Abstract: A tennis playing apparatus utilizes a hollow base, an upright rigid post member having a bifurcated receiver at its upper end, and an elastically flexible wand member that carries a tennis ball at its upper end and which is movable from a nesting position against the receiver to a second position spaced from the receiver in response to striking of the tennis ball by a tennis racket. Magnetic attraction between the wand member and the post member decreases oscillation of the wand member and releasably retains it against the receiver. The wand member includes an upright shaft and a cap unit at the upper end of the shaft with the tennis ball being fixed to the housing of the cap unit. The cap unit is slidably movable relative to the shaft to move between upper and lower displaced positions and is spring loaded to return to an equilibrium position intermediate between the displaced positions, thereby closely simulating the movement of a free ball when the tennis ball is struck by the racket.