Getting started with tennis

Grips are identified by where the base knuckle of your index finger sits on the eight bevels of the handle.

• Continental: hold the racket like an axe. Use it for serves, volleys, slices and overheads; learn it early.
• Eastern forehand: like shaking hands with the racket. It makes flatter contact accessible to beginners.
• Semi-western: one bevel farther around than eastern, useful for topspin and widely used in modern tennis.
• Eastern backhand: the basic one-handed backhand grip. A typical right-hander's two-handed grip combines a continental right hand with an eastern left hand.

Start with eastern or semi-western for the forehand and continental for serves and volleys.

Ready position

• Stand slightly wider than shoulder width, bend your knees and keep your weight toward the front of your feet.
• Support the racket with both hands in front of your body at about waist height.
• Make a small split step as your opponent strikes the ball.

Building a forehand

• Unit turn: turn shoulders and hips together rather than taking the racket back with your arm alone.
• Contact: meet the ball in front, around waist to chest height, with your eyes on the contact area.
• Follow-through: allow the swing to continue naturally toward the opposite shoulder.

Your first goal is not maximum speed. Send ten balls to the same place with a repeatable motion; power follows sound movement.

• Hard courts: common in Korea, with a fairly predictable bounce, but relatively demanding on the knees.
• Clay: slower, higher-bouncing and generally softer underfoot; sliding is part of the movement technique.
• Grass and artificial grass: lower, quicker bounces. Artificial grass is found at many recreational courts in Korea.

The baseline is the back boundary. The service line and center service line define the service boxes. Singles uses the inner sidelines; doubles includes the alleys up to the outer sidelines.

Points run love (zero), 15, 30, 40, game. At 40–40, or deuce, you need two successive points: advantage, then game. Many recreational events use no-ad scoring, with one deciding point at deuce.

A standard set is first to six games with a two-game margin; at 5–5, 7–5 can win it, while a tiebreak is commonly played at 6–6. A standard tiebreak is first to seven points with a two-point margin.

Players alternate service games and change ends after odd-numbered games. You get two serve attempts. A serve that clips the net and lands in the correct box is a let and is replayed.

Most recreational matches are self-officiated, so considerate conduct matters as much as technique.

• Wait for a rally to finish before walking behind another court.
• If your ball enters another court, alert players immediately if it creates a safety risk; retrieve it when play has stopped.
• Call lines only on your side. Give your opponent the benefit of any doubt.
• Be ready to receive before the server starts; the server should announce the score clearly.
• Acknowledge your opponent at the net after the match. Avoid racket throwing and angry protests.