Tennis
By: Katie Ballard, Mr. Briggs 5th Grade, Green Meadow Elementary
Locations of Tennis Courts in Comstock
Locations Of Tennis Courts In Comstock
| Comstock High School | 2107 N. 26th Street |
| Comstock Northeast Middle School | 1423 N. 28th Street |
Modern tennis probably came from handball games played by Egyptians and Arabs in early 500 B.C., though some historians believe that it started with competitions between the Romans and Greeks in later centuries. Handball games became popular with the French, players used gloves and later they started to use paddles to stop their hands from stinging.These paddles eventually turned into The modern day tennis rackets.
Over a long period of time, handball played with paddles became known as court tennis; It was played in a walled court, With the ball playable off the sides of the walls as well as the ends of the wall, and the floor is also used. Court tennis was very popular with the wealthy people and some of the monarchs of France and England were devotees, including France's King Henry VIII. Tennis is still popular in France, a country with many champions. Tennis, as it's played now, was introduced by British army major Walter C. Wingfield. In 1873, he a book, Sphairistike or Lawn Tennis, and he demonstrated the game at a party in Wales. The Marlyebone Cricket Club arranged an exhibition of the game at their Lord's Cricket affair. In that same year, tennis was introduced to the All-England Croquet Club at Wimbledon. In 1877 the All-England Croquet Club, staged its first lawn tennis championship. Today the All-England Championships for men and women, still contested on the same Wimbledon site in London, offer the sport's most highly prized titles.
The British took tennis everywhere in there empire, but it was a young lady coming back from vacation to Bermuda that that brought tennis back to America 1874. United States authorities about customs had never seen anything like the strange paraphernalia of the game she brought back with her, so they held up entry of balls and rackets until they could find a way to tax them. They finally surrendered and admitted the equipment free of important duty.
By 1881 tennis became so popular in America that the United States Lawn Tennis Association was organized to set standard playing rules and playing conditions. After many years, the U.S.L.T.A. relaxed their rules to permit amateurs to compete against professionals, as they do in golf. This has added tremendous interest to the big tournaments and stimulated thousands of young adults to learn the game.
Where to Find Tennis Supplies in Comstock
| Meijer | 372-9149 | 5800 Gull Road, Kalamazoo, Michigan |
