Football

Object of the game

The object of the game is to score points by advancing the ball to the opponent’s end zone for a touchdown, which is worth six points. A team may also score by kicking the ball through goal posts in the back of each end zone for a field goal, which is worth three points. It is also possible for a team to score points by tackling the other team’s ball carrier in their own end zone, called a safety, which is worth two points. Additionally, after scoring a touchdown, a team may attempt a close-range field goal kick to add an extra point, bringing the total points to seven, or the team may attempt to advance into the end zone to add two extra points, called a two-point conversion, bringing the total points to eight. The team with the most points when time has expired wins.

Time of play

Collegiate and professional football games are 60 minutes long, divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each. In high school football, 12 minute quarters are usually played. The clock is stopped frequently, however, so that a typical college or professional game can exceed three hours in duration. The referee controls the game clock and stops the clock after any incomplete pass or any play that ends out of bounds. In addition, each team is allowed 3 timeouts in each half that they may use at their own discretion.

The clock may also be stopped for an officials’ time-out, after which, if the clock was running, it is restarted. For example: if there is a question as to whether or not a team has moved the ball far enough for a first down, the officials may bring the chains in to measure. While this measurement is taking place, the officials will signal for a stoppage of the clock. Once the measurement is finished and the ball is spotted, the referee will then signal for the clock to restart. Additional situations where officials may take a time-out are to administer a penalty or for an injured player to be removed from the field.

In addition to the game clock, a separate play clock is also used. This counts down the time the offense has to start the next play before it is assessed a penalty for delay of game (see below). This clock is typically 25 seconds from when the referee marks the ball ready for play. The NFL and NCAA use a 40-second play clock that starts immediately after the previous play ends, though for certain delays, such as penalty enforcement, the offense has 25 seconds from when the ball is marked ready. The purpose of the play clock is to ensure that the game progresses at a consistent pace, preventing unnecessary delays.

Officials also call for media time-outs, which allow time for television and radio advertising. They also stop the clock after a change of possession of the ball from one team to the other. Successful PATs (Point(s) After Touchdown), a field goal try, or a kickoff may also warrant stopping the clock. If an instant replay challenge is called during the game, the referees signal for a media time out. The referee signals these media time-outs by first using the time out signal, then extending both arms in a horizontal position.

Separating the first and second halves is halftime. Teams change ends of the field at the end of the first quarter and the end of the third quarter. In the NFL, an automatic timeout is called by the officials when there are two minutes left in both the second and the fourth quarters; this is most commonly referred to as the two-minute warning. No such warning is normally given in amateur football, though if there is no visible stadium clock, the referee will give a two-minute warning (four minutes in high school).

Overtime

If a game is tied at the end of four quarters, overtime is played.

In the NFL, overtime periods are 15 minutes in length and are sudden death, meaning that the team that scores first, by any means, wins, and the game automatically ends (referred to in recent years as a walk-off touchdown, walk-off field goal or in rare situations, a walk-off safety). A coin flip is employed to determine which team will gain possession first; the winning team has the option to either receive the kickoff or choose the side of the field they wish to defend. During the regular season in the NFL, one overtime period is played (with each team receiving two time outs), and if neither team scores during overtime, the game officially ends in a tie. In the playoffs, as many overtimes are played as are necessary to determine a winner. Ties are rare in the NFL; the game between Philadelphia and Cincinnati on November 16, 2008 ended in a tie, the first tie since 2002.

In college and high school football, an overtime procedure (the Kansas plan) ensures that each team has equal opportunity to score. In college, both teams are granted possession of the ball at their opponents’ 25 yard-line in succession. A coin flip takes place, with the winning team having the option either 1) to declare that they will take the ball first or second, or 2) to decide on which end of the field the series will occur (both teams’ series occur on the same end of the field). The losing team will have the first option in any subsequent even-numbered overtime. In the first overtime, the team with first series attempts to score either a touchdown or a field goal; their possession ends when either a touchdown or a field goal have been scored, they turn the ball over via a fumble or an interception, or they fail to gain a first down. After a touchdown, a team may attempt either an extra-point or a two-point conversion. However, if the team on defense during the first series recovers a fumble and returns it for a touchdown, or returns an interception for a touchdown, the defensive team wins the game. (This is the only way for a college overtime game to end without both teams having possession.) Otherwise, regardless of the outcome of the first team’s series (be it touchdown, field goal, or turnover), the other team begins their series. If the score remains tied after both teams have completed a series, a second overtime begins. If the score remains tied after two overtimes, teams scoring touchdowns are required to attempt a two-point conversion from the third overtime on. Just as in regulation, if a defensive team recovers a fumble/returns an interception to the end zone

Playing the game

Coin toss

The game begins with a kickoff, which is one type of free kick (see below). Prior to the game, captains from each team participate in a coin toss. The winner of the toss may make one of the following choices—to kick off, to receive and have the other team kick off, or to choose an end of the field to defend—or they may defer and have first choice to start the second half and give the other team first choice in the first half. If the team with first choice chooses to receive the football (which they do in most cases so they can go first on offense), then the other team will decide which end they want to play on.

The option to defer the choice has existed in amateur football for several years. Prior to 2008, the NFL required the winner of the toss to exercise its option in the first half, but a rule change allows the team winning the toss to defer starting with the 2008 season. Thus the winner of the toss may now choose to go first on offense for the start of the first or second half.

A kickoff is also used to start the second half of the game. The team that did not have first choice of options to start the game gets first choice to start the second half.

Kickoffs also take place after each try for extra point and field goal, with the scoring team kicking off.

Downed player

A player carrying the ball (the runner) is downed when any of the following occurs:

Any part of the runner other than his hands or feet touches the ground. This may be as a result of:

Contact by an opponent (called down by contact) where the opponent tackles the runner by pushing him, grasping him and pulling him to the ground, sliding into his legs, or touching him in any manner prior to any part of the runner other than his hands or feet touching the ground. Unlike the use of the word tackle in other sports, if the opposing player fails to down the ballcarrier, it is merely an attempted tackle.

Accidentally touching the ground, such as by slipping or falling without having been touched by an opponent. However, in professional football, the runner is not considered down in this situation, but may rise and continue to run until he is down by contact, as defined above.

Intentionally downing the ball: intentionally kneeling, verbally declaring “I’m down” (except in college), or similar actions. For example, to protect himself from violent hits by opponents attempting to tackle him, the quarterback may choose to slide to the ground feet-first. This slide is interpreted as intentionally downing the ball, and opponents may then be penalized for hitting him.

The runner goes out of bounds: that is, any part of his body (including his hands or feet) touches the ground, or anything other than another player or an official, on or past a sideline or an endline. Note that the sideline itself is out of bounds, so that the runner is deemed out of bounds if he steps on or touches any part of it. Note also that a runner may carry the ball in such a manner that it is over the sideline, so long as the ball or runner does not touch anything out of bounds.

The runner’s forward progress toward the opponents’ goal line is stopped by contact with an opponent, with little chance to be resumed. The exact moment at which the player’s forward progress stops is subject to the judgment of the officials. In particular, for the protection of the quarterback, he is considered down as soon as the official judges that he is in the grasp of an opponent behind the line of scrimmage, and the tackling defensive player(s) will be awarded with a sack. If he is driven backward by the opponent, the ball will be spotted where his forward progress was stopped.

Scrimmage downs

The majority of a football game takes place on plays, or downs, that begin at the line of scrimmage. The officials spot the ball (place it in a designated spot on the field) on the line of scrimmage and declare it ready for play.

Positions

The width of the spotted football defines the width of the neutral zone, an area of the field no player other than the snapper may position himself in or above before the snap. Each team has its own line of scrimmage, thought of as a vertical plane from sideline to sideline that passes through the point of the ball nearest its own goal line.

The players on offense must arrange themselves in a formation, all behind their line of scrimmage (that is, on the side of the line nearest their own end zone). At least seven players on offense must position themselves “on” (very near) the line; up to four may be farther from it. All players on offense must come set, or stop moving, before the snap. Once set, the offense may “shift” and come set again, as long as players do not simulate the beginning of a play. Additionally, one player at a time, called the man in motion, may be in motion, so long as he is not moving forward (toward the opponents’ goal line) at the time of the snap.

A formation at the line of scrimmage. Offensive players are marked by O symbols, defensive players by X symbols. There are many, many variations of football formations.

Offensive linemen are players who line up on the line of scrimmage. The center normally lines up directly over the ball. On each side of him is an offensive guard, and on both sides next to these guards are the offensive tackles. Rules require that five offensive linemen wear jerseys numbered 50–79. Usually the five interior linemen are the ones who wear these numbers. The rules prohibit the five interior linemen from being eligible receivers for forward passes. The offense must position seven players on the line. In order to be an eligible receiver, a lineman must be at either end of the lines; such players are sometimes called tight ends or split ends. The eighth, ninth, and tenth players, who are eligible receivers, can be positioned in the backfield (and are then called running backs) or they can be positioned directly behind the line of scrimmage (to avoid being positioned as one of the seven required linemen). The offensive players are called backs if they are positioned in the backfield (the area behind the linemen), or wide receivers if they are positioned close to the sideline. (As noted, a wide receiver on the line is called a split end.) The eleventh offensive player is usually called the quarterback and is also an eligible receiver. Usually this player is in position to receive the ball from the center. Running backs occupy the position planned in preparation for the play to be called, and wide receivers line up in the backfield positioned to go downfield to catch passes or block. Running backs, including a halfback or a tailback, will often be placed in position to run with the ball; a fullback will be in position to block or sometimes run with the ball.

The players on defense may arrange themselves in any manner, as long as all players are “behind the line” (that is, on the side of the line nearest their own end zone). Players who line up opposite the offensive line are called defensive linemen, usually with one or two defensive tackles in the middle (a single defensive tackle is often called the nose guard) and with one defensive end on each side. Behind and adjacent to the linemen are the linebackers; positioned opposite the wide receivers are the cornerbacks. Two other defensive players, called safeties, position themselves somewhat freely, but usually in the middle of the field behind the linebackers. These last four players are often referred to as the secondary.

Starting the down

A scrimmage down begins with a snap, where the center throws or hands the ball backward to one of the backs, usually the quarterback. The down ends when the ball becomes dead (see below). The ball is typically next spotted where the ball became dead; however, if it became dead outside the hash marks, it is brought in on the same yard line to the nearest hash mark. This spot becomes the line of scrimmage for the next play. In the case of an incomplete forward pass, the ball is returned to the spot where it was snapped to begin the previous play. A fumbled ball that goes out of bounds is declared dead and possession remains with the team that most recently had control of the ball.

Dead ball

• The ball becomes dead, and the down ends, when:
• the ball carrier is downed, as described above;
• a forward pass falls incomplete (it touches the ground before possession is secured by a player);
• the ball or ballcarrier touches the sideline or endline or otherwise goes outside the field of play (“out of bounds”);
• the ballcarrier or the ball, except on a scoring field goal attempt, hits any part of the goalpost (even if it bounces back onto the field);
• a team scores;
• a kick receiver makes a fair catch (waving his arm above his head to signal a fair catch, where the kicking team is not allowed to interfere with him or hit him after the catch, but in return he is not allowed to run), or a member of the receiving team gains possession after a fair catch signal was given;
• a member of the kicking team possesses a kicked ball beyond the line of scrimmage (e.g. “downing” a punt allowed to roll by the receiving team by holding it to stop its roll);
• a kicked ball comes to rest;
• a touchback occurs; or
• under NFL or college rules, on fourth down (or, in the NFL, on any down after the two-minute warning in either half), a ball fumbled forward by the offensive team is recovered by an offensive team player other than the fumbler.

The nearest official typically blows his whistle after the ball becomes dead to alert the players that the down has already ended. If the ball is alive and the official sounds an inadvertent whistle, then the ball still becomes dead, but the team in possession of the ball may elect to have the down replayed or take the spot where the ball was declared dead. If the ball was loose from a fumble, then the ball can be put into play at the spot of the fumble. If the ball was in flight from a kick or a pass, then the down is always replayed.

Free kick downs

A free kick is a down which does not occur from scrimmage. The kicking team begins behind the ball, while the receiving team must remain at least 10 yards downfield before the ball is kicked.

Kickoffs

A kickoff is a type of free kick where the ball is placed on a tee (or held) at the kicking team’s 30-yard line (40 for high school). The kicking team’s players may not cross this line until the ball is kicked; members of the non-kicking (or “receiving”) team are similarly restrained behind a line 10 yards further downfield (the 40-yard line, or 50 for high school). A valid kickoff must travel at least this 10-yard distance to the receiving team’s restraining line, after which any player of either team may catch or pick up the ball and try to advance it before being downed (see “Downed player,” below). In most cases, the ball is kicked as far as possible (typically 40 to 70 yards), after which a player of the receiving team is usually able to secure possession (since the members of the kicking team cannot start downfield until after the ball is kicked). Occasionally, for tactical reasons, the kicking team may instead choose to attempt an onside kick, in which the kicker tries to kick the ball along the ground just over the required 10-yard distance in such a manner that one of his own teammates can recover the ball for the kicking side.

Receiving a kickoff

A member of the receiving team gaining possession of the ball on a kickoff may attempt to advance it as far as he can toward the kicking team’s goal line before being downed. Once the ball carrier is downed, the play is whistled dead and the ball is placed by the officials at the point where the play ended; this spot then becomes the line of scrimmage for the ensuing play. A kick that travels through or goes out of bounds within the end zone without being touched, or is caught by the receiving team in the end zone but not advanced out of it, results in a touchback; the ball is then placed at the receiving team’s 20-yard line, which becomes the line of scrimmage.

A kickoff that goes out of bounds anywhere other than the end zone before being touched by the receiving team is an illegal kick: the receiving team has the option of having the ball re-kicked from five yards closer to the kicking team’s goal line, or they may choose to take possession of the ball at the point where it went out of bounds or 30 yards from the point of the kick (25 yards in high school), whichever is more advantageous.

Other free kicks

A free kick is also used to restart the game following a safety. The team that was trapped in its own end zone, therefore conceding two points to the other team, kicks the ball from its own 20-yard line. This can be a place kick (in the NFL, a tee cannot be used), drop kick or punt.

In the NFL and high school, a free kick may be taken on the play immediately after a fair catch; see “fair catch kick” below.

Scoring

Field goal (3 points)

A field goal is scored when the ball is place kicked, drop kicked, or free kicked after a fair catch or awarded fair catch (High School or NFL only) between the goal posts behind the opponent’s end zone. The most common type of kick used is the place kick. For a place kick, the ball must first be snapped to a placeholder, who holds the ball upright on the ground with his fingertip so that it may be kicked. Three points are scored if the ball crosses between the two upright posts and above the crossbar and remains over. If a field goal is missed, the ball is returned to the original line of scrimmage (in the NFL, to the spot of the kick; in high school, to the 20-yard line if the ball enters the end zone, or otherwise where the ball becomes dead after the kick) or to the 20-yard line if that is further from the goal line, and possession is given to the other team. If the ball does not go out of bounds, the other team may catch the kicked ball and attempt to advance it, but this is usually not advantageous. One official is positioned under each goalpost; if either one rules the field goal no good, then the field goal is unsuccessful. A successful field goal is signaled by an official extending both arms vertically above the head. A team that successfully kicks a field goal kicks off to the opposing team on the next play.

Touchdown (6 points)

A touchdown is achieved when a player has legal possession of the ball and the ball crosses an imaginary vertical plane above the opposing team’s goal line. After a touchdown, the scoring team attempts a try for 1 or 2 points (see below). A successful touchdown is signaled by an official extending both arms vertically above the head.

For statistical purposes, the player who advances the ball into or catches it in the end zone is credited with the touchdown. If a forward pass was thrown on the play, the passer is also credited with a passing touchdown.

Try for extra point (1 or 2 points)

A try is more frequently called an extra-point attempt or a PAT (abbreviation of “Point After Touchdown”). Either one or two additional points may be scored during the try. The ball is spotted at the 2 yard line (NFL) or 3 yard line (college/high school), and the team is given one untimed play to earn points:

The offensive team may attempt to kick the ball through the goalposts, in the same manner that a field goal is kicked. This option is almost always chosen, because a two point conversion attempt is much riskier. If successful the team is awarded one point, referred to as an extra point. Because the extra point is almost always successful (especially in NFL play), sportscasters will refer to a team up or trailing by seven (not six) points as being “up/trailing by a touchdown”.

The offensive team may attempt to advance the ball via run or pass into the end zone, much like a touchdown on the extra-point attempt, except that it receives two points. This is called a two-point conversion. The success rate for two-point conversions is less than 40 percent in the NFL and college, making the two-point conversion attempt a risky tactic; thus it is usually attempted only when two points will help the team but one point will not.

For example, suppose that it is late in the game with a score of 21-10 and the losing team scores a touchdown, making the score 21-16. The scoring team will usually attempt the two-point conversion, because if successful, a three-point deficit later could be matched with one field goal; failure to convert would result in a five-point deficit that would not be surmounted without another touchdown—a situation no worse than the four-point deficit achieved with a kicked extra point.

Another example would be if a team scores a late-game touchdown, and as a result is down by two points. A successful two-point conversion would tie the game, and likely force overtime. In very rare and risky instances, a trailing team who scored a touchdown, and as a result is down by 1 point, may attempt a two-point conversion to gamble on a win and avoid overtime.

Under college rules, if the defensive team gains possession and advances the ball the length of the field into the opposite end zone on the try (for example by an interception or a fumble recovery, or by blocking a kick and legally recovering the ball), they score two points. This is officially recorded as a touchdown scored by the defense. The NCAA adopted this rule in 1990.

This scenario cannot occur under NFL or high school football rules; the ball is ruled dead and the try is over immediately when the defense gains possession.

In the extremely rare event that the offensive team scores a safety on the try, it receives one point. In college football, this can occur when, for example, the defense gains control of the ball and attempts to advance it, then fumbles it out of bounds in its own end zone. In the NFL, since the try ends once the defense gains possession, a safety can only be scored if a defensive player bats a loose (fumbled) ball out of bounds in the end zone.

The game clock is not advanced during a try, however, the play clock is enforced. A delay of game penalty, false start, or similar penalty, by the offense results in a 5-yard penalty assessed for the try. Typically, penalties charged against the defense give the offensive two options: half the distance to the goal for the try, or assessing the full penalty on the ensuing kickoff. Since the try is not timed by the game clock, if a touchdown is scored as regulation time expires (and game clock subsequently reads :00), the try is still allowed to be conducted. This instance is relatively common as teams score a game-tying (or game-winning) extra point after regulation has expired.

During sudden-death overtime, particularly in the NFL, if a team scores a touchdown in the overtime period, the game is immediately over, and the try is not attempted.

The officials’ signal for a successful try, whether an extra point or a two point conversion, is the same as for a touchdown. After the try, the team that scored the touchdown kicks off to the opposing team.

Safety (2 points)

The uncommon safety is scored if a player causes the ball to become dead in his own end zone; two points are awarded to the opposing (usually defending) team. This can happen if a player is either downed or goes out of bounds in the end zone while carrying the ball, or if he fumbles the ball, and it goes out of bounds in the end zone. A safety is also awarded to the defensive team if the offensive team commits a foul which is enforced in its own end zone. A safety is not awarded if a player intercepts a pass or receives a kick in his own end zone and is downed there. This situation, in which the opponent caused the ball to enter the end zone, is called a touchback; no points are scored, and the team that gained possession of the ball is awarded possession at its own 20 yard line. If the interception or reception occurs outside the end zone, and the player is carried into the end zone by momentum, the ball is placed at the spot of the catch and no safety is awarded. A safety is signaled by a referee holding both palms together above the head, fingertips pointing upwards. After a safety, the team that conceded the safety kicks a free kick (which may be a punt, place kick, or drop kick) from its 20 yard line.

