Barbados Road Tennis Now Major Sport
The Caribbean Is One Nation.
An extremely popular, cheap and accessible variation of lawn tennis
and table tennis which emerged in the 1930s, mainly played in urban areas.
Age: 11+
Players:
Two (for “singles”) or four (for “doubles”), plus someone to keep score.
Pitch: A 21x10 foot rectangle on a hard, smooth and level surface – ideally asphalt, concrete or an indoor wooden surface - split into two equal halves widthways. The court should be marked out in white lines. The long sides of the court are extended six feet at each end – these are called the “governor lines.”
Time: Typically, a game lasts for 15 to 20 minutes and a set up to 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Rules: The game starts with a coin toss between the two players/teams. The scorer should do the coin toss. The winner of the toss has the choice of taking the first serve or choosing which side of the court to play on first. The serve alternates between the two players/teams every five points. If playing doubles, the serve alternates between each player on the team between each point.
The two players/teams must hit the ball between each other. The ball can bounce once before being hit back.
The first player/team to reach 21 points is declared the winner of the game, unless the players/teams have been tied at 20 points. If this is the case, the game is declared a “deuced game” and is won by the first player/team to lead by two points.
During a deuced game, the serve alternates after each point.
When a game is won, the players/teams change their playing ends.
Scoring • If a player hits the ball and it lands outside of the lines, or doesn’t reach the other side of the court, the other player/team gets a point. •
A set is the best of three games (the player/team who wins two out of the three games is the overall winner), or the best of five games, (the player/teams who wins three out of the five games is the overall winner). •
If a set reaches the third/fifth game, the players/teams change ends after 10 points.
Two (for “singles”) or four (for “doubles”), plus someone to keep score.
Pitch: A 21x10 foot rectangle on a hard, smooth and level surface – ideally asphalt, concrete or an indoor wooden surface - split into two equal halves widthways. The court should be marked out in white lines. The long sides of the court are extended six feet at each end – these are called the “governor lines.”
Time: Typically, a game lasts for 15 to 20 minutes and a set up to 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Rules: The game starts with a coin toss between the two players/teams. The scorer should do the coin toss. The winner of the toss has the choice of taking the first serve or choosing which side of the court to play on first. The serve alternates between the two players/teams every five points. If playing doubles, the serve alternates between each player on the team between each point.
The two players/teams must hit the ball between each other. The ball can bounce once before being hit back.
The first player/team to reach 21 points is declared the winner of the game, unless the players/teams have been tied at 20 points. If this is the case, the game is declared a “deuced game” and is won by the first player/team to lead by two points.
During a deuced game, the serve alternates after each point.
When a game is won, the players/teams change their playing ends.
Scoring • If a player hits the ball and it lands outside of the lines, or doesn’t reach the other side of the court, the other player/team gets a point. •
A set is the best of three games (the player/team who wins two out of the three games is the overall winner), or the best of five games, (the player/teams who wins three out of the five games is the overall winner). •
If a set reaches the third/fifth game, the players/teams change ends after 10 points.
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