What Equipment Is Used in Tennis?

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Lincoln Ward. I am the director of the Austin Tennis Center, as well as a USPTA Certified Teaching Pro, here in Austin, Texas. Today, we're going to talk about the equipment you need for tennis. The first thing you're definitely going to need, is a tennis racket, with strings. A tennis racket is going to go along with your tennis ball, so you can hit the ball back and forth. Now, the rest of the things you need, are not quite as essential, as your tennis ball and your tennis racket. You could definitely use a tennis court, which will definitely help your game, but you don't necessarily need that. You can always play tennis on the side of a wall, or a backboard, so a tennis court is definitely optional, when it's coming to playing tennis. Now, there's no definite criteria for what kind of clothing you need to wear. Back before 1975, most of the tournaments required you to wear white shorts, or white shirts, but that's no longer the case. Now, the tennis shoes, the shoes you use, is quite important actually. You don't want to wear open toed shoes, when you're playing tennis, because of all the changing direction, running and stopping you need. There are specific tennis shoes that you want to use, and that's pretty much, you can go between cross-trainers, or tennis specific shoes, or even some basketball shoes. You really want to look for a shoe that does not have a black sole. The soles on the shoes can leave scuffs on a tennis court, which tend to ruin the court a little bit faster. Also, on the bottom of your tennis shoe, there are patterns that tennis shoes generally have. They are, there's a lot more gaps in between the shoes, which creates more surface area, between the rubber and the shoe. Cross-trainers generally work, as well as basketball shoes. That's pretty much the equipment you need, in tennis."