Fair Catch Kick (NFL only, 3 points)

A free kick (see below) may be taken on the play immediately after any fair catch of a punt. In the NFL, if the receiving team elects to attempt this and time expired during the punt, the half is extended with an untimed down. The ball must be held on the ground by a member of the kicking team or may be drop kicked; a tee may not be used. (High school kickers may use a tee.) This is both a field goal attempt and a free kick; if the ball is kicked between the goal posts, three points are scored for the kicking team. This is the only case where a free kick may score points. This method of scoring is extremely rare; it is only advantageous when a team catches a very short punt with very little time left. Note that a team is unlikely to be punting with only a few seconds left in a half, and it is rarer still for punts to be caught near field goal range. The officials’ signal for a successful fair catch kick is the same as for a field goal.

Officials

The game is officiated by a crew of three to seven officials. Every crew will consist of a referee, who is generally in charge of the game and watches action on the quarterback and in the offensive backfield; an umpire, who handles spotting the ball and watches action on the offensive line; and a head linesman, who supervises placement of the down box and line-to-gain chains. The crew may also consist of a line judge, back judge, field judge and side judge, in the order listed: i.e. a crew of five officials has a referee, umpire, head linesman, line judge and back judge.

Officials are selected by the teams in advance or appointed by the governing league. Note that unlike some other sports, no football officials—not even at the NFL level—are full-time employees of the league; they all officiate on a part-time basis. In the other three major North American professional sports leagues–Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL–officials are employed by their respective leagues. The sheer volume of games in the other three sports necessitates full-time officials; the NFL regular season is only 16 games long, compared to 162 games for MLB and 82 for the NBA and NHL.

During the game, the officials are assisted in the administration of the game by other persons, including: a clock operator to start and stop the game clock (and possibly also the play clock); a chain crew who hold the down indicator and the line-to-gain chains on the sideline; and ball boys, who provide footballs to officials between downs (e.g. a dry ball each down on a wet day). These individuals may be provided by the teams involved—it is not uncommon for a high school coach’s son or daughter to act as ball boy for the team.

Fouls and their penalties

Because football is a high-contact sport requiring a balance between offense and defense, many rules exist that regulate equality, safety, contact, and actions of players on each team. It is very difficult to always avoid violating these rules without giving up too much of an advantage. Thus, an elaborate system of fouls and penalties has been developed to “let the punishment fit the crime” and maintain a balance between following the rules and keeping a good flow of the game. Players are constantly looking for ways to find an advantage that stretches the limitations imposed by the rules. Also, the frequency and severity of fouls can make a large difference in the outcome of a game, so coaches are constantly looking for ways to minimize the number and severity of infractions committed by their players.

It is a common misconception that the term “penalty” is used to refer both to an infraction and the penal consequence of that infraction. A foul is a rule infraction for which a penalty is prescribed. Some of the more common fouls are listed below. In most cases when a foul occurs, the offending team will be assessed a penalty of 5, 10 or 15 yards, depending on the foul. Also, in most cases, if the foul is committed while the ball is in play, the down will be replayed from the new position (for example, if the offense commits a foul on a first-down play, the next play will still be first down, but the offense may have to go 15 yards, or farther, to achieve another first down.) But if a defensive foul results in the ball advancing beyond the offense’s first-down objective, the next play will be the first down of a new series. Some penalties (typically for more serious fouls), however, require a loss of down for the offense; and some defensive fouls may result in an automatic first down regardless of the ball position. In all cases (except for ejection of a player or, in rare cases, forfeiture of the game), the non-offending team is given the option of declining the penalty and letting the result of the play stand (although the Referee may exercise this option on their behalf when it is obvious), if they believe it to be more to their advantage. For some fouls by the defense, the penalty is applied in addition to the yardage gained on the play. Most personal fouls, which involve danger to another player, carry 15-yard penalties; in rare cases, they result in offending players being ejected from the game. In the NFL, if a defensive foul occurs after time has expired at the end of a half, the half will be continued for a single, untimed play from scrimmage. Under college rules, any accepted penalty when time has expired at the end of any quarter results in an extension for one untimed down.

In the NFL, with three exceptions, no penalty may move the ball more than half the distance toward the penalized team’s goal line. These exceptions are defensive pass interference (see the discussion of that foul for more details), intentional grounding, and offensive holding – but in this last case the exception pertains only if the infraction occurs within the offensive team’s own end zone, in which case an automatic safety is assessed (intentional grounding from the end zone also carries an automatic safety). Under college rules, the same half-the-distance principle applies, but any offensive fouls involving contact in their end zone (e.g. holding, illegal blocking or personal fouls) result in a safety.

Note: The neutral zone is the space between the two free-kick lines during a free-kick down and between the two scrimmage lines during a scrimmage down. For a free-kick down, the neutral zone is 10 yards wide and for a scrimmage down it is as wide as the length of the football. It is established when the ball is marked ready for play. No player may legally be in the neutral zone except for the snapper on scrimmage downs, and no one except the kicker and the holder for free kick downs.

Timeouts

Each team receives three timeouts per half (if the game goes to overtime, each team receives additional timeouts), making for a total of six timeouts per team in a regulation game. Timeouts received in the first half may not be used in the second half or overtime. In professional football, a team must have at least one remaining timeout to challenge an official’s call.

Instant replay

In the NFL, a number of rulings (the only fouls that can be challenged are 12 men on the field and whether or not the pass was behind the line of scrimmage.) can be reviewed by officials or challenged by coaches (see Instant replay). If a coach wants to challenge a play, he must do so before the next play begins, and he does so by throwing a red flag similar to the officials’ yellow flags. Coaches are allowed two challenges per game and may be granted a third if their first two are successful. The team loses a timeout if they lose the challenge. Therefore, they cannot challenge if they do not have timeouts. Plays inside the two-minute-warning cannot be challenged; any review of that play must be initiated by a replay official off-field. The referee performs the actual review via a video screen on the sideline. The referee will announce the result of instant replay reviews over his wireless microphone. In overtime, all challenges are initiated by the booth which means that coaches can’t challenge.

In college, coaches are allowed one challenge per game by first requesting a timeout. Otherwise, a replay official in the press box observes all plays. If he deems a ruling may be in error, he notifies the officials on the field to interrupt the game before the beginning of the next play. The replay official performs the review and relays the decision to the referee, who announces the result. Not every conference employs replay, which is optional.

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a 10 foot (3.048 m) high hoop (the goal) under organized rules. A regulation NBA basketball court is 94′ long (28.6512 m) by 50′ wide (15.24 m). Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.
Points are scored by throwing (shooting) the ball through the basket from above. The team with more points at the end of the game wins, but additional time (overtime) may be issued when the scores of both teams are the same. The ball can be advanced on the court by bouncing it (dribbling) or passing it between teammates. Disruptive physical contact (foul) is penalized, and free throws will be issued if an offensive player is fouled while shooting the ball. (violations).
Through time, basketball has developed to involve many common techniques of shooting, passing and dribbling, as well as players’ positions, and offensive and defensive structures. Typically, the tallest members of a team will play center or one of two forward positions, while shorter players or those who possess the best ball handling skills and speed, play the guard positions. While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have developed for casual play. In some countries, basketball is also a popular spectator sport.
While competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport, played on a basketball court, less regulated variations played in the outdoors have become increasingly popular among both inner city and rural groups.

The first rules, court, and game

In early December 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian-born physical education professor and instructor at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School (YMCA) (today, Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.05 m) elevated track. In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach basket retained its bottom, and balls had to be retrieved manually after each “basket” or point scored; this proved inefficient, however, so the bottom of the basket was removed, allowing the balls to be poked out with a long dowel each time. The peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards. A further change was soon made, so the ball merely passed through, paving the way for the game we know today. A soccer ball was used to shoot baskets. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point. Whichever team got the most points won the game. The baskets were originally nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing court, but this proved impractical when spectators on the balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing rebound shots.
Naismith’s handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he was nervous about the new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children’s game called “Duck on a Rock”, as many had failed before it. Naismith called the new game “Basket Ball”.
The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium on January 20, 1892 with nine players. The game ended at 1–0; the shot was made from 25 feet (7.6 m), on a court just half the size of a present-day Streetball or National Basketball Association (NBA) court. By 1897–1898 teams of five became standard.

Women’s basketball

Women’s basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson, a physical education teacher, modified Naismith’s rules for women. Shortly after she was hired at Smith, she went to Naismith to learn more about the game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game on March 21, 1893, when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another. Her rules were first published in 1899 and two years later Berenson became the editor of A.G. Spalding’s first Women’s Basketball Guide.

Surge in popularity

Basketball’s early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the United States, and it quickly spread through the USA and Canada. By 1895, it was well established at several women’s high schools. While the YMCA was responsible for initially developing and spreading the game, within a decade it discouraged the new sport, as rough play and rowdy crowds began to detract from the YMCA’s primary mission. However, other amateur sports clubs, colleges, and professional clubs quickly filled the void. In the years before World War I, the Amateur Athletic Union and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (forerunner of the NCAA) vied for control over the rules for the game. The first pro league, the National Basketball League, was formed in 1898 to protect players from exploitation and to promote a less rough game. This league only lasted five years.

Basketball Hall of Fame founded

By the 1950s, basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. In 1959, a basketball hall of fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts, site of the first game. Its rosters include the names of great players, coaches, referees and people who have contributed significantly to the development of the game. The hall of fame has people who have accomplished many goals in their career in basketball.
Development of equipment and technique.
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. The first balls made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is now in common use. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for the “bounce pass” to teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a major part of the game around the 1950s, as manufacturing improved the ball shape.

Historical antecedents

Basketball, netball, dodgeball, volleyball, and lacrosse are the only ball games which have been identified as being invented by North Americans. Other ball games, such as baseball and Canadian football, have Commonwealth of Nations, European, Asian or African connections. Although there is no direct evidence as yet that the idea of basketball came from the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame, knowledge of that game had been available for at least 50 years prior to Naismith’s creation, in the writings of John Lloyd Stephens and Alexander von Humboldt. Stephens’ works especially, which included drawings by Frederick Catherwood, were available at most educational institutions in the 19th century and also had wide popular circulations.

Early college basketball development

Dr. James Naismith was instrumental in establishing college basketball. His colleague C.O. Beamis fielded the first college basketball team just a year after the Springfield YMCA game at the suburban Pittsburgh Geneva College. Naismith himself later coached at the University of Kansas for six years, before handing the reins to renowned coach Forrest “Phog” Allen. Naismith’s disciple Amos Alonzo Stagg brought basketball to the University of Chicago, while Adolph Rupp, a student of Naismith’s at Kansas, enjoyed great success as coach at the University of Kentucky.
On February 9, 1895, the first intercollegiate 5-on-5 game was played at Hamline University between Hamline and the School of Agriculture, which was affiliated with University of Minnesota. The School of Agriculture won in a 9–3 game.
In 1901, colleges, including the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, the University of Minnesota, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Utah and Yale University began sponsoring men’s games. In 1905, frequent injuries on the football field prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to suggest that colleges form a governing body, resulting in the creation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). In 1910, that body would change its name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Early women’s basketball development

In 1891, the University of California and Miss Head’s School played the first women’s interinstitutional game. Berenson’s freshmen played the sophomore class in the first women’s intercollegiate basketball game at Smith College, March 21, 1893. The same year, Mount Holyoke and Sophie Newcomb College (coached by Clara Gregory Baer) women began playing basketball. By 1895, the game had spread to colleges across the country, including Wellesley, Vassar, and Bryn Mawr. The first intercollegiate women’s game was on April 4, 1896. Stanford women played Berkeley, 9-on-9, ending in a 2–1 Stanford victory.
Women’s basketball development was more structured than that for men in the early years. In 1905, the Executive Committee on Basket Ball Rules (National Women’s Basketball Committee) was created by the American Physical Education Association. These rules called for six to nine players per team and 11 officials. The International Women’s Sports Federation (1924) included a women’s basketball competition. 37 women’s high school varsity basketball or state tournaments were held by 1925. And in 1926, the Amateur Athletic Union backed the first national women’s basketball championship, complete with men’s rules.
The Edmonton Grads, a touring Canadian women’s team based in Edmonton, Alberta, operated between 1915 and 1940. The Grads toured all over North America, and were exceptionally successful. They posted a record of 522 wins and only 20 losses over that span, as they met any team which wanted to challenge them, funding their tours from gate receipts. The Grads also shone on several exhibition trips to Europe, and won four consecutive exhibition Olympics tournaments, in 1924, 1928, 1932, and 1936; however, women’s basketball was not an official Olympic sport until 1976. The Grads’ players were unpaid, and had to remain single. The Grads’ style focused on team play, without overly emphasizing skills of individual players.
The first women’s AAU All-America team was chosen in 1929. Women’s industrial leagues sprang up throughout the United States, producing famous athletes, including Babe Didrikson of the Golden Cyclones, and the All American Red Heads Team, which competed against men’s teams, using men’s rules. By 1938, the women’s national championship changed from a three-court game to two-court game with six players per team.

American national college championships

The first men’s national championship tournament, the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball tournament, which still exists as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament, was organized in 1937. The first national championship for NCAA teams, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in New York, was organized in 1938; the NCAA national tournament would begin one year later.
College basketball was rocked by gambling scandals from 1948 to 1951, when dozens of players from top teams were implicated in match fixing and point shaving. Partially spurred by an association with cheating, the NIT lost support to the NCAA tournament.
National Basketball Association.
In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. The first game was played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers on November 1, 1946. Three seasons later, in 1949, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). An upstart organization, the American Basketball Association, emerged in 1967 and briefly threatened the NBA’s dominance until the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Today the NBA is the top professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition.
The NBA has featured many famous players, including George Mikan, the first dominating “big man”; ball-handling wizard Bob Cousy and defensive genius Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics; Wilt Chamberlain, who originally played for the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters; all-around stars Oscar Robertson and Jerry West; more recent big men Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone; playmaker John Stockton; crowd-pleasing forward Julius Erving; European stars Dirk Nowitzki and Dražen Petrović and the three players who many credit with ushering the professional game to its highest level of popularity: Larry Bird, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Michael Jordan.
In 2001, the NBA formed a developmental league, the NBDL. As of 2008, the league has sixteen teams.

Women’s National Basketball Association

The NBA-backed Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) began in 1997. Though it had shaky attendance figures, several marquee players (Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, and Candace Parker among others) have helped the league’s popularity and level of competition. Other professional women’s basketball leagues in the United States, such as the American Basketball League (1996-1998), have folded in part because of the popularity of the WNBA.
The WNBA has been looked at by many as a niche league. However, the league has recently taken steps forward.
In June 2007, the WNBA signed a contract extension with ESPN. The new television deal runs from 2009 to 2016. Along with this deal, came the first ever rights fees to be paid to a women’s professional sports league. Over the eight years of the contract, “millions and millions of dollars” will be “dispersed to the league’s teams.”
The WNBA gets more viewers on national television broadcasts (413,000) than both Major League Soccer (253,000) and the NHL (310,732).
The International Basketball Federation was formed in 1932 by eight founding nations: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. At this time, the organization only oversaw amateur players. Its acronym, derived from the French Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur, was thus “FIBA.”
Men’s Basketball was first included in the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, although a demonstration tournament was held in 1904. The United States defeated Canada in the first final, played outdoors. This competition has usually been dominated by the United States, whose team has won all but three titles, the first loss in a controversial final game in Munich in 1972 against the Soviet Union. In 1950 the first FIBA World Championship for men was held in Argentina. Three years later, the first FIBA World Championship for Women was held in Chile. Women’s basketball was added to the Olympics in 1976, which were held in Montreal, Canada with teams such as the Soviet Union, Brazil and Australia rivaling the American squads.

Pros in the Olympics

FIBA dropped the distinction between amateur and professional players in 1989, and in 1992, professional players played for the first time in the Olympic Games. The United States’ dominance continued with the introduction of their Dream Team. However, with developing programs elsewhere, other national teams started to beat the United States. A team made entirely of NBA players finished sixth in the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, behind Yugoslavia, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand and Spain. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the United States suffered its first Olympic loss while using professional players, falling to Puerto Rico (in a 19-point loss) and Lithuania in group games, and being eliminated in the semifinals by Argentina. It eventually won the bronze medal defeating Lithuania, finishing behind Argentina and Italy. In 2006, in the World Championship of Japan, the United States advanced to the semifinals but were defeated by Greece by 101–95. In the bronze medal game it beat team Argentina and finished 3rd behind Greece and Spain.

International stars in the NBA

Worldwide, basketball tournaments are held for boys and girls of all age levels. The global popularity of the sport is reflected in the nationalities represented in the NBA. Players from all over the globe can be found in NBA teams:

Chicago Bulls star forward Luol Deng is a Sudanese refugee who settled in Great Britain, and plays for the British national team alongside Toronto Raptors centre Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Steve Nash, who won the 2005 and 2006 NBA MVP award, is a South Africa–born Canadian. Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors, top pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, is from Italy. In addition, American superstar Kobe Bryant spent much of his childhood in Italy while his father was playing there. Dallas Mavericks superstar and 2007 NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki is German.
All-Star Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers is from Spain.
2005 NBA Draft top overall pick Andrew Bogut of the Milwaukee Bucks is Australian. Also, 2008–09 rookie Nathan Jawai is the first Indigenous Australian ever to play in the league, and the following season saw another Indigenous Australian, Patrick Mills, enter the league.
Houston Rockets All-star center Yao Ming is from China.
All star and former three point champion Peja Stojakovic is Serbian.
All star Andrei Kirilenko is Russian.
Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao and Denver Nuggets center Nenê are Brazilian.
Cleveland Cavaliers big man Žydrūnas Ilgauskas is Lithuanian.
Perhaps no NBA team is as identified by international players as the San Antonio Spurs. The team’s three most prominent players are all international—Tim Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Manu Ginobili of Argentina and Tony Parker of France (Duncan competes for the United States internationally, as the Virgin Islands did not field a basketball team for international competition until well after Duncan started playing internationally, and all U.S. Virgin Islands natives are United States citizens by birth).
Ginobili’s countryman Andrés Nocioni plays for the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings also feature the first Israeli to play in the NBA, Omri Casspi.
Even in the ’90s, many non-American players made their names in the NBA, such as Croats Dražen Petrović and Toni Kukoč, Serb Vlade Divac, Lithuanians Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionisand German Detlef Schrempf.
John Hollinger of ESPN has analyzed foreign players’ performance in the NBA and his research suggests that players moving from the Euroleague to the NBA experience, on average, a 25 per cent drop in scoring rate, an increase of 18 in their rebound rate, a 31 increase in their assist rate, a drop of 12 per cent in shooting percentage and a 30 per cent drop in Player Efficiency Rating.

Rules and regulations

Measurements and time limits discussed in this section often vary among tournaments and organizations; international and NBA rules are used in this section.
The object of the game is to outscore one’s opponents by throwing the ball through the opponents’ basket from above while preventing the opponents from doing so on their own. An attempt to score in this way is called a shot. A successful shot is worth two points, or three points if it is taken from beyond the three-point arc which is 6.25 metres (20 ft 6 in) from the basket in international games and 23 feet 9 inches (7.24 m) in NBA games. A 1 point basket is able to be earned when shooting from the foul line when a foul is made.

