Touch Tennis...it's the future I say

Well not quite but it is gaining popularity quite rapidly.
It involves a lot of skill and guile...plus it encourages serve and volley! Hence its name.
As those of you who have ever played mini red tennis as adults will know, smaller courts need a lot of touch and skill to sustain ralleys on.
Touch Tennis plays on bigger courts than mini red but with 21 inch racquets, foam balls and you get 1 serve!
There are world rankings and events in most countries.

Here's what it is:
http://www.touchtennis.com/gb/bbc-piece-about-touchtennis-1428.php

Here's an example of play:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RLHa29_Zz8Q
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQKuhHgBzs

You like?

They have these courts at a park near where I live, its pretty much like short tennis you play when you are a kid. Its actually harder than it looks, I over hit a lot for the first few games

Yeah it's good fun and places onus on sharpness and skills, plus lots of S&V play!
It's also a great way to sharpen your main tennis game too.

Here's another description of it:
touchtennis is a new sport created in England in 2003. Its footprint has rapidly expanded across several continents. Inspired by Tennis, it follows the same basic rules but on a smaller court. The beauty of this new sport is the need for players to evolve from regular tennis and its "power-hitting" to more cultured & strategic play.The game's addictiveness comes mainly from the way it "levels the field" amongst different players and sexes. The ingenious design of the interaction between racket-ball-surface-court dimensions allows for longer rallies meaning that putting the ball away sometimes seems impossible! However, a word of caution: If you try it, you will get hooked...we have seen it happen again and again.

Im a better squash player than I am tennis player but still love playing tennis, if there were more courts like this....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75pIb3ntyW0 I dont think I would ever leave! Its very big in Spain, pretty much a cross between tennis and squash

Love that clip CAS, as you say it's a cross between the two but with distinct tennis based shots. It's so refreshing to see a lot of net play, and the skill involved with that, for a change!

Another clip of touchtennis from a better angle.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYCD9fa80s0

it almost completely takes the physical aspect out of the game and its pretty much purely skill. If you have a big serve and a good volley you are pretty much unbreakable though

Yep...it's a swing back to pre-slow conditions although some points can also have long ralleys, and the big serves can be returned as the foam ball means a terminal speed is reached. I like the skill and cat & mouse aspect...who knows maybe it can become tennis's version of Cricket's 20:20.

This clip shows court dimensions better and some longer ralleys too...you still need really good tennis strokes too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOEOd-JsctA

very beguiling! I'd like to have a go at this!

Lydian, PM returned

Thanks IMBL.

TP, I know I'd love to find out where the nearest court is, looks like it can pit players of wider age ranges together...would be great to see McEnroe vs Federer on one of these.

That contest I would walk hundreds of miles to see - my two favourite players of all time!