Sports are great for so many different reasons. They all (well most) offer great workouts, competition, camaraderie, and fun. But what sport is the best? Well tennis is, of course! Here are our top 10 reasons why tennis is the best sport.
1. Minimal Injuries
Compared to other sports, especially contact sports, tennis is very safe. Most injuries are related to overuse, but with the proper exercises, even those can be minimized or even eliminated. Everyone loves being able to have fun without the risk of injury!
2. It’s better than an anger management session
Tough day at work? Go smash some balls on the tennis court! What better way to relieve stress than by hitting a ball as hard as you can. It feels great, and when they go in, it feels even better!
3. It’s a great workout
Many sports are great workouts, but few sports offer the fun AND anaerobic activity that tennis offers. Tennis players are almost constantly in motion, and using nearly every muscle in their body. In addition to short sprints, there are also constant changes of direction, and motion in every possible angle. It builds muscle and stamina. What’s not to love?
4. It’s actually affordable
Sure, tennis can be expensive and it is viewed as an elitist sport. Tennis lessons can be expensive and so can rackets, but once you have the proper racket and footwear, you can find a free court almost anywhere. What other sport can you go and play for free wherever you are?
[sc:optin-box-modal slug=”perfect-abs” linktext=”Bonus: Watch ”Get Perfect Abs With These 5 Moves Stolen From Tennis’ Biggest Stars” ” bgcolor=”F8F1DE” linkcolor=”000000″ ]5. It is played EVERYWHERE
We mean it, it really is played everywhere. No matter where you are, chances are there is a tennis court nearby. You can find a court and a game almost anywhere you go. And if traveling to play tennis is a plan of yours, you can find spectacular tennis resorts on almost every continent. It wouldn’t be outrageous to think that one day, people will even be playing in Antarctica!
6. You can play all year round!
Is it snowing outside? Can’t play golf. But you can find an indoor court, usually for less than $30 per hour, and go have a blast while getting a good workout playing tennis. Sure, summer is peak tennis season, but there is no off-season!
7. It’s good for the body AND mind
Tennis is as mental a sport as any. You can be a great player, but not fulfill your potential if your mental game is weak. Playing tennis will help you get in good shape, but it also stimulates your mind in ways that other sports do not. Great tennis players are all mentally strong, and playing tennis will only fortify your mind, helping you out in other areas of your life as well!
8. You don’t need to round up a team to play!
All you need is a racket, balls, and one other person to go have a great time on the tennis court. Can’t find a partner/opponent? That’s ok! Most public tennis courts also have a backboard. Go smack the ball against the wall for a while. It will help your strokes and your timing. You will be even better off for your next match!
9. It’s social!
Tennis at the amateur level is as much about fun as it is competition. It is a very social sport, allowing you to have fun with your friends and opponents not only during points, but also between, before, and after the match!
10. You can play FOREVER!
Tennis is great for all ages. Children can start very young, often as early as three years old, and you can play until you can no longer walk. People lucky enough to live past 100 can still play the game. What other sport can you play from age 3-103?
All true
You can play mix doubles, in every ponts just point your finger to the little girl or boy you can have the towel to wipe your face even there’s nothing, you can set once in a while to eat banana., you can challence your score if you are doubt and you can yell to the umpire too ” what..r u blind ?” McEnroe.lol. The stadiun is full just for the 2 people playing.After match shake your opponents hands and the Umpire after yelling at him w/o saying sorry Lol. Big money. I LOVE TENNIS even can’t hit the ball sometimes.Enjoy Folks.
Reason no. 11 – When you’re single looking for a life partner, there is no better way to check out a person than on the tennis court. You can observe looks, movement, voice, manners, humor, character.
For some reason the tennis community is the nicest people you want to meet. No matter what level you play everyone is friendly. Tennis is the #1 growing sport in the world.
Here’s my take on why tennis is the best sport:
It integrates the best athletic qualities of the world’s greatest sports.
Here is what I mean:
Tennis requires ….
– the SPEED and quick REFLEXES of badminton or table tennis and yet it must be played on a far larger surface,
– the PRECISION AND TOUCH of golf BUT…. on the run!!,
– the STRENGTH of boxing when striking of the ball
– the STRATEGIC and TACTICAL THINKING of court and adversary awareness, that is comparable to many group sports such as basketball, hockey, football or soccer where one needs to understand and exploit one’s strengths and the adversary’s weaknesses BUT in a situation where one is ALONE to ”figure it all out”,
– the ENDURANCE of a marathon,… 4 or 5 hour on clay or in the searing sun is enough to exhaust anyone,
– the BEAUTY AND GRACE of ballet, yes ballet!, where one must maximize the levers of the body but in a fluid, precise, economical manner,… let’s all think of Roger Federer here,
– the CHARACTER, MENTAL STAMINA AND DARE I SAY SPIRITUAL WHERE-WITH-ALL to endure and transcend the challenges to one’s ego and self confidence.
And all of these qualities are employed while playing tennis without the need to be violent or inflict harming on the adversary.
