Rule Number 8

Rule Number 8

Foot Fault

(a) The Server shall throughout the delivery of the service:

(i) Not change his position by walking or running. The Server shall not by slight movements of the feet which do not materially affect the location originally taken up by him, be deemed “to change his position by walking or running”.

(ii) Not touch, with either foot, any area other than that behind the base-line within the imaginary extensions of the center mark and side-lines.

(b) The word “foot” means the extremity of the leg below the ankle.

[USTA Comment: This rule covers the most decisive stroke in the game, and there is no justification for its not being obeyed by players and enforced by officials. No official has the right to instruct any umpire to disregard violations of it. In a non-officiated match, the Receiver, or his partner, may call foot faults after all efforts (appeal to the server, request for an umpire, etc.) have failed and the foot faulting is so flagrant as to be clearly perceptible from the Receiver’s side.

It is improper for any official to warn a player that he is in danger of having a foot fault called on him. On the other hand if a player in all sincerity, asks for an explanation of how he foot faulted, either the Line Umpire or the Chair Umpire should give him that information.]