Rules of Soft Tennis

Rules for Umpiring (Score Sheet)

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Rules for Umpiring

Chapter 1 General Rules

(Purpose)
1. The provisions hereunder shall be intended to specify the matters concerning umpiring for soft tennis competitions.

Chapter 2 Jury

(Jury)
2.
1 The jury for competitions shall consist of referees and umpires.
2 The referees shall be more than 1 and less than 5 in number, and one of the referees shall be appointed as chief referee who shall supervise the other referees and umpires.
3 The umpires shall be 4 in number in principle for one court for competitions. However, the total number of commissioned umpires
can be reduced at a discretion of the host/managing organization for competitions in the case where the guide to the competitions
provides that the participating players shall conduct umpiring for competitions.
4 The host/managing organization for competitions may place a court supervisor at respective courts as required.

(Referee)
3. The referee shall give directions and advice to umpires. Also, in the case where an appeal has been made to the referee about an umpire's judgment on the ground that the judgment involves a misunderstanding or misapplication of the Rules of Soft Tennis for Competitions (Hereinafter called the "Rules for Competitions" and the Rules for Umpiring for Competitions (Hereinafter called the "Rules for Umpiring", the referee shall get a good grasp of the content of the appeal and rule the case.

(Court Supervisor)
4. The court supervisor shall promote the proceeding of competitions at the court in charge, and give directions and advice to umpires as required.

(Umpire)
5. 1 chair umpire and 1 vice umpire, in principle, shall be placed for a match. However, the vice umpire may be dispensed with if appropriate.
Also, 2 linesmen may additionally be placed, if required.

(Duties of Umpire)
6.
1 An umpire shall promote the smooth proceeding of the play and make fair and quick judgments according to the Rules for Competitions.
2 The chair umpire shall perform its duties of proceeding with a match on the umpire's chair and make judgments on the designated areas of judgment. Regarding the judgments on the areas which the other umpires are responsible for, the chair umpire shall confirm and respect their signs and/or calls on their judgments, call its ruling clearly and enter the result in a score sheet.
3 The vice umpire and linesmen, who place themselves at the designated positions as provided in Article 9(2) or(3) of this Rules, shall make judgments on their responsible judgment areas, and also assist the chair umpire.
4 The vice umpire and linesmen shall notify their judgments to the chair umpire by signs when the judgments are related only to lines, and for the judgments on the other responsible judgment areas, the notification shall be made by calls together with signs.

Chapter 3 Umpiring

(Required Attitude of Umpire)
7. The umpire shall well acquaint itself to the matters as undermentioned to conduct a fair and smooth preceding of a match.
(1) The umpire shall be well versed in both the Rules for Competitions and the Rules for Umpiring, and conduct appropriate applications of them.
(2) The umpire's attire shall be those that are normally worn for soft tennis competitions, except the case where the host/managing organization for competitions has designated the attire.
(3) While umpiring, an umpire shall observe the items as undermentioned.
1. An umpire shall prepare for its duties at a court in charge well in advance of players' appearance. If necessary, the umpire shall urge the players to appear on the court in time.
2. An umpire shall make an effort to maintain an appropriate behavior.
3. An umpire shall make an effort to conduct a smooth and fair proceeding of a match.
4. An umpire shall make an effort to make a fair and timely judgment.
5. An umpire shall make a loud and clear call on its judgment according to Article 10 of this Rules.
6. An umpire shall give a clear sign of its judgment according to Article 11 of this Rules.
7. An umpire shall keep a good coordination among its colleague umpires for the match.
8. Umpires shall not violate the authorities of their colleague umpires on their respective responsible judgment areas.

(Division of Judgment Area)
8. The division of the responsible judgment lines/items for the respective umpires is as undermentioned.
(see the attached chart of the judgment areas ):

(1) The division of the responsible judgment lines :

Chair umpire AC, EG, MN, XY B Y D
Vice umpire BD, FH, EF, GH, XY
Linesman AB, CD F H

(2) The division of the other responsible judgment items Chair Umpire: two bounds, dribble, carry, direct, interfere, body touch, touch, tip, net over, net touch, through, no count, foot fault Vice umpire: two bounds, dribble, carry, direct, interfere, body touch, touch, tip, net over, net touch, through, let, no count, foot fault Linesman : foot fault, direct, body touch, tip
(3) In the case where the vice umpire and linesmen are dispensed with, their judgment areas/lines shall be covered by the chair umpire.