Tennis is truly the most complete sport that has a great history, is played on an international stage, on a variety of surfaces and with the most interesting technological improvements making its the most interesting sport of all.
Fortunate are those, regardless of age and circumstance, who can play this most wonderful sport
I will respectfully disagree with your comparison to golf. I LOVE tennis and play on multiple USTA teams (going to regionals for two), and I have a 13.8 handicap in golf and compete with men and women. So, being a 30 plus year player of BOTH tennis and golf, tennis does not require the same touch as golf. With golf, the ball is smaller, not moving, and often on an imperfect lie or surface (i.e. sand, divot, etc.), requiring MUCH more touch and precision to get an inanimate object to travel anywhere from 60 to 300 yards. Alternatively, a tennis ball is larger, covered in felt, and already moving which may seem more difficult, but absolutely is not. I’ve seen children and seniors pick up tennis, though not with proper ground strokes, and be able to hit the ball over the net. It takes far longer for most people to even get a golf ball off the ground…and it’s not moving! I love tennis more than golf, and I agree with your other points, but I have tremendous respect for golf and golfers, and wanted to reply w/my thoughts. Thank you!
Hitting golf ball is matter of physical and physics elements
By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY
No. 4 on USA TODAY’s 10 hardest things to do in sports is hitting a golf ball straight and long. Here’s why it’s so hard, from a scientific perspective, from an expert athlete’s perspective — and from an average joe’s.
Even Tiger Woods has struggles from time to time.
By Mike Nelson, AFP
The rules of golf are set by the United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland.
But when the club head strikes the ball — a collision that lasts less than 1/1,000th of a second — entirely different rules apply.
“The correct technique is essentially determined by the laws of physics and the limitations of the human body,” says Theodore Jorgensen, retired University of Nebraska physics professor and author of The Physics of Golf.
Jorgensen, who celebrated his 97th birthday in November and worked on the atomic bomb project during World War II, published his book in 1994. Although it’s in its second printing, he is the first to acknowledge it’s not for everybody.
“Whether a person can get anything out of my book depends on their background. A person who doesn’t know anything about physics can’t get anywhere with it,” he says.
Distance isn’t everything
Among players who ranked in the top 10 in driving distance on the 2002 PGA Tour, only Tiger Woods and Chris Smith also ranked in the top 10 in greens reached in regulation. The breakdown from the list of the leading 10 drivers:
Player Avg. drive distance Greens in regulation Ranking, greens in regulation
1. John Daly 306.8 yards 60.4% 195th
2. Boo Weekley 297.0 yards 66.0% 89th
3. Matthew Goggin 296.1 yards 65.5% 103rd
4. Charles Howell III 293.7 yards 69.0% 25th
4. Dennis Paulson 293.7 yards 65.0% 117th
6. Tiger Woods 293.3 yards 74.0% 1st
7. Tim Herron 293.2 yards 65.4% 108th
8. Brett Wetterich 292.7 yards 64.3%, 136th
9. Chris Smith 292.2 yards 71.6% 3rd
10. Rich Beem 292.1 yards 66.8% 64th
Driving distance is the number of yards per measured drive. Drives are measured on two holes per round.
Greens in regulation is the percentage of times a player is able to hit the ball so that it is touching the putting surface in two shots or fewer under par.
Source: PGA Tour
Indeed, his book discusses such matters as “inertial torque,” “angular acceleration,” “wrist cock angles” and “Lagrangian coordinates.” This is definitely not one of those picture-filled books on how to improve your game. In fact, it has no pictures at all, only physics diagrams and mathematical charts.
But it scientifically addresses what separates good shots from bad ones.
For example, when a ball is struck, it begins to spin as it leaves the club head. The spin is caused by the ball sliding up the grooved club face as it is struck.
If the ball is spinning along a horizontal axis (think of a level line running sideways through the middle of the ball), it will travel straight, Jorgensen says.
“But if you hit it a little bit crooked, the axis is not horizontal, and that’s going to give you a hook or a slice, depending,” he says.
For a right-handed golfer, if the axis tilts to the right, it produces a slice right. If it tilts left, it produces a hook left.
From Jorgensen’s book: “In order to hit the ball so that its spin has a horizontal axis, the club head should be exactly square to the intended line of flight and the club head should be moving exactly along the intended line of flight at impact.”
Easier said than done. And Jorgensen notes, “Even Tiger Woods hits behind the oak trees sometimes like everybody else.”
Although golfers always seem to be looking for better clubs, Jorgensen says the key remains a better swing. “A guy told me he’d gotten a new driver to get rid of his slice,” he says. “The only problem was now he had a hook he couldn’t do anything about. But somebody made a pile of money off of him.”
Expert’s view — Curtis Strange
Curtis Strange grew up the son of a teaching pro and began playing golf at 7. He won the NCAA championship and 17 events on the PGA Tour, where he was the first to earn $1 million in a season. He was among the PGA Tour’s leaders from 1979-89 and won U.S. Open titles in 1988 and ’89.
