4 fun tennis games to play with big groups

Tennis is often thought of as a sport for two or four people, but it's possible to go out on the court and develop your skills with groups of any size. Here are 4 fun tennis games that are not traditional matches.

Baseball isn't just meant for the diamond – it can also be played on a tennis court!

• Split up your friends into two teams and designate a batting order and fielding positions.
• Designate areas as bases. Some good ideas are the two net posts for first and third base, the centre of the opposite back curtain or fence as second and the centre of the baseline as home plate.
• Play the game much like you would regular baseball, but allow the "pitch" to bounce once before players hit it.
• This game helps players develop quickness, ball aim and hand-eye coordination.

This game requires speed and strategic ball placement.

• Split the group into two equal halves and have the two groups line up on opposite baselines.
• Have one player feed a ball in to start a rally; once they feed the ball, they must move out of the way and join the back of the line on the opposite side of the court.
• Each player must hit one ball and run to the other side of the court to get back in line.
• When a player misses, they are out and another ball must be fed.
• The winner is the last man or woman standing.

This game lets players work on their individual rallying skills.

• Have all players line up on one side of the court, then designate one "king/queen of the court" to go stand alone on the other side.
• The first player up feeds a ball to the king of the court and they play out the point.
• If the king of the court wins the point, the king earns a point and gets to stay on as the king to face the next challenger.
• If the challenger in line wins, this player does not earn a point but does replace the king of the court on the other side.
• Players keep track of their points and the first player to 11 wins.

This is a great game for a large group of friends.

• Separate into two or three teams of five and then designate a first feeder on each team who will stand on one side of the court at the service line.
• The other teams should line up across from the feeder.
• The feeder feeds balls to their team and the players have to catch them in the air.
• Each player has a chance to catch a feed and then must go to the back of their team's line.
• The first team to catch five balls in the air wins and must yell "Five alive!" when they reach five balls total. The feeders then rotate until everyone has had a turn to feed.

If you have a group of friends who like tennis, grab your racquets and give these games a try!