Is being extremely tall an advantage or disadvantage in the game of tennis?

Question

My son will turn 13 mid November and right now is a hair shy of 6 feet tall. He just started tennis this summer and likes it. I was wondering if his height will help or hurt him in this game. He is also very lean,and beginning to work on his muscles, if that matters in your answering......Thanks!

Answer 1

It is an advantage for the most part but can be a small disadvantage. In terms of generating power this will help him immensely, further more it is harder to get a ball past a tall guy because of the ground he covers. It is very hard to lob because he can make an overhead of it easily if it isn't done exactly right and since the ball has to go so high to go past him in a lob situation he can easily get to base line and return. The same applies for net situations. The problem arises with low balls, he can easily lose balance in such a situation and returning slices and drop shots isn't very enjoyable with that height. In terms of his service game, that amount of power should allow him keep service very easily. I realize that these answers might be a bit beyond his level now but if he keeps playing tennis and plays USTA tournaments or any real matches for that matter, this advantage will become apparent. There is also a certain intimidation factor that exists when playing an opponent that large. So yes, his height is a blessing more than a curse.

Answer 2

Your sons height should not be a factor in tennis, and if anything, should actually help him.  This is because the taller you are, the longer your wingspan, and the longer your wingspan, the more balls he can reach.  At this point, the only thing that is a factor in how good he is, will be a little bit of how much talent he actually has, and a whole lot of hard work.  

Good luck, hope I helped!

Answer 3

Yeah height is a good thing. I hear the perfect height for tennis is 6 foot 3 inches. So I would hope he reaches that height. And like the others said who answered this question,  the taller you are the harder it is to return your serve. Look at Andy Roddick, he's around 6'2 and he once served a 155 mph serve. And Venus Williams is about 6'2 herself and serves in the 120's all the time, and believe me that has helped her win 7 grand slams. But if he gets too tall, like around 6'8 he can have trouble with movement but I don't think he will get that tall. So it's lookin good for his tennis career.

Answer 4

well, yes and no.  there's an ideal height..which seems to be between 6'0 and 6'2...at that height you can generate enough pop on your serve and you're also able to get down low to make volleys and back up your serve or put pressure on your opponents...but when you're too tall (6'4 and up), it can work against you when you have to always be bending down to retrieve short balls which can often lead to injuries..this is why you generally don't see very tall guys dominating.

you can look at the top 3 right now:

nadal/federer - 6'1

djokovic        - 6'2

and in sampras' time:

sampras - 6'1

agassi    - 5'11

this is not to say that if he's so tall (or short), he can never achieve top status...you can always find exceptions.

Answer 5

It can be an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that it will help him with his serve making it easier for it to go over the net and it allows him to hit down on it more. It can be a disadvantage because taller people tend to move slower, so he may not be able to run down as many balls. (He also may have trouble reaching for lower balls.)

Answer 6

it depends if you can use it to your advantange

but yes it helps in several ways:

- serve starts higher

- harder to pass at net vertically and horizontaly

- he will also cover a larger area on the baseline so it wil help him reach the ball faster

if you watch USTA most playersn are over 6 foot nadal is 6'1 and so is federer

nadal just played a match today against sam querrey who is almost 6'6 and he gave nadal a hard time despite his little experience one reason being his extrordinary height