Last year he captained the U.S. team in a Ryder Cup loss to Europe. He is ABC’s lead golf analyst.
Q: How hard is it to hit a golf ball long and straight?
A: When you grow up in the game as most touring pros did, I don’t think it’s all that tough. To me, tough is trying to do something that you’re not trained to do.
Q: What’s the most important thing about hitting a golf shot?
A: Coordination. I continue to be amazed by Tiger Woods, who swings the club at 125 mph and still hits the ball straight.
Bobby Jones (in the 1920s) was the first man to swing the club with a lot of speed and generate a lot of power. The golf swing has evolved from him. Today we have a lot better athletes, but to make all those movements with the body and deliver the club square to the ball is pretty impressive.
Q: What secrets/tips have you learned over your career?
A: There was no one secret. If you learn the game when you’re young, you never get far off.
My swing changes depending on what day of the week it is. I know when I go to the first tee I’m not going to top the ball. I’m going to hit it out there, and it will come down in pretty good shape.
The shot might not look good to me or the other pros, but to the rest of the world it’s going to look pretty good.
Average Joe’s view — Jerry Potter
I’ve always made the art of hitting a golf ball a lot more difficult than it is. Maybe that’s because of the things I’ve been told by those in the know.
“I can’t make you a good player,” said Ken Lindsay, who would become president of the PGA of America. “You started too late in life.”
“You can’t be a Thoroughbred,” said Claude Harmon, one of the better teaching pros ever, “but I can make you a racing mule.”
At the conclusion of Harmon’s school, I received a certificate that pronounced me a member of the Society of Racing Mules. And for more than 20 years I’ve plowed though golf like an old mule.
I’ve taken so many lessons that I’d rather try to teach myself. I’ve asked pros so many questions that sometimes I know their answers before they give them. And I’ve hit so many practice balls that I think that’s really the joy of the game.
To the casual fan, one pro’s swing might look the same as another’s, but it’s not. Pros repeat their swing, which makes it easier for them to play around their flaws.
Hall of Fame pro Betsy King once said to me, “You can’t buy a golf swing.” She’s right, but she didn’t say that you couldn’t buy equipment that fits the swing you have.
Pros have been altering their clubs to fit their swings for decades, and in the last 10 years that advantage has been passed down to recreational players. Modern technology — lightweight shafts, perimeter-weighted irons and oversized metal drivers — has made the game more enjoyable for everyone, especially if the equipment is custom-fit.
Blending the swing and the equipment is time-consuming, but I remind myself of the words of Norman Bryant, an old pro from Mississippi, who said, “Boy, I can show you the golf swing in 10 minutes — and you can spend the rest of your life trying to learn it.”
USA TODAY golf writer Jerry Potter is doing just that.
Well said!
You can play as hard or soft as you like. You can hit and giggles or hit and win. You can play with others or with a wall. Players of all agers can play together.
All this is true…yet there are more wonderful reasons !
Tennis is more than just a fun sport. It’s a
Philosophy, an art form a science and ultimately a healthy way of living..!
i have played lots of tennis in my college days and this was excellent work out. I watched the greats play, such as borg, macenrow, becker, edberg and now fedderer, djokovic and nadal. there were also ladies greats such s martina, graf, the willams sisters who we loved watching. I do plan to get back to the tennis court soon. may be lots of doubles. this is wishing all tennis players a great workout and good fun on the tennis court
Hi it’s great way to get more people involves in the game.
I love tennis. I am nearly 70 years old and still play on a regular basis. However, they left out one thing. Tennis is NOT easy to learn to play. One will have to expend some effort in the learning part. But, once you can get to the point where you can run and hit the ball over the net and in the court, you’re good to go. Great sport.
Re your question Who is the best tennis player of all time? You don’t even have him on your list. Rod Laver is the best as all those players will tell you. He was not allowed to play Grand Slams for 7 years when he turned pro and yet he won a Grand Slam the year before he was banned for going professional, and then again, 7 years later, when he and all other professionals were allowed to return. Nobody gets close to that record. Federer is wonderful but has a losing record to his two closest rivals, so he cannot be the best of all time if he’s not even best in his own era.
Nothing like #Tennis!!! 😉
Tennis transforms peoples lives. They are happier, healthier and social. Great addiction.
Tennis is a lifelong sport, and my social outlet, having developed friendships for life. Because my husband and I both played and coached, my son also played, and became the #1 Jr. Player in New England, and now makes his living, as a tennis professional.
So great fun for the benefits of this game.
That’s awesome, thanks for sharing!
“Is it snowing outside? Can’t play golf. But you can find an indoor court, usually for less than $30 per hour”
Not the case in UK I’m afraid. Access to indoor tennis here is abysmal. I envy you Yanks!
Tennis is the best sport ever no doubt. It works on your upper and lower body strength and it helps with mental stability. It is also a workout for your brain since you have to know when to hit the ball, how to direct the ball from your oppenont (pretty sure I spelled that wrong) and so much more!