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. It is normally played when the ball is above...
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...
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...
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...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 7 (The Service)
Topspin
Topspin is forward rotation that makes the ball dip downward in flight. A ball with topspin would bounce forward aggressively if it 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...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 9 (The Ball in Play)
Drive
A drive is a powerful groundstroke hit on a flat or topspin trajectory. It is usually played 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 8 (Order of Service in Doubles)
Tie-Break
A tie-break is a shortened game played to decide a set when the game score reaches a prescribed threshold. It is also written as tiebreak or...
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...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 6 (Scoring)
No-Advantage Scoring (No-Ad)
No-advantage scoring, or no-ad, ends the game immediately after one pair wins the golden point at deuce. No two-point advantage is required. Per ITF...
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...
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...
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...
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 before the ball is struck. Entering the correct half of the court...
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...
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...
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...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 8 (Order of Service in Doubles)
Changing Ends
Changing ends is the rule requiring players to swap sides of the court at set intervals. Swapping equalizes the effect of wind, sun, and court...
ITF Beach Tennis Rules, Rule 10 (Changing Ends)