THE RULES OF TOUCHTENNIS, a new sport proposed in France and in particular in Soissons.

- The dimensions of the field: 12 x 5 meters for the single and 12 x 6 meters for the double.

- The height of the net at the posts must be between 80cm and 91,5cm. For tournaments, the minimum height of the net is 91,5cm.

- Snowshoes should not be shorter than 20,8 inches, and they should be 21,5 inches or less. 21 inch snowshoes made by most well-known brands adhere to this rule. The maximum head size is 107 square inches.

- The official touchtennis ball is made of foam and has a diameter of 8cm.

- If the racket leaves your hand during play, as long as it remains on your side of the field, the point is still in play.

- Lets are not allowed - after service, the point is in play, even if the ball has touched the net.

- Throw the ball for service - once the server throws the ball to serve, he is obliged to hit it. Unlike tennis, we do not tolerate those who throw the ball ten times before serving!

- If, during service, you manage to touch your opponent without the ball bouncing, it is a fault EXCEPT if he is in contact with the service line or if he is inside the service area.
In this circumstance, the server wins the point.

- Unlike tennis, touchtennis only allow one service. There is no second service.

Rules for tournaments and competitive play:

- Warming up is prohibited after your first match. Once each player has played their first game, additional warm-ups are prohibited for the rest of the day.
If a tournament lasts two days or more, a 3-minute warm-up is allowed for each day of the tournament.

- Vulgarities: any rudeness constitutes an IMMEDIATE penalty point. 3 audible obscenities in a match constitute the immediate elimination of the tournament.

- Racket crash: if you break a racket, you are immediately disqualified.
Even if you break a rope during the match after having abused it, you are obliged to use it until the end of the match.

- Serve: it is allowed to serve with a spoon or over the shoulder. Nevertheless, it is advisable to inform your opponent if you are going to serve with a spoon - that way, he can make fun of you!

Counting points:

- We play short games (up to 4 games, 2 gap games), and if we reach 4-4, we must play a decisive game (up to 5 points, first to 5 points). We can therefore have a score of 5-3, equivalent to 7-5 in traditional tennis, or 5-4, equivalent to 7-6 in traditional tennis.

- Points are counted as in normal tennis (15-0, 30-0, 40-0, game) with the exception of games where there is a tie (40-40). So we play a decisive point and the player who returns chooses the service side (NoAd). This point decides the winner of the game. In decisive games, 4-4 constitutes the decisive point and the winner of this point wins the round.

- In all tournaments, the matches take place in 2 winning rounds.

- In doubles there is no third round. Instead of the last round, there is a decisive game in 7 points (in which we play a decisive point at 6-6).

- During a decisive game, the players must change sides every 4 points. At 4-4 in a decisive game, the player who returns chooses the service side.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.