Tennis for Beginners: Key tips to get you started
Learning to Play Tennis: Is it a rich man’s game?
Tennis gives adults a healthy excuse to keep PLAYING in life. Get ready for a workout and say goodbye to anxiety. You’ll take it ALL out on the ball. Prepare for a new adventure coming including; social events, travel, friendships, group lessons and tennis gear. Having played the game since age 7 with humble beginnings in Philadelphia, I got started with a $0.50 racket purchased at a flea market and got hitting fast using a wall.
Adults starting out in tennis should keep it simple. New players can use a wall to practice hitting, hand eye coordination and basic movement. Hiring a certified coach to learn the basics and scoring is a great way to decide if tennis is for you. Tennis lessons and playing 3x per week will develop an adult’s tennis game quickly.
Pro tip: 💫
Adult tennis camps by playing level & travel destination check here.
Tennis gets a bad rap as a rich man’s sport! Yet golf, sailing, horseback riding and many other sports are more expensive. I’ve seen more expensive yoga classes than tennis. Private clubs or country clubs aren’t the only places to play tennis. There are 1000’s of free public courts in the US and 1000’s of public clubs around the world with nominal court rental fees.
A tennis racket found in your garage will do to see if you like the game enough to further invest in it, but a decent pair of tennis shoes ($75 - $125) is highly recommended. Tennis sneakers I swear by to preserve an adults ankles since running shoes are built to move forwards and tennis sneakers are developed for lateral movement and stability.
Tennis: Is it expensive?
It’s normal for beginner tennis players to get overwhelmed by racket selections, tennis sneakers, which tennis balls to buy and what to wear!? It can seem up front that all this is going to cost you a fortune. But it won’t if you keep it simple.
Footwear: Get an all court tennis shoe.
Tennis sneakers are built differently than running shoes or cross trainers. They’re made for lateral movement. Lateral movement (side to side movement) is what you’ll mainly do on a tennis court. The right footwear is more important than your 1st racket as a beginner player.
As you learn how to play tennis you’ll move, stop, turn, pivot and do all sorts of quick maneuvers that feel foreign. You’ll want to feel & trust that you’re supported. Go to a tennis pro shop or amazon in your country for the best deals.
Do It Tennis is my new favorite online tennis resource. They have great customer service, patience around product questions and they’re competitive on price. They also ship internationally. Try different brands to see which brand gives you the best fit. New Balance for wider feet. Nike runs narrow. Asics always in my opinion and and Adidas Barricades for serious ankle support.
Certainly don’t wear lifestyle shoes on court!
Tennis Racket: Next, you’ll need a racket
Tennis racket for beginner or intermediate player ($100 - $269) Tennis rackets are fickle. They feel and play differently. Read this article for my best advise choosing a new beginner racket. It might save you time and money.
The moral of the story is … demo your tennis rackets! Even as a beginner player! You can go to a local tennis pro shop or order a bunch of beginners rackets online to try out. You may not know anything about tennis rackets but you WILL know what YOU like. You’ll simply FEEL it.
Tennis is game of feel.
You know when you like the the feel of a test drive for a new car you’re interested in, or a new pair of shoes or jeans! You’ll know what you like with a tennis racket too. Don’t let anyone TALK YOU into a tennis racket because they´re getting a commission. Or because your favorite pro on TV uses a particular brand. It doesn’t work like that.
Demo your tennis racket
Demo your tennis racket
A beginners tennis tip …
Even as you´re learning how to play tennis you can ABSOLUTELY go straight into an intermediate balanced tennis racket.
I’ve always introduced adult beginner tennis players to intermediate balanced tennis rackets to get started.
The head may be slightly smaller and the weight an ounce or two heavier but you’ll have more control. It´ll help you steer clear of tennis elbow early on. A balanced racket will feel good on your arm when you hit groundstrokes, volleys and serves.
