Okay Wait, What is Real Tennis?

I recently went abroad for a week to London to watch my partner, Nick Sutcliffe, play a professional squash tournament and while we were there, Nick took me to play “real tennis.”

Full disclosure, this isn’t an article about pickleball, but if you’re like me and love all the racquet sports, read on!

While I mainly play pickleball, I’ve also played tennis, table tennis, squash, padel, pop tennis, racquetball, badminton, paddleball, and now, real tennis. And let me tell you, real tennis is a whole different ballgame (literally). It’s one of the most complicated games I’ve ever played. However, it’s incredibly addicting because of nearly endless ways to strategize and complexify the play.

First off, a little history. The game can be traced back to medieval Europe and has its origin in various handball games played by monks in monasteries during the 11th century. Real tennis gained popularity among European nobility during the Renaissance, particularly in France and England. Real tennis courts were often built on the grounds of royal palaces and estates, and the sport became associated with the aristocracy. Because of its association with the royal courts, real tennis is also sometimes referred to as “court tennis.”

THE COURT

Real tennis courts are typically indoor and feature asymmetrical layouts, a sloping roof running along three sides of the court called a “penthouse,” and netted holes called “galleries,” which balls can be hit into to score points. Part of the wall on the returning side called the “tambour” protrudes out and affects the ball’s trajectory when hit. All of the court's walls can be played off of at any time, creating crazy bounces and ricochets.

There’s a serving side and a returning side of the court and they’re constructed differently. Importantly, there are a few holes in the wall on the court that automatically get you points if you land the ball inside it:

1. The “dedan” is the largest and is centered on the back wall of the serving side 

2. The “winning gallery” is medium-sized and on the far left wall of the returning side

3. The “grille” is the smallest and is on the back right wall of the returning side

There are seven other “galleries” besides the winning gallery, but these evoke “chases” or “hazards,” which do not automatically win you points.

THE RACQUETS

The racquets are long, thin, strung, and have oblong faces. They kind of look like the old-fashioned tennis racquets Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe used back in the day.

THE BALLS

The balls are cork centered, with string wound around the cork, then covered with handsewn woolen cloth – kind of like a fuzzy baseball. So yes, they’re heavy, hard, and play fast. They’re also roughly round, but not perfectly, which often creates bizarre bounces.

THE MECHANICS

The grip is extreme-continental, the stance is open with weight moving forward, and the stroke is short and blocks the ball back with backspin. The serve has to bounce up on the roof of the court (the penthouse!) and roll down onto the court before being returned. All other shots can be hit to wherever takes your fancy.

THE SCORING

Scoring is recorded like tennis, but there is an awful lot of changing sides of the court based on whether there’s a “chase” or “hazard” to be played out, which is where you have to win certain types of points for a second time in order to *actually* get the point.

Fun fact: King Henry VIII made a servant serve the ball for him because “a king does not serve his subjects.” Lol.

Real tennis has bizarre rules and challenging equipment. The court looks like it was created based on a lucid daydream, and the rules seem to have been made up by a group of people who didn’t consult each other or even attempt any kind of continuity. However, the complexity of the game and the ability to strategize is exciting and different. It’s yet another racquet sport to enjoy, but make it Alice-in-Wonderland style. I absolutely loved it.

While real tennis is realistically too complex to learn and too expensive to build if you’re looking to appeal to the mass market, it’s beyond fun to play if you get the chance.