Long Yang
Draft 1
English 2
Tennis ,the best Sport
Tennis is a sport played around the whole wide world by many different continents to
many countries for ages. Tennis was called Jeu de paume which is French for "game of the palm
(hand) in the 12th Century"( Athletes Edge).People have been playing tennis since they were little
kids and some are still playing even until the age of fifty. The sport isn't only based on your
physical strength but also your mental strength. The reasons why are because tennis is usually
play by sets. There are three sets in every game and in every set you have to win six games total.
The game of tennis is based on both your mentality and physical strength. For the game of
tennis to hit a ball constantly and precisely your muscle memory but for this to happen you must
have had to play tennis for a while for your body to get used to playing tennis. I am so glad that
I have been playing tennis for almost a year now since January when I first came to school here.
I remember the first time I played tennis with my friend Evan Hoke. He was trying to
teach me how to play tennis and I was starting to get how to play tennis. One memory I won't
forget about tennis is when I first learned how to hit the ball with speed and control. So I went on
to practice my serves I had control of the serve but I did not have power so I tried hitting the ball
as hard as I could and as I watched the ball fly over the net I thought it was going in but the ball
kept going up. thump the sound of the ball hitting a rackets string luckily my friend was ready
for the serve and blocked the ball with his racket. As we kept on playing tennis the sport just
became more and more exciting because the both of us were getting better and better. We were
addicted to the sport, we went to play tennis three times a week and three to four hours a day
whenever we could. We felt like we could play tennis as much as we like and how ever long as
we could. I guess that is why they call tennis a sport for a life time. As time went on you could
say that tennis became one of my Communities of Practices I got so involved with tennis that
even when I go back home I would ask anyone that goes to play tennis to take me to play too.
Something I love about tennis is that you don't have to be good at the sport to be able to play or
you don't have to be athletic, you don't have to be young or you don't have to be so old to play
you just have to have a passion for tennis. In this paper I want to prove why tennis is the sport for
a life time compared to other team sport such as soccer or football.
Tennis has some basic rules to the game such as opponents stand on opposite sides of the
court. The player who delivers the ball to start the point is called the server. The player who
stands opposite and cross-court from the server is the receiver(Uric). In tennis every game will
have a winner unless if stopped. The if the game comes to a draw the game should be decided to
whoever wins by two sets of games so the winner should have a lead like seven games to five
games. Unlike soccer where if it is not a big game they don't play the over time rule or go to
penalty kicks. Tennis can be played one on one or two on two. Soccer on the other hand you
have to have a full team of 11 players including the goalie. For you to have a good team in
soccer you must have a good mid field good offense, good defense and a good goalie. If your
team does not have at least half of those that were just named your team will have a hard time
playing. For soccer you need the goalie to block all shots towards your goal so that the other
team can not score. You need a solid defense to stop the opposing teams offense from attacking
your goal to prevent them from scoring. Then you need the mid fielders to help defend and attack
they will also be the ones that support the whole team because they are the middle and the center
of the game. In most games most plays will start with your midfielders. Now your offense they
are the ones that you want to have the ball around the opposing teams goals and take a chance at
scoring if they succeed you will come out with points if they do not succeed they will get
shutdown by the opposing team's defense all day. Mean while in tennis you do not need eleven
people to play you just need one person or two depending if you are playing doubles. Those two
people can defend their side of the court set each other up for a shot and score a point with only
one or two people but they have to do this more often than a soccer player does. So in tennis you
do not need to rely on others only if you are playing doubles tennis. To play tennis all you have
to do is rely on yourself and play. If you win you win if you lose you lose. While soccer or
football you will need the whole team to play. If one of your teammates is having a bad day that
will cost your whole team a loss. One bad play from one member to the next can ruin the whole
game.
Tennis itself does has its own flaws. Such as what can that one player do when he gets
injured during a game the only thing he can do is play with an injury or forfeit the match. Roger
Federer, Andy Roddick and Andrew Murray have all suffered sprained ankles(PhysioRoom).
Compared to soccer and football that player can get subbed out of the game giving him time to
heal. Playing tennis can be really harsh if you are at an disadvantage against your opponent
where he can hit harder serve fast slice the ball better again you can't do anything, but with a
team sports like soccer or foot ball the coaches can switch your position where you can play
better and someone else to the spot where you couldn't. In tennis you also have to be a wide
ranged player by that I mean you have to be able to defend and attack at the same time. The
tennis player needs to be able to make a return shot (a defensive shot) and then go for a winning
shot(the shot that scores your points) to be a strong tennis player.