(Position of Umpire)
9. The positions of umpires during a match shall be as undermentioned:
(1) The chair umpire shall be seated on the umpire's chair.
(2) The vice-umpire shall place itself out of the sideline on the opposite.side to the the chair umpire,and 60cm apart outward from the net post. When judging a serve, the vice chair umpire shall move to the imaginary extension of the service line, inside of the side line on the receiver's court. After judging a serve, the vice umpire shall return to the initial position immediately and keep watching rallies.
(3) The linesman shall be seated on a chair which is placed not less than 5m out of the sideline on the opposite side to the chair umpire's seat on the imaginary extension of the base line.

(Call)
10.
(1) How to make calls for judgment and score-counting shall be provided on the attached sheets, glossary of Umpire's Terms and Score Counting.
(2) Calls for point and game counting shall be made by the chair umpire, starting from those for the servers' side.
(3) When the play is to be resumed after time, the chair umpire shall call "No time".

(Sign)
11. The signs given by umpires and their posture during a match shall be as undermentioned.
(1) An umpire shall not give any signs, in principle, when a ball is " in ". In the case, however, where the ball was in, but in or out of the ball looks unclear to the players, the umpire in charge shall hold out its arm and hand forward with the palm facing downward as the sign of " in ".
(2) The chair umpire shall not give any signs in principle. If required, however, the chair umpire may give signs in the same manner as those given by the vice umpire.
(3) The signs given by the vice-umpire and its posture when judging a serve shall be as undermentioned (see the attached illustrations).
1. The vice umpire's posture in judging a serve is forwarding a foot (at the receivers' side) and lowering its position and placing its hand
(of the side where the foot forwarded) on the knee, as shown by the attached illustration A. To indicate the fault of a serve, excluding a netted serve which is out of its responsibility for judgment, the vice umpire shall raise its arm with fingers
stretched out while keeping the posture as described above, as shown by the attached illustration B-1.
In the case of a let in a serve, the vice umpire shall stand upright and raise one arm upward with two figures stretched, upward for a let in for a let in the first serve, and with one finger for the second serve, and make a call "Let", as shown by the attached illustration B-2.
2. When a ball in a rally has turned out to be out, the vice-umpire shall take a position directly facing the
landing spot of the ball and raise its one arm upright with all fingers stretched, as shown by the attached illustration C.
3. In the case of a point lost related to the other judgment items, the vice umpire shall point
with one arm to the player of the point lost and make a call applicable to the judgment item, as shown by the attached illustration D.
4. When giving the sign of "no count" to the chair umpire, the vice umpire shall move its arms
crossing in front of its face and make a call "No count", as shown by the attached illustration E.
5. Concerning "time", the vice umpire shall raise both of its arms upright with the palms facing toward the chair umpire, and make a call "Time", as shown by the attached illustration F.

(4) The signs given by the linesman shall be the same as those of the vice umpire.

(Verification of Judgment)
12. In the case where an umpire is not confident of the ball's "in", "out", or fault in its responsible judgment area, the umpire shall be allowed to make the judgment after checking the trace of the ball's landing on the ground. The chair umpire shall be allowed to request the vice umpire to check the trace, and if the vice umpire can not be confident of its judgment, the chair umpire shall be allowed to come down from the umpire's chair and confirm the trace for itself to make the judgment.

(Coordination in Making Judgments)
13. In the case where an umpire can not be confident of its judgment in its own judgment area, the umpire shall be allowed to ask for opinions from the other umpires to verify its judgment.

(Final Judgment)
14. In the case where an inquiry about a judgment is made from a player during a match, the umpire in charge shall confirm the judgment and inform the result to the chair umpire, who shall declare the final judgment. After this process, any further inquiries about the final judgment shall be regarded as protests against the judgment, which shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of Articles 41 and 42 in the Rules for Competitions.

(Error in Judgment)
15. In the case where the judgment made by an umpire is recognized as an apparent error on the part of the umpire, the chair umpire shall be allowed to correct the judgment on that point.

