Sport guide
Soft tennis
Soft tennis is a form of tennis played with a soft, inflated rubber ball and lighter rackets on a standard-size tennis court. The softer ball favours long rallies and makes doubles the main format. It is played widely in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Importance 3 out of 5Importance rating
At a glance
- Court
- 23.77 m × 10.97 m (78 ft × 36 ft)
- Played with
- A racket and a ball
- Formats
- Doubles, Singles
- Governing body
- International Soft Tennis Federation
- Origin
- Began in Japan in 1884, adapting lawn tennis to softer rubber balls
The court
Formats
- Doubles
- Singles
How it is played
Soft tennis is played mainly as doubles on a tennis-style court: pairs hit the ball over the net after at most one bounce. A game goes to the first pair to win four points (with deuce at three-all), and a match is usually decided over seven or nine games, with a final game played to seven points.
Explore soft tennis
- RulesServe, scoring and faults and losing the point, each point from the official rules
- CourtsCourt size 23.77 m × 10.97 m (78 ft × 36 ft), drawn to scale
- Organisations1 organisation, from International Soft Tennis Federation to national federations, by region
Related sports
Sources
- ISTF Technical Rules, International Soft Tennis Federation, Web page; no edition statedsofttennis-istf.comOfficial rulebook or governing body (tier 1 of 5)
- ISTF: History, International Soft Tennis Federationsofttennis-istf.comOfficial rulebook or governing body (tier 1 of 5)