Street Racket

Street Racket is designed to give anyone, anywhere and at any time access to a racquet sport. The many positive aspects of regular and motorically valuable activity can be experienced. Street Racket is being established as a sustainable tool for promoting health, exercise, community, education and integration.

Rules:
The focus of Street Racket is on ball control, long rallies and the promotion of motor skills. The concept was designed to work with just a few rules to make it immediately accessible and understandable for everyone. The two most important rules are: No downplay (smash) & No volley.
These two rules are central pillars of the Street Racket concept. They ensure that the game becomes more fluid and the pace of play slows down. The focus is on ball control and building a culture of play in the sport of racket sports. Street Racket is a game for everyone, including beginners with experts, young with old, women with men. The Street Racket rules create a very social, benevolent and motivating atmosphere and exclude no one!
Pick-up: The ball is hit directly from the hand or it is first bounced on the ground before being hit. It is then hit with the racquet from the first square to the opposite side (over the centre zone into the third square). After contact with the racket, the ball must first move upwards or at least horizontally for at least a short time (no downplay / no smash movement!). The server may stand behind the court or in the first square for the service but may not touch the centre zone with his feet. The serve is determined by drawing lots and the server can choose the desired side of the court. The winner of a rally has the right to serve in the following rally. The winner of a set opens the next set. The sides are changed after each set played.
Valid point: A valid point is described below as an example for a single game (1 player per side). Player A tries to score a point in player B's zone and vice versa. If the ball played by player A lands outside player B's target zone (and therefore also in the centre zone, for example), player B wins the point.
The ball must bounce once on the ground before it can be played back (no direct play / volley!). In addition, the ball may only bounce once; two consecutive touches of the ball on each side constitute a fault. If the ball touches the lines of a target zone, the ball is valid and play continues. For all strokes, the ball must first move upwards or horizontally after contact with the racket (no downplay / no smash movement!). If the ball moves downwards immediately, the point is awarded to the opponent.
Counting method: The winner of a rally is awarded one point. The first player to win 11 points wins the set. There is no overtime at 10:10, each set ends at 11 points. Normally, the game is played to "best of five", i.e. until one player has won three sets. Apart from official matches / tournaments, players can determine the scoring method themselves.
Court: The characteristic court can either be drawn on the floor (for example with chalk or paint) or marked on the surface in some other way (for example with tape or sports markings). A Street Racket field consists of three squares of the same size arranged in a row and can be scaled (recommendation 2m per square). This means that the movement game can be flexibly adapted to any available space. Larger squares mean more and more intensive movement, smaller squares increasingly train fine motor skills and ball control. The centre of the three field zones replaces the net that separates the parties in many rebound sports and is played over.

Fields:
Few but exciting court options - and endless game variations! The standard courts include the single court, the cross court, the wall court and the XL court. To date, more than 500 games and practice variants have been developed with these 4 courts.
The regular court (consisting of squares) can either be drawn on the floor (e.g. with chalk or paint) or marked in other ways (e.g. with adhesive tape, masking tape or sports markers).
A single Street Racket court consists of three squares of the same size, which are arranged in a row and can be scaled (basic recommendation and tournament size: 2m per square - total size 2x6m). In this way, the movement game adapts flexibly to any available space and makes optimum use of the respective frame. Larger squares mean more and greater movement/intensity, smaller squares train fine motor skills and ball control.
The centre square replaces the net. This also means here: No need to buy and set up a net, no maintenance, no poles, no holes. Simply paint the playing field and play!
In addition to the single court, the cross court, the wall court and the XL court are among the most common standard courts. To date, more than 400 game and practice variants have been developed with these 4 courts and up to 30 people can play at the same time.
You can play singles, doubles and rotation games - and cross duels for the more experienced. The number of variations is almost endless!

Equipment:
All you need is a racket, a ball and chalk.
Ball: The official Street Racket Ball has been specially developed for the best results, a quick sense of achievement and progress. The ball is soft, has a diameter of approx. 7cm and bounces exactly in line with the rackets and the court system. The official Street Racket equipment is ideally suited to the countless forms of play and has been intensively tested with thousands of players. Among other things, a street racket ball should not be too small or too light so that it is not too difficult to play on uneven surfaces and is not too affected by the wind. It is also important that the ball cannot cause any damage to people or the environment! In addition, it should not soak up moisture, otherwise the ball will become too heavy.
Racket: The wooden racket feels very good and the contact with the ball is pleasant. Both the sound and the impact are very soft. The ball can be hit easily by anyone from the start. The lightweight rackets have an enlarged hitting surface for a better hit rate and the texture of the wood ensures that the racket/grip does not slip even with sweaty palms. You can also make your own rackets! Many schools that work with Street Racket build rackets with/for their children.

More info:

Concept, rules, game forms and effect
Motivational film (short)
Moving, healthy and social meeting place at every school
Street Racket in the family - for all generations
Street Racket for schools (ZKB film)
A game for everyone: anyone-anywhere-anytime
Children play sport independently and safely
Game variations on the different field systems
Street racket in the company - BGM measure for all employees
Movement and learning (coordination & cognition)
Motivational film (long)