(Suspension of Play)
16. In the case where an umpire has given a sign or a call to suspend a play erroneously while a ball in play, the chair umpire shall suspend the play at that instant. In the case where the erroneous sign or call was judged by the chair umpire to have caused a hindrance to the play, the point shall be a "no count ", or a "let" if it was before the completion of a receive.

(Error in Score Counting )
17. In the case where any apparent error in point or game counting has been recognized, the umpire shall correct the count with a call "Correction" at the time when the first serve has turned fault or at the time of making a call on the next point. Even if the error has been found while a ball is in play, the play shall not be suspended and the point shall be effective.

(Default/Retirement)
18. In the cases where a player or pair has come under the provisions as undermentioned, the player or pair shall be treated as default on or retirement from the match and the victory of the opponent shall be declared. Points and games so far gained by such loser of the match as above shall be effective.
(1) An entry for competitions was made but the actual participation has not been made.
(2) A player or pair applied for default on or withdrawal from a match for some special reasons and the referee or the responsible competition official has accepted it.
(3) A player was allowed a time due to physical problems, but the player has failed to recover within the allowed time limits.
(4) A player applied for retirement from the ongoing match for physical problems and the chair umpire has accepted it.
(5) The competition has turned unable to be continued under the provisions of Article 11 in the Rules for Operations of Competitions.

(Arousing of Attention)
19. The chair umpire shall be allowed to arouse the attention of people concerned (players, pairs, managers and teams) to
their acts and others, if they are recognized as a hindrance to the smooth proceeding of a match.

(Warning )
20. In the case where the chair umpire recognized that a player, pair or manager in the case of an team event, has committed an apparent violation of Articles 38 and 40 of the Rules for Competitions, the chair umpire shall issue a warning (yellow card) to such people as above. The warning shall be issued by showing the card.

(Disqualification )
21.
1 In the case where the referee found the violation of the conditions for participation described in the guide to competitions,
the referee shall consult with the responsible competition official and, with a consent of the official, declare the disqualification of the player, pair or manager in the case of a team competition in question.
2 In the cases as undermentioned, the chair umpire shall consult with the referee and, with a consent of the referee, disqualify the player, pair or team in the case of a team competition in question and then declare the victory of the opponent.
(1) A player or pair who was called to appear on the court for a match, but has not appeared.
(2) Players did not compete the matches in a team competition in accordance with the order which had been submitted in advance.
(3) A player or pair has received warnings for 3 times during the same one match (Red Card).

(Prohibition of Replacement of Umpire)
22. The replacement of an umpire shall not be allowed, except the cases as undermentioned.
(1) The continuation of its duties has turned impossible due to physical problems.
(2) Participating players are umpiring and that situation is anticipated to make a hindrance to the proceeding of the competitions.

Chapter 4 Proceeding of Match

(Proceeding of Match)
23. The proceeding of a match shall be conducted in such manners as undermentioned under the guidance and directions of umpires.
(1) Both of competing players or pairs shall stand behind and in the middle of the respective service lines, facing toward the net.
At this time, the chair umpire and the vice umpire shall stand outside the sideline on the side where the umpire's chair is placed, with the net between them. The linesmen to be in charge shall separately stand side by side and alongside the chair and vice umpires respectively.

(2) Following Item (1) above, the players shall proceed to the net by the chair umpire's signal. At the same time, the umpires shall also move toward the service center line along the net.

(3) At the net, the greetings shall be exchanged, firstly between the competing players and then with the umpires.

(4) After the greetings, the chair umpire shall identify each player for the match.

(5) In a team competition, all players of both competing teams shall line up behind the respective baselines, facing toward the net. By the chair umpire's signal, the two teams shall proceed to the net and exchange greetings. The managers of the teams, if applicable, shall stand nearest to the umpires. After the greetings by all of the two teams, each of the matches in a tie shall be played one by one, just in the same manner as in the matches for individual events.

