Beach Tennis Glossary With Rule References.
Every beach tennis term defined with official ITF rule citations. Each definition is self-contained and quotable.
All Beach Tennis Terms.
Smash
A smash (also called an overhead) is an attacking shot hit with a downward swing from above the head, typically executed when the ball is above the pl...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service) and Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Drop Shot
A drop shot is a delicate shot played softly to land just over the net in the opponent's court, typically with backspin or sidespin to minimize bounce...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Lob
A lob is a shot hit high over the opponent, typically to pass a player who is positioned at the net or in the mid-court area. In beach tennis the lob ...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Spin Serve
A spin serve is a service delivery in which the player imparts topspin or sidespin on the ball to make it curve during flight and behave unpredictably...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service)
Flat Serve
A flat serve is a service delivery hit with minimal spin, producing a fast, direct ball flight through the service box. The flat serve travels at maxi...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service)
Topspin
Topspin is forward rotation imparted on the ball so that it dips downward in flight and would bounce forward aggressively if the ball were allowed to ...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Backspin (Slice)
Backspin (also called slice) is reverse rotation imparted on the ball, making it float and slow in flight. In beach tennis, backspin is used for defen...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Drive
A drive is a powerful groundstroke hit with a relatively flat or topspin trajectory, usually from mid-court or deep in the court after the opponent's ...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Volley
A volley is a shot played before the ball touches the ground, intercepting it directly from the opponent's stroke. In beach tennis, the ball may not b...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9.3 (No Bounce Permitted)
No Bounce Rule
The no-bounce rule is the fundamental rule that distinguishes beach tennis from most other racket sports: the ball must not bounce on the sand. Per IT...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9.3
Rally
A rally is the sequence of strokes exchanged between players after the serve until a point is decided. In beach tennis, a rally begins when the server...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Service Box
The service box is the rectangular area in the opponent's court into which the serve must land to be good. In beach tennis, the service box is the ful...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service)
Baseline
The baseline is the back boundary line of the court running parallel to the net at each end. Per ITF Beach Tennis Court Regulations, the court is 16 m...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Appendix I (Court Specifications)
Sideline
A sideline is a boundary line running the full length of the court (perpendicular to the net) defining the side edges of the court. Per ITF Beach Tenn...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Appendix I (Court Specifications)
Net Cord (Let)
A net cord occurs when the ball clips the top of the net during a serve or during play. In beach tennis, a net cord on the serve results in a let (the...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7.8 (Let)
Let
A let is a service call that results in the serve being replayed without penalty. In beach tennis, a let is called when: the served ball clips the net...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7.8 (Let) and Rule 12 (Hindrance)
Hindrance
A hindrance occurs when a player's action involuntarily interferes with their opponent's ability to play a shot. Per ITF Beach Tennis Rules Rule 12, i...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 12 (Hindrance)
Doubles Formation
A doubles formation in beach tennis refers to the positioning and serve-receive arrangement of the two-player team. Per ITF Beach Tennis Rules, in dou...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 8 (Order of Service in Doubles)
Mixed Doubles
Mixed doubles is the format where each team consists of one male and one female player. Mixed doubles follows the same ITF Beach Tennis Rules as stand...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 8 (Order of Service in Doubles)
Tie-Break
A tie-break (also called a tiebreak or tiebreaker) is a special shortened game played to determine the winner of a set when the game score reaches a p...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 8b (Tie-Break)
Golden Point
The golden point is the decisive single point played when a game reaches deuce (40-40) under no-advantage scoring. In beach tennis, standard scoring u...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 6 (Scoring)
No-Advantage Scoring (No-Ad)
No-advantage scoring (no-ad) is the scoring system used in beach tennis where the game ends immediately after one player wins the golden point at deuc...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 6 (Scoring)
Set
A set is the unit of play consisting of multiple games; the player or team that wins a prescribed number of games first wins the set. In beach tennis,...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 5 (The Set)
Match
A match in beach tennis is the complete contest between two players (singles) or two pairs (doubles), typically played as best of 3 sets. Per ITF Beac...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 4 (The Match)
Warm-Up
The warm-up is the pre-match practice period during which both players or pairs hit on the court to prepare physically before official play begins. Pe...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules (Pre-Match Procedures)
Foot Fault
A foot fault on serve occurs when the server's foot touches or crosses the baseline, enters the correct half of the court, or touches any line before ...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7.2 (Service Position)
Service Fault
A service fault is an invalid serve that does not count as a good delivery. In beach tennis, service faults per ITF Beach Tennis Rules Rule 7 include:...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service)
Double Fault
A double fault occurs when the server commits two consecutive service faults on the same point, resulting in the point being awarded to the receiver. ...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service)
Ace
An ace is a serve that the receiver fails to touch, landing cleanly in the correct service box and winning the point directly. The term is statistical...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service)
Service Order (Doubles)
In doubles, the service order is the rotation that determines which player serves each game. Per ITF Beach Tennis Rules Rule 8, at the start of each s...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 8 (Order of Service in Doubles)
Changing Ends
Changing ends (also called changing sides) is the rule that requires players to swap sides of the court at specified intervals to equalize the effect ...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 10 (Changing Ends)