Soft tennis words · Beginner

A racket sport played on a tennis-sized court with a soft, air-filled rubber ball. It is played mostly as doubles, with singles, mixed doubles and team events. The ISTF says it is the worldwide governing body and follows the IOC's principles.

A rectangle 23.77 m long, split in two by the net. Doubles courts are 10.97 m wide, with sidelines and base lines, service lines 8.23 m wide and 12.80 m service sidelines, and a service centre line. A singles court is 8.23 m wide, bounded by the service sidelines.

A black net 12.65 m long, with meshes not more than 3.5 cm square, stretched tight between the posts at a height of 1.06 to 1.07 m at the sidelines. The top and the metal cord are covered by a white band 5 to 6 cm wide, and the net's ends touch the posts and its bottom touches the ground.

A rubber, air-filled ball, white in principle, 6.6 cm across (plus or minus 0.1 cm) and 30 to 31 g. Dropped from 1.5 m onto the court it must bounce 70 to 80 cm high.

A game is won by the first pair to win four points. At three points each the score is deuce, and a pair needs to win a point to get advantage and then the next point to win the game.

A match is normally 7 games (the first to win 4), or 9 games. Short matches can be a 15-point match, a 3-game or a 5-game match, and long ones a 3-set or 5-set match, a set being 15 points or 3, 5, 7 or 9 games. A singles match is 7 games in principle.

The deciding game when both pairs have won the same number of games, such as 3-3 in a 7-game match. It is won by 7 points, with deuce and advantage from 6-6, and in a 15-point match the final game goes to 15, with deuce from 14-14. The serving pattern and the changes of ends are different.

In a match of an odd number of games, the pair that first wins the majority of the games wins the match. In a set match the pair that first wins the majority of the sets wins it.

A server tosses the ball up by hand and strikes it before it drops, from behind the base line and between the imaginary extensions of the centre mark and the sideline. It goes to the diagonally opposite service court, starting from the right and then the left. A one-armed player may use the racket to toss.

A player or pair loses the point for errors such as a ball that does not go over the net, a ball landing out or two bounces, or touching the ball with the body or clothing, the net, the opponent or umpire, hitting the ball twice or carrying it, and hitting only the frame. The cases have names that umpires call.

In principle a match has a chair umpire on the umpire's chair and a vice umpire, with two linesmen added if needed. The chair umpire runs the match and declares the scores; the vice umpire and linesmen judge their assigned lines and items and signal to the chair umpire. The chair umpire covers any who are not used.

Individual doubles for men and women, individual singles for men and women, individual mixed doubles, and team competitions for men and women. The host decides the events and states them in the guide to the competitions.

Soft tennis for two single players on a court 8.23 m wide, using the doubles rules where the singles rules are silent. Players alternate serving each game, and in the final game each serves two points in turn.

A competition is a knockout tournament, a round robin (everyone plays everyone), or a combination. The organisers decide and state it in the guide.