(6) After the greetings before the start of a match, the vice umpire, or the chair umpire if the vice umpire is dispensed with, shall show both of side A and B of a coin to each of the competing players and toss the coin up in the air. In the case where the side A of the coin came on the upper side when dropped on the ground, the player or pair at the right side of the chair umpire shall be given the preemptive right to choose serve or receiver side, and in the case where the side B of the coin came on the upper side, the player or pair at the left side of the chair umpire shall be given such preemptive right. The opposing player or pair to the owner of the preemptive right shall be given the right to choose among from the remaining options. For the convenience of an easier proceeding of competitions, the decision of serve/receive or side may be conducted in advance of a match of the match at some other place than the court for the match.

(7) In the case where the choice of a kind of ball is applicable, the player or pair who has been given the preemptive right as provided in the preceding Article 23(6) shall be qualified for the ball selection. In the case of a team competition, the kind of ball which was decided by the representatives of both teams shall be used.

(8) After servers, receivers and sides were decided, the players shall exercise a warm-up practice before the start of the match.
During this process, umpires shall take their respective, designated positions. The duration of the warm-up session shall usually be not
longer than 1 minute. The referee shall be allowed, after consultation with the responsible competition official, to reduce or omit
the duration of the warm-up session, depending on the progress of competitions. Such decisions, once made, shall be informed
to the umpires in charge.

(9) When the time allowed for a warm-up has elapsed, the chair umpire shall make a call "Ready" and urge the players to get ready for
the start of the match.

(10) When the players are in a ready position for the start of the match, the chair umpire shall let the players start the match following calls like "Service side, Mr./Ms. ------- of ----- (Club) and Mr./Ms. ------ of ----- (Club), Receive side, Mr./Ms. ------- of -----(Club) and Mr./Ms. -------- of ----- (Club), (Seven) game match, play ball !".

(11) Umpires shall proceed with a match from the start and finish accurately and smoothly in accordance with
the provisions of the Rules for Competitions and this Rules.

(12) When the mach was completed, the chair umpire shall call "Game set ". Then, the chair umpire shall get down from the umpire's chair and move along the net to the center of the court, together with other umpires, while calling the players to come to the net. Then, the chair umpire shall
declare the result of the match by calling, for example,
" This match to Mr./Ms. ------ and Mr./Ms. -------, with the score 7 to 4." Following this, the greetings shall be exchanged
between the competing players and then with the umpires, and then they shall be dismissed.

(13) For a team competition, after all the matches in the tie are completed, all the players of both teams shall line up behind the baselines as they did before the start of the tie, and then proceed closer to the net. Then, the chair umpire shall declare the result of the tie by calling, for example, "This competition to -------- , with the score 2 to 1". Then, the greetings shall be exchanged
between the two teams and then with the umpires, and they shall be dismissed.

(Entering in Score Sheet )
24 The designated form of score sheet shall be used in principle for recording match results and filled in by the chair umpire during the match in accordance with the data entering manual. In the case, however, where a sufficient time is not allowed to complete the score sheet after a "Game set" call and before the exchange of the final greetings with the players, the chair umpire shall make an effort to complete entering in the score sheet as soon as possible after the greetings.

Score Sheet Filling Guide

(1) The chair umpire shall fill in a score sheet accurately.
(Columns of Event, Court Number, Round, and Names of Players shall be entered in principle by the staff in charge in advance. The chair umpire shall confirm them and, in addition, shall enter the names of umpires in charge.)
(2) When the server(s)/receiver(s) are decided, the initials of S (for server) and R (for receiver) in the applicable columns shall be circled.
(3) In POINT columns, the mark "O" shall be entered for points won in the small squares and the mark "X" for points lost, starting from the upper left to rightward in the respective game columns.
(4) When a game is completed, the respective total points won for the game shall be entered in the central SCORE columns provided for each game, and the number of points won by the winner of the game shall be circled.
(5) When a match is completed, the respective total number of games won for the match shall be entered in the SCORE column
which is provided between the columns for the names of competing players in the upper part of the form and the number of games won by the winner of the match shall be circled.
(6) In WARNING columns, the kinds of warning issued shall be entered by circling the initials of Y (for a yellow card) or R (for a red card) in the respective columns provided for competing players in the lower part of the form and remarks shall be filled in for reference to the warning issued .
If applicable, warnings issued to a manger in the case of a team competition shall also be noted in these columns.
(7) In Time columns, the figure 5 (minutes) shall be circled for the respective players at each time "time" occurs for physical problems.