Am I an idiot because I have trouble understanding the fine points of tennis?

"Is it because I sucked at physics in school? "

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Chris DiStefano used to work at the US Opoen

I understand that the commentators should STFU and let us enjoy the action as if we were spectators in the stands.

I'm an aspie who's always been shit at sports, but tennis is about the easiest thing in the world for me to understand. It's those damn markings on the ground in soccer and basketball that confuse me to no end. And the offside rule – have watched videos and read explanations, but I'm still no close to grasping what it's all about.

I like that there's Love involved.

Yeah, you're pretty stupid if you can't even understand tennis

[quote]I understand that the commentators should STFU and let us enjoy the action as if we were spectators in the stands.

That’s the thing, they’re afraid to leave 3 seconds of dead air. All the minutiae about this shot and that shot must be fascinating to tennis buffs, but the rest of us just want to watch the damn match.

^ Its NOT fascinating in the least

All of the above Op

Hit the ball, hopefully over the net and don't go out of bounds. That's essentially it, OP.

Yeah. What's a 'touchback"??

[quote]Am I an idiot because I have trouble understanding the fine points of tennis?

All signs point to yes.

Too boring to watch.

R11 I understand the rules. I just don’t get it when they’re talking about things like kick serves and putting topspin on a groundstroke and inside forehands and whatever.

Have you really never played it at all? Not even in high school?

R15, WE tennis buffs know all that shit. Why the McEnroe brothers have to justify their million + dollar salaries is another matter.

Go back to Physics for Dummies…and let us know.

R16 I’ve played maybe three times. I really didn’t enjoy it, but I like watching.

All’s I know is that I saw cute little Taylor fritz lose and I needed to give him a big hug

No need to feel sorry for him, he's 1.8 million richer

OP, you could go to YouTube to see examples of what you’re looking to understand. Kick serves are hit in a way that causes the ball to hit the court and spin much higher than a usual serve. The receiver often has a very hard time reaching the ball and if they do, their returns usually are weaker. Imagine the server swinging their racket like a tomahawk and you get the idea.

Inside out and inside in are just terms to describe where a player is hitting the ball with their forehand. Inside in is a shot that goes to a right handed player’s forehand side.. Inside out is the opposite, hitting to a right handed player’s backhand side.

Top spin is basically using your wrist to hit slightly up on the ball, giving it more spin. The more spin, the higher the ball goes over the net. With more spin, players can also hit the ball harder with less danger of it going out. Balls that are hit hard with little margin over the net are considered higher risk to go out.

I watch a lot of tennis and I understand it quite well, but I will say that I find the tie-break rules confusing. Differing rules and point systems from tournament to tournament. I would imagine that the players, too, have a hard time keeping it straight.

Thank you R22, that makes it clearer.

No, that's not why you're an idiot.

Taylor Fritz always chokes in the big matches. He's a headcase, which is very typical of Americans for some reason.. I wish I knew the McEnroe thoughts on that.

Jannik Sinner is a much better player than Fritz, R26, that’s the borrow line. Ugly as sin, but a much much much better player.