touchtennis - the rival to Pickleball

It seems that most countries are now finding new and faster ways to enjoy different versions of my beloved sport:

North America have Pickleball
Australia and the Spanish have Paddle Tennis
UK and surrounding countries have touchtennis

The reasons behind these sports generally focus on time, space & age/ability. The latter being an important one as the sports appeal to the elderly, the disabled and the lower level players in tennis.

touchtennis has always been my favourite as it is a scaled down version of tennis with similar rules, similar court layout and easier equipment. Ever since I was a junior player the biggest title in our club tournament was the Short Tennis trophy which most players held in higher regard than the actual real game.

touchtennis has developed from short tennis and is the most successful brand of progressive tennis (that caters to older youth and adults) in the world. It was developed to include a tour, complete with rankings, 4 major Grand Slams as well as Masters events! It is regularly featured on Sky Sports in Europe and is now played in 27 countries with official tour events in nine of them. Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) introduced touchtennis in 2010 as an endorsed type of tennis to play in Britain and the ITF now recognizes touchtennis as a form of tennis using slower balls.

Organising a game is very simple. First you need a court, which can be created on a normal tennis court or using chalk/masking tape in a car park. These are the dimensions:

Next you need the equipment:

21 inch racket
6 metre net
8cm cut foam ball
Box sets are available for purchase online:

Now you are ready for battle. Here are the scoring formats and few notable rules for your first official game of touchtennis

Short sets to 4 games
Best of 3 tiebreak sets (Tour Events)
Best of 5 tiebreak sets (Majors)
Normal tennis scoring and normal end changes apply
No ad scoring (Returner chooses Deuce or Ad side)
Tiebreak to 5 points at 4 games each
Tiebreak is sudden death at 4-4 (Returner chooses Deuce or Ad side)
Tiebreak end change every 4 points
In doubles the final set is a match tiebreak to 7 points (Two clear)
Serving: Only one serve is permitted
Serving: No Let rule
Serving: Overarm or underarm allowed
Ball Toss: Once it leaves your hand you must hit it

Check out this instructional video (Explained with a great accent) to get the full idea of the game:

I was lucky enough to organise and compete in the Australian Open out in Brisbane at the Queensland Tennis Centre back in 2012.

I was also crowned a Grand Slam Champion at the same event catapulting me to number 10 in the World Rankings list.

I am setting up my first event in Canada at Hollyburn Country Club on November 3rd and hoping to get a good turnout by offering a $200 prize for first place. It will be my first event in over 5 years and I am certain it will not be my last.