Playing regulations

Games are played in four quarters of 10 (international) or 12 minutes (NBA). College games use two 20-minute halves, while high school games use 8 minute quarters. Fifteen minutes are allowed for a half-time break, and two minutes are allowed at the other breaks. Overtime periods are five minutes long. Teams exchange baskets for the second half. The time allowed is actual playing time; the clock is stopped while the play is not active. Therefore, games generally take much longer to complete than the allotted game time, typically about two hours.
Five players from each team (out of a twelve player roster) may be on the court at one time. Substitutions are unlimited but can only be done when play is stopped. Teams also have a coach, who oversees the development and strategies of the team, and other team personnel such as assistant coaches, managers, statisticians, doctors and trainers.
For both men’s and women’s teams, a standard uniform consists of a pair of shorts and a jersey with a clearly visible number, unique within the team, printed on both the front and back. Players wear high-top sneakers that provide extra ankle support. Typically, team names, players’ names and, outside of North America, sponsors are printed on the uniforms.
A limited number of time-outs, clock stoppages requested by a coach (or sometimes mandated in the NBA) for a short meeting with the players, are allowed. They generally last no longer than one minute (140 seconds in the NBA) unless, for televised games, a commercial break is needed.
The game is controlled by the officials consisting of the referee (referred to as crew chief in the NBA), one or two umpires (referred to as referees in the NBA) and the table officials. For college, the NBA, and many high schools, there are a total of three referees on the court. The table officials are responsible for keeping track of each teams scoring, timekeeping, individual and team fouls, player substitutions, team possession arrow, and the shot clock.

Equipment

The only essential equipment in a basketball game is the basketball and the court: a flat, rectangular surface with baskets at opposite ends (or in the case of 3-on-3 street basketball, half a court with one basket). Competitive levels require the use of more equipment such as clocks, scoresheets, scoreboard(s), alternating possession arrows, and whistle-operated stop-clock systems.
A regulation basketball court in international games is 28 by 15 meters (approx. 92 by 49 ft) and in the NBA is 94 by 50 feet (29 by 15 m). Most courts are made of wood, usually maple. A steel basket with a diameter of 18 inches has an attached net and backboard that measures 6 by 4 feet, hang over each end of the court. The white outlined box on the backboard is 18 inches high and 2 feet wide. At almost all levels of competition, the top of the rim is exactly 10 feet (3.05 m) above the court and 4 feet (1.2 m) inside the baseline. While variation is possible in the dimensions of the court and backboard, it is considered important for the basket to be of the correct height; a rim that is off by but a few inches can have an adverse effect on shooting.
There are also regulations on the size a basketball should be. If women are playing, the official basketball size is 28.5″ in circumference (size 6, or a “285 ball”) and a weight of 20 oz. For men, the official ball is 29.5″ in circumference (size 7, or a “295 ball”) and weighs 22 oz.

Violations

The ball may be advanced toward the basket by being shot, passed between players, thrown, tapped, rolled or dribbled (bouncing the ball while running).
The ball must stay within the court; the last team to touch the ball before it travels out of bounds forfeits possession. The ball is out of bounds if touches or crosses over a boundary line, or touches a player who is out of bounds. This is in contrast to other sports such as soccer, volleyball, and tennis (but not rugby or American football) where the ball (or player) is still considered in if any part of it is touching a boundary line.
The ball-handler may not move both feet without dribbling, an infraction known as traveling, nor may he dribble with both hands or catch the ball in between dribbles, a violation called double dribbling. A player’s hand cannot be under the ball while dribbling; doing so is known as carrying the ball. A team, once having established ball control in the front half of the court, may not return the ball to the backcourt and be the first to touch it. The ball may not be kicked, nor be struck with the fist. A violation of these rules results in loss of possession, or, if committed by the defense, a reset of the shot clock (with some exceptions in the NBA).
There are limits imposed on the time taken before progressing the ball past halfway (8 seconds in international and NBA; 10 seconds in NCAA men’s play and high school for both sexes, but no limit in NCAA women’s play), before attempting a shot (24 seconds in the NBA, 30 seconds in NCAA women’s and Canadian Interuniversity Sport play for both sexes, and 35 seconds in NCAA men’s play), holding the ball while closely guarded (5 seconds), and remaining in the restricted area below the foul line (the lane, or “key”) (3 seconds). These rules are designed to promote more offense.
No player may touch the ball on its downward flight to the basket, unless the ball has no chance of entering the basket (goaltending). In addition, no player may touch the ball while it is on or in the basket; when any part of the ball is in the cylinder above the basket (the area extended upwards from the basket); or when the ball is outside the cylinder, if the player reaches through the basket and touches it. This violation is known as “basket interference”. If a defensive player goaltends or commits basket interference, the basket is awarded and the offending team gets the ball. If a teammate of the shooter goaltends or commits interference, the basket is cancelled and play continues with the defensive team being given possession.

Fouls

An attempt to unfairly disadvantage an opponent through physical contact is illegal and is called a foul. These are most commonly committed by defensive players; however, they can be committed by offensive players as well. Players who are fouled either receive the ball to pass inbounds again, or receive one or more free throws if they are fouled in the act of shooting, depending on whether the shot was successful. One point is awarded for making a free throw, which is attempted from a line 15 feet (4.6 m) from the basket.
The referee may use discretion in calling fouls (for example, by considering whether an unfair advantage was gained), sometimes making fouls controversial calls or no-calls. The calling of fouls can vary between games, leagues and even between referees.
A player or coach who shows poor sportsmanship, such as by arguing with a referee or by fighting with another player, can be charged with a more serious foul called a technical foul. The penalty involves free throws (where, unlike a personal foul, the other team can choose any player to shoot) and varies between leagues. Repeated incidents can result in disqualification. Blatant fouls with excessive contact or that are not an attempt to play the ball are called intentional fouls (or flagrant fouls in the NBA). In FIBA, a foul resulting in ejection is called a disqualifying foul, while in leagues other than the NBA, such a foul is referred to as flagrant.
If a team exceeds a certain limit of team fouls in a given period (quarter or half) – four for NBA and international games – the opposing team is awarded one or two free throws on all subsequent non-shooting fouls for that period, the number depending on the league. In the US college and high school games, if a team reaches 7 fouls in a half, the opposing team is awarded one free throw, along with a second shot if the first is made. This is called shooting “one-and-one”. If a team exceeds 10 fouls in the half, the opposing team is awarded two free throws on all subsequent fouls for the half.
When a team shoots foul shots, the opponents may not interfere with the shooter, nor may they try to regain possession until the last or potentially last free throw is in the air.
After a team has committed a specified number of fouls, it is said to be “in the penalty”. On scoreboards, this is usually signified with an indicator light reading “Bonus” or “Penalty” with an illuminated directional arrow indicating that team is to receive free throws when fouled by the opposing team. (Some scoreboards also indicate the number of fouls committed.)
If a team misses the first shot of a two-shot situation, the opposing team must wait for the completion of the second shot before attempting to reclaim possession of the ball and continuing play.
If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is unsuccessful, the player is awarded a number of free throws equal to the value of the attempted shot. A player fouled while attempting a regular two-point shot, then, receives two shots. A player fouled while attempting a three-point shot, on the other hand, receives three shots.
If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is successful, typically the player will be awarded one additional free throw for one point. In combination with a regular shot, this is called a “three-point play” or “four-point play” (or more colloquially, an “and one”) because of the basket made at the time of the foul (2 or 3 points) and the additional free throw (1 point).

Common techniques and practices

Positions and structures

Although the rules do not specify any positions whatsoever, they have evolved as part of basketball. During the first five decades of basketball’s evolution, one guard, two forwards, and two centers or two guards, two forwards, and one center were used. Since the 1980s, more specific positions have evolved, namely:

• point guard: usually the fastest player on the team, organizes the team’s offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time
   

• shooting guard: creates a high volume of shots on offense; guards the opponent’s best perimeter player on defense

• small forward: often primarily responsible for scoring points via cuts to the basket and dribble penetration; on defense seeks rebounds and steals, but sometimes plays more actively

• power forward: plays offensively often with their back to the basket; on defense, plays under the basket (in a zone defense) or against the opposing power forward (in man-to-man defense)

• center: uses height and size to score (on offense), to protect the basket closely (on defense), or to rebound.

The above descriptions are flexible. On some occasions, teams will choose to use a three guard offense, replacing one of the forwards or the center with a third guard. The most commonly interchanged positions are point guard and shooting guard, especially if both players have good leadership and ball handling skills.
The strategies also evolve with the game. In the 1990s and early 2000s, teams played with more “isolation”. Teams that had one superstar would let one player, usually the point guard or shooting guard, run most of the offense while the other four offensive players get out of his/her way. Nowadays, teams tend to play with more teamwork. The “Center” position has evolved to become more of a taller “Small Forward” position. Since teams play more teamwork, ball movement has evolved with the game, and more jump shots have been taken as a result.
There are two main defensive strategies: zone defense and man-to-man defense. Zone defense involves players in defensive positions guarding whichever opponent is in their zone. In man-to-man defense, each defensive player guards a specific opponent and tries to prevent them from taking action.
Defense has also evolved with offense. “Zone defense” has changed with many variations. There are defensive schemes called “2–3 zone”, “3–2 zone”, “box-and-1″, “2–1–2 zone” and many more. All of these variations were created to defend different varieties that offense has. “Man-to-man defense” has been the most preferred of all the options because many basketball games are not as organized as the entertainment part of basketball.
Offensive plays are more varied, normally involving planned passes and movement by players without the ball. A quick movement by an offensive player without the ball to gain an advantageous position is a cut. A legal attempt by an offensive player to stop an opponent from guarding a teammate, by standing in the defender’s way such that the teammate cuts next to him, is a screen or pick. The two plays are combined in the pick and roll, in which a player sets a pick and then “rolls” away from the pick towards the basket. Screens and cuts are very important in offensive plays; these allow the quick passes and teamwork which can lead to a successful basket. Teams almost always have several offensive plays planned to ensure their movement is not predictable. On court, the point guard is usually responsible for indicating which play will occur.
Defensive and offensive structures, and positions, are more emphasized in higher levels in basketball; it is these that a coach normally requests a time-out to discuss.

Shooting

Shooting is the act of attempting to score points by throwing the ball through the basket. While methods can vary with players and situations, the most common technique is outlined as follows:
The player faces the basket with feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and back straight. The player allows the ball to rest on the fingertips of the dominant hand (the shooting arm) slightly above the head, with the other hand supporting the side of the ball. To aim the ball, the player’s elbow should be aligned vertically, with the forearm facing in the direction of the basket. The ball is shot by extending the bended knees and straightening the shooting arm; the ball rolls off the finger tips while the wrist completes a full downward flex motion. The shooting arm, fully extended with the wrist fully bent, and the fingers pointing downward, is held stationary for a moment following the release of the ball, this is known as a follow-through, which when properly done, enhances the accuracy of the shot. Generally, the non-shooting arm is used only to guide the shot, not to power it.
Players often try to put a steady backspin on the ball to deaden its impact with the rim. The ideal trajectory of the shot is somewhat arguable, but generally coaches recommend a proper arch. Players may shoot directly into the basket or may use the backboard to redirect the ball into the basket.
The two most common shots that use the above described setup are the set shot and the jump shot. The set shot is taken from a standing position, with neither foot leaving the floor, typically used for free throws. The jump shot is taken while in mid-air, when the ball is released near the top of the jump. This provides much greater power and range, and it also allows the player to elevate over the defender. Failure to release the ball before the feet return to the ground is considered a traveling violation.
Another common shot is called the layup. This shot requires the player to be in motion toward the basket, and to “lay” the ball “up” and into the basket, typically off the backboard (the backboard-free, underhand version is called a finger roll). The most crowd-pleasing, and typically highest-percentage accuracy shot is the slam dunk, in which the player jumps very high, and throws the ball downward, straight through the hoop.
Another shot that is becoming common is the “circus shot.” The circus shot is a low-percentage shot that is flipped, heaved, scooped, or flung toward the hoop while the shooter is off-balance, airborne, falling down, and/or facing away from the basket.
A shot that misses both the rim and the backboard completely is referred to as an air ball. A particularly bad shot, or one that only hits the backboard, is jocularly called a brick.

Rebounding

The objective of rebounding is to successfully gain possession of the basketball after a missed field goal or free throw, as it rebounds from the hoop or backboard. This plays a major role in the game, as most possessions end when a team misses a shot. There are two categories of rebounds: offensive rebounds, in which the ball is recovered by the offensive side and does not change possession, and defensive rebounds, in which the defending team gains possession of the loose ball. The majority of rebounds are defensive, as the team on defense tends to be in better position to recover missed shots.

Passing

A pass is a method of moving the ball between players. Most passes are accompanied by a step forward to increase power and are followed through with the hands to ensure accuracy.
A staple pass is the chest pass. The ball is passed directly from the passer’s chest to the receiver’s chest. A proper chest pass involves an outward snap of the thumbs to add velocity and leaves the defence little time to react.
Another type of pass is the bounce pass. Here, the passer bounces the ball crisply about two-thirds of the way from his own chest to the receiver. The ball strikes the court and bounces up toward the receiver. The bounce pass takes longer to complete than the chest pass, but it is also harder for the opposing team to intercept (kicking the ball deliberately is a violation). Thus, players often use the bounce pass in crowded moments, or to pass around a defender.
The overhead pass is used to pass the ball over a defender. The ball is released while over the passer’s head.
The outlet pass occurs after a team gets a defensive rebound. The next pass after the rebound is the outlet pass.
The crucial aspect of any good pass is it being difficult to intercept. Good passers can pass the ball with great accuracy and they know exactly where each of their other teammates prefers to receive the ball. A special way of doing this is passing the ball without looking at the receiving teammate. This is called a no-look pass.
Another advanced style of passing is the behind-the-back pass which, as the description implies, involves throwing the ball behind the passer’s back to a teammate. Although some players can perform such a pass effectively, many coaches discourage no-look or behind-the-back passes, believing them to be difficult to control and more likely to result in turnovers or violations.

Dribbling

Dribbling is the act of bouncing the ball continuously with one hand, and is a requirement for a player to take steps with the ball. To dribble, a player pushes the ball down towards the ground with the fingertips rather than patting it; this ensures greater control.
When dribbling past an opponent, the dribbler should dribble with the hand farthest from the opponent, making it more difficult for the defensive player to get to the ball. It is therefore important for a player to be able to dribble competently with both hands.
Good dribblers (or “ball handlers”) tend to bounce the ball low to the ground, reducing the distance of travel of the ball from the floor to the hand, making it more difficult for the defender to “steal” the ball. Good ball handlers frequently dribble behind their backs, between their legs, and switch directions suddenly, making a less predictable dribbling pattern that is more difficult to defend against. This is called a crossover, which is the most effective way to move past defenders while dribbling.
A skilled player can dribble without watching the ball, using the dribbling motion or peripheral vision to keep track of the ball’s location. By not having to focus on the ball, a player can look for teammates or scoring opportunities, as well as avoid the danger of having someone steal the ball away from him/her.

Blocking

A block is performed when, after a shot is attempted, a defender succeeds in altering the shot by touching the ball. In almost all variants of play, it is illegal to touch the ball after it is in the downward path of its arc; this is known as goaltending. It is also illegal under NBA and Men’s NCAA basketball, to block a shot after it has touched the backboard, or when any part of the ball is directly above the rim.
To block a shot, a player has to be able to reach a point higher than where the shot is released. Thus, height can be an advantage in blocking. Players who are taller and playing the power forward or center positions generally record more blocks than players who are shorter and playing the guard positions. However, with good timing and a sufficiently high vertical leap, even shorter players can be effective shot blockers.

Height

At the professional level, most male players are above 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and most women above 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m). Guards, for whom physical coordination and ball-handling skills are crucial, tend to be the smallest players. Almost all forwards in the men’s pro leagues are 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) or taller. Most centers are over 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 m) tall. According to a survey given to all NBA teams, the average height of all NBA players is just under 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m), with the average weight being close to 222 pounds (101 kg). The tallest players ever in the NBA were Manute Bol and Gheorghe Mureşan, who were both 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m) tall. The tallest current NBA player is Yao Ming, who stands at 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m).
The shortest player ever to play in the NBA is Muggsy Bogues at 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m). Other short players have thrived at the pro level. Anthony “Spud” Webb was just 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall, but had a 42-inch (1.07 m) vertical leap, giving him significant height when jumping. The shortest player in the NBA as of the 2009–10 season is Earl Boykins at 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m). While shorter players are often not very good at defending against shooting, their ability to navigate quickly through crowded areas of the court and steal the ball by reaching low are strengths.

Fantasy basketball

Fantasy basketball was inspired by fantasy baseball. Originally played by keeping track of stats by hand, it was popularized during the 1990s after the advent of the Internet. Those who play this game are sometimes referred to as General Managers, who draft actual NBA players and compute their basketball statistics. The game was popularized by ESPN Fantasy Sports, NBA.com, and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports. Other sports websites provided the same format keeping the game interesting with participants actually owning specific players.

Baseball

Rules and Game Play

A game is played between two teams, each composed of nine players, that take turns playing offense (batting or hitting) and defense (fielding or pitching). A pair of turns, one at bat and one in the field, by each team constitutes an inning; there are nine innings in a game. One team—customarily the visiting team—bats in the top, or first half, of every inning; the other team—customarily the home team—bats in the bottom, or second half, of every inning. The goal of a game is to score more points (runs) than the other team. The players on the team at bat attempt to score runs by circling, or completing a tour of, the four bases set at the corners of the square-shaped baseball diamond. A player bats at home plate and must proceed counterclockwise to first base, second base, third base, and back home in order to score a run. The team in the field attempts both to prevent runs from scoring and to record outs, which remove opposing players from offensive action until their turn in their team’s batting order comes up again. When three outs are recorded, the teams switch roles for the next half-inning. If the score of the game is tied after nine innings, extra innings are played to resolve the contest. Children’s games are often scheduled for fewer than nine innings.

Diagram of a baseball field (the term diamond may be used to refer to the square area defined by the four bases or to the entire playing field). The dimensions given are for professional and professional-style games; children often play on smaller fields.

The game is played on a field whose primary boundaries, the foul lines, extend forward from home plate at 45-degree angles. The 90-degree area within the foul lines is referred to as fair territory; the 270-degree area outside them is foul territory. The part of the field enclosed by the bases and several yards beyond them is the infield; the area farther beyond the infield is the outfield. In the middle of the infield is a raised pitcher’s mound, with a rectangular rubber plate (the rubber) at its center. The outer boundary of the outfield is typically demarcated by a raised fence, which may be of any material and height (many amateur games are played on fields without a fence). Fair territory between home plate and the outfield boundary is baseball’s field of play, though significant events can take place in foul territory, as well.

There are three basic tools of baseball: the ball, the bat, and the glove or mitt.

The baseball is about the size of an adult’s fist, around 9 inches (23 centimeters) in circumference. It has a rubber or cork center, wound in yarn and covered in white cowhide, with red stitching.

The bat is a hitting tool, traditionally made of a single, solid piece of wood; other materials are now commonly used for nonprofessional games. It is a hard round stick, about 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) in diameter at the hitting end, tapering to a narrower handle and culminating in a knob. Bats used by adults are typically around 34 inches (86 centimeters) long, and not longer than 42 inches (106 centimeters).

The glove or mitt is a fielding tool, made of padded leather with webbing between the fingers. As an aid in catching and holding onto the ball, it takes various shapes to meet the specific needs of different fielding positions.

Protective helmets are also standard equipment for all batters.

At the beginning of each half-inning, the nine players on the fielding team arrange themselves around the field. One of them, the pitcher, stands on the pitcher’s mound; the pitcher begins the pitching delivery with one foot on the rubber, pushing off it to gain velocity when throwing toward home plate. Another player, the catcher, squats on the far side of home plate, facing the pitcher. The rest of the team faces home plate, typically arranged as four infielders—who set up along or within a few yards outside the imaginary lines between first, second, and third base—and three outfielders. In the standard arrangement, there is a first baseman positioned several steps to the left of first base, a second baseman to the right of second base, a shortstop to the left of second base, and a third baseman to the right of third base. The basic outfield positions are left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder. A neutral umpire sets up behind the catcher.

