Beach Tennis is a variation of the sport that falls under the International Tennis Federation (ITF) jurisdiction. The ITF asserts authority over the Rules of Beach Tennis via Appendix X of the ITF Rules of Tennis. That is just enough of a mention to justify spending a few weeks on this variation of our sport. That, and the opportunity to pepper in a few “Life’s a Beach” mentions.
Appendix X essentially points to a standalone document that contains the Rules of Beach Tennis. The first section of that document specifies the dimensions of the court.
The court shall be a rectangle, 16.0 m long and for doubles matches, 8.0 m wide. For singles matches, the court shall be 4.5 m wide.
ITF Rules of Beach Tennis, Rule 1, The Court (Excerpt)
The doubles dimensions are the precise configuration of a regulation beach volleyball court. At first, I assumed that the sport was invented to be played alongside beach volleyball, using existing court facilities. However, there is a difference in the regulation height of the net of a beach volleyball net.
The court shall be divided across the middle by a net suspended by a cord or metal cable which shall pass over or be attached to two net posts each at the minimum height of 1.7 m, for Women’s, Mixed and Junior events, and 1.8 m for Men’s events.
ITF Rules of Beach Tennis, Rule 1, The Court (Excerpt)
At the Olympics, the men’s beach volleyball net height is the same as that of indoor volleyball, which is 2.43m. The women play with a net that is 2.24m high. That means that the nets on any sand volleyball courts that happen to be in your vicinity will likely be pretty high for regulation play.
The ITF Beach Tennis Rules also specify that the net mesh be sufficiently small that the ball cannot pass through it. Looking ahead a little bit, the sport is played with a regulation type 2 quick start orange transition ball. The mesh on most volleyball nets is probably going to allow most balls to pass through.
Nevertheless, I plan to explore using the Sand Volleyball courts in my local area as a reasonable place to try the sport.
I recently came across a highlight video published by the ITF from the 2019 Beach Tennis World Championships. It looks like a lot of fun. I suspect it would also be good for developing footwork and reflex volley skills.
- ITF Rules of Beach Tennis, International Tennis Federation, 2023