3 balanced intermediate tennis rackets that I love for beginner tennis players:
Prince Team EX03 Warrior
Wilson Clash 100L (the racket I play with feels perfect in weight, balance and feels steady. I can’t ask for more)
Light rackets that are head heavy = elbow problems. Light racket that’s headlight = nothing balls ... GO for balanced!
Another beginner racket tip…
If you really love your tennis racket buy a 2nd. You’ll set yourself up for years! Racket companies update their popular racket frames every 2 years. What you initially fall in love with will invariably change when the manufacturer updates your frame. Of course their goal is to enhance the racket you love and get you to buy a new one but it never really happens like that. If you love the racket and you’re loving tennis and committed to the game, invest in a 2nd stick (racket). You can thank me later.
Clothing
Make sure you’re comfortable and that your shorts or bottoms have pockets. You’ll need a second ball handy when you’re out rallying with a friend or serving. I know you’ve see ladies strutting in matchy-matchy outfits around town after a match or practice and you may or may not get it. It’s kind of a thing. Ladies love letting the world know their players. They won’t admit that but it’s true.
But you can wear whatever you like on court!!! I’ve always paired yoga pants with tanks or tees myself! Never one to follow the crowd I wear what I like. And whites are only for specific tournaments or particular clubs. It looks lovely as a novelty but doesn’t need to be followed in 2022. YOU DO YOU!!! But tennis shoes are a must.
Tennis Balls
Don’t worry about brands. I like Babalot all-court tennis balls for the price & quality on clay courts for my adult tennis holidays because they last the longest. And Wilson’s come out with their solution to recycling with their line of Triniti balls. And if you’re a fellow recycler you should know this about tennis balls in general. #Recycle please.
Beginner Tennis Lessons
Yes, if you like tennis, you should take lessons. You can take them privately or in a group. Privates can be taken for half or a full hour. Groups or clinics have more people but are less expensive. Prices vary around the world. Learning to play tennis does have its complexities, like learning tennis grips you´ll want a coach to guide you through. If you find a great coach consider it a good investment.
Am I too old to play tennis?
Not for tennis. Age doesn’t matter for recreational tennis. And It doesn’t matter if you’ve had an on again - off again love affair with learning tennis. Most beginners I meet are pushing 40.
Things have changed if you learned as a teenager. So consider this a fresh start! The biggest group searching for tennis are adult beginners.
This sport is a lifestyle game. You can start at any age and play it into old age. I’ve had adults as young as 25 and as old as 83 arrive for adult tennis holidays.
Adults think they´re too old because all the real attention is on the juniors! It always has been. It’s why I specialize in adult tennis. I’m an adult. I understand adults and adults can make massive life changes playing tennis - and they stay. Adult friendships aren’t the easiest to make after college days. But playing tennis encourages making healthy adult friends, organically. This is when the world of tennis starts to unfold its benefits to players - the socialization it brings to people’s lives.
Tennis adds only healthy benefits. A reason to meet up with other players and break a sweat. Forget the worries of your day. A very tribal sport. You take lessons together, play tennis clinics together, play on competition teams together, travel together and stay healthy together.
I love adult tennis because adults stay and grow the game. If you can get out and play 3x per week, you’ll quickly advance.
Is tennis hard for beginners?
Beginner tennis players have one goal! Get the ball over the net and inside the court - on repeat!
But this is really a big concern for beginners. Is it hard? My wisdom tells me it’s more about; am I athletic enough to play this? I feel weird joining a clinic to learn how to play the game. Who will I play with? I think with the right coach to your character you’ll love the camrarderie between you and your coach. But for adults a coach must be open minded to teaching. So many pros know 1 way to play and therefore, teach. But adults need time to connect the dots. often different ways to hear something and of course play with options.
Options doesn’t mean you can put the basic foundations down. For instance, a forehand has to be swung low to high. That’s a rule.
An option would be letting an overhead bounce to hit it over your head off of a bounce instead of out of the air. But you shouldn’t be hearing you must play tennis using a western forehand grip because that’s how your tennis pro plays. Be very careful your coach is open to your ideas, your learning style and your goal of playing tennis.