Okay so we know that tennis requires for you to be able to play both defense and offense
at the same time. So how does this effect a player who just started playing tennis. It is going to
start making him mentally stronger by playing by himself he is going to focus on every single
point and play it like his last. Tennis mentality is important for a tennis player because it is what
determines a winner when you are deuced and both players are struggling to win. Other sports
have mental strength too but tennis is just the mental strength of that one person alone and he can
raise his mental strength high enough to make a comeback to win a game when his is down.
While other sports as football will just plain out lose if they think they are going to lose because
their mentally strength isn't connected together making one bad player into multiple bad players.
Once again the bad side of tennis is that when you play and have a bad day no one can be there
to support you or pick you up. The tennis player will have to stand there alone and face defeat or
victory by himself. While a team of soccer or footballer have their team to raise their morale
during a game to hype-up the intensity to play better. The only help the tennis player can get is
the motivation from the words of a coach or the audience that is cheering for the player.
Tennis is said to be the sports for a life time. That is said because many tennis players
can play from a young age to the age of forty to fifty. These old man can still run and hit the ball
better than other old people trying to play other sports. One of the oldest pro tennis player is
Arthur Gore, 1909 Wimbledon champion, attained the century old glory by winning the third of
his singles titles at the age of 41. Born January 2, 1868, he didn’t retire until he was 54(Lynch,
Lauren).
Playing tennis gives you a good work out every time you play. Tennis works on your
upper body and lower body at the same time. Example is to hit a ball you have to have your legs
positioned correctly and than your body has to be able to shift accordingly to the ball and then
your arm and racket has to be at the right spot to hit the ball how you want it too. All of that has
to be done in about three to five seconds every time after you hit a ball. While other sports such
as soccer on focus on your legs more and doesn't focus on your upper body. They barely use
their hands in soccer and the most they will do is a throw in unless the goalie which has to use
his hands. An American study found that 18 to 34 year olds who played tennis, ran, jogged or
power walked were less likely to be obese than team-sport players(Tennis.com.au). Tennis is also
good for your hand eye coordination, you have to be able to find the ball and with a racket in
hand swing at the ball on its sweet spot. If you are able to hit the ball on your rackets sweet spot
it will make the ball fly better and have a good spin or slice.
Even though in tennis you do have partners, but sometimes you have to play by yourself,
this is when you have to know your own weaknesses to be able to play well. It still is the better
sport compared to others. Even though you play by yourself you will get better at your self
confidence every time you play a game you will be able to stand alone. Your mentality will
increase so that you will not have second thoughts once you reach this level you will be able to
make good decisions seconds after seconds. From hitting one ball and then predicting where the
next ball will go.
Becoming a professional is what every player dreams of but the chances of going pro in
any sport is really small but everyone has an opportunity in tennis. The reason why is because if
you are a female and wants to play tennis you can because in tennis there is a professional
women's league. But to become a pro you have to be playing from an early age as a kid. The
reasons are simply because of you will need to get used to tennis when you get older already.
Compared to late beginners when they start in high school giving them the disadvantage. Tennis
will always be the better sports to play and is always better to play. Tennis is the number one
sports because you will always be healthy playing tennis, you will have good reaction, you will
meet lots of people, and when you get to the age of fifty you can still be playing tennis!
CITATION
West Lake High School, Uric. "Tennis Rules Simplified." Rules of Tennis Simplified. Westlake.k12, 2001.
Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://westlake.k12.oh.us/hilliard/whspe/tennis/tennis_rules.htm>.
PhysioRoom. "Tennis Injuries Introduction." Top 5 Tennis Injuries. PhysioRoom.com, 2012. Web. 11 Oct.
2012. <http://www.physioroom.com/sports/tennis/injuries-introduction.php>.
Lynch, Lauren. "Top 10 Oldest Tennis Players." Top 10 Oldest Tennis Players. Tennisnow.com, 17 Nov.
2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.tennisnow.com/Blogs/Tennis-Stars-Burning-Bright/November2011/Top-10-Oldest-Tennis-Players.aspx>.
Tennis.com.au. "Health Benefits." Tennis Australia. Tennis.com.au, 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.tennis.com.au/play-tennis/health-benefits>.
Athletes Edge. "Tennis." Tennis. Athletes Edge, 2007. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.athletesedge.info/tennis.php>.