What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the term ‘naked tennis’?
Perhaps it’s that one recurring nightmare that wakes you up in a cold sweat—you’ve just walked confidently up to the court’s baseline.
The stadium is full. This next point is for the match, and hundreds of anxious eyes are fixed on you.
You reach into your skort pocket for a ball and—wait, there’s no pocket. You look down. Huh? Where’d your skort go?
It takes a minute for your mind to adjust to the current reality: You’re nude. Playing tennis. In front of a crowded stadium.
Despite a similar sounding name, that’s not the naked tennis we’re referring to. So what is naked tennis? And why do we think you should try it? Read on to find out.
What is naked tennis?
Let’s be clear: naked tennis is not playing tennis without clothes (although that sounds fun, too!). This type of tennis refers to a version of tennis that is played without the net.
There is limited information available online about where the sport originated, but it appears it might have been invented as recently as 2020!
How do you play naked tennis?
The rules are slightly different than regular tennis, although the two sports share many similarities.
Naked tennis is played with either two or four players and uses a standard tennis court. You won’t need the net, but you will need to divide each side of the court in half horizontally between the baseline and the centreline where the net once was.
Serving rules in naked tennis
Players only get one attempt to serve instead of the usual two. Instead of serving diagonally and to a specific side (left or right), players can serve anywhere on their opponent’s half, as long as they tell the other players which side they are aiming for first.
- For example, if Susan is serving to Paula, Susan can stand anywhere behind her own baseline and she can serve to any point on Paula’s side. In fact, Susan can serve four consecutive times to the left if she chooses! As long as she lets Paula know where she’s aiming first.
The serve also must land in your opponent’s “no-man’s land”, which is the back half of the line we drew horizontally across each side of the court.
The first volley is important
The game continues with each player returning the ball to their opponent’s “no-man’s land”.
However, the rest of the court can be unlocked on the first volley of the game.
- If the ball is volleyed into the central area (which was previously “off-limits”), the entire court is now in play.
- If the first volley is NOT sent into this area, only the “no-man’s land” is in play for the rest of the rally.
A rally ends when a point is won. Four points wins a game. Six games win a set, and two or three sets win a match.
DYK? Naked tennis uses the entire court
Another interesting rule: Players are not restricted to his or her own half of the court during the game – they can cross over to the other side! As long as players make sure to stay five feet apart, they are allowed on their opponent’s side of the court.
We dare you to try it
Now that you know what the sport is all about, would you ever play naked tennis?
It’s a fun, challenging new twist on the popular court game, and we think every tennis enthusiast should try it at least once!
Who knows, you might even decide that tennis is better played naked.
