Who invented Hand Tennis? (Jeu De Palme)

Well, the answer to this question is unknown. Jeu De Palme was the first ever recorded form of tennis. This dates back over 1,000 years. So "who" is a difficult question. All we know today is that this wave of tennis became popular in France. Hence, Jeu De Palme.

Many believe that the word tennis comes from the French tenez, the plural imperative form of the verb tenir, meaning to receive, hold, or take. So tennis in general dates so far back that no one actually knows where it originates from. The reality is, no one invented tennis. Tennis is the simply the reality of play! So, no one in our day and age created hand tennis. That's as silly as someone coming out and saying they created tennis.

Who ever started this original form of tennis (hand tennis) is long gone. But we do know one thing. The tennis we see and hear about today was inspired by this original form. Hand Tennis was the catalyst for racket sports all around the world.

What ever happened to Hand Tennis?

Although original tennis (or hand tennis) was popular in the 1100's, it unfortunately died out because the sport was excessively challenging. Not only did they play with just their hands, they would use a leather ball which would create blisters, bruises, and cuts. So hand tennis was no joke back in the day. Because of these reasons, hand tennis nearly died.

Luckily, hand held rackets and pressurized balls were invented! This brought back a new age of tennis. The sport had become increasingly popular all over the world. But, luckily hand tennis didn't totally die out. A large segment of people kept it going in a completely new fashion. This was what we know of today as hand ball. Popular in many areas of the world, hand ball became the new "jeu de palme".

The Future of Hand Tennis

Hand Tennis is now making a huge come back. All the infrastructure is in place to build the sport back up again - so that's exactly what we set out to do. A group of tennis lovers have come together to create a non profit organization referred to as the International Hand Tennis Federation. This organization is bringing together all of the hand tennis lovers to design and build back the ancient sport of Hand Tennis.

Anthony Soto and Emmanuel Soto, two brothers from the United States set out to find a solution to the biggest problems hand tennis players face today. This is how the first ever Glove Racket was invented. This piece of equipment makes hand tennis an effortless and enjoyable process. They are setting out to build Hand Tennis into an international phenomenon.