Rules Quiz

If you’re looking to supplement chalk talks and videos during your rained-out court sessions, consider having your players take a rules quiz.

Divide your team into three or four groups and administer the quiz below, with a reward going to the team that finishes with the highest score. In the event of a tie, the team that finished first wins.

NOTE: At most high school tennis matches, there is no USTA-certified umpire present, and players must monitor their own matches. Much of the following quiz is based on the Code of Conduct, which is not part of the Rules of Tennis, but which is meant to be a guide for unofficiated matches. A * denotes the item was taken from the Rules of Tennis.

1. During a singles match, your opponent hits a shot, and you are not sure whether the ball was in or out. Your options are: a) Play a let
   b) Give your opponent the point
   c) Ask your opponent if he or she can make the call
   d) b and c
2. In a doubles match, the server hits the receiver’s partner (with the serve) on a fly (the serve does not touch the ground before it hits the receiver’s partner). a) The point goes to the receiving team.
   b) The point goes to the serving team.
   c) The point is replayed.
3. During a singles match, Player A hits the ball with so much backspin that the ball lands on Player B’s side of the net, but then jumps backward over the net and into the court of Player A. a) Player B may reach over the net and hit the ball, if it has already crossed the net into is side of the court.
   b) Player B may only hit the ball on his or her side of the net.
   c) Player B may call a let.
   d) Replay the point.
4. A player may reach across the net under what conditions? a) A player may follow through across the net, as long as she hits the ball on her side of the net first.
   b) A player may never reach across the net.
   c) A player may reach across the net to hit a ball that has landed on her side of the court and bounced back over the net.
   d) A player may hit a ball on the opposite side of the net if the ball is too close to the net to play the ball otherwise.
   e) a and c
   f) a, c and d
5. In doubles, the server serves a let, and the ball touches the receiver’s partner (or he catches it) before the serve hits the ground. a) The serving team wins the point.
   b) The receiving teams wins the point.
   c) A let is played.
6. A player may call a foot fault on an opponent during an unofficiated match. a) True
   b) False
7. During a doubles match, Bob is receiving serve in the deuce court while Hank is receiving serve in the ad court. At one point during the match, Hank accidentally lines up to receive serve in the deuce court and a point, or several, are played with this new formation. Upon discovery of this error… a) All points played with the incorrect formation go to the serving team.
   b) All points played with the incorrect formation are played over.
   c) All points played in good faith stand, and players finish the game in the new formation.
   d) All points played in good faith stand, and players go back to their normal position, even if it means that one player
   ….will receive serve two points in a row.
8. Player A serves the ball before Player B is ready. a) Player B may call a let, even if she attempted a return out of reflex.
   b) Player B may call a let only if she made no attempt to return the ball.
9. In a singles match, Player A calls a ball out, then realizes it was good. In a doubles match, Player A calls a ball out, but his partner believes the ball is good, and the two cannot agree. a) A let is automatically played.
   b) The point automatically goes to the opponent.
   c) The point is replayed if the player had put the ball back in play within the court, with force,
   ….prior to correcting his call.
10. A server is bouncing his or her ball preparing to serve a second serve, and a ball rolls onto the court from a neighboring court. a) A “let” is called and the server gets two serves.
    b) The server only gets one serve.
11. Opponent’s disagree on the score. a) Count all points and games agreed upon by the players and replay only the disputed points or games.
    b) Play from a score mutually agreeable to all players.
    c) Spin a racket or toss a coin.
    d) All of the above
    e) a and b
12. A player injures his or her opponent and the opponent cannot continue.

    a) The player who caused the injury forfeits the match.
    b) The player who is injured defaults the match.
    c) The match is a draw.
    

13. A player catches a ball that is in play before the point is over (other than after a netcord let).

    a) The player loses the point if he is inside the court boundaries.
    b) The player wins the point if she was outside the court when she caught the ball.
    c) The player loses the point, regardless of where he was standing when he caught the ball.

ANSWERS:

1. D Any ball that cannot be called out is considered to have been good. A player may not claim a let on the basis of not seeing a ball. If a ball can’t be called out with certainty, it is good. When an opponent’s opinion is requested and the opponent gives a positive opinion, it must be accepted. If neither player has an opinion, the ball is considered good. Aid from an opponent is available only on a call that ends a point.
   
2. B
   
3. A
   
4. E
   
5. C A let is played if the ball served touches the net, strap or band, and is otherwise good, or, after touching the net, strap or band, touches the receiver or anything which he wears or carries before hitting the ground.*
   
6. A A player may warn an opponent that the opponent has committed a flagrant foot fault. If the foot faulting continues, the player may attempt to locate an official. If no official is available, the player may call flagrant foot faults. Compliance with the foot fault rule is very much a function of a player’s personal honor system.
   
7. C If during a game, the order of receiving the service is changed by the receivers, it shall remain as altered until the end of the game in which the mistake is discovered, but the partners shall resume their original order of receiving in the next game of that set in which they are receivers. All points played in good faith stand. If a point is played from the wrong court, there is no replay. If during a point, a player realizes that a mistake was made at the beginning (for example, service from wrong court), the player shall continue playing the point. Corrective action may be taken only after a point has been completed.
   
8. B The receiver should make no effort to return a serve when the receiver is not ready. If a player attempts to return a serve (even if it is a “quick” serve), then the receiver (or receiving team) is presumed to be ready.
   
9. C If a player mistakenly calls a ball “out” and then realizes it was good, the point shall be replayed if the player returned the ball within the proper court. Nonetheless, if the player’s return of the ball results in a “weak sitter,” the player should give the opponent the point. If the player failed to make the return, the opponent wins the point. If the mistake was made on the second serve, the server is entitled to two serves. If doubles partners disagree about whether their opponents’ ball was out, they shall call it good. It is more important to give your opponents the benefit of the doubt than to avoid possibly hurting your partner’s feelings by not overruling. The tactful way to achieve the desired result is to tell your partner quietly of the mistake and then let your partner concede the point. If a call is changed from out to good, the point is replayed only if the out ball was put back in play.
   
10. B When the Server’s second service motion is interrupted by a ball coming onto the court, the Server is entitled to two serves. When there is a delay between the first and second serves:

    • the Server gets one serve if the Server was the cause of the delay;
    • the Server gets two serves if the delay was caused by the Receiver or if there was outside interference.
    The time it takes to clear a ball that comes onto the court between the first and second serves is not considered sufficient time to warrant the server receiving two serves unless this time is so prolonged as to constitute an interruption. The receiver is the judge of whether the delay is sufficiently prolonged to justify giving the server two serves.
    

11. D Disputes over the score shall be resolved by using one of the following methods, which are listed in the order of preference:
    • count all points and games agreed upon by the players and replay only the disputed points or games;
    • play from a score mutually agreeable to all players;
    • spin a racket or toss a coin
    
12. B When a player accidentally injures an opponent, the opponent suffers the consequences. Consider the situation where the Server’s racket accidentally strikes the Receiver and incapacitates the Receiver. The Receiver is unable to resume play within the time limit. Even though the Server caused the injury, the Server wins the match by retirement.
    
13. C Unless you have made a local ground rule, if you catch a ball before it bounces, you lose the point regardless of where you are standing (except during a let serve).