Soft Tennis

General Rules

Service Rule

The service rule in soft tennis are as follows:-

• The competition is started with the toss and the winner decides whether to serve or receive first and the end he/she wants to play in first.
• The service must be made from behind the baseline and from the alternate sides of the center line throughout the game, starting from the right.
• The ball must be returned by the receiver before it has bounced twice in his side of the court.
• Service changes after two points in each game

Scoring System

Following are the methods of scoring:-

• Single matches are the best of seven games, doubles the best of nine. The first side to win four games first in singles and five games first in doubles wins the match.
• The first player or side to reach four points wins the game.
• If the opponents are at three all or four all (games), a tie-break decides the winner.
• If the points reach at three all, then it is called as “deuce.” After this, the game is continued until either player/side scores the next two points continuously.

Officials

The officials in soft tennis are same as those in regular Tennis.

Events

Singles

Men’s Singles or Women’s Singles events

Doubles

Men’s Doubles or Women’s Doubles events.

Mixed Doubles

Pair of one male and one female player each side.

Techniques

Serve

It is the starting stroke of a point. The server must hit the ball into the diagonally opposite service court. The most common serve is made by tossing the ball in the air and then hitting it.

There are four main serves in soft tennis:

• flat serve
• kick serve
• slice serve
• Underhand serve.

Forehand

It is the most used shot in soft tennis as it is the most natural one in which the stroke begins on the dominant side of the body (like on the right side for a right-handed player).

Backhand

It is a difficult shot to master than a forehand shot as it is played from the non-dominant side of the body in which the back side of the hand is shown to the opponent.

Grip

It is a way of holding the racquet to play the shots.

The main types of grip are:

• Eastern grip
• Continental grip
• Western
• Semi-western grips
• Two-handed grip.

Volley

It is a stroke made before the ball touches the ground. This shot cuts the time for the opponent to react. It is usually made close to the net but can be made from any part of the court.

Smash

It is a powerful overhead shot generally made in response to a lob that has failed to clear the player’s head. A smash shot is usually hit with great force to end the point.

Participants

Soft Tennis is played by either two players (one player per side) or by four players as a game of doubles (two players per side).

Playing Area

The playing area for soft tennis is same as in tennis.

General History

Soft tennis was invented in nineteenth-century Japan. The International Soft Tennis Federation was founded in 1973. The first world championships followed in 1975, and they are now held every four years.

The sport of soft tennis, later on, became an official Asian Games sport at the 1994 Asian games in Hiroshima, Japan.