Rules and Guidelines

The main differences from regular tennis:

• The court dimensions:
  • 12 x 6 metres for doubles
  • 12 x 5 metres for singles
• Racquets must be no shorter than 20.8 inches and no longer than 21,5 inches. Most manufacturers "21 inch" racquets fall within this variation despite being labelled as 21 inches in length. Head size may be no greater than 107 sq inches;
• The official ball of touchtennis is the Slazenger Indoor Foam ball which is 8CM in diameter and made from cut foam. No other ball may be used in tournaments although any foam ball may be used for social or ladder play;
• If the racquet leaves your hand in order to make a shot, then that shot will still count so long as your racquet does not fly over the net on to your opponents side of the court;
• No Let Rule – if the ball clips the net and then lands in the correct service box (diagonal to the server) then that ball is considered "in play"
• Grunting – it is recommended that you grunt during play as it is known to distract your opponent!
• Ball toss – once the server tosses the ball upward to serve then that player is obliged to hit it. Unlike tennis we do not want any Pat Rafter specials of 10 ball tosses followed by "Sorry mate!" You throw it, HIT IT! Or you lose one of your serves
• If your serve hits your opponent without bouncing then it is a fault UNLESS they are touching the service line or are inside the service box when the ball hits them in which case the server wins the point.
• A serve may not be volleyed back by the returner
• Only ONE serve is permitted in touchtennis

Rules for tournament play

• Warm ups are prohibited after your first match. Once each player has played an initial match no further pre match warm ups are permitted on that day. Should a tournament stretch over more than one day then a further 3 minute warm up is permitted for each player assuming one or both of them have not played before on that day in a tournament match;
• Foul language: One audible obscentiy of any description is an IMMEDIATE point penalty. 3 audible obscenities in a match means immediate disqualification
• Racquet abuse: If you smash a racquet you are immediately disqualified. You are also fined £20.00 which must be paid prior to playing any further tour matches. However, if you do no damage and you can still play with it, then you may continue playing as long as you use the same racquet for the rest of the match…even if you break a string during the match after you have whacked it against something, you still need to continue using it.
• Serving: No underarm serves are permitted in tournament play. It constitutes an immediate fault.

Click here to download a PDF explaining the differences between Lawn Tennis and touchtennis.