Stop
(Presented by Mike Barrell, Great Britain)

What is a Stop?

STOP is a rotation format where every match starts at the same time and the first player to reach a set number of points shouts "STOP", to stop all the other matches. In every other match, the player leading when 'STOP' is shouted is the winner and earns one win for their team.

Organiser tips

COURTS AND PLAYERS: 12-14 players per Red court or 4-6 players per Orange or Green court. Players are split evenly into 2 teams (if odd numbers, a different player from one team sits out each round).

SCORING: Choose a "STOP" target, eg first to 5 points. All players start at the same time and the first player to reach that target shouts "STOP" to stop all the matches. In every match, the player who is leading when 'STOP' is shouted gets a win for his or her team. If matches are a draw when "STOP" is shouted, one more point is played to find a winner.

SCORESHEETS: After each round, the coach asks each player who won and clips a peg to the net post of that player's team (if pegs are not available, the coach can award a cone to the winning player's team pile).

Click here to see a short video of this format.

Activity

All players from Team A line up on one side of the net and all players from Team B on the other side. Players must play against a player from the other team in each match. Once all players are in place the coach shouts “GO” and the players start their matches.

After each round of matches, all the players on each team move one court space to their left (ie in the opposite direction to the player on the other team that they have just played). See ‘Court Setup’ on page 2 for more information.

Play as many matches as you have in the time available.

AT THE END: The team with the most matches won is the winner. Give prizes for winning team, best effort, most improved player etc. Any awards that focus on effort rather than outcome are especially beneficial to young players.

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.

Court Setup

This setup shows 5 red courts on 1 full sized tennis court. There are 2 waiting spaces for Team A and 1 waiting space for Team B (Team A has 1 extra player), players rotate one position to their left after every match