Rules, Scoring & RegulationsReference 11

What is the penalty for serving from the incorrect court or by the wrong partner?

Serving from the wrong court or by the wrong partner is a fault that results in the immediate loss of the rally if caught before the next serve occurs.

The detail

Rule 4.B.8 outlines position and service order errors. In doubles, the player's position is dictated by the score: when the serving team's score is even (0, 2, 4...), the starting server must serve from the right-hand even court; when odd, from the left. If a team serves out of order or from the wrong side, the referee or opponent must call the fault before the subsequent serve is executed. If identified immediately, the rally is nullified, any points scored on the illegal rally are wiped, and the correct serving order is restored without penalty. In unofficiated play, tracking server order requires checking the first-server band.

Structured fields

Fields retained with this reference
rule Number4.B.8
score CorrectionPoints on illegal serve wiped
detection WindowBefore next serve

Index terms

Intent
wrong-serverpositioningscoringfaults
Facility
numbered-courts
Service
leaguestournaments
Environment
indooroutdoor

Reference record

Last verified
2026-09-20
Knowledge manifest
/llms-knowledge.txt