Awaiting a Pitch: Batter, Catcher, and Umpire

Game play starts with a batter standing at home plate, holding a bat. The batter waits for the pitcher to throw a pitch (the ball) toward home plate, and attempts to hit the ball with the bat. The catcher catches pitches that the batter does not hit—as a result of either electing not to swing or failing to connect—and returns them to the pitcher. A batter who hits the ball into the field of play must drop the bat and begin running toward first base, at which point the player is referred to as a runner (or, until the play is over, a batter-runner). A batter-runner who reaches first base without being put out (see below) is said to be safe and is now on base. A batter-runner may choose to remain at first base or attempt to advance to second base or even beyond—however far the player believes can be reached safely. A player who reaches base despite proper play by the fielders has recorded a hit. A player who reaches first base safely on a hit is credited with a single. If a player makes it to second base safely as a direct result of a hit, it is a double; third base, a triple. If the ball is hit in the air within the foul lines over the entire outfield (and outfield fence, if there is one), it is a home run: the batter and any runners on base may all freely circle the bases, each scoring a run. This is the most desirable result for the batter. A player who reaches base due to a fielding mistake is not credited with a hit—instead, the responsible fielder is charged with an error.

Any runners already on base may attempt to advance on batted balls that land, or contact the ground, in fair territory, before or after the ball lands; a runner on first base must attempt to advance if a ball lands in play. If a ball hit into play rolls foul before passing through the infield, it becomes dead and any runners must return to the base they were at when the play began. If the ball is hit in the air and caught before it lands, the batter has flied out and any runners on base may attempt to advance only if they tag up or touch the base they were at when the play began, as or after the ball is caught. Runners may also attempt to advance to the next base while the pitcher is in the process of delivering the ball to home plate—a successful effort is a stolen base.

A pitch that is not hit into the field of play is called either a strike or a ball. A batter against whom three strikes are recorded strikes out. A batter against whom four balls are recorded is awarded a base on balls or walk, a free advance to first base. (A batter may also freely advance to first base if any part of the batter’s body or uniform is struck by a pitch before the batter either swings at it or it contacts the ground.) Crucial to determining balls and strikes is the umpire’s judgment as to whether a pitch has passed through the strike zone, a conceptual area above home plate extending from the midpoint between the batter’s shoulders and belt down to the hollow of the knee.

A strike is called when one of the following happens:

The batter lets a well-pitched ball (one within the strike zone) go through to the catcher.

The batter swings at any ball (even one outside the strike zone) and misses.

The batter hits a foul ball—one that either initially lands in foul territory or initially lands within the diamond but moves into foul territory before passing first or third base. If there are already two strikes on the batter, a foul ball is not counted as a third strike thus, a foul ball cannot result in the immediate strikeout of the batter. (There is an exception to this exception: a two-strike foul bunt is recorded as a third strike.)

A ball is called when the pitcher throws a pitch that is outside the strike zone, provided the batter has not swung at it.

A shortstop tries to tag out a runner who is sliding headfirst, attempting to reach second base.

While the team at bat is trying to score runs, the team in the field is attempting to record outs. Among the various ways a member of the batting team may be put out, five are most common:

The strikeout: as described above, recorded against a batter who makes three strikes before putting the ball into play or being awarded a free advance to first base.

The flyout: as described above, recorded against a batter who hits a ball in the air that is caught by a fielder, whether in fair territory or foul territory, before it lands, whether or not the batter has run.

The ground out: recorded against a batter (in this case, batter-runner) who hits a ball that lands in fair territory which, before the batter-runner can reach first base, is retrieved by a fielder who touches first base while holding the ball or relays it to another fielder who touches first base while holding the ball.

The force out: recorded against a runner who is required to attempt to advance—either because the runner is on first base and a batted ball lands in fair territory, or because the runner immediately behind on the basepath is thus required to attempt to advance—but fails to reach the next base before a fielder touches the base while holding the ball. The ground out is technically a special case of the force out.

The tag out: recorded against a runner who is touched by a fielder with the ball or a glove holding the ball, while the runner is not touching a base.

It is possible to record two outs in the course of the same play—a double play; even three—a triple play—is possible, though this is very rare. Players put out or retired must leave the field, returning to their team’s dugout or bench. A runner may be stranded on base when a third out is recorded against another player on the team. Stranded runners do not benefit the team in its next turn at bat—every half-inning begins with the bases empty of runners.

An individual player’s turn batting or plate appearance is complete when the player reaches base (or hits a home run), makes an out, or hits a ball that results in the team’s third out, even if it is recorded against a teammate. On rare occasions, a batter may be at the plate when, without the batter’s hitting the ball, a third out is recorded against a teammate—for instance, a runner getting caught stealing (tagged out attempting to steal a base). A batter with this sort of incomplete plate appearance starts off the team’s next turn batting; any balls or strikes recorded against the batter the previous inning are erased. A runner may circle the bases only once per plate appearance and thus can score at most a single run per batting turn. Once a player has completed a plate appearance, that player may not bat again until the eight other members of his team have all taken their turn at bat. The batting order is set before the game begins, and may not be altered except for substitutions. Once a player has been removed for a substitute, that player may not reenter the game. Children’s games often have more liberal substitution rules.

If the designated hitter (DH) rule is in effect, each team has a tenth player whose sole responsibility is to bat (and run). The DH takes the place of another player—almost invariably the pitcher—in the batting order, but does not field. Thus, even with the DH, each team still has a batting order of nine players and a fielding arrangement of nine players.

Player Rosters

Relief pitchers warming up, overseen by a bullpen coach. A manager will often have both a right-handed and a left-handed reliever warm up to maximize his strategic options.

Roster, or squad, sizes differ between different leagues and different levels of organized play. Major League Baseball teams maintain twenty-five-player active rosters. A typical twenty-five-man roster in a league without the DH rule, such as MLB’s National League, features:

• eight position players—catcher, four infielders, three outfielders—who play on a regular basis
• five starting pitchers who constitute the team’s pitching rotation or starting rotation
• six relief pitchers, including one specialist closer, who constitute the team’s bullpen (named for the off-field area where pitchers warm up)
• one backup, or substitute, catcher
• two backup infielders
• two backup outfielders
• one specialist pinch hitter, or a second backup catcher, or a seventh reliever

Other Personnel

The manager, or head coach of a team, oversees the team’s major strategic decisions, such as establishing the starting rotation, setting the lineup, or batting order, before each game, and making substitutions during games—in particular, bringing in relief pitchers. Managers
are typically assisted by two or more coaches; they may have specialized responsibilities, such as working with players on hitting, fielding, pitching, or strength and conditioning. At most levels of organized play, two coaches are stationed on the field when the team is at bat: the first base coach and third base coach, occupying designated coaches’ boxes just outside the foul lines, assist in the direction of base runners when the ball is in play, and relay tactical signals from the manager to batters and runners during pauses in play. In contrast to many other team sports, baseball managers and coaches generally wear their team’s uniforms; coaches must be in uniform in order to be allowed on the playing field during a game.

Any baseball game involves one or more umpires, who make rulings on the outcome of each play. At a minimum, one umpire will stand behind the catcher, to have a good view of the strike zone, and call balls and strikes. Additional umpires may be stationed near the other bases,
thus making it easier to judge plays such as attempted force outs and tag outs. In Major League Baseball, four umpires are used for each game, one near each base. In the playoffs, six umpires are used: one at each base and two in the outfield along the foul lines.

Strategy and Tactics

Many of the pre-game and in-game strategic decisions in baseball revolve around a fundamental fact: in general, right-handed batters tend to be more successful against left-handed pitchers and, to an even greater degree, left-handed batters tend to be more successful against right-handed pitchers. A manager with several left-handed batters in the regular lineup who knows the team will be facing a left-handed starting pitcher may respond by starting one or more of the right-handed backups on the team’s roster. During the late innings of a game, as relief pitchers and pinch hitters are brought in, the opposing managers will often go back and forth trying to create favorable matchups with their substitutions: the manager of
the fielding team trying to arrange same-handed pitcher-batter matchups, the manager of the batting team trying to arrange opposite-handed matchups. With a team that has the lead in the late innings, a manager may remove a starting position player—especially one whose turn at bat is not likely to come up again—for a more skillful fielder.

Pitching and fielding tactics

A first baseman receives a pickoff throw, as the runner dives back to first base.

The tactical decision that precedes almost every play in a baseball game involves pitch selection. Among the wide variety of pitches that may be thrown, the four basic types are the fastball, the changeup (or off-speed pitch), and two breaking balls—the curveball and the slider. Pitchers have different repertoires of pitches they are skillful at throwing. Conventionally, before each pitch, the catcher signals the pitcher what type of pitch to throw, as well as its general vertical and/or horizontal location. If there is disagreement on the selection, the pitcher may shake off the sign and the catcher will call for a different pitch. With a runner on base and taking a lead, the pitcher may attempt a pickoff, a quick throw to a fielder covering the base to keep the runner’s lead in check or, optimally, effect a tag out. If an attempted stolen base is anticipated, the catcher may call for a pitchout, a ball thrown deliberately off the plate, allowing the catcher to catch it while standing and throw quickly to a base. Facing a batter with a strong tendency to hit to one side of the field, the fielding team may employ a shift, with most or all of the fielders moving to the left or right of their usual positions. With a runner on third base, the infielders may play in, moving closer to home plate to improve the odds of throwing out the runner on a ground ball, though a sharply hit grounder is more likely to carry through a drawn-in infield.

Batting and base running tactics

A batter squares to bunt, moving his hands up the barrel of the bat to increase his control and deaden the ball on impact.

Several basic offensive tactics come into play with a runner on first base, including the fundamental choice of whether to attempt a steal of second base. The hit and run is sometimes employed with a skillful contact hitter: the runner takes off with the pitch drawing the shortstop or second baseman over to second base, creating a gap in the infield for the batter to poke the ball through. The sacrifice bunt calls for the batter to focus on making contact with the ball so that it rolls a short distance into the infield, allowing the runner to advance into scoring position even at the expense of the batter being thrown out at first—a batter who succeeds is credited with a sacrifice. (A batter, particularly one who is a fast runner, may also attempt to bunt for a hit.) A sacrifice bunt employed with a runner on third base, aimed at bringing that runner home, is known as a squeeze play. With a runner on third and fewer than two outs, a batter may instead concentrate on hitting a fly ball that, even if it is caught, will be deep enough to allow the runner to tag up and score—a successful batter in this case gets credit for a sacrifice fly. The manager will sometimes signal a batter who is ahead in the count (i.e., has more balls than strikes) to take, or not swing at, the next pitch.

Distinctive elements

Baseball has certain attributes that set it apart from the other popular team sports in the countries where it is has a following, games such as American and Canadian football, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer. All of these sports use a clock; in all of them, game play is less individual and more collective; and in none of them is the variation between playing fields nearly as substantial or important. The comparison between cricket and baseball demonstrates that many of baseball’s distinctive elements are shared in various ways with its cousin sport.

No Clock to Kill

In clock-limited sports, games often end with a team that holds the lead killing the clock rather than competing aggressively against the opposing team. In contrast, baseball has no clock; a team cannot win without getting the last batter out and rallies are not constrained by time. At almost any turn in any baseball game, the most advantageous strategy is some form of aggressive strategy. In contrast, again, the clock comes into play even in the case of multi-day Test and first-class cricket: the possibility of a draw often encourages a team that is batting last and well behind to bat defensively, giving up any faint chance at a win to avoid a loss. Baseball offers no such reward for conservative batting.

While nine innings has been the standard since the beginning of professional baseball, the duration of the average major league game has increased steadily through the years. At the turn of the twentieth century, games typically took an hour and a half to play. In the 1920s, they averaged just less than two hours, which eventually ballooned t 2:38 in 1960. By 1997, the average American League game lasted 2:57 (National League games were about 10 minutes shorter—pitchers at the plate making for quicker outs than designated hitters). In 2004, Major League Baseball declared that its goal was an average game of merely 2:45. The lengthening of games is attributed to longer breaks between half-innings for television commercials, increased offense, more pitching changes, and a slower pace of play with pitchers taking more time between each delivery, and batters stepping out of the box more frequently. Other leagues have experienced similar issues; in 2008, Nippon Professional Baseball took steps aimed at shortening games by 12 minutes from the preceding decade’s average of 3:18.

Individual Focus

For a team sport, baseball places individual players under unusual scrutiny and pressure. In 1915, a baseball instructional manual pointed out that every single pitch, of which there are often more than two hundred in a game, involves an individual, one-on-one contest: “the pitcher and the batter in a battle of wits”. Contrasting the game with both football and basketball, scholar Michael Mandelbaum argues that “baseball is the one closest in evolutionary descent to the older individual sports”. Pitcher, batter, and fielder all act essentially independent of each other. While coaching staffs can signal pitcher or batter to pursue certain tactics, the execution of the play itself is a series of solitary acts. If the batter hits a line drive, the outfielder is solely responsible for deciding to try to catch it or play it on the bounce and for succeeding or failing. The statistical precision of baseball is both facilitated by this isolation and reinforces it. As described by Mandelbaum,

It is impossible to isolate and objectively assess the contribution each [football] team member makes to the outcome of the play…. [E]very basketball player is interacting with all of his teammates all the time. In baseball, by contrast, every player is more or less on his own. Baseball is therefore a realm of complete transparency and total responsibility. A baseball player lives in a glass house, and in a stark moral universe…. Everything that every player does is accounted for and everything accounted for is either good or bad, right or wrong.

Uniqueness of Each Baseball Park

Unlike those of most sports, baseball playing fields can vary significantly in size and shape. While the dimensions of the infield are specifically regulated, the only constraint on outfield size and shape for professional teams following the rules of Major League and Minor League Baseball is that fields built or remodeled since June 1, 1958, must have a minimum distance of 325 feet (99 m) from home plate to the fences in left and right field and 400 feet (122 m) to center. Major league teams often skirt even this rule. For example, at Minute Maid Park, which became the home of the Houston Astros in 2000, the Crawford Boxes in left field are only 315 feet (96 m) from home plate. There are no rules at all that address the height of fences or other structures at the edge of the outfield. The most famously idiosyncratic outfield boundary is the left-field wall at Boston’s Fenway Park, in use since 1912: the Green Monster is 310 feet (94 m) from home plate down the line and 37 feet (11 m) tall.

View of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, from behind third base. The Green Monster is visible at the far left.

Similarly, there are no regulations at all concerning the dimensions of foul territory. Thus a foul fly ball may be entirely out of play in a park with little space between the foul lines and the stands, but a flyout in a park with more expansive foul ground. A fence in foul territory that is close to the outfield line will tend to direct balls that strike it back toward the fielders, while one that is farther away may actually prompt more collisions, as outfielders run full speed to field balls deep in the corner; these variations can make the difference between a double and a triple or inside-the-park home run. The surface of the field is also unregulated. While the diagram in the Rules and game play section above shows a traditional field surfacing arrangement (and the one used by virtually all MLB teams with naturally surfaced fields), teams are free to decide what areas will be grassed or bare. Some fields—including several in MLB—use an artificial surface, such as Astroturf. Surface variations can have a significant effect on how ground balls behave and are fielded as well as on base running. Similarly, the presence of a roof (seven major league teams play in stadiums with permanent or retractable roofs) can greatly affect how fly balls are played. While football and soccer players deal with similar variations of field surface and stadium covering, the size and shape of their fields are much more standardized; the area out-of-bounds on a football or soccer field does not affect gameplay the way foul territory in baseball does, so variations in that regard are largely insignificant.

These physical variations create a distinctive set of playing conditions at each ballpark. Other local factors, such as altitude and climate, can also significantly affect gameplay. A given stadium may acquire a reputation as a pitcher’s park or a hitter’s park, if one or the other discipline notably benefits from its unique mix of elements. The most exceptional park in this regard is Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. Its high altitude—5,282 feet (1,610 m) above sea level—is responsible for giving it the strongest hitter’s park effect in the major leagues. Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, is known for its fickle disposition: a hitter’s park when the strong winds off Lake Michigan are blowing out, it becomes more of a pitcher’s park when they are blowing in. The absence of a standardized field affects not only how particular games play out, but the nature of team rosters and players’ statistical records. For example, hitting a fly ball 330 feet (100 m) into right field might result in a easy catch on the warning track at one park, and a home run at another. A team that plays in a park with a relatively short right field, such as the New York Yankees, will tend to stock its roster with left-handed pull hitters, who can best exploit it. On the individual level, a player who spends most of his career with a team that plays in a hitter’s park will gain an advantage in batting statistics over time—even more so if his talents are especially suited to the park.

Statistics

Organized baseball lends itself to statistics to a greater degree than many other sports. Each play is discrete and has a relatively small number of possible outcomes. In the late nineteenth century, a former cricket player, English-born Henry Chadwick of Brooklyn, New York, was responsible for the “development of the box score, tabular standings, the annual baseball guide, the batting average, and most of the common statistics and tables used to describe baseball.” The statistical record is so central to the game’s “historical essence” that Chadwick came to be known as Father Baseball. In the 1920s, American newspapers began devoting more and more attention to baseball statistics, initiating what journalist and historian Alan Schwarz describes as a “tectonic shift in sports, as intrigue that once focused mostly on teams began to go to individual players and their statistics lines.”

The Official Baseball Rules administered by Major League Baseball require the official scorer to categorize each baseball play unambiguously. The rules provide detailed criteria to promote consistency. The score report is the official basis for both the box score of the game and the relevant statistical records. General managers, managers, and baseball scouts use statistics to evaluate players and make strategic decisions.

Certain traditional statistics are familiar to most baseball fans. The basic batting statistics include:

• At bats: plate appearances, excluding walks and hit by pitches—where the batter’s ability is not fully tested—and sacrifices and sacrifice flies—where the batter intentionally makes an out in order to advance one or more base runners
• Hits: times reached base because of a batted, fair ball without fielding error or fielder’s choice
• Runs: times circling the bases and reaching home safely
• Runs batted in (RBIs): number of runners who scored due to a batter’s action (including the batter, in the case of a home run), except when batter grounded into double play or reached on an error
• Home runs: hits on which the batter successfully touched all four bases, without the contribution of a fielding error
• Batting average: hits divided by at bats—the traditional measure of batting ability

The basic base running statistics include:

• Stolen bases: times advancing to the next base entirely due to the runner’s own efforts, generally while the pitcher is preparing to deliver or delivering the ball
• Caught stealing: times tagged out while attempting to steal a base

Cy Young—the holder of many major league career marks, including wins and innings pitched, as well as losses—in 1908. MLB’s annual awards for the best pitcher in each league are named for Young.

The basic pitching statistics include:

• Wins: games where pitcher was pitching while his team took a lead that it never relinquished, going on to win
• Losses: games where pitcher was pitching while the opposing team took a lead that it never relinquished, going on to win
• Saves: games where the pitcher enters a game led by the pitcher’s team, finishes the game without surrendering the lead, is not the winning pitcher, and either (a) the lead was three runs or less when the pitcher entered the game; (b) the potential tying run was on base, at bat, or on deck; or (c) the pitcher pitched three or more innings
• Innings pitched: outs recorded while pitching divided by three
• Strikeouts: times pitching three strikes to a batter
• Winning percentage: wins divided by decisions (wins plus losses)
• Earned run average (ERA): runs allowed, excluding those resulting from fielding errors, per nine innings pitched

The basic fielding statistics include:

• Putouts: times the fielder catches a fly ball, tags or forces out a runner, or otherwise directly effects an out
• Assists: times a putout by another fielder was recorded following the fielder touching the ball
• Errors: times the fielder fails to make a play that should have been made with common effort, and the batting team benefits as a result
• Total chances: putouts plus assists plus errors
• Fielding average: successful chances (putouts plus assists) divided by total chances

Among the many other statistics that are kept are those collectively known as situational statistics. For example, statistics can indicate which specific pitchers a certain batter performs best against. If a given situation statistically favors a certain batter, the manager of the fielding team may be more likely to change pitchers or have the pitcher intentionally walk the batter in order to face one who is less likely to succeed.

