Tennis was one of the fastest-growing traditional sports for children from 2000 to 2008, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association. This is in part because of efforts to "kids-size" the game with smaller equipment, special balls, shorter nets and new rules to make the game easier to learn. In addition to special rules for beginners, rules governing youth play for middle and high school players differ from the official rules set by the International Tennis Federation.
QuickStart Rules
The U.S. Tennis Association's QuickStart tennis program is a new beginner tennis format recognized by the International Tennis Federation, which amended the rules of tennis to allow competitive play on shorter tennis courts. QuickStart rules mandate shorter tennis court boundaries and nets. For players age 8 and under, the court is 36 feet long and 18 feet wide with a net height of 2 feet 9 inches. Players use foam or low-compression balls. Rackets should be 19, 21 or 23 inches long. For players age 10 and under, the court is 60 feet long and 21 feet wide, with a regulation-height net of 36 inches; players use low-compression balls. Rackets should be 23 or 25 inches long. Matches consist of the best-of-three 7-point games for 8 and under players and the best-of-three sets for 10 and unders, who play four-game sets with a 7-point tie-break for the third set.
Team Tennis
Team Tennis for juniors is similar to the professional Team Tennis league, awarding a point for every game won in every match played, with each game won contributing to the final match score. You can lose your singles or doubles match by a score of 2-6, but if your team wins the overall match by a score of 36-35, your 2 points helped your team win the match. A Team Tennis match consists of the following one-set matches: boys and girls singles, boys and girls doubles, and two mixed doubles matches. Players can substitute for each other during individual matches in Team Tennis, and coaches can talk with and give advice to players during matches.
High School Tennis
High school tennis has no governing body that sets the rules for all high schools. Each state makes its own rules for its high school sports, with individual conferences or districts adding different rules with the permission of their state athletic association, according to the U.S. High School Tennis Association, or USHSTA. For example, a conference in one state might allow singles players to play the doubles matches in a dual match, while other states require different players to play all matches. Rules governing lineups, scoring format, coaching and eligibility vary from state to state. In some conferences, players must play a witnessed challenge match in order to move up or down a spot in a lineup. Some leagues play regular best-of-three-set matches, while others use a match tie-break for the third set. Some schools use no-ad scoring, while others play pro sets. There are hundreds of variations of rules governing high school tennis matches across the U.S., according to the USHSTA.
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