HOW TO PLAY
TENNIS EDITION
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Choose your style:
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Original Hand Tennis (Glove optional)
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Pro Hand Tennis (pick your Glove Racket of choice)
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Choose your game: 1v1, 2v2, 1v2 (king of the hill)
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Determine First Serve: Players/teams flip a coin or a glove racket. The winner of the toss may choose to serve first or choose their side of the court to begin on, but not both.
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2v2 Starting Positions: In doubles, players on each team must decide their starting positions (left wing or right wing relative to the service box) before the start of each game.
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Rally Scoring: Points can be won by both the serving and receiving team on every rally.
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Points per Game: Each game is played to 11 points.
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Match Format: A match consists of either the best of 5 games or the best of 7 games.
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Win by Two: The winning team must win a game by a margin of at least two points.
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Timeouts: Each team is allowed one 90-second timeout per game.
Singles Serving Rules
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Alternating Service Boxes: For each point, the server must serve from behind the baseline, alternating between the right and left service boxes. The first serve of a game is always from the right service box.
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Diagonal Serve: The ball must be served diagonally across the net and land within the service box opposite the server.
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Two Serve Attempts: The server has two attempts to make a legal serve.
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Double Fault: If the server misses both serve attempts (double fault), the receiving player/team wins the point.
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Service Time Limit: The server has 24 seconds to initiate their serve after the previous point ends.
Doubles Serving Rules
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Pre-Game Position Choice: Before each game, partners on a team decide their starting positions: left wing (covering the left service box on their side) or right wing (covering the right service box).
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Server Sequence: Each player on a team gets two consecutive serves before the serve switches to the opposing team.
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First Server: The player in the right wing position on the serving team serves first (two serves, starting from the right service box).
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Second Server: After the first server has completed their two serves, their partner (left wing position) serves two times (also alternating between the right and left service boxes for their two serves).
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Opponent Serves: After both players on the serving team have served, the serve switches to the opposing team. The rotation of servers on the receiving team does not change based on who served previously.
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Serving Team Position Change: Players on the serving team must switch positions after each of their serves.
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Receiving Team Position: The receiving team players must remain in their chosen starting positions until the ball is served. After the serve, they can move freely.
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Legal Return: The ball can be returned by striking it with any part of the body and/or the glove racket.
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Extra Hit on Body Bounce: If the ball bounces off any part of a player's body, that player is allowed one additional, immediate hit to return the ball legally. This subsequent hit must be a clean contact.
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Clean Contact: The ball must be contacted cleanly; it cannot be caught, lifted, or thrown.
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No Net/Opponent Side Contact: Players cannot touch the net, net posts, or enter the opponent's court area while the ball is in play.
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Net Charge/Volley: Players are permitted to move towards the net immediately after serving and may volley the return.
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Undetermined Legality: If the legality of a hit cannot be clearly determined by the players, the point should be replayed.
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Rally End Conditions: A point is awarded when:
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The ball lands outside the designated court lines.
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The ball bounces twice on one side of the net.
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A player fails to return the ball over the net and within the court boundaries.
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The server commits a double fault.
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PLAYED IN THE SERVICE BOX
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Hand Tennis Court
(Blue Area)
Baseline
(Service Line)