Sabermetrics

Sabermetrics refers to the field of baseball statistical study and the development of new statistics and analytical tools. The term is also used to refer directly to new statistics themselves. The term was coined around 1980 by one of the field’s leading proponents, Bill James, and derives from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

The growing popularity of sabermetrics since the early 1980s has brought more attention to two batting statistics that sabermetricians argue are much better gauges of a batter’s skill than batting average:

• On-base percentage measures a batter’s ability to get on base. It is calculated by taking the sum of the batter’s successes in getting on base (hits plus walks plus hit by pitches) and dividing that by the batter’s total plate appearances (at bats plus walks plus hit by pitches plus sacrifice flies), except for sacrifice bunts.
• Slugging percentage measures a batter’s ability to hit for power. It is calculated by taking the batter’s total bases (one per each single, two per double, three per triple, and four per home run) and dividing that by the batter’s at bats.
• Some of the new statistics devised by sabermetricians have gained wide use:
• On-base plus slugging (OPS) measures a batter’s overall ability. It is calculated by adding the batter’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
• Walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) measures a pitcher’s ability at preventing hitters from reaching base. It is calculated exactly as its name suggests.

Ice Hockey

Ice hockey (hockey in countries where it is the most popular form of hockey) is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team’s goal. It is a fast-paced physical sport. Ice hockey is most popular in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural reliable seasonal ice cover, such as Canada, the northern United States, the Nordic countries (especially Sweden and Finland), Russia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Slovakia. With the advent of indoor artificial ice rinks it has become a year-round pastime in these areas. Ice hockey is one of the four major North American professional sports. Worldwide the National Hockey League (NHL) is the highest level for men and both the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and the Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL) are the highest levels for women. It is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity.
While there are 68 total members of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), 162 of 177 medals at the IIHF World Championships have been taken by seven nations: Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 64 medals awarded in men’s competition at the Olympic level from 1920 on, only six did not go to the one of those countries. All twelve Olympic and 36 IIHF World Women Championships medals have gone to one of those seven countries, and every gold medal in both competitions has been won by either Canada or the United States.

Equipment

Since ice hockey is a full contact sport and bodychecks are allowed, injuries can be a common occurrence. Protective equipment is highly recommended and is enforced in all competitive situations. This usually includes a helmet, shoulder pads, elbow pads, mouth guard, protective gloves, heavily padded shorts (also known as hockey pants), athletic cup/jock strap, shin pads, skates, and (optionally) a neck protector. In addition, goaltenders use different gear, usually a neck guard, chest/arm protector, blocker, catch glove, and leg pads.

Injury

Ice hockey is a full contact sport and carries a high risk of injury. Not only are the players moving at around 20–30 miles an hour (32 – 48 kilometers per hour), quite a bit of the game revolves around the physical contact between the players. Skate blades, hockey sticks, shoulders, hips, and hockey pucks all contribute. The number of injuries is quite high and includes lacerations, concussions, contusions, ligament tears, broken bones, hyperextensions and muscle strains.

Head injuries

According to the Hughston Health Alert, “Lacerations to the head, scalp, and face are the most frequent types of injury [in hockey].” (Schmidt 6) Even a shallow cut to the head results in a loss of a large amount of blood. Most concussions occur during player to player contact rather than when a player is checked into the boards. Not only are lacerations common, “it is estimated that direct trauma accounts for 80% of all [hockey] injuries. Most of these injuries are caused by player contact, falls and contact with a puck, high stick and occasionally, a skate blade.” (Schmidt 3)

Game

While the general characteristics of the game are the same wherever it is played, the exact rules depend on the particular code of play being used. The two most important codes are those of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and of the Canadian founded and North American expanded National Hockey League (NHL).

Typical layout of an ice hockey rink surface

Ice hockey is played on a hockey rink. During normal play, there are six players, including one goaltender, per side on the ice at any time, each of whom is on ice skates. The objective of the game is to score goals by shooting a hard vulcanized rubber disc, the puck, into the opponent’s goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink. The players may control the puck using a long stick with a blade that is commonly curved at one end.
Players may also redirect the puck with any part of their bodies, subject to certain restrictions. Players may not hold the puck in their hand and are prohibited from using their hands to pass the puck to their teammates, unless they are in the defensive zone. Players are also prohibited from kicking the puck into the opponent’s goal, though unintentional redirections off the skate are permitted. Players may not intentionally bat the puck into the net with their hands.
Hockey is an “offside” game, meaning that forward passes are allowed, unlike in rugby. Before the 1930s hockey was an onside game, meaning that only backward passes were allowed. Those rules favored individual stick-handling as a key means of driving the puck forward. With the arrival of offside rules, the forward pass transformed hockey into a truly team sport, where individual heroics diminished in importance relative to team play, which could now be coordinated over the entire surface of the ice as opposed to merely rearward players.
The five players other than the goaltender are typically divided into three forwards and two defencemen. The forward positions consist of a centre and two wingers: a left wing and a right wing. Forwards often play together as units or lines, with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair generally divided between left and right. Left and right side wingers or defencemen are generally positioned as such based on the side on which they carry their stick. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Teams typically employ alternate sets of forward lines and defensive pairings when shorthanded or on a power play. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the course of the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it is called changing on the fly. A new NHL rule added in the 2005-2006 season prevents a team from changing their line after they ice the puck.
The boards surrounding the ice help keep the puck in play and they can also be used as tools to play the puck. Players are permitted to “bodycheck” opponents into the boards as a means of stopping progress. The referees, linesmen and the outsides of the goal are “in play” and do not cause a stoppage of the game when the puck or players are influenced (by either bouncing or colliding) into them. Play can be stopped if the goal is knocked out of position. Play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. When play is stopped, it is restarted with a faceoff. Two players “face” each other and an official drops the puck to the ice, where the two players attempt to gain control of the puck. Markings on the ice indicate the locations for the “faceoff” and guide the positioning of players.
There are three major rules of play in ice hockey that limit the movement of the puck: offside, icing, and the puck going out of play. The puck goes “out of play” whenever it goes past the perimeter of the ice rink (onto the player benches, over the “glass”, or onto the protective netting above the glass) and a stoppage of play is called by the officials using whistles. It also does not matter if the puck comes back onto to the ice surface from those areas as the puck is considered dead once it leaves the perimeter of the rink.
Under IIHF rules, each team may carry a maximum of 20 players and two goaltenders on their roster. NHL rules restrict the total number of players per game to 18 (traditionally twelve forwards and six defensemen) plus two goaltenders.

Penalties

For most penalties, the offending player is sent to the “penalty box” and his team has to play without him and with one less skater for a short amount of time. Most minor penalties last for two minutes, unless a major penalty of five minutes duration, or a double minor penalty of two consecutive penalties of two minutes duration, has been assessed. The team that has taken the penalty is said to be playing shorthanded while the other team is on the “power play”.
A two-minute minor penalty is often called for lesser infractions such as tripping, elbowing, roughing, high-sticking, delay of the game, too many players on the ice, boarding, illegal equipment, charging (leaping into an opponent or body-checking him after taking more than two strides), holding, interference, hooking, or cross-checking. As of the 2005-06 season, a minor is also assessed for diving, where a player embellishes a hook or trip. More egregious fouls may be penalized by a four-minute double-minor penalty, particularly those which cause injury to the victimized player. These penalties end either when the time runs out or the other team scores on the power play. In the case of a goal scored during the first two minutes of a double-minor, the penalty clock is set down to two minutes upon a score effectively expiring the first minor penalty. Five-minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions that result in intentional injury to an opponent, or when a “minor” penalty results in visible injury (such as bleeding), as well as for fighting. Major penalties are always served in full; they do not terminate on a goal scored by the other team. The foul of ‘boarding’, defined as “check[ing] an opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to be thrown violently in the boards” by the NHL Rulebook is penalized either by a minor or major penalty at the discretion of the referee, based on the violence of the hit. A minor or major penalty for boarding is also often assessed when a player checks an opponent from behind and into the boards.
Some varieties of penalties do not always require the offending team to play a man short. Concurrent five-minute major penalties in the NHL usually result from fighting. In the case of two players being assessed five-minute fighting majors, they both serve five minutes without their team incurring a loss of player (both teams still have a full complement of players on the ice). This differs with two players from opposing sides getting minor penalties, at the same time or at any intersecting moment, resulting from more common infractions. In that case, both teams will have only four skating players (not counting the goaltender) until one or both penalties expire (if one expires before the other, the opposing team gets a power play for the remainder); this applies regardless of current pending penalties, though in the NHL, a team always has at least three skaters on the ice. Ten-minute misconduct penalties are served in full by the penalized player, but his team may immediately substitute another player on the ice unless a minor or major penalty is assessed in conjunction with the misconduct (a two-and-ten or five-and-ten). In that case, the team designates another player to serve the minor or major; both players go to the penalty box, but only the designee may not be replaced, and he is released upon the expiration of the two or five minutes, at which point the ten-minute misconduct begins. In addition, game misconducts are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict severe injury on an opponent (at the officials’ discretion), or for a major penalty for a stick infraction or repeated major penalties. The offending player is ejected from the game and must immediately leave the playing surface (he does not sit in the penalty box); meanwhile, if a minor or major is assessed in addition, a designated player must serve out that segment of the penalty in the box (similar to the above-mentioned “two-and-ten”).
A player who is tripped, or illegally obstructed in some way, by an opponent on a breakaway – when there are no defenders except the goaltender between him and the opponent’s goal – is awarded apenalty shot, an attempt to score without opposition from any defenders except the goaltender. A penalty shot is also awarded for a defender other than the goaltender covering the puck in the goal crease, a goaltender intentionally displacing his own goal posts during a breakaway in order to avoid a goal, a defender intentionally displacing his own goal posts when there is less than two minutes to play in regulation time or at any point during overtime, or a player or coach intentionally throwing a stick or other object at the puck or the puck carrier and the throwing action disrupts a shot or pass play.
Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, such as using one’s hands to pass the puck in the offensive end, but no players are penalized for these offences. The sole exceptions are deliberately falling on or gathering the puck to the body, carrying the puck in the hand, and shooting the puck out of play in one’s defensive zone (all penalized two minutes for delay of game).
A new penalty in the NHL applies to the goalies. The goalies now are unable to play the puck in the “corners” of the rink near their own net. This will result in a two-minute penalty against the goalie’s team. The area immediately behind the net (marked by two red lines on either side of the net) is the only area behind the net in which the goalie can play the puck.
An additional rule that is not a penalty in the new NHL is the two line offside passes. There are no more two-line offside pass whistles blown. Now players are able to pass to teammates who are more than the blue and centre ice red line away.
The NHL has taken steps to speed the game of hockey up and create a game of finesse, by retreating from the past where illegal hits, fights, and “clutching and grabbing” among players were commonplace. Rules are now much more strictly enforced resulting in more infractions being penalized which in turn provides more protection to the players and allows for more goals to be scored.
There are many infractions for which a player may be assessed a penalty. The governing body for United States amateur hockey has implemented many new rules to reduce the number of stick-on-body occurrences, as well as other detrimental and illegal facets of the game (“Zero Tolerance”).
In men’s hockey, but not in women’s, a player may use his hip or shoulder to hit another player if the player has the puck or is the last to have touched it. This use of the hip and shoulder is called body checking. Not all physical contact is legal — in particular, hits from behind and most types of forceful stick-on-body contact are illegal.

Officials

A typical game of ice hockey has two to four officials on the ice, charged with enforcing the rules of the game. There are typically two linesmen who are mainly responsible for calling offside and icing violations and conducting faceoffs, and one or two referees, who call goals and all other penalties. Linesmen can, however, report to the referee(s) that a penalty should be assessed against an offending player in some situations. The restrictions on this practice vary depending on the governing rules. On-ice officials are assisted by off-ice officials who act as goal judges, time keepers, and official scorers.
The most widespread system in use today is the 3-man system that features one referee and two linesmen. With the first being the National Hockey League, a number of leagues have started to implement the 4-official system, where an additional referee is added to aid in the calling of penalties normally difficult to assess by one single referee. The system has proven quite successful in the NHL and the IIHF have adopted it for the World Championships, slightly discussed during the 2008 World Championships in Quebec City and Halifax, Canada. Many other leagues are adopting the system for the next season, which only downside at the moment is the increased cost for the leagues.
Officials are selected by the league for which they work. Amateur hockey leagues use guidelines established by national organizing bodies as a basis for choosing their officiating staffs. In North America, the national organizing bodies Hockey Canada and USA Hockey approve officials according to their experience level as well as their ability to pass rules knowledge and skating ability tests. Hockey Canada has officiating levels I through VI. USA Hockey has officiating levels 1 through 4.

Tactics

An important defensive tactic is checking – attempting to take the puck from an opponent or to remove the opponent from play. Stick checking, sweep checking, and poke checking are legal uses of the stick to obtain possession of the puck. The neutral zone trap is designed to isolate the puck carrier in the neutral zone preventing him from entering the offensive zone. Body checking is using one’s shoulder or hip to strike an opponent who has the puck or who is the last to have touched it (the last person to have touched the puck is still legally “in possession” of it, although a penalty is generally called if he is checked more than two seconds after his last touch). Often the term checking is used to refer to body checking, with its true definition generally only propagated among fans of the game.
Offensive tactics include improving a team’s position on the ice by advancing the puck out of one’s zone towards the opponent’s zone, progressively by gaining lines, first your own blue line, then the red line and finally the opponent’s blue line. NHL rules instated for the 2006 season redefined offside to make the two-line pass legal; a player may pass the puck from behind his own blue line, past both that blue line and the centre red line, to a player on the near side of the opponents’ blue line. Offensive tactics are designed ultimately to score a goal by taking a shot. When a player purposely directs the puck towards the opponent’s goal, he or she is said to shoot the puck.
A deflection is a shot which redirects a shot or a pass towards the goal from another player, by allowing the puck to strike the stick and carom towards the goal. A one-timer is a shot which is struck directly off a pass, without receiving the pass and shooting in two separate actions. A deke (short for decoy) is a feint with the body and/or stick to fool a defender or the goalie. Headmanning the puck, also known as cherry-picking or breaking out, is the tactic of rapidly passing to the player farthest down the ice.
Many new age players have picked up a skill called dangling, formerly known as deking. Dangles however are a little more fancy and require more stick handling skills. Popular dangles: through the legs shot, toe drag flip up tap down, and of course the normal toe drag through the legs.
A team that is losing by one or two goals in the last few minutes of play will often elect to pull the goalie; that is, remove the goaltender and replace him or her with an extra attacker on the ice in the hope of gaining enough advantage to score a goal. However, it is an act of desperation, as it sometimes leads to the opposing team extending their lead by scoring a goal in the empty net.
A delayed penalty call occurs when a penalty offense is committed by the team that does not have possession of the puck. In this circumstance the team with possession of the puck is allowed to complete the play; that is, play continues until a goal is scored, a player on the opposing team gains control of the puck, or the team in possession commits an infraction or penalty of their own. Because the team on which the penalty was called cannot control the puck without stopping play, it is impossible for them to score a goal, however, it is possible for the controlling team to mishandle the puck into their own net. In these cases the team in possession of the puck can pull the goalie for an extra attacker without fear of being scored on. If a delayed penalty is signaled and the team in possession scores, the penalty is still assessed to the offending player, but not served.
One of the most important strategies for a team is their forecheck. Forechecking is the act of attacking the opposition in their defensive zone. Forechecking is an important part of the dump and chase strategy (i.e. shooting the puck into the offensive zone and then chasing after it). Each team will use their own unique system but the main ones are: 2-1-2, 1-2-2, and 1-4. The 2-1-2 is the most basic forecheck system where two forwards will go in deep and pressure the opposition’s defencemen, the third forward stays high and the two defencemen stay at the blueline. The 1-2-2 is a bit more conservative system where one forward pressures the puck carrier and the other two forwards cover the oppositions’ wingers, with the two defencemen staying at the blueline. The 1-4 is the most defensive foresheck system, referred to as the trap, where one forward will apply pressure to the puck carrier around the oppositions’ blueline and the other 4 players stand basically in a line by their blueline in hopes the opposition will skate into one of them.
There are many other little tactics used in the game of hockey. Pinching is the term used when a defencemen pressures the opposition’s winger in the offensive zone when they are breaking out, attempting to stop their attack and keep the puck in the offensive zone. A saucer pass is a pass used when an opposition’s stick or body is in the passing lane. It is the act of raising the puck over the obstruction and having it land on a teammates’ stick.

Fights

Although fighting is officially prohibited in the rules, it is both a source of criticism and a considerable draw for the sport. At the professional level in North America fights are unofficially condoned. Enforcers and other players fight to demoralize the opposing players while exciting their own, as well as settling personal scores. A fight will also break out if one of the team’s skilled players gets hit hard or someone gets hit by what the team perceives as a dirty hit. The amateur game penalizes fisticuffs more harshly, as a player who receives a fighting major is also assessed at least a 10 minute misconduct penalty (NCAA and some Junior league) or a game misconduct penalty and suspension (high school and younger, as well as some casual adult leagues).

Periods and overtime

A professional game consists of three periods of twenty minutes each, the clock running only when the puck is in play. The teams change ends for the second period, again for the third period, and again at the start of each overtime played. Recreational leagues and children’s leagues often play shorter games, generally with three shorter periods of play.
Various procedures are used if a game is tied. In tournament play, as well as in the NHL playoffs, North Americans favor sudden death overtime, in which the teams continue to play twenty minute periods until a goal is scored. Up until the 1999-2000 season regular season NHL games were settled with a single five minute sudden death period with four players (plus a goalie) per side, with both teams awarded one point in the standings.
From 1999-2000 until 2003-04 the National Hockey League decided ties by playing a single five minute sudden death overtime period with each team having four players (plus a goalie) per side to “open-up” the game. In the event of a tie, each team would still receive one point in the standings but in the event of a victory the winning team would be awarded two points in the standings and the losing team one point. The only exception to this rule is if a team opts to pull their goalie in exchange for an extra skater during overtime and is subsequently scored upon (an ‘Empty Net’ goal), in which case the losing team receives no points for the overtime loss.
International play and several North American professional leagues, including the NHL (in the regular season), now use an overtime period followed by a penalty shootout. If the score remains tied after an extra overtime period, the subsequent shootout consists of three players from each team taking penalty shots. After these six total shots, the team with the most goals is awarded the victory. If the score is still tied, the shootout then proceeds to a sudden death format. Regardless of the number of goals scored during the shootout by either team, the final score recorded will award the winning team one more goal than the score at the end of regulation time. In the NHL if a game is decided by a shootout the winning team is awarded two points in the standings and the losing team is awarded one point. Ties no longer occur in the NHL.

Women’s ice hockey

Modern women’s ice hockey

Ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women’s sports in the world, with the number of participants increasing 350 percent in the last 10 years. While there are not as many organized leagues for women as there are for men, there exist leagues of all levels, including the National Women’s Hockey League, Western Women’s Hockey League, Mid-Atlantic Women’s Hockey Association, and various European leagues; as well as university teams, national and Olympic teams, and recreational teams. There have been nine IIHF World Women Championships.
The USHL welcomed the first female professional hockey player in 1969-70, when the Marquette Iron Rangers signed Karen Koch.
Women’s ice hockey was added as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The United States won gold, Canada won silver and Finland won bronze.
The chief difference between women’s and men’s ice hockey is that body checking is not allowed in women’s ice hockey. After the 1990 Women’s World Championship, body checking was eliminated because female players in many countries do not have the size and mass seen in North American players. In current IIHF women’s competition, body checking is either a minor or major penalty, decided at the referee’s discretion.
In addition, players in women’s competition are required to wear protective full-face masks.
One woman, Manon Rhéaume, appeared as a goaltender for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning in preseason games against the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, and in 2003 Hayley Wickenheiser played with the Kirkkonummi Salamat in the Finnish men’s Suomi-sarja league. Several women have competed in North American minor leagues, including goaltenders Charline Labonté, Kelly Dyer, Erin Whitten, Manon Rhéaume, and defencewoman Angela Ruggiero.

