Why you should give tennis a shot

From a distance, tennis seems like a stupid sport: people scramble across a small rectangle and use a strangely shaped tool to smack a neon ball over a net. And yes, I can understand this widespread impression of the sport. Tennis is a pretty unorthodox activity, at least as far as popular sports go. However, the true joy of tennis expands far beyond these misconceptions of society. In fact, tennis has been rapidly growing in popularity in America, and it has never been easier to get involved with a local club or team. On a personal note, I have found numerous benefits from being involved with my local tennis club and school team. After playing tennis for several years, I can confidently say that the sport has positively influenced my character in areas ranging from physicality and strength to critical thinking. So, here are seven reasons why you should give tennis a shot and earn the same benefits for yourself!

Tennis builds teamwork and overall companionship

One of my favorite aspects of tennis, and arguably the best one, is the ability to collaborate with and play against other fellow tennis players. On my school’s tennis team, I have greatly enjoyed playing the game with friends and attempting to aid each other in the journey to increase our skill level. Involving yourself with a club, team, or class like this can also help you meet new people who are interested in the sport, and others of a similar skill level that you can practice with. Tennis essentially comes with two modes: you can play singles, which is you against another individual, or doubles, which involves you and a partner versus two other players. I often play doubles, and working together with my partner to win matches is honestly extremely gratifying. Additionally, my ability to work collaboratively with others in everyday life has also been enhanced due to playing doubles. In short, playing tennis with others is a great method of building teamwork and finding new friends who you can play with. Plus: the amount of people who are finding interest in tennis is increasing in the U.S., so it has never been easier to start playing! You can use the United States Tennis Association (USTA) website to find coaches, events, or fellow players near you. 

This graph from Statista, an independent platform that provides data and visuals regarding various areas of research, provides this graph that shows an increase in American tennis participation from 2020 onward.

Tennis provides a good workout

I understand that the statement “sports give you a good workout” is pretty cliche, but it is ever evident in tennis. Although a tennis court is pretty small compared to other sports playing areas, intense rallies between you and another player often become heated to a point where both players are sprinting from one side of the court to another. And when you play multiple points consecutively, both players ultimately end up doing a copious amount of running throughout a match. This does more than just give you some exercise, however: running around during matches increases your overall aerobic capacity, and hitting the ball repeatedly builds muscle and even can lead to weight loss and other benefits, detailed by the Better Health Channel. So, maintaining a consistent streak of playing tennis is a great way to both exercise and become more fit.

Tennis betters your ability to think critically

Tennis is not a completely physical game: in fact, your ability to find success and win matches is often heavily reliant on your brain and the way you think; you have to be able to develop strategies that will help you win. Quickly composing new game plans during a match and amending mistakes is a big part of being proficient in tennis. For example: during my match, I might be hitting the ball out of play too often. Therefore, in between points I come up with an idea that changes how I am hitting it, and I begin to win more points. This idea is applied in many places, such as high school tennis meets: I work together with the members of my team and coaches to think about the best strategy that will allow us to win, and we all use this critical thinking and mistake-amending ability to devise a plan and win a match. Developing this skill of thinking critically on the fly can even aid you in daily life; you will have an increased ability to find solutions to problems and discover how to rectify a mistake. 

Tennis is a lifelong sport

Tennis is not at all a temporary sport: in fact, most people who get involved with it at a younger age tend to stick with it throughout their lifetimes. Furthermore, a large portion of the current tennis community is composed of middle-aged and older citizens, which can be observed at most urban court locations. Not only is tennis a lifelong sport but it has also been proven to significantly extend lifespan. According to the Mayo Clinic, which is a reputable nonprofit medical research organization, tennis has the highest lifespan benefits among all sports, with a whopping 9.7 years added to the lifespan of those who play consistently. Since I am a teenager, I am not the best resource to consult regarding this, but I can testify to starting tennis at a young age (eight or nine years old) and still enjoying it more than ever today (16 years old at the time of writing this article). 

Tennis improves the ability to set goals and achieve them

As I discussed above, the ability to think critically is directly correlated to tennis strategy. Similarly, another important mental aspect of the game is goal setting and perseverance during matchplay. In order to meet any sort of success in tennis, you have to be able to set goals and see them through to the end. Whether it be practice or a match, it is vital that you compose an objective for yourself and keep attempting to achieve it until you persevere and do so. Believe it or not, this skill is highly useful in everyday life and will allow you to attain things that you wouldn’t have been able to before. As you do in a match, you can set any sort of goal and work hard to fulfill it, physical or not. One impressive example of perseverance on the professional tennis scene was in the 2005 Miami Open Final, which saw tennis professional Roger Federer come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five match against opponent Rafael Nadal (if you need some help with determining how the score works in tennis, consult this United States Tennis Association page).

Tennis gets you involved with the professional scene

Some people, particularly middle-aged male Americans, have a strange affinity for watching sports on TV. While I don’t think tennis instantly grants you this ability, I do know that participating in the sport makes watching professional tennis a lot more enjoyable. Before I began playing, watching tennis on TV was confusing and boring. However, after I began to play, watching the pros became a lot more interesting and even educational for my own game. While the pros are obviously a lot more skilled than you will be (no offense), it is still interesting to watch them play and take note of their movements and techniques, which you can then compare to and apply to your own game. I understand that watching sports is not for everyone, but if you do end up trying tennis, consider watching a tournament such as Wimbledon or the US Open. This can help you with your own game and allow you to obtain a newfound hobby, if you end up following the pros as diligently as I do.

Tennis is rewarding

I have been playing tennis for many years now, and I know one thing for certain: the feeling of winning a match never gets old. After working hard and practicing diligently to improve your game, transferring that effort into a win is extremely satisfying and, in my opinion, worth chasing time and time again. I have experienced many outcomes of my matches while playing tennis, and I will not deny that losing a match, especially against someone you thought you could beat, can be really demoralizing. On the contrary though, winning a tough match, such as against someone you originally perceived to be better than you, is thoroughly gratifying, and is what inspires me to keep playing tennis. In other words, experiencing the reward of winning is an addicting sensation that is undoubtedly worth chasing!

Before I conclude, it is important to mention the equipment you will need before getting involved. Although there are many items tennis players use, the only thing truly necessary for playing is a tennis racket. Rackets come in all sorts of colors, weight, and even grip sizes, but these attributes can be customized upon playing the game more intensely. If you find yourself interested in tennis, a great spot to get started is Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center in Mattapan, where you can arrange for a lesson and borrow a racket.

As a longtime tennis player, I am of course biased while saying that tennis is an amazing sport that everyone should try. At the end of the day, however, I admit that tennis will not necessarily be the best fit for everyone. In order to increase your skill level, you have to devote a massive amount of effort and consistently play the game. Additionally, tennis is not the most accessible sport, with courts being sparse in some areas and equipment being relatively expensive. If you are willing to make these sacrifices, however, you will be rewarded with the many benefits that I discussed above. I firmly believe that tennis is an amazing pastime, and it has given me so many fun and memorable experiences with friends and teammates that I cherish. Even after all these years of playing, I am still eager to improve my game and compete with others, and I do not plan to stop. So, if you want to obtain these benefits yourself, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start playing tennis!