Rule changes – “carry” and “double hit” allowed if stroke is continuous, and modification to rule when ball rebounds off screen into strikers court

The APTA Rules Committee (Martin Sturgess, Bob Callaway, Steve Nycum and Mike Stulac) filed this update with PTM:

There have been a couple of rule changes that you should be aware of before your next venture on to the court.

No, the let rule has not been changed and lobs out of the court are still a loss of point.

However, a major change passed by the Board at the May 2008 meeting is that a “carry” or “double hit” is now a legal shot providing that the player uses a continuous motion, and hits the ball before it reaches the screen. This rule has been changed mainly because it is felt that a “continuous motion” is a much clearer concept and thus should eliminate disagreements. Tennis made this switch many years ago for the same reason.

To summarize this rule, any ball struck using a continuous motion is now legal.

In 2007, a rule was established that if player A strikes a ball which lands in the opposite court and then hits the screen and rebounds all the way back into player A’s court without being touched, player A loses the point. This rule has been amended to apply to only those balls that rebound off of the back screen (including either corner). In other words if a player hits a ball into the opposition’s court that hits a side screen and returns into the ball striker’s court without touching the back screen it is a legal shot. Yes, it is apparently possible to do this, although I wouldn’t advise trying it too often!