What are the basic rules of roundnet?

Two teams of two play around a circular net. The serve goes to the player directly opposite the server. Each team has up to three touches, alternating between the two players, to return the ball onto the net. There are no sides and no boundaries during a rally. Every rally is worth a point, and games run to 15 or 21, win by two.

Where do the official rules come from?

The International Roundnet Federation publishes the ruleset that governs the sport worldwide. The current edition is dated 17 July 2026. National bodies adopt it, sometimes a revision later than the IRF.

What are the court dimensions?

The set is 91.4 cm across at the top and 20.3 cm high. The outer boundary is a circle 8.5 m from the centre, the service line is 2.6 m from the centre, and the no hit zone is 1 m from the centre.

How many touches and can I hit twice?

Three per team, alternating. A player may hit twice in a row only after the first touch of a possession, only if the first contact came before the ball began falling, and only as a set to their partner. It is never allowed on serve receive.

No, at any level including World Championships. Players call violations and hinders immediately, and when teams cannot agree the point is replayed.

What is the no hit zone?

A circle 1 m from the centre of the net. The final hit of any possession must be started outside it, and touching inside it during the hit, the follow-through or the momentum afterwards loses the point.

Is this page the official ruleset?

No. It is a coach's summary written in my own words. For anything with a result attached, read the IRF document itself.

Roundnet Rules: The Complete Overview

The game in one paragraph

Two teams of two around a circular net. The server hits the ball off the net towards the opponent standing directly opposite. That team has up to three touches, alternating between the two players, to put the ball back onto the net. Possession then switches. Players may move anywhere they like during a point as long as they do not physically impede an opponent's play on the ball. The rally ends when a team cannot legally return the ball, and every rally is worth a point.

Equipment and court

Set: 91.4 cm inner diameter at the top, 20.3 cm high.
Net tension: a ball dropped from 1.5 m bounces 50 cm, measured from the bottom of the ball, and the tension is consistent throughout.
Ball: 85 g and 330 mm circumference, both with small tolerances, inflated to between 2000 and 3500 pascals, which is 0.3 to 0.5 PSI.
Outer boundary: a circle 8.5 m from the centre of the court.
Service line: 2.6 m from the centre, which is 2.13 m from the edge of the set.
No hit zone: 1 m from the centre.

Detail on the first three: setting up the net and ball pressure. Detail on the court: where to play.

Positions and serving

The four players start in positions 90 degrees apart, and those positions are kept for the whole match. The receiver is the player 180 degrees across from the server, and only that player may field the serve. Players rotate one position counterclockwise each time two serves have been completed, to equalise conditions.

The server gets two serves. Two successive faults give the point to the other team. Serve faults include the ball hitting the rim or legs directly, missing the set, contacting the set more than once, coming off higher than the receiver's shoulders, landing on or within the no hit zone lines, and pockets off the side thirds of the net.

Full beginner version: how to play.

Playing the ball

A team gets a maximum of three hits, alternating between players. The ball may touch any part of the body but must never come to rest, and two-handed hits are not allowed except on the first touch of a possession. Simultaneous or consecutive contacts during a single action on that first touch count as one hit. After the first touch, a player may hit twice in a row if their first contact came before the ball started travelling downward, and that second contact must be a set to their partner rather than a hit onto the net.

The receiving team must use all three touches when returning a serve.

Detail: the three touch rule.

Dead ball, pockets and the no hit zone

A return is illegal if the ball touches the ground, if its first contact with the set is the rim, legs or underside of the net, if it bounces multiple times on the net, or if it never leaves the net. On a marked court, a ball landing outside the boundary untouched is a loss of point, and a ball on the line is good.

Pockets are legal during a rally and a fault on serve. Roll-ups, where the ball lands on the netting and then rolls into the rim, are legal. Contact with the set by a player during a rally loses the point.

The final hit of every possession must be started outside the 1 m no hit zone, including the follow-through and the momentum after it.

Detail: when the ball is dead.

Scoring

Rally scoring: every rally is a point and both teams can score. Games run to a designated number, typically 15 or 21, and must be won by two unless a hard cap has been announced before play. A match is won by taking the designated number of games, typically two.

Detail: scoring.

Hinders and calls

The player whose turn it is to play the ball is entitled to freedom from interference. Players not playing the ball must give unobstructed direct access to it and freedom to swing. A hinder that the opponent did not try to avoid gives the hindered team the point, and one they did try to avoid gives a replay.

There is no referee at any level. Violations and hinders must be called immediately, and when teams cannot agree, the point is replayed. Teammates do not have to agree with each other to raise a disagreement.

Detail: calling your own game.

Source and attribution

This page is a summary written by a coach, in my own words, of the International Roundnet Federation ruleset. The current edition is dated 17 July 2026 and it is the governing document for the sport worldwide.

It is a summary and nothing more. It is not the official rules, it is not a substitute for them, and where this page and the IRF document differ, the IRF document is right. For anything with a result attached, read the original.

One note for German readers: the Roundnet Germany translation is a revision behind at the time of writing, dated 17 October 2025 against the IRF's 17 July 2026. Useful for terminology, but check the date before you settle an argument with it.

Everything on this page has its own page underneath it. Start with how to play if you have never had a net in front of you, and come back here when somebody starts an argument.

The rules of roundnet, all of them