International competition

National teams

The annual men’s Ice Hockey World Championships are more highly regarded by Europeans than North Americans because they coincide with the Stanley Cup playoffs. Consequently, Canada, the United States, and other countries with large numbers of NHL players have not always been able to field their best possible teams because many of their top players are playing for the Stanley Cup. Furthermore, for many years professionals were barred from play. Now that many Europeans play in the NHL, the world championships no longer represent all of the world’s top players.
Hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924 (and at the summer games in 1920). Canada won six of the first seven gold medals, except in1936 when Great Britain won. The United States won their first gold medal in 1960. The USSR won all but two Olympic ice hockey gold medals from 1956 to 1988 and won a final time as the Unified Team at the 1992 Albertville Olympics. U. S. amateur college players defeated the heavily favored Soviet squad on the way to winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics - an event known as the “Miracle on ice” in the United States. Since the 1998 games in Nagano all top players from the NHL have been able to take part and nowadays Winter Olympics games are the most highly regarded international tournament by ice hockey fans.
The 1972 Summit Series and 1974 Summit Series, established Canada and the USSR as a major international ice hockey rivalry. It was followed by five Canada Cup tournaments, where the best players from every hockey nation could play, and two exhibition series, the 1979 Challenge Cup and Rendez-vous ‘87 where the best players from the NHL played the USSR. The Canada Cup tournament later became the World Cup of Hockey, played in 1996 and 2004. The United States won in 1996 and Canada won in 2004.
There have been eleven women’s world championships as of 2008, beginning in 1990.Women’s hockey has been played at the Olympics since 1998.The 2006 Winter Olympic final between Canada and Sweden marked the first women’s world championship or Olympic final that did not involve both Canada and the United States
The annual Euro Hockey Tour, an unofficial European championships between the national men’s teams of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden have been played since 1996-97.
Other ice hockey tournaments featuring national teams include the World U20 Championship, the World U18 Championships, the World U-17 Hockey Challenge, the World Junior A Challenge, the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, the World Women’s U18 Championships and the 4 Nations Cup.

Clubs

The National Hockey League, and specifically the Stanley Cup trophy, is the oldest still operating international competition, featuring clubs from the United States and Canada.
The Kontinental Hockey League, an international ice hockey league in Eurasia and the successor to the Russian Super League and the Soviet League, the history of which dates back to the 1940s, was launched in 2008 with clubs from the post-Soviet states and seeks to expand beyond the former USSR for the league’s future seasons.
The Elite Ice Hockey League is the highest level of ice hockey in Great Britain. The league is served by teams from all of the home nations: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Asia League Ice Hockey, an international ice hockey league featuring clubs from China, Japan and South Korea, is the successor to the Japan Ice Hockey League.
International club competitions organized by the IIHF include the Champions Hockey League, the Continental Cup, the Victoria Cup and the European Women’s Champions Cup.
One of the oldest international ice hockey competition for clubs after the Stanley Cup playoffs is the Spengler Cup, held every year in Davos, Switzerland between Christmas and New Year’s Day. It was first awarded in 1923 to Oxford University Ice Hockey Club.
Pre-season tournaments include the European Trophy, Tampere Cup and the Pajulahti Cup.

Ice hockey in popular culture

Ice hockey is the official winter sport of Canada. Ice hockey, partially because of its popularity as a major professional sport, has been a source of inspiration for numerous films, television episodes and songs in North American popular culture.

Number of registered players by country

Number of registered hockey players, including men, women and junior, provided by the respective countries’ federations. Note that this list only includes countries with more than 1000 registered players. Out of 68 IIHF members 31 have more than 1000 registered players as of December, 2009.

Soccer

Association football

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer (etymology), is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world.
The game is played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field, with a goal in the centre of each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.
The modern game was codified in England following the formation of The Football Association, whose 1863 Laws of the Game created the foundations for the way the sport is played today. Football is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association(International Federation of Association Football), commonly known by the acronym FIFA. The most prestigious international football competition is the FIFA World Cup, held every four years.

Gameplay

Football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a single spherical ball, known as the football or soccer ball. Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team’s goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain.
The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they do use their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their hands or arms. Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though the ball cannot be received in an offside position.
In typical game play, players attempt to create goal scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a team-mate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart.
At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2005–06 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.48 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of specialized roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers, or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialize in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball in order to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, in order to discern them from the single goalkeeper. These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which the player spends most time. For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team’s play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, more defensive style of play. While players typically spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of a team’s players is known as a formation. Defining the team’s formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team’s manager.

History

The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardize the widely varying forms of football played at the public schools of England.
The Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.
These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons’ Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse. The Freemason’s Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which eventually produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby football clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, or subsequently left the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game. These rules included handling of the ball by “marks” and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games.
The laws of the game are currently determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The Board was formed in 1886 after a meeting in Manchester of The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association. The world’s oldest football competition is the FA Cup, which was founded by C. W. Alcock and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match took place in 1872 between Scotland and England in Glasgow, again at the instigation of C. W. Alcock. England is home to the world’s first football league, which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor.[15] The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and the North of England. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to Laws of the Game of the Football Association. The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the International Football Association Board in 1913. The board currently consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of the four British associations.
Today, football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favorite teams, while billions more watch the game on television. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. While football has the highest global television audience in sport, its simple rules and minimal equipment requirements at amateur level, have no doubt aided its growth in terms of participation.
In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations. The Côte d’Ivoire national football team helped secure a truce to the nation’s civil war in 2005 and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouaké, an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time. By contrast, football is widely considered to be the final proximate cause in the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras. The sport also exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade devolved into rioting in March 1990.

Laws

There are seventeen laws in the official Laws of the Game. The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors, women and the physically challenged are permitted. The laws are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game. In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of football. The Laws of the Game are published by FIFA, but are maintained by the International Football Association Board, not FIFA itself. The most complex of the laws is offside. The offside law limits the ability of attacking players to remain forward (i.e. closer to the opponent’s goal line) of the ball, the second-to-last defending player (which can include the goalkeeper), and the half-way line.

Players, equipment and officials

Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. Competition rules may state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team, which is usually seven. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal. Though there are a variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws.
The basic equipment or kit players are required to wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards. Headgear is not a required piece of basic equipment, but players today may choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury. Players are forbidden to wear or use anything that is dangerous to themselves or another player, such as jewelry or watches. The goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from that worn by the other players and the match officials.
A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. The maximum number of substitutions permitted in most competitive international and domestic league games is three, though the permitted number may vary in other competitions or in friendly matches. Common reasons for a substitution include injury, tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or timewasting at the end of a finely poised game. In standard adult matches, a player who has been substituted may not take further part in a match. If any team is unable to field at least seven players due to players being injured or sent-off, the referee will stop the game. The game will be declared as a loss against the team who were unable to field the required number of players.
A game is officiated by a referee, who has “full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed” (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees. In many high-level games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the need arise.

Pitch

As the Laws were formulated in England, and were initially administered solely by the four British football associations within IFAB, the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed in imperial units. The Laws now express dimensions with approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), though popular use tends to continue to use traditional units in English-speaking countries with a relatively recent history of metrication, such as Britain.
The length of the pitch for international adult matches is in the range of 100–110 m (110–120 yd) and the width is in the range of 64–75 m (70–80 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 91–120 m (100–130 yd) length and 45–91 m (50–101 yd) in width, provided that the pitch does not become square. In 2008, the IFAB set a fixed size of 105 m long and 68 m wide as a standard pitch dimension for A international matches.
The longer boundary lines are touchlines, while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines. A rectangular goal is positioned at the middle of each goal line. The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 7.32 m (8 yd) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 2.44 m (8 ft) above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the Laws.
In front of each goal is an area known as the penalty area. This area is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on the goal line 16.5 m (18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular to the goal line, and a line joining them. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member of the defending team becomes punishable by a penalty kick. Other markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs, goal kicks, penalty kicks and corner kicks.

Duration and tie-breaking methods

A standard adult football match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time.
The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time, and is at the sole discretion of the referee. The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, toward the end of the half the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time he intends to add. The fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signaled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa. Trailing 1–0 and with just two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty. Villa’s goalkeeper kicked the ball out of the ground, and by the time the ball had been recovered, the 90 minutes had elapsed and the game was over. The same law also stands that the duration of either half is extended until the penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed, thus no game shall end with a penalty to be taken.
In league competitions, games may end in a draw, but in some knockout competitions if a game is tied at the end of regulation time it may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shootouts (known officially in the Laws of the Game as “kicks from the penalty mark”) to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament. Goals scored during extra time periods count toward the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament (with goals scored in a penalty shootout not making up part of the final score).
In competitions using two-legged matches, each team competes at home once, with an aggregate score from the two matches deciding which team progresses. Where aggregates are equal, the away goals rule may be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is the team that scored the most goals in the leg played away from home. If the result is still equal, kicks from the penalty mark are usually required, though some competitions may require a tied game to be replayed.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the IFAB experimented with ways of creating a winner without requiring a penalty shootout, which was often seen as an undesirable way to end a match. These involved rules ending a game in extra time early, either when the first goal in extra time was scored (golden goal), or if one team held a lead at the end of the first period of extra time (silver goal). Golden goal was used at the World Cup in 1998 and 2002. The first World Cup game decided by a golden goal was France’s victory over Paraguay in 1998. Germany was the first nation to score a golden goal in a major competition, beating Czech Republic in the final of Euro 1996. Silver goal was used in Euro 2004. Both these experiments have been discontinued by IFAB.

Ball in and out of play

Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play:
Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play
Throw-in: when the ball has wholly crossed the touchline; awarded to opposing team to that which last touched the ball.
Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the attacking team; awarded to defending team.
Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the defending team; awarded to attacking team.
Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following “non-penal” fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is stopped to caution or send-off an opponent without a specific foul having occurred. A goal may not be scored directly from an indirect free kick.
Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed “penal” fouls.
Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent’s penalty area.
Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for any other reason, such as a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming defective. This restart is uncommon in adult games.

Misconduct

A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in the Laws of the Game while the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball deliberately, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of “penal fouls”, punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick. The referee may punish a player or substitute’s misconduct by a caution (yellow card) or sending-off (red card). A second yellow card at the same game leads to a red card, and therefore to a sending-off. A player given a yellow card is said to have been “booked”, the referee writing the player’s name in his official notebook. If a player has been sent off, no substitute can be brought on in their place. Misconduct may occur at any time, and while the offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular, the offence of “unsporting behavior” may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences. A referee can show a yellow or red card to a player, substitute or substituted player. Non-players such as managers and support staff cannot be shown the yellow or red card, but may be expelled from the technical area if they fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.
Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continue if doing so will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as “playing an advantage”. The referee may “call back” play and penalize the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within a short period, typically taken to be four to five seconds. Even if an offence is not penalized due to advantage being played, the offender may still be sanctioned for misconduct at the next stoppage of play.

Governing bodies

The recognized international governing body of football (and associated games, such as futsal and beach soccer) is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The FIFA headquarters are located in Zürich. Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA; these are:
Asia: Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
Africa: Confederation of African Football (CAF)
Central/North America & Caribbean: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
Europe: Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
Oceania: Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
South America: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol/Confederação Sul-americana de Futebol (South American Football Confederation; CONMEBOL)
National associations oversee football within individual countries. These are generally synonymous with sovereign states, (for example: the Fédération Camerounaise de Football in Cameroon) but also include a smaller number of associations responsible for sub-national entities or autonomous regions (for example the Scottish Football Association in Scotland). 208 national associations are affiliated both with FIFA and with their respective continental confederations; an additional 13 are affiliated to continental confederations but not to FIFA.
Some of the football associations not recognized by FIFA are affiliated to the Nouvelle Fédération-Board (NF-Board).

International competitions

The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organized by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period. The 2006 FIFA World Cup took place in Germany; in 2010 it will be held in South Africa.
There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Before the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s) had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was for amateurs only, however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professional players have been permitted, albeit with certain restrictions which prevent countries from fielding their strongest sides. Currently, the Olympic men’s tournament is played at Under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed a restricted number of over-age players per team;[46] but that practice ceased in the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic competition is not generally considered to carry the same international significance and prestige as the World Cup. A women’s tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men’s event, full international sides without age restrictions play the women’s Olympic tournament. It thus carries international prestige considered comparable to that of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
After the World Cup, the most important international football competitions are the continental championships, which are organized by each continental confederation and contested between national teams. These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC). The FIFA Confederations Cup is contested by the winners of all 6 continental championships, the current FIFA World Cup champions and the country which is hosting the Confederations Cup. This is generally regarded as a warm up tournament for the upcoming FIFA World Cup and does not carry the same prestige as the World Cup itself. The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national champions, for example the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores de América in South America. The winners of each continental competition contest the FIFA Club World Cup.[47]

Domestic competitions

The governing bodies in each country operate league systems in a domestic season, normally comprising several divisions, in which the teams gain points throughout the season depending on results. Teams are placed into tables, placing them in order according to points accrued. Most commonly, each team plays every other team in its league at home and away in each season, in a round-robin tournament. At the end of a season, the top team is declared the champion. The top few teams may be promoted to a higher division, and one or more of the teams finishing at the bottom are relegated to a lower division. The teams finishing at the top of a country’s league may be eligible also to play in international club competitions in the following season. The main exceptions to this system occur in some Latin American leagues, which divide football championships into two sections named Apertura and Clausura, awarding a champion for each.
The majority of countries supplement the league system with one or more “cup” competitions. These are organized on a knock-out basis, the winner of each match proceeding to the next round; the loser takes no further part in the competition.
Some countries’ top divisions feature highly paid star players; in smaller countries and lower divisions, players may be part-timers with a second job, or amateurs. The five top European leagues – the Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), the Bundesliga (Germany) and Ligue 1(France) – attract most of the world’s best players and each of the leagues has a total wage cost in excess of £600 million/€763 million/$1.185 billion.

Golf

Golf is a precision club-and-ball sport, in which competing players (golfers), using many types of clubs, attempt to hit balls into each hole on a golf course while employing the fewest number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not require a standardized playing area. Instead, the game is played on golf “courses”, each of which features a unique design, although courses typically consist of either nine or 18 holes. Golf is defined, in the rules of golf, as “playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.” Golf competition is generally played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known simply as stroke play, or the lowest score on the most individual holes during a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play.

Origin

The origin of golf is unclear and open to debate. Some historians trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica, in which participants used a bent stick to hit a stuffed leather ball. One theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century B.C., and eventually evolved into the modern game. Others cite chuiwan (“chui” means striking and “wan” means small ball) as the progenitor, a Chinese game played between the eighth and 14th centuries. The game is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages. Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England and chambot in France.[6] This game was, in turn, exported to the Low Countries, Germany, and England (where it was called pall-mall, pronounced “pell mell”). Some observers, however, believe that golf descended from the Persian game, chaugán. In addition, kolven (a game involving a ball and curved bats) was played annually in Loenen, Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate the capture of the assassin of Floris V, a year earlier.
According to the most widely accepted account, however, the modern game originated in Scotland around the 12th century, with shepherds knocking stones into rabbit holes on the current site of the Old Course at St Andrews.

Golf course

A golf course consists of a series of holes, each with a teeing area that is set off by two markers showing the bounds of the legal tee area, fairway, rough and other hazards, and the putting green surrounded by the fringe with the pin (flagstick) and cup. Different levels of grass are varied to increase difficulty, or to allow for putting in the case of the green. While many holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the tee-off point to the green, some of the holes may bend, either to the left or to the right. This is called a “dogleg”, in reference to a dog’s knee. The hole is called a “dogleg left” if the hole angles leftwards and vice versa; sometimes, a hole’s direction can bend twice and is called a “double dogleg”. A typical golf course consists of 18 holes but nine hole courses are common and can be played twice through for 18 holes.
Early Scottish golf courses were primarily laid out on links land, soil covered sand dunes directly inland from beaches. This gave rise to the term golf links, particularly applied to seaside courses and those built on naturally sandy soil inland.
The very first 18 hole golf course in America was located on a sheep farm in Downers Grove, Illinois in 1892. The golf course is still situated there.

Play of the game

Every round of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A round typically consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. On a nine-hole course, a standard round consists of two consecutive nine-hole rounds. Playing a hole on a golf course is initiated by putting a ball into play by striking it with a club on the teeing area (also called the “tee box” or simply “the tee.”) When this initial stroke (or “shot”) is required to be a long one due to the length of the hole, it is usual (but not required) for a golfer to suspend (or “tee”) the ball on a tee prior to striking it. A “tee” in this last sense is a small peg which can be used to elevate the ball slightly above the ground up to a few centimeters high. This elevation is at the discretion of the golfer. Tee pegs are commonly made of wood but may be constructed of any material; the ball may even be “tee’d” on a mound of grass or dirt (at one time a small pile of sand placed by the golfer was routinely used and sand was provided at teeing areas for golfers’ use).
When the initial shot on a hole is a long-distance shot intended to move the ball a great distance down the fairway, this shot is commonly called a “drive.” Shorter holes generally are initiated with “shorter” clubs. Once the ball comes to rest, the golfer strikes it again as many times as necessary using shots that are variously known as a lay-up, an approach, a “pitch”, or a chip, until the ball reaches the green, where he or she then putts the ball into the hole (commonly called “sinking the putt”). The goal of getting the ball into the hole (“holing” the ball) in as few strokes as possible may be impeded by obstacles such as areas of long grass called rough (usually found alongside fairways) which both impedes advancement and makes it harder to advance the golf ball, bunkers (“sand traps”), and water hazards. In most forms of gameplay, each player plays his or her ball until it is holed.
Players can walk or drive in motorized carts over the course. Play can be done either singly or in groups and sometimes accompanied by caddies, who carry and manage the players’ equipment and who are allowed by the rules to give advice on the play of the course. A caddies’ advice can only be given to the player or players for whom the caddy is working, and not to competing players.

Rules and regulations

The rules of golf are internationally standardized and are jointly governed by The R&A, spun off in 2004 from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (founded 1754), and the United States Golf Association (USGA).
The underlying principle of the rules is fairness. As stated on the back cover of the official rule book: Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair.
There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers. Essentially, anybody who has ever received payment or compensation for giving instruction, or played golf for money, is not considered an amateur and may not participate in competitions limited solely to amateurs. However, amateur golfers may receive expenses which comply with strict guidelines and they may accept non-cash prizes within the limits established by the Rules of Amateur Status.
In addition to the officially printed rules, golfers also abide by a set of guidelines called golf etiquette. Etiquette guidelines cover matters such as safety, fairness, pace of play, and a player’s obligation to contribute to the care of the course. Though there are no penalties for breach of etiquette rules, players generally follow the rules of golf etiquette in an effort to improve everyone’s playing experience.

Penalties

Penalties are incurred in certain situations. They are counted towards a player’s score as if there were extra swing(s) at the ball. Strokes are added for rule infractions or for hitting one’s ball into an unplayable situation. A lost ball or a ball hit out of bounds result in a penalty of one stroke and distance. (Rule 27-1) A one stroke penalty is assessed if a player’s equipment causes the ball to move or the removal of a loose impediment causes the ball to move. (Rule 18-2) If a golfer makes a stroke at the wrong ball (Rule 19-2) or hits a fellow golfer’s ball with a putt (Rule 19-5), the player incurs a two stroke penalty. Most rule infractions lead to stroke penalties but also can lead to disqualification. Disqualification could be from cheating, signing for a lower score, or from rule infractions that lead to improper play.

