Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" and "doubles". Badminton is often played as a casual outdoor activity in a yard or on a beach; formal games are played on a rectangular indoor court. Points are scored by striking the shuttlecock with the racquet and landing it within the opposing side's half of the court.
Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce once on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
Squash is a racket and ball sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their rackets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. The objective of the game is to hit the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. There are about 20 million people who play squash regularly world-wide in over 185 countries. The governing body of Squash, the World Squash Federation (WSF), is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but the sport is not part of the Olympic Games, despite a number of applications. Supporters continue to lobby for its incorporation in a future Olympic program. The Professional Squash Association (PSA) organizes the pro tour. The sport is infrequently called "squash rackets", to distinguish itself from the related sport of rackets.
Sepak Takraw, or Sepaktakraw, also called kick volleyball, is a team sport played with a rattan between two teams of two to four players on a court resembling a badminton court. It shares similarities to volleyball and footvolley with its use of a rattan ball and allowing players to use only their feet, knees, shoulders, chest and head to touch the ball. At a first glance, Sepak Takraw appears to be a mixture of volleyball and soccer.
American handball, known as handball in the United States and sometimes referred to as wallball, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small, rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent(s) cannot do the same without the ball touching the ground twice nor hitting out-of-bound. The three versions are four-wall, three-wall and one-wall. Each version can be played either by two players (singles), three players (cutthroat) or four players (doubles), but in official tournaments, singles and doubles are the only versions played.
Václav "Vašek" Klouda is a Czech competitive freestyle footbag player. Raised and resident in Prague, in the Czech Republic, Klouda started playing footbag when he was 13. He won his first Footbag World Championship in 2002 in San Francisco, beating the two-time defending champion Ryan Mulroney in the most tightly contested finals ever. He completed a clean sweep by taking first place in the three major freestyle disciplines: 2 Minute Routines, Shred30, and Sick 3. Klouda has since successfully defended his title five times, in Prague in 2003, Montreal in 2004, in Helsinki in 2005, in Frankfurt in 2006, and in Orlando in 2007. He holds the record for most consecutive World Titles (6), as well as total World Titles (7).
Jianzi, tī jianzi (踢毽子), tī jian (踢毽) or jianqiú (毽球), is a traditional Chinese national sport in which players aim to keep a heavily weighted shuttlecock in the air by using their bodies, apart from the hands, unlike in similar games Peteca and Indiaca. The primary source of jianzi is a Chinese ancient game called Cuju of the Han dynasty 2,000 years ago. Jianzi's competitive sport types are played on a badminton court using inner or outer lines in different types of jianzi's competitive sports, respectively. It can also be played artistically, among a circle of players in a street or park, with the objective to keep the shuttle 'up' and show off skills. In Vietnam, it is known as đá cầu and is the national sport. In the Philippines, it is known as sipa and was also the national sport until it was replaced by arnis in December 2009. In recent years, the game has gained a formal following in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere.
Pickleball is a paddleball sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, much like a wiffle ball, with 26–40 round holes, over a net. The sport shares features of other racket sports: the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, and a net and rules somewhat similar to tennis, with several modifications.
The tennis scoring system is a standard widespread method for scoring tennis matches, including pick-up games. Some tennis matches are played as part of a tournament, which may have various categories, such as singles and doubles. The great majority are organised as a single-elimination tournament, with competitors being eliminated after a single loss, and the overall winner being the last competitor without a loss. Optimally, such tournaments have a number of competitors equal to a power of two in order to fully fill out a single elimination bracket. In many professional and top-level amateur events, the brackets are seeded according to a recognised ranking system, in order to keep the best players in the field from facing each other until as late in the tournament as possible; additionally, if byes are necessary because of a less-than-full bracket, those byes in the first round are usually given to the highest-seeded competitors.
This page is a glossary of tennis terminology.
Crossminton is a racket game that combines elements from different sports like badminton, squash and tennis. It is played without any net and has no prescribed playground, so it can be executed on tennis courts, streets, beaches, fields or gyms.
Peteca is a traditional sport in Brazil, played with a "hand shuttlecock" from indigenous origins and reputed to be as old as the country itself. The same name is given to the shuttlecock-object itself.
Traditionally, tennis is played between two people in a singles match, or two pairs in a doubles match. Tennis can also be played on different courts, including grass courts, clay courts, hard courts, and artificial grass courts.
The International Footbag Players' Association, Inc. (IFPA) is a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that serves as the international governing body for the sport of footbag. IFPA as a corporation has existed since 1994, though its name changed in 2000 from World-Wide Footbag Foundation, Inc..
Several sports related to volleyball have become popular. Indoor volleyball and beach volleyball are both events at the Olympics, and sitting volleyball is an event at the Paralympics. Other varieties are localised, or are played at an amateur or informal level.
Various scoring systems in badminton were developed during the sport's history. Since 2006, international competition uses the 3 x 21 rally point system as endorsed by the Badminton World Federation.
Racketlon is a combination sport in which competitors play a sequence of the four most popular racket sports: table tennis, badminton, squash, and tennis. It originated in Finland and Sweden and was modeled on other combination sports like the triathlon and decathlon.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to tennis:
A footbag is a small, round bag usually filled with plastic pellets or sand, which is kicked into the air as part of a competitive game or as a display of dexterity. "Hacky Sack" is the name of a brand of footbag popular in the 1970s, which has since become a generic trademark.
