In the present day, with stress and tension taking over our lives, recreational activities and getting involved in some sports is very important. This helps us with keeping our bodies fit and helps us get some time for ourselves where we can enjoy and play a sport.
Tennis is one such game that can be very helpful for our bodies and can also help us enjoy ourselves. But have you ever thought about why tennis has such a strange scoring system? Here is an article that will help you know why tennis has such a strange scoring system.
The origin of this strange scoring system of this Olympic racket game is trusted to medieval French. It is said that in ancient times a clock used to be used to count the scores. The clock face was the score counter and the moves of the clock hands indicated the score. This means that the score of 60 is the end of the game as 60 in the clock means the next hour.
Tennis is believed to be a very old game. It originated in the north of France in the 12th century. However, the game was then played with the palm and the ball was struck by the palm of the player’s hand. This is the time when the strange way of the scoring came up. Back then the scoring of the game of tennis was done according to the clock. The clock was used to count the score of tennis when players were playing. This is because the clock changes from 5 to 5 in its marking.
This also means that the score of 60 marks the ending of the game. However, there is another theory that historians believe in. Few historians believe that this strange way of scoring in the game of tennis is because of its earliest version of the game which was called Jeu De Paume. Jeu de Paume was when there were no rackets and people used their palms to strike the ball. The size of the court was almost 45 feet at every side of the division net and the players had to start from the back and they gradually moved forward every time they scored a point.
Why is tennis scoring 15 – 30 – 40?
As the earliest version of tennis Jeu de Paume calculated scores with clocks, that is why the number system became 15 to 30 and so on. This means that the quarter movement of the real minute hand of the clock announces the score from 15 to 30 to 40. So when the minutes hand if the clock moved to the 60 pointers or 12 pointers it meant that the game is over. But according to the clock numbering the point system should have been 15 to 30 to 45, which is not used in modern tennis scoring.
The number 45 was changed to 40. This was done to make sure that any one of the opponents of the modern tennis game wins with at least one pointer difference, that is when the deuce got introduced in the game. To ensure that the scoring stays true to the ancient game and the ending of the game is marked by point 60, the 45 pointers were finally changed to the 40 pointers.
Now, this changing of the number means that if both the tennis players are at the score of 40 then the player who scored next would then get a 10. This would change the clock scoring to 50. So now if this player scores again before the opponent then he or she gets another 10 which makes the clock scoring move to the 60 pointer which marks the ending of the tennis game. This is the deuce and the real reason why the clock scoring of tennis is 15-30-40 and not 15-30-45.
Why Does Tennis Go From 30 to 40?
We all understand that tennis is a very old game that continues to have that same scoring system that was being used in 12th century France for the earliest version of the game, Jeu de Paume. Each game has its vocabulary and its own style of scoring. As we know, historians and a lot of other researchers believe that this strange scoring system is the result of using clock faces to count the scores.
The tennis scoring goes from 30 to 40 and not to 45 so that there is a chance for at least one opponent to win the match. This is the deuce. The 45 is changed to 40 so if both players at 40 the faster opponent to reach 60 wins which would not have been possible if the pointing was 45. This is how the deuce works. Also if an opponent fails or is unable to score consecutive 2 points in a row after the 40 points then the clock scoring again changes back to the 40 points.
This starts over another deuce. This is the reason tennis scoring went from 30 to 40 because of the introduction of the Deuce. However, It is also important to understand that the deuce is a comparatively new concept and did not come until the 15th century and it continues to be in the modern tennis game like the old scoring system.
This racket game can be played with an opponent and can also be played individually. The best part about this Olympic game is that it can be played by any age group from teenagers to senior citizens. It is a great way to forget your daily stress and work and just enjoy yourself. It can be very beneficial for middle-aged and old people as it includes running and moving around which can help them ease up their daily movements and can also help in making their bones strong.
However, this strange scoring system was only because it is a very old game dating back to the 12th century where the scoring used to be according to clocks. That same scoring is still kept with very minute canes to let any one of the opponents win.
