WHERE ARE THE PLAYERS & OFFICIALS?

For weeks now I have been talking about nothing than the history and gradual growth of tennis. The facilities are not yet world standards. But the question is are there enough and quality players and dedicated world class officials to put these facilities in use. In the early times when tennis started in Ghana there were names like Tony Annan and Gamel. These two men and others by no small means fought for the country on the fore front of tennis.

 Even though there is less interest in tennis by the government and the public I must say that there still eligible players who are doing good in this field. In this part of the continent it is not a strange phenomena that there is low interest in the sport. Most people see it as a leisure for the rich than a game or sport for all. Just last month, Robert Kpodo, Emmanuel Mensah, Albert Arthur and George Darko, have made the country proud by moving to the next stage of the Euro/Africa Zone Three Group B round of the Davis Cup to be held in Egypt.


 

THE "COURTS" IN GHANA

Every game has the types of space or surface on which it is played. Football is played on what we call a field or pitch. Sometimes it is played on the shores of a beach.Volleyball also as a surface on which it is played. But interestingly enough tennis as lawn tennis is now known is played on so many different kinds of surfaces. There's the grass, the lawn, the hard court, and the clay which also comes in so many colors; like the blue, red, green and brown clay courts. This feature of the variety of courts alone makes the game so interesting to watch and play as well.
http://www.bing.com/images

Lawn tennis as we are aware is played on different types of courts. Amazingly, there are some types of courts associated to the four popular tournaments in the world. Which is hard courts for the Australian Open and US Open as well, red clay courts used during the French Open and grass for the Opening played in Wimbledon.
This is the type of red clay court used for the French

Location

Open, taken from the net. http://www.bing.com/images.

Even though Ghana has not yet reached the global front in terms of tennis, she can boast of modern facilities in terms of courts. There are three types of courts we have here, the lawn or grass courts, the hard courts mostly found in the tertiary and organizations' club houses and a clay court found at the Accra Lawn Tennis Club. 

A quick stroll through most of the courts in Ghana, and one would realize that the condition of the courts are in good shape; unlike the way the building itself is. Most of the courts have no space or accommodation for supporters unlike the ones found in the Western world. But with time all things would be well; as there has been an intervention by McDan a company ready to help this beautiful sports to meet good standards. 

GAME ON

From the last piece outlined on this page it's been made clear the history of tennis not only from its origin in the palace of France but also its inception in Ghana. Again of also how it's name has grown from "real tennis" to lawn tennis and now simply known as tennis worldwide. this is because tennis just like any other sport is very dynamic but unique.  But this week's blog is going to be how this beautiful game is played generally everywhere since it's not of Ghanaian origin; and also talk of the things normally needed before and during the game to ensure good play from the player.

These Balls Were Taken From, http://www.bing.com/images

 As a beginner looking forward to becoming a professional player, one needs a trainer or two to teach and manage this individual in playing, a suitable outfit(shirt;could be loose or tight, shorts or skirts for the ladies, that is if she prefers that, a pair of socks and a pair of sneakers). These outfits must preferably be very comfortable. Tennis player will also need a tennis racket which is very important and a set or two of tennis balls. There types of the tennis ball used in tournaments but the Dunlop, Wilsen and Penn balls are the very popular ones used during Ghanaian tournaments.


In the game, there's the umpire who can be referred to as a referee just like in the case of game of football, basketball or volleyball; and there's the ball boys who pick the ball whenever it goes out of play. There are usually two people involved in the game of tennis each at the opposite sides of the court playing against each other. There are four people in the case where it's a double match tournament and two people play against their opponents. The game begins with a serve from the opponent on the right hand of the court, which is determined by the toss of the coin.
A player has  two chances to serve anytime his/her opponent misses the two chances given him/her. The player is allowed to use the volley grip to serve the ball into play.