Equipment

Golf clubs are used to hit a golf ball. Each club is composed of a shaft with a lance (grip) on the top end and a club head on the bottom. “Long” clubs, which have a lower amount of degreed loft, are those meant to propel the ball a comparatively longer distance and “short” clubs, a higher degree, a comparatively short distance. Typically, the actual physical length of each club is longer or shorter, depending on the distance the club is intended to propel the ball. The “driver” is the largest-headed and “longest” club. Woods are slightly shorter but still comparatively large-headed clubs, used for long-distance fairway shots. Woods are now typically made of metal; the traditional name “woods” remains in general use but is gradually being replaced by the term “fairway metal.” Next shorter in length are the irons, the most numerous and versatile class used for a wide variety of shots. Hybrid (golf) clubs which embody characteristics of both woods and irons in varying degrees, are increasingly being used in preference to long irons in many places because they are easier for the average golfer to use. Last but not least, putters are used to roll the ball across the green into the cup.
A maximum of 14 clubs is allowed in a player’s bag at one time during a stipulated round. The choice of clubs is at the golfer’s discretion, although every club must be constructed in accordance with parameters outlined in the rules. (Clubs which meet these parameters are commonly called “conforming.”) Violation of these rules can result in disqualification.
The exact shot hit at any given time on a golf course, and which club is used to accomplish the shot, are always completely at the discretion of the golfer; in other words, there is no restriction whatsoever on which club a golfer may or may not use at any time for any shot.
Golf balls are spherical, usually white (although other colors are allowed), and minutely pock-marked by “dimples” that decrease aerodynamic drag by decreasing air turbulence around the ball in motion, thereby allowing the ball to fly farther.
A tee is allowed only for the first stroke on each hole, unless the player must hit a provisional or replay his or her first shot from the tee.
Many golfers wear golf shoes with metal or plastic spikes designed to increase traction, thus allowing for longer and more accurate shots. A golf bag is used to transport golf clubs. Golf bags have several pockets designed for carrying equipment and supplies such as tees, balls, and gloves. Golf bags can be carried, pulled on a two-wheel pull cart or harnessed to a motorized golf cart during play. Golf bags have both a hand strap and shoulder strap for carrying, and sometimes have retractable legs that allow the bag to stand upright when at rest.

Stroke mechanics

Golfers start with the non-dominant side of the body facing the target. At address the body and club are positioned parallel to the target line. The feet are commonly shoulder width apart for middle irons and putters, narrower for short irons and wider for long irons and woods. The ball is positioned in the center of the player’s stance for short irons and putters, more to the front for middle irons and even more for long irons and woods. The golfer chooses a grip. The golfer chooses a golf club and stroke appropriate to the distance:
The drive is used on the tee box to tee off long distances.
The approach is used in long to mid distance shots
The chip is used for relatively short distance shots around the green. The goal of the chip is to land the ball safely on the green allowing it to roll out towards the hole.
The putt is used in short distance shots on or near the green. The goal of the putt is to get the ball in the hole or as close to the hole as possible.

Scoring and handicapping

Par

A hole is classified by its par; the number of strokes a skilled golfer should require to complete play of the hole. For example, a skilled golfer expects to reach the green on a par-four hole in two strokes (This would be considered a Green in Regulation or GIR): one from the tee (the “drive”) and another, second, stroke to the green (the “approach”); and then roll the ball into the hole in two putts for par. A golf hole is either a par-three, -four or -five, rarely -six, very rarely –seven.
The key factor for classifying the par of a hole is the distance from the tee to the green. A typical par-three hole is less than 250 yards (225 metres) in length, with a par-four hole ranging between 251 and 475 yards (225–434 metres), and a par-five hole being longer than 475 yards (435 metres). Although uncommon, par-six and even par-seven holes do exist and can stretch well over 650 yards (595 metres). The gradient of the course (uphill or downhill) can also affect the par rating. If the tee-to-green distance on a hole is predominantly downhill, it will play shorter than its physical length and may be given a lower par rating; the opposite is true for uphill holes. Par ratings are also affected by factors such as the placement of hazards or the shape of the green, which can sometimes affect the play of a hole by requiring an extra stroke to avoid playing into hazards.
Eighteen hole courses may have four par-three, ten par-four, and four par-five holes, though other combinations exist and are not less worthy than courses of par 72. Many major championships are contested on courses playing to a par of 70, 71, or 72. Additionally, in some countries, courses are classified according to their play difficulty, which may be used to calculate a golfer’s playing handicap for a given course (cf. golf handicap).

Scoring

In every form of play, the goal is to play as few strokes per round as possible. A “hole in one” (or an “ace”) occurs when a golfer sinks his ball into the cup with his first stroke (a drive from the tee). Common scores for a hole also have specific terms.

Basic forms of golf

Match play

In match play, two players (or two teams) play each hole as a separate contest against each other. The party with the lower score wins that hole, or if the scores of both players or teams are equal the hole is “halved” (tied). The game is won by the party that wins more holes than the other. In the case that one team or player has taken a lead that cannot be overcome in the number of holes remaining to be played, the match is deemed to be won by the party in the lead, and the remainder of the holes are not played. For example, if one party already has a lead of six holes, and only five holes remain to be played on the course, the match is over. At any given point, if the lead is equal to the number of holes remaining, the match is said to be “dormie”, and is continued until the leader increases the lead by one hole or ties any of the remaining holes, thereby winning the match, or until the match ends in a tie with the lead player’s opponent winning all remaining holes. When the game is tied after the predetermined number of holes have been played, it may be continued until one side takes a one-hole lead.

Stroke play

In stroke play, the score achieved for each and every hole of the round or tournament is added to produce the total score, and the player with the lowest score wins. (Stroke play is the game most commonly played by professional golfers.) If there is a tie after the regulation number of holes in a professional tournament, a playoff takes place between all tied players. Playoffs are either sudden death or employ a pre-determined number of holes, anywhere from three to a full eighteen. In sudden death, a player who scores lower on a hole than all of his opponents wins the match. If at least two players remain tied after such a playoff using a pre-determined number of holes, then play continues in sudden death format, where the first player to win a hole wins the tournament.

Other forms of golf

Skins

In a skins game, golfers compete on each hole, as a separate contest. Played for prize money on the professional level or as a means of a wager for amateurs, a skin, or the prize money assigned to each hole, carries over to subsequent holes if the hole is tied (or halved). If you come to the end of the round and there are still skins left over, play continues until the final skin has been decided.

Stableford

In stableford the player gains points for the score achieved on each hole of the round or tournament (1 point for a bogey, 2 points for a par, 3 points for a birdie, 4 points for an eagle). The points achieved for each hole of the round or tournament is added to produce the total points score, and the player with the highest score wins.

Team play

A foursome (defined in Rule 29) is played between two teams of two players each, in which each team has only one ball and players alternate playing it. For example, if players A and B form a team, A tees off on the first hole, B will play the second shot, A the third, and so on until the hole is finished. On the second hole, B will tee off (regardless who played the last putt on the first hole), then A plays the second shot, and so on. Foursomes can be played as match play or stroke play.
A four-ball (Rules 30 and 31) is also played between two teams of two players each, but every player plays his/her own ball and for each team, the lower score on each hole is counted. Four-balls can be played as match play or stroke play.
There are also popular unofficial variations on team play:
In scramble (also known as ambrose or best shot), each player in a team tees off on each hole, and the players decide which shot was best. Every player then plays his/her second shot from within a clublength of where the best shot has come to rest, and the procedure is repeated until the hole is finished. In a champagne scramble, each player in a team tees off on each hole. The best drive is used and all players play their own ball from this spot. In best ball, each player plays the hole as normal, but the lowest score of all the players on the team counts as the team’s score.
In a greensome, also called modified alternate shot, both players tee off, and then pick the best shot as in a scramble. The player who did not shoot the best first shot plays the second shot. The play then alternates as in a foursome.
A variant of greensome is sometimes played where the opposing team chooses which of their opponent’s tee shots the opponents should use. The player who did not shoot the chosen first shot plays the second shot. Play then continues as a greensome.
There is also a form of starting called shotgun, which is mainly used for tournament play. A shotgun start consists of groups starting on different holes, allowing for all players to start and end their round at the same time.

Handicap systems

A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer’s ability to play golf over the course of 18 holes. Handicaps can be applied either for stroke play competition or match play competition. In either competition, a handicap generally represents the number of strokes above par that a player will achieve on an above average day (i.e., when playing well).
In stroke play competition, the competitor’s handicap is subtracted from their total “gross” score at the end of the round, to calculate a “net” score against which standings are calculated. In match play competition, handicap strokes are assigned on a hole-by-hole basis, according to the handicap rating of each hole (which is provided by the course). The hardest holes on the course receive the most handicap strokes, with the easiest holes receiving the least handicap strokes.
Calculating a handicap is often complicated, but essentially it is representative of the average over par of a number of a player’s previous above average rounds, adjusted for course difficulty. Legislations regarding the calculation of handicaps differs among countries. For example, handicap rules may include the difficulty of the course the golfer is playing on by taking into consideration factors such as the number of bunkers, the length of the course, the difficulty and slopes of the greens, the width of the fairways, and so on.
Handicap systems are not used in professional golf. Professional golfers often score several strokes below par for a round and thus have a calculated handicap of 0 or less, meaning that their handicap results in the addition of strokes to their round score. Someone with a handicap of zero or less is often referred to as a scratch golfer.

Popularity

In 2005, Golf Digest calculated that the countries with most golf courses per capita, starting with the best endowed were: Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, Wales, United States, Sweden, and England (countries with fewer than 500,000 people were excluded). Apart from Sweden, all of these countries have English as the majority language, but the number of courses in new territories is increasing rapidly.
The most notable example of this phenomenon is China. The first golf course in the People’s Republic of China opened in 1984, but by the end of 2009 there were roughly 600 in the country. Jack Nicklaus, who in late 2009 had either designed or had plans to design 35 courses in China, claimed in October of that year that China had plans to build 1,400 public courses in the next five years (currently, only a small number of China’s courses are public), although a Chinese golf industry insider called Nicklaus’ claim “bullshit”. For the last several years, development of new golf courses has been officially banned, but the number of courses has nonetheless tripled since 2004; the “ban” has been easily evaded with the government’s tacit approval simply by not mentioning golf in any development plans.
In the United States, the number of people who play golf 25 times or more per year decreased from 6.9 million in 2000 to 4.6 million in 2005, according to the National Golf Foundation. The NGF reported that the number who played golf at all decreased from 30 to 26 million over the same period.

Professional golf

The majority of professional golfers work as club or teaching professionals (pros), and only compete in local competitions. A small elite of professional golfers are “tournament pros” who compete full time on international “tours”. Many club and teaching professionals working in the golf industry start as caddies or a general interest in the game, finding employment at golf courses and eventually moving on to certifications in their chosen profession. These programs include independent institutions and universities, and those that eventually lead to a Class A golf professional certification.

Instruction

Golf instruction involves the teaching and learning of the game of golf. Proficiency in teaching golf instruction requires not only technical and physical ability, but also knowledge of the rules and etiquette of the game. In some countries, golf instruction is best performed by teachers certified by the Professional Golfers Association. Some top instructors who work with professional golfers have become quite well-known in their own right. Instructors use a combination of physical conditioning, mental visualization, classroom sessions, club fitting, driving range instruction, on-course play under real conditions, and review of videotaped swings in slow motion to teach golf.

Golf tours

There are at least twenty professional golf tours, each run by a PGA or an independent tour organization, which is responsible for arranging events, finding sponsors, and regulating the tour. Typically a tour has “members” who are entitled to compete in most of its events, and also invites non-members to compete in some of them. Gaining membership of an elite tour is highly competitive, and most professional golfers never achieve it.
The most widely known tour is the PGA Tour, which tends to attract the strongest fields, outside the four Majors and the four World Golf Championships events. This is due mostly to the fact that most PGA Tour events have a first prize of at least US $800,000. The PGA European Tour, which attracts a substantial number of top golfers from outside North America, ranks second to the PGA Tour in worldwide prestige. Some top professionals from outside North America play enough tournaments to maintain membership on both the PGA Tour and European Tour.
The other leading men’s tours include the Japan Golf Tour, the Asian Tour (Asia outside Japan), the PGA Tour of Australasia, and the Sunshine Tour (for Southern Africa, primarily South Africa). The Japan, Australasian, Sunshine, PGA, and European Tours are the charter members of the trade body of the world’s main tours, the International Federation of PGA Tours, founded in 1996. The Asian Tour became a full member in 1999. The Canadian Tour became an associate member of the Federation in 2000, and the Tour de las Américas (Latin America) became an associate member of the Federation in 2007. The Federation underwent a major expansion in 2009 which saw 11 new tours become full members—the Canadian Tour, Tour de las Américas, China Golf Association, the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association, Professional Golf Tour of India, and the operators of all six major women’s tours worldwide. The OneAsia Tour, founded in 2009, is not a member of the Federation, but was founded as a joint venture of the Australasia, China, Japan, and Korean tours. The charter members of the Federation, as well as the Asian, Canadian and OneAsia Tours, offer points in the Official World Golf Rankings to players who place sufficiently high in their events.
Golf is unique in having lucrative competition for older players. There are several senior tours for men 50 and older, the best known of which is the U.S.-based Champions Tour.
There are six principal tours for women, each based in a different country or continent. The most prestigious of these is the United States based LPGA Tour. All of the principal tours offer points in the Women’s World Golf Rankings for high finishers in their events.
All of the leading professional tours for under-50 players have an official developmental tour, in which the leading players at the end of the season will earn a tour card on the main tour for the following season. Examples include the Nationwide Tour, which feeds to the PGA Tour, and the Challenge Tour, which is the developmental tour of the European Tour. The Nationwide and Challenge Tours also offer Official World Golf Rankings points.

Men’s major championships

The major championships are the four most prestigious men’s tournaments of the year. In chronological order they are: The Masters, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship(referred to in North America as the British Open) and the PGA Championship.
The fields for these events include the top several dozen golfers from all over the world. The Masters has been played at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia since its inception in 1934. It is the only major championship that is played at the same course each year. The U.S. Open and PGA Championship are played at courses around the United States, while The Open Championship is played at courses in the UK.
Prior to the advent of the PGA Championship and The Masters, the four Majors were the U.S. Open, the U.S. Amateur, the Open Championship, and the British Amateur.

Women’s major championships

Women’s golf does not have a globally agreed set of majors. The list of majors recognized by the dominant women’s tour, the LPGA Tour in the U.S., has changed several times over the years, with the last change in 2001. Like the PGA Tour, the (U.S.) LPGA has four majors: the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA Championship, thus. Women’s Open and the Women’s British Open. Only the last of these is also recognized by the Ladies European Tour. The other event that it recognizes as a major is the Evian Masters, which is not considered a major by the LPGA (but is co-sanctioned as a regular LPGA event). However, the significance of this is limited, as the LPGA is far more dominant in women’s golf than the PGA Tour is in mainstream men’s golf. For example, the BBC has been known to use the U.S. definition of “women’s majors” without qualifying it. Also, the Ladies’ Golf Union, the governing body for women’s golf in the UK and Republic of Ireland, states on its official website that the Women’s British Open is “the only Women’s Major to be played outside the U.S.” For many years, the Ladies European Tour tacitly acknowledged the dominance of the LPGA Tour by not scheduling any of its own events to conflict with the three LPGA majors played in the U.S., but that changed in 2008, with the LET scheduling an event opposite the LPGA Championship. The second-richest women’s tour, the LPGA of Japan Tour, does not recognize any of the U.S. LPGA or European majors as it has its own set of majors (historically three, since 2008 four). However, these events attract little notice outside Japan.

Senior major championships

Senior (50-and-over) men’s golf does not have a globally agreed upon set of majors. The list of senior majors on the U.S.-based Champions Tour has changed over the years, but always by expansion. The Champions Tour now recognizes five majors: the Senior PGA Championship, the United States Senior Open, the Senior British Open Championship, The Tradition and the Senior Players Championship.
Of the five events, the Senior PGA is by far the oldest, having been founded in 1937. The other events all date from the 1980s, when senior golf became a commercial success as the first golf stars of the television era, such as Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, reached the relevant age. The Senior British Open was not recognized as a major by the Champions Tour until 2003. The European Seniors Tour recognizes only the Senior PGA and the two Senior Opens as majors. However, the Champions Tour is arguably more dominant in global senior golf than the U.S. LPGA is in global women’s golf.

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) makes and enforces numerous rules and regulations that transcend all racing series.

NASCAR issues a different rule book for each racing series; however, rule books are published exclusively for NASCAR members and are not made available to the public.  Still, many of the rules, such as the scoring system, have been widely publicized both by NASCAR and the media.

Championship points system

For all series championships in NASCAR, driver points are awarded after each race. For the three major championships, as well as the touring championships, points are given out for each race based on two categories: Final Position, and Laps Led. The Whelen All-American Series rewards points on the final position only and the specifics of how points are rewarded may vary from race to race.

For points according to position, there are three different scales: 5 point, 4 point, and 3 point. First Place gets 185 points, with fifteen points separating first from second. After second place (170 points), the first scale starts, with five points separating second through sixth place. After sixth place the second scale starts, separating drivers by four points for positions seven through eleven. After that, the third scale is in effect, separating the rest of the field by three points (see chart on left). This is why cars will sometimes go back on track after a wreck, even if they have no chance of winning. By moving up three positions, they gain nine more points. Every driver who starts the race will receive the full points appropriate to his/her finishing position, and there is no minimum distance to complete before one can be classified in a finishing position.

For points according to laps led there are two five-point bonuses: 5 points for leading a lap (any single lap) and five points for leading the most laps of the drivers in that race. If a driver has led at least one lap in the race, that driver is awarded an extra 5 points on top of the points they earned based on position. Since, it is impossible to win a race without having led at least the last lap, the five bonus points for leading a lap means that the minimum points a race winner receives is 190 points (185 for position plus 5 for leading a lap). In addition, the driver who leads the most laps earns an additional 5 points. The driver who leads the most laps in a race will have received 10 bonus points (5 for his first lap led, and 5 for leading the most laps). Lap leadership is determined at the start-finish line at the end of each lap. A driver cannot simply lead part of a lap somewhere on the track; the driver must be the first across the start-finish line to be considered the leader for that lap. The pole sitter is therefore not guaranteed to receive 5 bonus points since he could be passed during the first lap. Lap leadership is counted under both green and yellow flags, so drivers will sometimes skip a pit stop in order to inherit the lead during a caution lap and obtain the bonus points.

Drivers’ points are assigned to the driver who starts the race. It is legal (though rare) to change drivers during a race (usually due to injury or fatigue), but the replacement driver gets no points, and the driver that started the race will get credit for the final finishing position. In 2007 Denny Hamlin replaced Aric Almirola in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at The Milwaukee Mile, because Aric started the race he was awarded the points and credit for the win even though Denny Hamlin drove the car to victory lane.

Points are also given to the owner of a car. For a car that makes the field, the owner points are the same as the driver points for that race. Cars that fail to qualify for a race gain owner points based on how well they qualified, continuing the 3 points per position so that the 44th car in qualifying gets 31 points, the 45th gets 28 points, and so forth, to a minimum of one point below 54th.

NASCAR points system development

From the beginning of championship series until 1967 championship points were based on prize money purses. Races with lesser purses paid fewer points than races with bigger purses.

First, the NASCAR point system used for championship from 1949 till 1951 awarded points on basis 10 points for the 1st place, 9 pts for 2nd, 8 pts for 3rd and so on, multiplied by 0.05*race purse (Race worth $4000 paid 200 points to the winner, 180 for 2nd place…). No info about how many points were given to drivers finishing below 10th place.

From 1952 till 1967, the NASCAR point system was based on linear scale for first 25 positions: 25-24-23-… Coefficients changed, but were always depending on prize money. From 25th place down there were awarded the same number of points.

