Tennis for Beginners: Start With a Controlled Rally

Start tennis by learning to send an easy ball to a partner—not by trying to hit hard from the back of the court. Your first useful goal is a short, cooperative rally: an exchange of shots over the net.

This guide takes you from holding the racket to making contact, moving into position and keeping a few balls in play. You can practise the first stages alone; a partner makes the final stage possible.

Bring simple equipment and use an easier ball

You need a racket you can swing comfortably, court shoes, a few balls and water. Borrowing a racket is fine for your first session; ask beforehand if a lesson provider supplies equipment.

For these exercises, choose a red low-compression tennis ball if available. It is not just for children: the USTA recommends a red-dot ball for first-time adult players too. Its lower bounce helps make the initial control drill more manageable. Orange and green beginner balls are other options as you progress; you do not need to start with the standard yellow match ball. USTA beginner guidance and the LTA’s getting-started guide explain these choices.

Before hitting, spend a few minutes walking briskly, taking gentle sideways steps and making slow practice swings. Clear loose balls from where you will move, and leave enough space between players to swing safely.

Know enough rules to start

For ordinary singles tennis:

• The court: use the inner sidelines and the baseline—the back boundary. The narrow outer strips, called doubles alleys, are not part of the singles court.
• The bounce: return the ball before its second bounce. You must let a serve bounce before returning it; during the rally, you may hit before or after one bounce.
• The lines: a ball touching the relevant boundary line is in.
• The serve: start behind the baseline, between the centre mark and singles sideline, on the right half for the first point of each game. Serve into the diagonally opposite service box. Alternate halves after each point. A first fault gives you a second serve; two consecutive faults lose the point. If a serve touches the net and lands in the correct box, it is a let: repeat that serve without cancelling any previous fault.
• A standard game: points go love (zero), 15, 30, 40, game. At 40–40, called deuce, a player must win two consecutive points to win the game. Call the server’s score first.

These are the standard provisions in the 2026 ITF Rules of Tennis, Rules 1, 5, 12 and 16–24. For now, your practice can begin with a gentle feed rather than a serve. That is a drill, not a regulation match. Save sets and tiebreaks for the tennis scoring guide.

Build your first forehand in three stages

A forehand is the stroke you normally play on the side of your dominant hand: right side for a right-hander, left side for a left-hander.

1. Find a comfortable grip and control the ball

Hold the racket in your dominant hand near the bottom of the handle, as though shaking hands with it. Keep your hand secure without squeezing as hard as you can. This is a starting cue, not a precise grip specification. The LTA uses it for beginners; the USTA emphasizes comfortable grip pressure and control of the string face rather than one compulsory grip. LTA forehand steps · USTA forehand basics

For a first control exercise, turn your palm upward, tap the ball gently up to about eye height, let it bounce and catch it with your free hand. Move your feet and turn your shoulders to get sideways to the ball. Repeat. Once that feels manageable, tap it again after each bounce instead of catching it. This is the USTA’s self-rally progression.

Checkpoint: can you repeat several taps without chasing the ball across the court? If not, tap more softly and keep the catch between repetitions.

2. Send a self-fed ball forward

Now stand around the service line—the line running across the court behind the service boxes—and face the net.

1. Turn your shoulders and hips together toward your forehand side. Let the racket move with the turn rather than pulling your arm back by itself.
2. Drop the ball slightly ahead and to that side, leaving room between your body and the ball.
3. After one bounce, make a short, smooth swing. Aim for contact comfortably in front and to the side, roughly between knee and waist height for this exercise.
4. Send the ball over the net toward a large area in the opposite service box. Finish comfortably, without forcing the racket into a pose.

The shoulder-and-hip preparation is a unit turn. The USTA teaches it before adding the strike, and places beginner forehand contact slightly ahead and off to the hitting side. The LTA suggests contact between knee and waist height. Unit-turn instruction · Contact guidance · LTA contact-height guidance

Checkpoint: try ten self-feeds. Look for clean contact and a balanced finish, not speed. If the ball crowds your body, change where you drop it before changing your whole swing.

3. Add footwork and a partner

Stand opposite a partner, each near your service line. Ask them to toss an easy ball to your forehand, then catch your return after its bounce.

Start with the racket in front and knees gently bent. Read the toss, turn early and take small adjustment steps to leave room for your swing. After hitting, bring the racket back in front and return toward your starting spot. Preparing before the bounce and recovering after the shot are key parts of the LTA’s beginner forehand sequence.

When toss-and-catch is comfortable, have your partner use a racket too. Begin with a gentle drop-feed and try to exchange five easy shots. Count both players’ hits together. Feed mostly to the forehand side for this drill; do not sprint around every backhand ball.

Ready to progress: use five cooperative shots, repeated three times, as a practice target—not a formal ability standard. Move a little farther from the net only if you still have time to prepare and finish balanced. If control disappears, shorten the distance again.

What to learn next

Add a two-handed backhand so you can receive balls on both sides, then learn to start points with the serve drills in order. Do not assume your forehand grip belongs on every stroke: the LTA teaches the continental grip for serves and also identifies its use for volleys and smashes in its beginner serve guide. Use our continental grip guide to check the hand position.