 Whenever the ball touches the tip of the net before entering the opponents square it's not accounted for hence the previous server if has not wasted one of the serves still has two serves to do. But when it touches the tip of the net and still stays in his or square of his court then it's a win against the server. Before the player serves he or she calls out "love" all which in the case of volleyball the referee calls out "zero" all. Hence if the opponent wins in the "servers" first serve then the player will call out "love"-fifteen, in lane man's term zero - fifteen. Should the opponent win on the second serve as well the it's "love"- thirty. This is because the first two wins by any of the players is fifteen each the rest is ten. In a case where both players have same points or end up in a tie it's called a deuce for instance 40-40. At this point the next server who is able to overpower or win the deuce against his opponent will then say advantage server. At this juncture should that server win then it means he has won a point of the first set of the game.
 This means during the next serve by any of the party the server would say "one- love all" in the case where the server was the one who won the deuce. But if he or she lost he will say "love all- one". Under normal circumstances a game is played to four points. But because a game must be won by two points or more and not less, play continues from deuce until one player leads by a margin of two or more points. 

There are standardized ways or grips to ensure a perfect play and a less injurious play if not injury-free game. There's the fore-arm grip, which is a normal upfront stroke by the player depending on the hand usage of the player be it left-handed or right-handed. Then there's the back-hand grip, where the player uses the opposite direction of his fore-arm to strike the ball and in so doing the back of his hand be it right or left that he or she uses to play shows in the process. There's the fore-arm volley grip, where the player makes a swing as he strikes the ball upfront. One very important rule, though tennis has not got so many rules as research reveals, the audience or spectators must be at their very best behavior, that is silence whenever the ball is set in motion and it's being played. No cheers at all is expected from the spectators until a ball goes out of the court in favor of their player.
 

HISTORY AND INTRODUCTION OF LAWN TENNIS IN GHANA

  At the mention of sports in Ghana it's only football and of late basketball that you find popular and promoted. Yet there are other sports that are equally interesting and could be of economical advantage to the country as well. Lawn tennis is an interesting and entertaining racket sport that is played worldwide across the globe. It is an Olympic sport and is at all levels of society and at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late nineteenth century as lawn tennis. It has close connections both to various field("lawn") games such as a croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis. During most of the nineteenth century in fact, the term "tennis" was referred to as real tennis, not lawn tennis. But in the eleventh century a game that looked like tennis called "jeu de paume"(game of the hand) was found. It was played by the king of France Louis X, he played it indoors. The term tennis is thought to have been derived from the old french word "tenez" which means to take or to hold or receive. It later became an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent before the ball is served. From time immemorial this game was a game of the royals and high in the society i.e first-class citizens.


 In the late 1872 major Harry gem and Mr J.B. Pereira organized the worlds first lawn tennis club in England. Later Major Walter Clapton Wingfield improved upon the court size and the rules of the game and called the new game "sphairistike" meaning "play ball" or "ball game". Since this improvement on the rules especially, the rules of lawn tennis have changed little. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970's. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of point..


 This beautiful since its inception in France and re branding in England is played by millions of recreational players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. Now because of its dynamism and growth over the centuries the name of the game lawn tennis is now referred simply as "tennis" because its no longer played on the lawn only. Other surfaces of the court now include cement, asphalt, synthetics, clay which comes in various colors among others. There are four Grand Slam Tournament known worldwide( also referred to as the 'Majors') and very popular. They include the Australian Open mostly played on hard courts, the French Open played on the red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the Us Open played also on hard courts.


  In Ghana however, tennis was introduce by the foreign colonial masters who actually settled here for commerce and religion. In the mid twentieth century, tennis courts could be found in almost all the mining and commercial white-settlement areas like Kumasi, Obuasi, Awaso, Tarkwa, Oda, Konongo, Accra, and Tema, Takoradi. Children whose parents were servants to the colonial masters were able to learn by being "ball boys", picking up the balls whenever it went out of the court. While the white men were here the oldest tennis club in the country, Accra Lawn Tennis Club( ALTC) was founded in the early 1900's. It was first started as a 'whites-only' club at the current site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with fourteen properly catered courts. ALTC was later relocated to it's present location after Ghana regained independence. As tennis gained grounds in the country 7 courts were added and since then various patrons of the club have made generous contributions towards infrastructural development to the club. Over the course of the introduction and growth of tennis in Ghana, players have represented the nation in both local and international games. Also at the mention of Tennis names like Odartey Annan, Tony Dove,

GEORGE GAMEL one of Ghana's greatest tennis player.

 George Gamel and Peter Annan comes to mind. This game is so disciplined it makes playing so enjoyable.