Tenneyball

Tenneyball is a game that takes the basic concepts of volleyball and applies them to the court and equipment of a tennis match, along with a few twists to increase the entertainment value. This exciting game is a fast-paced, fun form of exercise that you can play with your friends, enemies or frenemies. At the highest level, tenneyball (tennis + volleyball) combined the "bump-set-spike" concept of volleyball with the tennis balls, rackets, and bouncing of tennis - all while on a tennis court.
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<caption class="fn" style="font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold;">Tenneyball</caption>
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<th style="">Highest governing body</th>
<td class="" style="">none</td>
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<th style="">First played</th>
<td class="" style="">1999, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center;">Characteristics</th>
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<th style="">Contact</th>
<td class="" style="">No Personal Contact</td>
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<th style="">Team members</th>
<td class="" style="">2</td>
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<th style="">Category</th>
<td class="" style="">Outdoor (or indoor?)</td>
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<th style="">Ball</th>
<td class="" style="">Tennis ball</td>
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<th style="">Olympic</th>
<td class="" style="">approx. 2048</td>
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History
Founded in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in (1999) while...
Equipment
<li> Four players
<li> Four tennis rackets
<li> Plenty of tennis balls (minimum three)
<li> Tennis court with net
Objective

The objective of tenneyball is to score a total of (15 points) and win by at least two points. This is accomplished by the offense scoring points against the defense, or the defense knocking the ball out of bounds.
Court description
File:Tennis_court.png
Some terminology used here is from the Tennis Court site.
<li> court surface - Outdoor courts are utilized for tenneyball, other courts (indoor, clay, grass) may be used but it has not been tested.
<li> service line - The line that is parallel to the net and is located between the baseline and the net. It marks the end of the service boxes.
<li> baseline - The line dividing the "out" area from the "in" area made up of the back line of the back court and the small back side of the alleys.
<li> back court - The area between the baseline and the service line.
<li> doubles alley - The doubles alley is utilized to extend the field of play, just as it is used in tennis.
<li> boundary line - The left and right boundaries of play.
<li> errant plays - If a player attempts to block a serve/shot from the other team or attempts to receive a pass from their team and unintentionally hits the ball out of bounds on their side of the court, a player can yell "Fit it!" and relieve themself of any fault due to the incorrect contact with the ball. If they do not yell "Fix it!" before the ball contacts the ground out of bounds, it is their fault for hitting the ball out. However, there are no personal consequences for this, only that the other team gets the serve.
Rules of play
<li> serve - After announcing the current score, a serving team may then proceed to serve to the receiving team. Similiar to tennis, the server must stand behind the baseline to begin their serve. However, the server's teammate actually provides the ball to them by bouncing it off the ground with their hand, after which the server will then hit the ball over the net to the other team. This is the only point in the game where a ball is allowed to be touched with hands. In the event of a serve that is not returned, the offensive team scores an ACE.
<li> ACE - If a server completes a serve that is not returned, it is called an ACE. After which, the offensive team parades around, swinging their arms and racket similar to a drum major swinging a mace/baton, and yells "ACE! ACE! ACE! ACE!"
<li> pass - Similiar to volleyball, players can pass a ball to their teammates and are allowed one bounce on their side of the court per pass if desired, but the bounce is not necessary. The ball must be returned within three hits/passes or the serve will be awarded to the other team.
<li> score - Similiar to side-out scoring in volleyball, a point will be awarded to a team after they serve and successfully earn a point. This tracks the first number of the three number scoring system and the first team to 15 points wins (and the game must be won by at least two points). The second number of the scoring system is the defensive team's score. The third point is the tracking number for a multi-ball. As an example, the score 6-2-3 indicates that the team serving (offensive) has 6 points, the team receiving (defensive) has 2 points, and that there has been 3 consecutive points by the offensive team.
<li> point - A point is earned when the offensive team places the ball into the defensive teams' court and the defensive team does not return it successfully or the ball is returned but goes out of bounds.
<li> multi-ball - A multi-ball is activated after five consecutive points by the serving team. During the serve, the server puts three balls into play immediately after another so that all three tennis balls are active on the court at the same time. All other rules remain the same.
<li> spike - Spiking the ball (hitting the ball with significant force at a sharp downward angle to make the ball bounce very high and usually out of play) is not allowed within the nearest half of the net (forward of the service line). However, it is allowed from the back court.
<li> net-minding - Defensive players may reach over the net to inhibit or block any offensive play they can reach with their extended arm and racket. This includes contact with the offensive players racket, but any contact with any part of the player is considered illegal and the offensive team will earn a serve.

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See Also

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