Your goal may change over time but in the beginning it should be to get playing. Meaning passing the ball back and forth with someone on a tennis court. Don’t cheat on things like tennis grips of course but it should be taught with consideration to any injuries you have and using progressions for each core tennis stroke. Try and keep the technical tennis language to a minimum because you’ll likely zone out quickly and make sure you’re getting real corrections (verbal cues) from your coach. Is should be an interactive experience. Not only ball feeding and you hearing how terrific every shot is when it’s sailing everywhere but the court lines.
The problem is it seems so complex and maybe because the language around it seems foreign, even the scoring. It’s why I made this How to play tennis for beginners course online. There's a million videos online for intermediate & advanced players. But very few structured lessons for beginner tennis players. With this course, you’ll know what you need to know before stepping out on court prior to investing in any tennis lessons.
I thought that if beginner tennis player knew what you should be learning in your 1st tennis lessons, you’d stress out less, feel more confident joining and cut your learning time down.
This beginner online course introduces you to the tennis court, the 5 basic core stroke techniques, 2 important grips to learn ( learn them from the beginning) how to keep score and which racket beginners should buy. But learning basic tennis grips for each shot is extremely important!
It also includes; yoga pre & post stretches to keep adult players injury free. I used yoga stretches prior to stepping on court since most of you use yoga already in your lives.
Most importantly, the language is simple to understand. When I work with adult tennis holidays regardless of level, It’s important for me to keep the technical verbiage to a minimum. It loses players and can be easily expressed in laymen’s terms. I also believe it’s exclusive not inclusive. Think about it. If we’re trying to make you comfortable playing tennis with us why would we immediately make you feel left out.
Believe me, emotional intelligence goes a long way on the tennis court!
How to Play Tennis: Focus on the fundamentals
Beginner tennis players only need to focus on the fundamentals. The repetition of those fundamentals will be your only focus. Along with movement and consistency. As a beginner player you’ll learn what your goal is in time. Could be to get outdoors more, lose some weight, meet new people, have something of your own.
Later you can figure out what you lie to play more, singles or doubles. Or maybe you’ll just LOVE getting out to hit balls with your friends for exercise. Singles might be at one stage of your life and doubles at another. Who knows. The point is you need to know very little but the basics as you get started in tennis.
Tennis Injuries: Let’s nip injury in the bud
Anyone can get injured playing tennis at any level.
When you start out using correct grips, contact points and understand how to balance your footwork, you’re off to a great start.
My biggest complaint in adult tennis is the amount of injuries that occur & sideline players. It’s another reason I added an injury prevention module to my beginner online course. You can see a pre-court stretch in the beginner online course in the video above. These simple power yoga moves, specific for tennis players at any playing level is helpful. You’ll also learn more dynamic moves as you go.
Most adults in 2022 understand the benefits of yoga. Movements specific to tennis players by power yoga specialist to athletes. Tania Rada helps you keep do simple, inconspicuous specialized movements before and after play, to keep you healthy and not hurting. As always, check in with your Doctor to make sure tennis is a option for you.
The best remedy I’ve seen to staying injury free is learning tennis fundamentals from the start.
Never play through pain.
Be aware of how you’re feeling physically each time you step out on court. And don’t play through pain.
A real friend to have out on court with you is your “beginner's mind”. It gives you an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when learning your fundamentals. When you’re in flow your body moves effortlessly and keeps injury at bay. And you’ll know when you’re in flow.
When you’re in flow you’ll make progress fast. Instructions automatically download to your subconscious and you’ll reap benefits effortlessly on auto-pilot. I can’t wait to hear how you’re doing on your tennis adventure. And when you’re ready, come play with us for a real tennis adventure.
Now, if you’re really keen to learn this game and you’re serious about your improvement you want to have these powerful beginner tips for the rules, your tennis strokes & how to keep score.
In the meantime, tell me, what’s drawing you to the game?
With love from Mallorca~