The net shall be fully extended so that it completely fills the space between the two net posts and it must be of sufficiently small mesh to ensure that a ball cannot pass through it. The height of the net shall be 3 feet (0.914m) at the centre, where it shall be held down tightly by a strap. A band shall cover the cord or metal cable and the top of the net. The strap and band shall be completely white.
USTA, Friend at Court, 2019
Back in the late 80’s I was playing the board game Trivial Pursuit with my family when I received the a question about the standard height of the center of the tennis net. My answer of “3 feet” was disallowed by my family because the back of the card said 36 inches. I had a big lead. This actually explains a lot about my childhood.
Yesterday I wrote about the fact that there is no requirement or restriction on the color of the net post. I must say that I am relieved to discover that the net tape and band are both required to be white. This is simply the way it should be.
The specifications for the net get pretty precise. For example, there is a maximum diameter of 1/3 inch for the cord or the cable from which the net is suspended. I suspect that the majority of the nets that I have experienced are held by a metal cable with considerably smaller diameter. My engineer brain is puzzling though how the diameter of the cable might impact the play of balls that clip the net. I would think that the material would make more of an impact than the diameter within certain limits. I guess that is why there is a limit.
The strap and the net band are similarly constrained. The maximum width of the net strap is 2 inches, but the rule does seem to allow for a strap to be narrower than that dimension. The net band has to be between 2 and 2.5 inches on both sides. I think the origins of concern for each of these rules is visibility of the ball through the net.
- United States Tennis Association (2019) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
