Tennis is a racquet sport. It involves hitting the ball with a racquet to the other side of the net with the goal of winning a point. During each point, a tennis player can win a point only when the ball flies off the racquet strings and lands beyond the opponent’s reach or if the opponent commits an error.
A tennis player can touch the ball with his body only between two points. Before serving, a tennis player asks the ball boys and girls for the ball. Once the player receives the ball, he or she would choose the ball for serving. The first step of a tennis serve is to toss the ball up (down in case of an underarm serve) and hit it with the racquet. The moment in the ball toss when the ball leaves the player’s hand is the last time in that point where any part of his body was legally in contact with the ball.
Once the serve is made and the players rally, the entire point is a spectacle for the way the ball flies off the racquet from either end. If either player touches the ball with any other part of the body to hit the ball, the point is immediately stopped. The ball becomes dead and the player who touched the ball with the body loses the point.
Even though players can legally touch the ball between two points, problems may arise if during that time period the player abuses the ball by kicking it or throwing it in frustration. The chair umpire decides if the act was under the code of conduct or not and might penalize the player for the immediate point(s).
Thus, hitting the ball with the body should be strictly avoided during a point and must hold decency between the points.
