Tennis Court Etiquette

Before You Play

Good etiquette starts before you hit a ball. These are the basics that experienced players notice immediately — and judge you on.

• Arrive on time. If you've booked a court or have a match, be ready to play at the scheduled time — not walking through the gate with your bag unzipped. Arriving 5 minutes early is standard.
• Wear appropriate footwear. Tennis shoes or court shoes only. Running shoes, thongs, and bare feet damage the court surface and are disrespectful to the venue. Many clubs will turn you away for improper footwear.
• Check court availability. If courts are shared or public, don't assume you can play indefinitely. Standard rotation is 1 hour on public courts when others are waiting. At clubs, check the booking system.
• Bring enough balls. Don't show up with two dead balls and expect your opponent to supply the rest. Three to four decent balls per court is the minimum.
• Wait for the point to end. If you arrive and courts are in use, wait behind the fence until the current point finishes before walking across to your court. Walking behind someone mid-rally is considered rude.

During Play: Line Calling

Line calling is the most contentious part of recreational tennis. Without umpires, players make their own calls — and disputes can ruin a session.

During Play: Stray Balls & Interruptions

On multi-court facilities, balls from neighbouring courts will roll onto yours. How you handle this says a lot about your court awareness.

• If a ball rolls onto your court during a point: Call "let" immediately. Stop play and replay the point. Don't try to play through it — a stray ball is a safety hazard, especially at the net.
• If your ball rolls onto another court: Wait until their point finishes. Then call "ball please" or "thank you" and retrieve it. Never walk onto someone else's court mid-point.
• Returning balls to other courts: Roll or hit the ball gently towards the back fence of their court. Never throw it back randomly or fire it over the net at speed. Wait until they're looking. A ball coming unexpectedly at head height is dangerous.

Shared Court Etiquette

Public courts, club courts with rotation, and council facilities often have unspoken rules about how time and space are shared.

• 60-minute rule: On public courts, if people are waiting, the standard is to finish after one hour. Some councils display this as a bylaw; even when they don't, it's universally expected.
• Warm-up with your opponent, not against others: Don't use an adjacent empty court to warm up if people are waiting to play on it.
• Clean up after yourself. Take your bottles, ball cans, sweatbands, and any rubbish. Use the squeegee to clear puddles if it's been raining.
• Keep noise reasonable. Celebrating a great shot is fine. Screaming after every point, swearing at yourself, or slamming your racket is not. Other courts can hear you.
• Phone use: Phones on silent or vibrate. If you must take a call, walk off the court first. Playing while checking your phone between points is disrespectful to your partner.

Doubles-Specific Etiquette

Doubles adds a partner dynamic, which introduces a whole extra layer of etiquette around communication and team behaviour.

What NOT to Do

These are the most common offences at Australian tennis clubs and public courts. Some will get you a quiet word; others will get you uninvited.

Night Court Etiquette

Evening sessions have additional considerations, especially at clubs and public courts with floodlighting and neighbours nearby.

• Respect the light curfew. Most venues turn lights off at 10pm or 10:30pm. Finish your set in time — don't expect the lights to stay on because you're mid-tiebreak. Plan your session so you're packing up 5 minutes before lights-off.
• Keep noise down after dark. Sound carries further at night. The celebrations that were fine at 4pm become a noise complaint at 9:30pm. Be aware of nearby residences.
• Use a portable scorekeeper instead of shouting the score across the court. It's quieter and avoids disputes about what the score actually was.
• Check the net before you leave. If you're the last group on, make sure the net is wound down (if applicable) and the gate is secured. Leaving a venue in good condition ensures night sessions continue to be offered.
• Don't hog the lit courts. If only 2 of 6 courts have lights and people are waiting, the 60-minute rule is even more important at night.

If you play on unlit courts with LED balls and glow gear, you're usually the only ones there — but still clean up and close the gate properly. Leaving a court squeegee propped against the fence instead of in the shed is the kind of thing that gets noticed.