Volotennis is a sport that blends elements from paddle tennis and badminton. Agility, quickness, finesse, and strategy are utilized to enjoy this great leisure sport. The root "volo" comes from the Latin word (volatus) for "flight." In volotennis, the ball is usually struck while still in flight, (i.e. before it bounces).
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Simplified Rules of The Sport of Volotennis:
The Players:Volotennis is a doubles game. Each team has two players.
The Court:The official volotennis court is 20' wide by 44' long. These dimensions are the same as the outermost lines of a badminton court.
The net, centered in the middle of the court, is set to a height of 5'.
Volotennis can be played indoors or outdoors on any surface (concrete, asphalt, grass, sand, wood, etc.).
The Equipment:One of the main principles of volotennis is that all players use the same equipment. This eliminates the situation that exists in many sports where players can gain an advantage based on equipment/technology rather than skill.
The official paddle of volotennis is the Pick-A-Paddle™ Senior paddle. (For small children there is a Pick-A-Paddle™ Junior paddle.) For information on purchasing these paddles visit www.pick-a-paddle.com or call (847) 720-4590. (See photo at the top of the page.)
The ball used in volotennis (see photo with paddles above) is a plastic ball with circular holes in it that is roughly the size of a tennis ball. This ball can be purchased at many sporting goods stores or through Pick-A-Paddle.
The boundary lines of the court can be marked with chalk, rope, paint, tape, etc. -- anything that lets you create a rectangular area that is 20' wide by 44' long. (The net is centered in the middle of the court, 22' from each baseline.) A standard badminton net and support posts are used for volotennis. These can be purchased at many sporting goods stores or through numerous online vendors.
The Serve:A player serves while standing with at least one foot touching the baseline. The server must make contact with the ball at or below their waist (underhand). The server is not permitted to bounce the ball before striking the serve. The player serves the ball over the net so that it lands anywhere in the opposing court.
A serve that touches the top of the net and drops into the opposing court is live and should be played as any other point. If the server fails to serve the ball into the opposing court (i.e. the serve lands in the net, or out of bounds, etc.) the opposing team wins one point.
A player serves for 3 consecutive points. Then the service passes to a player on the other team for 3 consecutive serves. Rotation of serve continues between teams and players such that after 12 points, all 4 players will have served 3 times each. The same rotation between teams and players continues until the completion of each game.
The Return of Serve:Either player can return the serve back over the net. The return of serve may be struck on the fly or off of the bounce (one bounce only). If the returning team fails to return the serve, the serving team wins one point.
The Rally:After a serve, and a return of serve, the point continues until one team cannot return a shot that lands in their court, or hits the ball into the net, or out of bounds, etc. One point is awarded to the team who wins each rally.
Determining Which Team Serves First:To determine which team serves first, one team spins a paddle and lets it land on the ground. While the paddle is spinning, the other team calls "patent" or "no patent". (The paddle has a patent number above the handle on one side of the paddle and no patent number on the other side.) The team winning the paddle spin will choose one of the following three options: serve first, return serve first, or play a particular side of the court first. The team losing the paddle spin will then choose from the remaining options.
Scoring:The first team to reach 15 points wins the game. If the game reaches the score of 14-14, the team winning the next point wins the game, 15-14. A match is won by winning two out of three games. After each game, the two teams switch sides of the court and the team that lost the previous game begins serving in the following game. In a third game to decide the match (if necessary), the teams switch sides of the court after the first team reaches 8 points.
Other Rules of Note:The ball can only be struck by one player on each team sending it over the net to the opposing side. (i.e. There are no multiple hits or "sets" as are allowed in volleyball.) This rule applies on a serve, return of serve, or during any rally.
Players may position themselves anywhere on their side of the court except for the server who must stand with at least one foot touching the baseline while striking the serve. Once the serve is struck, the server may move to any position on his side of the court. After the ball is served, any shot can be returned on the fly (a volley) or after one bounce. A ball can be played off of a single bounce even if the game is being played on grass, sand, dirt, etc. (The height and consistency of a bounce will vary depending on the surface.)
Any ball that touches the net but goes into the opposing court is live and should be played as any other point. A ball touching the net but landing out of bounds is "out." A ball landing on the boundary line is "in."
For questions, comments, or advanced rules clarifications, please email Paul Loscavio at ploscavio@volotennis.com
History:The sport of volotennis was invented on the 4th of July, 2002 in Lafayette, California, USA. The sport's creators are Paul Loscavio, Nancy Loscavio, Steve Cornacchia, Kelly Cornacchia, Ray Ginochio, and Tom Schulting