Unusual Sports
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Jeu de paume / Real tennis
Jeu de Paume literally means "game of the palm", as in its original form the game was like squash but using your hands instead of a racket to strike the ball. Jeu de Paume is also called 'Real Tennis' or 'Court Tennis', to distinguish it from the game of lawn Tennis which evolved from this game. The rules and scoring of Real Tennis are similar to those of lawn tennis.
A real tennis court is a building with high walls and ceiling. The court is enclosed by walls on all sides, with three having sloping roofs with various openings underneath, and a buttress that intrudes into the playing area off which shots can be played. All courts share the same basic layout but have slightly different dimensions. Real tennis is played on 47 existing courts in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and France.
Related Pages
- about Jeu de Paume at the Olympic Games
- more unusual sports
- videos of unusual sports
