Taking It to Court

Anyone for court tennis? Leave the green balls at home and get ready to swat trick shots like the Knox Poop. Then shout, "A chase more than a yard worse than the last gallery." We promise you'll feel just like a king.

Henry VIII was playing it while his wife got axed.

Confused?

See, despite its name, "court tennis" isn't tennis at all.

Known abroad as "real tennis," or "royal tennis," court tennis is the archaic ancestor of all racket sports and was once mainly played by European royalty. In the modern U.S., however, nonroyals can now pound nine active courts. The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI, and the Prince's Court in the Washington suburb of McLean, VA, welcome the curious public to come check out the game.

How's it work? The enclosed court is larger than a lawn tennis court, the net sags, the floor is stone, and walls project out at odd angles. The balls are hand sewn and the rackets - long and wooden, with skewed heads - are made by only one company in the world, Grays of Cambridge (according to the United States Court Tennis Preservation Foundation). Scoring is hopelessly complex.

Much of the sport's allure is its history: the sport of Wellington, Napoleon, and Henry VIII (who, according to some accounts, was on the court when Anne Boleyn got the ax), court tennis was invented by 12th-century French monks who began batting a ball around the cloister. It reached our shores more than 3 centuries ago, beating the Andy Roddick-version of the game by some 150 years.

That said, it has stayed true to its rarefied roots. Most clubs remain private, catering to only the most elite (and perhaps eccentric) sort of sportsman. But now the public can indulge in the sport of kings. Haven N.B. Pell, the man behind Prince's Court - where newcomers can get free lessons - has played for 45 years. He was initially drawn to it as a teenager because there's no out of bounds, which means you can whack the ball as hard as you like. "Now, I am also drawn to an activity that is so little known, and I favor the extraordinary sportsmanship and fair play," he says. His advice to players looking to try the game? "Be prepared to become addicted."

Posted on March 13, 2006