ball is hit in the air prior to bouncing, the shot is called a volley. A volley is punched, with a short movement of the racket with little back swing. When a player is hitting a volley, the racket is kept in front of the body and punches directly toward the sport on the opponent's court that the ball will hit. Volleys are usually made near the net.
Players serve the ball by tossing it well overhead, and making contact with it is as high in the air as possible. In singles, one player serves all of the points until a game is over. Then the player who has been receiving serves the second game.