Monday, January 19, 2015

Beach Tennis, the New Fashionable Island Sport


Did you know that beach tennis was born in the 80s in Italy? Long unknown to the general public, it is nowadays the trendy sport on beaches around the world. Tourists on holiday in the islands always find time for a game of beach tennis!


You’re not one of them ? This is probably because you do not know beach tennis yet ! It is imperative we fix this! One sure thing : you will thank us! 
Inspired by traditional tennis, beach tennis rules are slightly different from those of its "older brother". The field and the racquet alone are very different. Unlike tennis which is played on a flat 23m long and 8m wide field, a beach tennis field has no specific dimension. 
It can be played anywhere as long as there is room on the beach. This most certainly contributed to its success ... However, often a beach volleyball court  of 16m long and 8m wide, on which the net is lowered, is used. Regarding the racquet, it is full (that is to say without rope) and smaller. In addition to this, the distinction between the two sports is probably the bounce (or rather the lack of rebounds), since the ball must never touch the sandy soil.

If you do not want to be the laughing stock of your fellow players; do not confuse beach tennis with beach ball. Despite strong similarities between the two sports, beach ball is distinguished by its wooden racket and the lack of field and net. This is a sport that requires very little – if any – infrastructure…

Very popular in the islands, those of the Indian Ocean also, beach tennis is widely practiced by the locals as well as tourists. In Reunion Island, beach tennis has even almost become a national sport. The islanders from Reunion are thus amongst the world's best in their category. With Mauritius, Reunion is amongst those who promote this sport the most in the world. Both islands are also the only Indian Ocean destinations to organize international tournaments like the Mauritius International Beach Tennis Open.

The other islands in the region are not far behind though. Whether in Maldives, Sri Lanka or Madagascarm beach tennis has become so widespread that many hotels scattered throughout the area offer this activity to tourists from all backgrounds and destinations.

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