round the racquet (Presented by KNLTB, The Netherlands)

What is Round the Racquet?

Round the Racket is a challenge format where players challenge opponents to matches, with the aim of moving as far round the rackets as possible in the time available.

Organiser tips

COURTS AND PLAYERS: Depending on time, around 1 court for every 6 players is advised, the more courts the quicker the format and less waiting for the players. Maximum of 25 players per racket.

SCORING: Choose a scoring format. If running a day event, best of 5 games with no ad scoring works well (no advantages, just win by 1 point after deuce). If running in 2-3 hours, use tiebreak scoring to 7 for each match. Timed tiebreaks also work especially well for this format as all players finish at the same time.

SCORESHEETS: Display the rackets and names near the playing area (see diagram on next page)

Activity

ORDER OF PLAY: The organiser sets a start and finish time. Within that time, players challenge opponents with the aim of moving round the racket. Players can only challenge within 5 places of their position

If a player wins and rotates round the racket, their next match must be against a player behind them, before they can challenge forwards again. They cannot play the same player 2 times in a row.

AT THE END: The winner at the finish time set, is the player who has rotated most around the racket. The organiser or players should keep track of how many places each player moves in total.

Adapt the Format

Many formats can easily be adapted to suit players aged under 10, mixed ages, teams and to be a more or less competitive event.

Download ‘ADAPTING COMPETITION’ for a quick and easy guide to adapting this format to suit your needs.

Themes

Many competitions are more fun and easier to promote if they have a theme such as Davis Cup, Olympics or Family Day attached.

Download ‘ADDING THEMES’ for ideas.

Sample Racket

15 players start at different positions on the racket, there is no 1st place or last place but players aim to move forwards (clockwise). Players can challenge any player 5 places ahead but once they win a match, their next match must be against a player from behind them.

 

Here, Mark has beaten Younes so they have swapped places. Now, Mark must play someone from within 5 places BEHIND him, so Maria, Mohammed or Sarah. As he has just played Younes, they cannot play again straight after.