Tennis is a sport where things can definitely get exciting, though you might have to learn a little more about the sport in order to fully appreciate it. Whether you’re just a tennis fan or someone that really wants to play tennis at an amateur or professional level, it’s definitely a good idea to learn about the jargon of tennis.

The term jargon isn’t new — it just refers to the special terms that every field in the world has. Whether you’re talking about computers, tennis, basketball, football, soccer, or anything else in between, there are special terms that you’ll need to know in order to not only grasp the game of tennis, but also be able to talk about it with other people. If you don’t understand the lingo, then it’s going to be hard to really understand what people are trying to tell you about the great game of tennis.

So let’s get specific, shall we?

Backhand — this is where the swing has the back of the hand moving towards the net rather than away from it.

Volley — Volley is a term that you’ll hear a lot in tennis commentary, as it’s where the player strikes the ball before it even bounces. This is usually the case when the play is close to the net. However, the ball is no good if it hits the net, so they have to make sure to be as careful as they can be!

Set — Again, this is one of the common terms in the world of tennis. It’s referring back to the way the matches are set up. In the world of singles, it’s actually composed of six games. However, if there’s a tie, there has to be a tie-breaker. This is where there’s another set to determine the winner of the entire match. There are six games in a set, and three to five sets in a match. Doubles works a little differently, since there are eight games in a set. This is where you really get a deeper appreciation for the game of tennis, because it really is a lot of work to get through those sets!

Love — one of our favorite terms. Love means nothing — literally. So if you hear a tennis score being love-thirty, that means 0-30.

Ace — Ace is another one of our favorite terms. It’s simply a valid serve that the opponent doesn’t get — in other words, it’s not reached by the other player. The server automatically wins the point. Professional tennis players love rackin’ up those aces big time!

Double-fault — In the world of tennis, you only get one real chance to serve the ball properly. If you fail that first one, you get to do it again. However, if you fail that second time, it’s a double-fault and your opponent wins.

These are only a handful of jargon terms used in the world of tennis. We could literally write a full book on the jargon of tennis, but this guide should definitely get you started if you’re trying to understand more about the game — what other tennis terms can you think of?