What Is Real Tennis?

Real tennis is an ancient game that is still played today. It is also known as jeu de paume, or royal tennis. If you’re wondering what real tennis is all about, read on to learn more.

Introduction

Real tennis – sometimes called royal tennis in England or courte de paumein France – is the original indoor racket sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States. The game is played on an enclosed court measuring between 35 and 45 feet (11-14 m) in width and 60-80 feet (18-24 m) in length, with a gallery running around all or part of three sides of the court.

The net is lower than in lawn tennis, 1 foot 6 inches (0.5 m) at the centre, tapering to 12 inches (30 cm) at the posts; it is suspended from a cord stretched across the full width of the head of the racket at a height of 3 feet 6 inches (1.1 m). The floor of the court is made of clay or grit, which has been rolled smooth. The walls and ceiling are covered with plaster to prevent balls from bouncing off them and breaking windows.

History

Real tennis, often called the sport of kings, is the original tennis. It was developed in the 12th century in France and was popular in England by the 16th century. It is played indoors on a rectangular court with a length of about 42 meters and a width of about 10 meters. The net is 3.5 meters high and is stretched across the center of the court.

Early history

Real tennis spread from the monasteries to the earliest colleges, such as Merton College, Oxford.[5] It was probably first taught as an extracurricular activity, when students returned to their studies after playing in the streets. In due course it became part of the curriculum, particularly in France and England. Faurefoy’s treatise on tennis published at Toulouse in 1555 is one of the earliest works on the game.[6] By the 16th century real tennis had become an established court game played by limited numbers of aristocrats and royalty on indoor courts. It was known under a variety of names including jeu de paume (“game played with [the] palm”), tenez (a command used to start/keep play), lavains (after Praillins, courtier to Charles V),[7][10][11] jeu à la raquette/jeu de racquettes/courte-paume (“ball game with racket(s)”),[1][10][12]; and others. Unlike today’s “lawn tennis”, real tennis is typically played indoors with Gallery players shooting at a sloped glass frontage (‘gallerie’) that runs around all or part of three sides of the playing area.

Modern history

During the 19th century, the game increased in popularity and began to spread throughout the British Empire. In 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game which he called lawn tennis. This game quickly became popular and was soon being played by all social classes on outdoor lawns in private garden parties. In 1884, Wingfield published a rule book and then patented his game. When the patent expired in 1900, other companies started producing lawn tennis equipment and the sport continued to grow in popularity.

In 1924, the first real tennis world championship was held at Wimbledon. The winner was an American named Ellsworth Vines. Today, there are about 1,000 real tennis courts around the world, with most of them located in England.

Rules

Real Tennis is a racket and ball game that was popular in Europe in the Middle Ages. The game is played on an indoor court with a stone floor and walls. The court is divided into two halves by a net. The game is played with a racket and a small, hard ball. The aim of the game is to hit the ball over the net into the other player’s half of the court. The first player to score 21 points wins the game.

Equipment

Real tennis rackets are made of wood and are much longer, heavier, and strung much tighter than lawn tennis rackets. They may be of almost any size and weight. Thestringsare generally gut and the handles are leather-wrapped.

Theballsare about twice the size of a lawn tennis ball and are made of two halves (hemispheres) of rubber cemented together, with a filled-in center. They weigh about 2 ounces (57 g).

Thecourtsurface consists of strategic areas painted different colors, with diverse chalk lines to indicate service courts, hazard lines, side walls, etc. It is surrounded on all four sides by galleries or stands for spectators (it was in these that the first players sat or stood). The ceiling is very high—the original court at Hampton Court Palace was over 80 feet (24 m) high—and has twelve arches supported by pillars.

Court

A Real Tennis court is an indoor tennis court (the only kind of tennis played prior to 1877) with a solid stone or brick floor. The ball used is approximately 2.5 inches (6 cm) in diameter, and has a very different bounce from a lawn tennis ball. The game sometimes called Court Tennis in the United Kingdom and formerly in Australia, and Courtly Tennis in North America, is now usually distinguished as Real Tennis or Royal Tennis, while the sport played on an outdoor hourglass-shaped tennis court is called real tennis’ lawn tennis’.

