Rules for Playing Tennis

Whether you are an amateur or a professional, the rules for playing tennis is generally the same. You have to know the basic rules for playing tennis which include the following:

Server and Receiver
One of the important rules for playing tennis: to decide who serves first, one player will spin his racket and his opponent will choose up or down, up means the letters fall upright and down means the letters are facing down. The player who wins the call has the choice of whether to serve first or which side of the net to be on first. To better understand the rules for playing tennis, let’s have an example, if player A wins the call and decides to serve, player B will have his choice of his courts. Player A must stand behind the baseline to the right of the center mark, and hit the ball into Player B’s right service court. Player A is given two serves.

Fault
A fault is any violation of the rules for playing tennis. In addition to that, here are some other ways that can make a “fault”: If the player swings and misses the ball; if the player hits the ball into the net; even if the ball bounces in the service court but hits any permanent fixture, like the net post, is a fault; the player must not step on or over the baseline before the racket hits the ball or it is called a foot fault. The player may step on or over the line after the racket hits the ball. Just a tip, leaning over the line without touching it during a serve is absolutely legal.

Let Service
A let service can be called when a player serves a ball and the ball hits the top of the net but still goes into the service court of the opponent; or a player hits the ball into the service court of the opponent before the opponent is ready. The let service is not a fault and does not count as one of their two serves. If a player tosses the ball and catches it without swinging at it, it doesn’t count as a serve and the player can take it over as per rules for playing tennis.

After the first point is made, the player serves from the left of the center mark for the second point, and must hit the ball to into the opponents left service court. After the next point, the player moves back to the right again and is the server all through the game, alternating her position after each point is played. The receiver or opponent can choose any position he wants. If the receiver informs the server that he is not ready yet he still attempts to return the service and fails, he is considered ready and the server scores a point. It is also a point against the receiver if he strikes a service during the server’s volley before the ball has had a chance to bounce. After the service, the server or the receiver can hit the ball either on a volley or after a bounce.

Other rules for playing tennis where a player can lose a point after service are the following: a player racket or clothing touches the net; if the player hits the ball more than once; if the ball touches the player or his clothing; if the player plays the ball before it passes over the net; if a player throws a racket at the ball and hits it.

However, a ball is considered good if the ball lands on either the baseline or sideline; if a player returns a ball which hits the top of the net and lands on the proper court; or if a returned ball hits the net post but lands in the proper court. The Player in whose court the ball lands decides whether the ball is in or out.

The rules for playing tennis are simple and concrete, they may slightly vary in professional tournaments and championships but the basics still apply.