Soccer Tennis: The Greatest Team Sport Ever Created

I first started playing soccer tennis because school was starting and here in America it’s not okay for grown men to be within a 200-foot radius of school-age children.

In the middle of the summer our “office” (it was a garage) got unbearably hot and so the RewardMe team had gotten in the habit of taking a break almost every day to go to the park and get some much needed Vitamin D. Our mid-day breaks from the “office” (garage) to throw a frisbee around were suddenly no longer possible. We were not pleased.

We had already started diversifying our outdoor activities with the introduction of a soccer ball and some other games I’m not proud of (Gerald Fong introduced us to “Ninja“). Juggling a soccer ball was fun – but we needed more. Slowly we made our way to the tennis courts and rediscovered the greatest sport on Earth.

What is Soccer Tennis?

Soccer tennis is best described as a playing volleyball with your feet on a tennis court.

Here’s the basics:

• Games are played on a standard tennis court
• A standard, adult-sized soccer ball is used and you can’t touch the ball with your hands or arms – just like soccer
• Basic gameplay follows volleyball rules (no passing to yourself, the point is over if the ball lands out-of-bounds, you can’t “catch” the ball, etc.)
• Scoring is like tennis – only the serving team can score

The best part about soccer tennis is that it requires very little initial skill to get started but, like any good sport, there is a huge difference between a good player and an average player. It’s very easy to get started and the game can be modified to fit the skill level of the players involved.

We created a new set of rules that work perfectly for beginners who have little to no previous soccer experience. If you have a friend or three and want to try something new – go out and play some soccer tennis!

Soccer Tennis Rules for Beginners

Rules for 2v2 or 3v3:

1. Play on a full-size tennis court using the doubles boundaries (includes area 8) with an adult soccer ball (size 5).
2. Only the serving team can score. Failure to score results in the other team taking serving possession.
3. Serves must fall within either service box (area 6 and its pair) and cannot hit the net. A serve that hits the net or doesn’t fall in either service box is considered a fault.
4. There is one fault allowed per serve possession. If the second fault hits the net the server can redo the serve – much like hitting a foul with 2 strikes in baseball.
5. Players can use any part of their body to touch the ball except their arms and hands.
6. Players can juggle the ball as long as they wish. As soon as the ball hits the ground another player must hit the ball before it hits the ground again (no double-bounces are allowed).
7. A maximum of 3 passes may be made with 1 bounce allowed (but not necessary) before the ball must be sent across the net.
8. If the ball lands out of bounds the last team to touch the ball loses the point. Lines are considered in-play.

Rules for 1v1:

1. All the rules of teamplay except the court-size is reduced to the two service boxes and there is no passing as there are no teammates.

That’s it! Get out there and start playing and let me know how it goes – and if you find any other awesome ways to play soccer tennis please share them in the comments so we can all benefit!

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