Early forms of Real Tennis (or Royal Tennis) were first played in 12th-century France. It flourished for over 500 years before declining during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The game was codified during 1872 by Walter Clopton Wingfield under its present name of’Real Tennis’. Real Tennis enjoyed popularity once again during Victorian times.

Scoring

In general, the aim is to hit the ball so that your opponent cannot return it within the four corners of the court (the “service box”). A point is won when:
-Your opponent fails to hit the ball before it has bounced twice
-Your opponent hits the ball out of bounds
-Your opponent does not keep the ball within bounds (“it goes dead”) after hitting it
-Your opponent hits the ball twice in succession (a “double hit”)
-The ball hits you, your clothing or your racquet before hitting the ground
You lose a point if:
-You hit the ball into one of the four Cornell nets surrounding the court (a “net cord”)
-You obstruct your opponent by moving into his/her line of sight while they are playing a stroke

Strategy

The first thing you need to understand about Real Tennis strategy is the court. The court is much bigger than a regular tennis court, and has different features that can be used to your advantage. For example, the alleys can be used to set up shots, and the galleries can be used to force your opponent to run. Understanding the court is the first step to understanding Real Tennis strategy.

Singles

In singles, players keep their own scores and play individually against one another. One player serves the whole game, alternating service between points. The server serves from the end of the court with the smallest back wall.

The player that wins a rally receives a point and then serves for the next rally. The first player to score 9 points wins the game, unless both players are tied at 8-8, in which case they play one more “set” to determine the winner of the game. In order to win a set, a player must be ahead by 2 clear points. If both players are tied at 8-8 in points, they play until one player wins two clear points in a row (e.g., 9-8, 10-8).

Doubles

In doubles, two players stand at each end of the court. The server stands behind the baseline, and the receiver stands in the diagonally opposite service box. The first player to serve is decided by a coin toss, and thereafter the players alternate serves. Points are scored as in singles, but due to the double bounce rule, serves hit into the nicks cannot be volleyed (hit before they bounce), so games tend to be longer. Because players have more time to set up their shots and there are more lobs (high shots that fall just over the net), rallies in doubles are often much longer than in singles.

Professionalism

Real Tennis is a racket and ball game that was created in the 12th century. It is thought to have originated from a game called jeu de paume, which was played by French monks. Real Tennis is played on an indoor court that is surrounded by walls. The game is played with a wooden racket and a soft ball. The ball is made of wool and is filled with cork.

Tournaments

In contrast to the professional game, real tennis today is largely a sport of amateur enthusiasts. In Australia there are more than a dozen tournaments held annually, players ranging in age from early teens to those in their 70s, and of both sexes. The Australian Real Tennis Association also sanctions a number of “club level” tournaments for players who are relatively new to the game or who do not wish to commit to the time and expense of competing in the larger open tournaments.

Rankings

There are three different types of ranking systems in professional real tennis: the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The ATP and WTA both rank men’s and women’s singles players, while the ITF only ranks men’s singles players.

The ATP and WTA use a points-based system to rank players. The number of points a player has is based on their performance in tournaments. The higher the level of tournament, the more points a player can earn. The ITF uses a different system, which is based on a player’s win-loss record in tournaments.

The ATP and WTA both have four levels of tournaments: Grand Slams, Masters 1000s, 500s, and 250s. The ITF has three levels of tournaments: Grand Slams, Davis Cup/Fed Cup, and Challenger/Future events. Grand Slams are the highest level of tournament, followed by Masters 1000s, 500s, and 250s.

Conclusion

Although it is not as widely known or played as lawn tennis, real tennis has a long and fascinating history. If you are looking for a new and challenging racquet sport, real tennis may be the perfect game for you. With its exciting blend of strategy, accuracy, and power, real tennis can provide endless hours of fun and competition.