In 1968, NASCAR started to award points depending on race distance, not prize money. Point system was 50-49-48-… multiplied by 1 for events to 249 miles, 2 for events 250-399 miles and 3 for events 400 miles and more. System stopped from 50th place. This system was in use until the end of 1971 season.

In 1972 (the start of the “Modern Era”), together with shortening the schedule, the point system was also modified. Basic points of 100-98-96-… were awarded for each race. Additionally, lap points were awarded for the number of laps completed. Tracks under 1 mile, 0.25 points a lap; 1-mile tracks, 0.50; 1.3-mile track (Darlington), 0.70; 1.5-mile tracks, 0.75; 2-mile tracks (Michigan), 1.00; tracks 2.5 miles and over, 1.25. This system was also used in 1971.

In 1974, the points system was simple: Total money winnings from all track purses (qualifying and contingency awards did not count), in dollars, multiplied by the number of races started, and the resulting figure divided by 1,000 determined the number of points earned. By the end of the season Richard Petty had such a big lead in points, that he increased it even by finishing 30th while his main rival Cale Yarborough made a top-5 (Remember – the money was multiplied by the number of races started. Even if Cale made more money in one particular race, when the total money was multiplied by e. g. 27, the difference between the two leaders could also increase in comparison with situation after race 26).

The current NASCAR points system was developed in 1975 following years of trouble in trying to develop a points system — from 1949 until 1971, six different systems were used, and in 1972, NASCAR used a different system each year for the next three years.

That type of inconsistency, which included a system, which rewarded most mileage for the entire season, and then another year where mileage and finishing positions were counted, favored larger circuits, and some fans complained about a champion who only won one race. That resulted in a 1974 ill-fated attempt at basing the points system on money and starts. Even though one driver won consecutive races, his opponent who had won the big money races had scored more points.

Bob Latford, a former public relations official at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, devised NASCAR’s longest used points system, which was adopted in 1975, which NASCAR used two different versions for their series from 1982 until 1998.^[3] In the system, the winner received 175 points, second 170 points, and other positions exactly the same as the current points system.

Until 1998, the Nationwide Series points system offered 180 points for the winner, but no bonuses for leading laps. The same was true for the Camping World Truck Series until the end of that season, when NASCAR decided to standardize the points system for their series.

One complaint about the points system was that a driver could finish second and receive an equal number of points as a race winner, which was possible if the driver who led the most laps finished second. NASCAR amended the problem in 2004 by adding five points to the winner, and again in 2007 by adding another five points to the winner.

Vehicle numbers

All vehicles competing in a NASCAR sanctioned event prominently display numbers on the roof and door areas. Unlike many series, especially Formula One, numbers are not assigned based on the previous year’s point’s positions. NASCAR owns the rights to each number and licenses them to teams annually. NASCAR usually reissues numbers that teams have previously used and may allow teams to request numbers of significance.  Ironically, while most series including Formula One reserve #1 for the reigning champion, only once has any one in one of NASCAR’s three national series won a championship driving car #1 or #01 — Ted Musgrave in the 2005 Camping World Truck Series.

The numbers displayed can range from 0 to 99 (as well as 00 to 09); however, the official numbers may contain three digits if two teams wish to use the same double-digit number. For example, one team could be #27 and the other #127.^[5] (If two teams have the same single-digit number, one team will officially be, for example, #4, and the other team will be #1-4.) No two teams are allowed to display the same number on their cars in the same event. If a situation occurs where two teams show up with the same 2 digit number on the car, NASCAR will ask them to decide who will change their number, if neither team is willing to change then the team higher in points will use the number.

NASCAR rarely retires numbers in the way that some professional sports teams do. Only one number, #61, in the Whelen Modified Tour, is retired, and that was after the 1985 season, when Richie Evans was killed at Martinsville Speedway.

Currently, there is debate as to whether #3 (which is commonly associated with the late Dale Earnhardt) should be retired. There was a debate to retire Richard Petty’s #43 following his retirement, but NASCAR ultimately chose against it and Petty Enterprises chose in 1994, after spending the 1993 season in the #44, to return to racing with #43, which has continued to this day.^[6] Richard Childress Racing has decided to use the #3 in the NASCAR Camping World East Series in 2008, with grandson Austin Dillon racing the #3, a decision he wanted, that his grandfather said, “It was something Austin wanted to do because it was my number (when he started in 1971). It’s neat to watch Austin race it, but when I’m watching, I’m more worried than I am thinking about the number.”

Safety

History of safety in NASCAR

Safety in racing has come a long way since the first green flag dropped. Up until the last few years, NASCAR was heavily criticized for its lack of focus on safety. Many safety precautions were not mandatory, as they are in other racing series, but only optional or recommended. NASCAR changed its stance on this after one of the sport’s most popular drivers, Dale Earnhardt, was killed in a racing accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Since 2002, no driver has been killed on the track in any of NASCAR’s three major series.

The greatest testament to the efficacy of the new safety rules was in a spectacular but nonfatal crash during qualifying runs for the 2008 Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Michael McDowell, in his second Sprint Cup race for Michael Waltrip Racing in his Toyota Car of Tomorrow was in the midst of the second lap of his qualifying run when his car slipped on some loose oil-dry. The oil-dry had been left from the clean up of a previous incident where a qualifier “blew up” his engine between Turns One and Two. Upon hitting the oil-dry, McDowell was sent head first into the SAFER barrier at nearly 180 mph (290 km/h). McDowell’s car began to flip and roll violently, leaving much of his car in parts on the track. Just seconds after the car came to a stop, McDowell was able to crawl out and walk away from the crash with no major injuries, and he was able to race the next day.

Seats

The seats that the drivers sit in have evolved over the past few years. Most of the seats found in the race cars wrap around the driver’s rib cage which provides some support during a crash, spreading the load out over the entire rib cage instead of letting it concentrate in a smaller area. Some of the newer seats wrap around the driver’s shoulders as well, which provides better support because the shoulders are more durable than the rib cage. The introduction of carbon fiber seats have also helped improved safety, as carbon fiber absorbs more energy from an impact than the traditional aluminum seats did.

Seat belts and harnesses

The seat belts in stock cars are very important. They are built to be stronger than a normal seat belt. The seat belts used are the five- or six-point harness, which is two straps coming down over the driver’s shoulders, two straps wrap around the waist, and one or two come up between the legs. Since a string of accidents in 2000 and 2001 that killed Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Tony Roper and Dale Earnhardt (plus several other drivers in minor circuits) under similar circumstances, NASCAR has made it mandatory for the drivers to wear the HANS device. Though NASCAR allowed another system, the Hutchens device, in the past, since 2005 HANS is the only head and neck restraint device allowed for use.

Restrictor plate

As a safety measure to reduce speeds at the two high-banked superspeedways (Daytona and Talladega), restrictor plates are used. There are some tracks, however, where restrictor plates are not mandated and therefore see faster speeds—specifically Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. While Atlanta is generally considered the fastest track, restrictor plates are not mandated there. In 2004 and 2005, higher qualifying speeds were posted at Texas, earning it the title of the circuit’s fastest track. Unrestricted, Sprint Cup cars produce over 750 horsepower (560 kW) and can run at speeds in excess of 200 mph. Rusty Wallace completed a 2004 test for NASCAR at Talladega in which he used an unrestricted motor to complete average lap speeds of 221 mph (356 km/h) and top speeds near 230 mph (370 km/h).

Roof flaps

In 1994, NASCAR introduced roof flaps to the car, which are designed to keep cars from getting airborne and possibly flipping down the track. Following Rusty Wallace’s crash at Talladega, Penske Racing designed the original roof flaps. NASCAR team owner Jack Roush helped improve on the design of the roof flaps, in conjunction with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona, Florida, USA.

During spins, as a result of accidents or loss of handling, as the car rotates it eventually reaches an angle where the oncoming air reacts with the profile of the vehicle in the same manner as a wing. If the speed is high enough air flowing over the car’s overall airfoil shape will create sufficient lift to force the car to become airborne. To prevent this, NASCAR developed a set of flaps that are recessed into pockets on the roof of the car. As a car is turned around and reaches an angle where significant lift occurs, the low pressure above the flaps causes them to deploy. The first flap oriented 140 degrees from the centerline of the car typically deploys first. After flap deployment, higher pressure air is forced through an air tube which connects to a second flap, deploying it. This second flap ensures that, should the car continue to spin, no further lift will be created as the vehicles angle changes. The deployment of these flaps eliminates most of the lift on the vehicle. The roof flaps generally keep the cars on the ground as they spin, although it is not guaranteed.

Barriers

Beginning in the early 2000s, many tracks were retrofitted with SAFER barriers along the walls of the track. These walls absorb the energy of an impact better than concrete walls, while maintaining integrity better than traditional steel barriers. This system costs millions of dollars to put in, and the creation of this wall, which connects to the original wall, took many more millions to design and create.

Pit road safety

Pit road safety has become a major focus of NASCAR officials in recent years since the 1990 Atlanta Journal 500, where the rear tire changer for Melling Racing was killed in a pit road crash.

By April 1991, NASCAR implemented the current policy of pit road speed limits. The speed limit depends on the size of the track and the size of pit road. NASCAR uses an electronic scoring system, similar to the VASCAR system, to monitor the speeds of cars on pit road by measuring the time it takes to get from checkpoint to checkpoint. As the cars are not equipped with speedometers, the cars in prerace warm up laps are driven around the track at the pit road speed following the pace car so the drivers can mark their speed on the tachometer.

By 1994, almost every form of motorsport had adopted pit lane speed limits, following NASCAR’s cue.

NASCAR does not allow the use of pit road specific rev limiters as found in most other forms of racing.

Since 2002, NASCAR has implemented a rule where all over the wall pit members are required to wear helmets, no visors needed, full fire suits, and gloves; while the gas man must wear a fire apron as well as the suit. While it is not required yet, it is recommended that tire changers wear safety glasses to prevent eye injuries from lug nuts thrown off the car and fuel spills. Some tire changers wear face shields or goggles.

Beginning in 2008, teams in the top three series may not roll a car more than three pit box lengths to push start a car. This prevents teams from pushing a car the length of pit road when the starter motor fails.  Also, outside tires that have been removed from a vehicle during a pit stop can no longer be free-rolled from the outside of the pit box to the pit wall; rather, they must be hand-directed to the inner half of the pit box before being released.

As with changes to car models, NASCAR will institute new rules during a season if it deems it necessary to enhance safety.

Spotter

In contrast with open-wheel, sports car, and touring car governing bodies, NASCAR does not allow race cars to have wing mirrors. Drivers may still use a rear-view mirror and mirrors attached to the rollbar, but no mirror can extend outside of the car. As a result they are left with large blind spots to cope with. In NASCAR’s more prominent series, spotters are used to combat this problem. The spotter’s purpose is to relay information about where cars in these blind spots are to the driver via two-way radio.  Spotters also advise drivers on navigating track-obstructing crashes and may relay messages from one driver to another. NASCAR requires spotters at all times a car is on the track, including series in practice, qualifying, and the race. In many cases, a spotter is a former driver.

At some tracks, mostly the road courses, NASCAR mandates multiple spotters at key locations around the track.

Race weekends

In a typical weekend, teams will have two practice sessions, and a qualifying session before the race. In a smaller series, the race may be run in a series of qualifying races known as heats before a feature. A larger series will have a practice session before a two lap qualifying session, where the better of the two laps will represent the driver’s time. A second practice session after qualifying which is often referred to as happy hour is no longer common as NASCAR is moving toward more impound races, where the cars are impounded after qualifying and no changes can be made to them. If a practice session cannot be held, NASCAR may have a competition caution at a predetermined time. If qualifying cannot be held, owner’s points will be used to determine the starting grid.

Qualifying Procedure

In general, the starting order for races is determined by the best qualifying time. All cars are brought into the pits, and one at a time they are allowed to enter the track and accelerate to race speed for a two lap qualifying run. Qualification begins as the car crosses the finish line for the first time, and the best single lap time is used as the qualifying time. Qualification on road courses is generally limited to one lap rather than two. The order in which the teams qualify is determined by a random draw.

One position in the race (the last spot) is reserved as the “Champion’s Provisional”. It is available to any past champion who would not otherwise qualify for the race. If more than 1 champion wishes to use the provisional, priority is given to the most recent champion. If the provisional is not used by a past champion, it is released to the next fastest qualifier.

Should qualifying be cancelled due to inclement weather or other reason, qualifying order is set by current car owner points, except that during the first five races of the season, qualifying order is set by the final car owner points for the previous season.

Qualifying order is also used to determine pit stalls for the race, with the fastest qualifier getting first choice. The sole exceptions are for the Budwiser Shootout, where positions are assigned randomly, and the Sprint All-Star Race, where the results of the annual Pit Crew Challenge determine pit selection order.

In some series, particularly the Sprint Cup, there are additional practice sessions between qualifying and the race. Cars may be damaged in practice, or the team may discover other problems in practice. A car (regardless of damage) can be replaced with a backup car and remain qualified for the race, but the driver will be sent to the back of the field during the parade laps. Crews are allowed to repair a car, possibly avoiding being sent to the back, but some repairs (such as engine changes) will automatically incur the penalty. Official race records use the driver’s qualifying position as his “starting position”, rather than his actual position at the green flag. A separate statistical line may be included for drivers “sent to the back” and the reasons for those penalties.

Sprint Cup

In Sprint Cup races, the top 35 cars in the standings qualify automatically, regardless of qualifying time. The “top 35″ cutoff is based on car owner points, not driver points. Furthermore, for the first five races of the season, the “top 35″ is considered to be the final top 35 from the previous season. After 5 races, the “top 35″ is the current top 35 at the conclusion of the previous race. The purpose of this rule is to reward teams which run the whole schedule. This is generally believed to improve the ability of teams to retain sponsorship by offering the sponsors assurance that their cars will indeed be in the race.

While the starting order is still based on qualifying times, teams above the top 35 cutoff are guaranteed to be “in the show”. The top 35 teams in owner’s points (as opposed to driver’s points) are guaranteed to start in the top 42 positions. The 43rd starting position is reserved for the Champion’s Provisional. If there is no former champion using this provisional, the eighth fastest car not in the top 35 will start 43rd.

NASCAR has revised its rules on provisionals many times over the years. There was actually no limit on provisionals during 2005-2006, and some drivers were able to take advantage of this rule to ensure qualification of an otherwise uncompetitive team. As of 2008, an eligible driver may use the champion’s provisional a maximum of 6 times per season. However, if qualifying is cancelled, the provisional may be used without being charged against the maximum.

The need for sponsorship makes the top 35 cutoff critical for teams outside the top 35, and they are sometimes known as “Go or Go Home” cars. In previous years, the random qualifying draw included all possible cars, but starting in 2008, the cars were separated into two draws, with the top 35 cars going first in the session and all cars outside the top 35 going second, which has become known as “The Boris Said Rule”, named for an incident where Boris Said was on the provisional pole for the 2007 Pepsi 400 during qualifying until a downpour canceled the remainder of the qualifying session, and because his team placed outside of the top 35, and the field was set by the rulebook, Said went home. This change of rules was done to ensure that track conditions would be as consistent as possible for qualifiers outside the top 35.

Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series

The Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series also use a two-lap, single-car qualifying formula on ovals. Unlike the Sprint Cup Series, only the top 30 teams qualify automatically.  For road courses, European-style qualifying is used. This involves putting all the cars attempting to qualify in groups of 5-7 based on practice speeds and giving each group about 5 minutes on the track to produce their best lap time.

Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 has a unique qualifying process. A standard qualifying session is used to determine the front row (two cars). All remaining qualifiers are separated into two qualification races (the Gatorade Duels), whose finishing order is then used to determine the starting grid for the main race. The top 35 rule remains in effect and is applied after the Gatorade Duel races.

Race Procedure

Sprint Cup races are held either Saturday night or Sunday (weather permitting), while Nationwide Series races and Craftsman Truck Series races are usually run Friday night or Saturday. NASCAR avoids holding Sprint Cup races and other series races on the same day. Regional series also usually run Friday night or Saturday. Sprint Cup teams are rarely allowed to practice the day of a race.

Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series also cannot be held at the same time, owing to NASCAR’s television restrictions that prohibit both series from running at the same time, and the lower series must air on tape delay rule if that happens.

Start of Race

NASCAR holds a mandatory driver’s meeting two hours before each race, or in impound qualifying followed by the race shortly afterwards, before qualifying. Drivers that fail to attend the meeting or in pre-race ceremonies are forced to start last in the race. In addition, any team that switches to a backup car (due to an accident in practice), requires an engine change, requires other unapproved parts changes (in impound races) or makes a driver change (i.e. not being driven by the same driver who qualified it) must also drop to the rear of the field for the start.

Since 2004, drivers must wait until after the national anthem(s) has/have played before entering their cars.

At five minutes after the National Anthem, the command “Gentlemen, start your engines” (or a gender neutral variant) is given by grand marshal of the race. After at least three warm-up laps behind a pace car, all NASCAR races begin with a rolling start.

In Race

During the race, each driver will periodically have his car serviced during pit stops.

Because of the success of the Winter Heat Series in Tucson Raceway Park in 1994-95, the Camping World Truck Series, which raced two exhibitions at the track, used a half time break format for all races for three and a half seasons, at all tracks in order to prevent teams from flying special pit crewmen to change tires, and to equalize smaller teams. From 1997 until the end of the format in July 1998, teams would stop for fuel in standard race conditions in addition to the one intermission break for fuel at larger circuits.

End of Race

A “green-white-checker” procedure was adopted by NASCAR in 1995 for the Camping World Truck Series, this requires the race to end under green flag conditions. After an experiment during the 1994-95 Winter Heat exhibitions, and in mid-July 2004 for all national and regional series, a one-attempt rule in effect for all NASCAR Touring series. Ironically the final Camping World Truck Series race held under the old rules had four different attempts.

Following the race, winning drivers often celebrate with burnouts and victory laps before arriving at victory lane.

Flags

Like most other sanctioning bodies, NASCAR will use flags to provide the drivers with information regarding track conditions. NASCAR, not adhering to the FIA rules (despite NASCAR being a member club of ACCUS, the U.S. motor racing sporting authority and representative to the FIA World Motor Sport Council), does not use the flag system outlined in the FIA International Sporting Code. Major differences include that in NASCAR (and other championship in North America) the white flag is used to signal that the leader is on the last lap; in ISC regulated events (such as Formula One and most European championships) it is used to signal that a slower car is on track. Also, the blue flag specified in the FIA ISC does not have a diagonal stripe, and the black flag means that a driver is disqualified.

Flag	Description
	The green flag indicates that the race has started or restarted.
	The yellow flag or caution flag indicates a hazard on the track – most often an accident, but sometimes also for debris, light rain, emergency vehicles entering (usually on short tracks with no tunnel) or a scheduled competition yellow. All cars must slow down and follow the pace car. Passing is not allowed under the yellow flag.
	The red flag indicates that the race has been halted. This may happen due to a large accident, inclement weather, track repair (such as damaged catch fencing), or for severe track cleaning (such as the final laps, when NASCAR may clean the entire track to ensure the race can finish under green flag conditions, and to do so with the track clean of oil from engine failure or crashes). Race teams are not permitted to repair or adjust cars during red flag conditions.
	The red flag with a yellow cross is shown to indicate pit road is closed. This will be shown at the entrance of pit road when the yellow flag is displayed. When all the cars have gathered behind the pace car, pit road will open and this flag will be withdrawn. A red and green strobe light system is also used at the entrance and exit of pit road.
	The white flag indicates one lap remaining in the race.
	The checkered flag indicates that a race or qualifying is over.
	The black flag indicates that a driver is being penalized. This may be due to a rules infraction by the driver or pit crew, or if a vehicle has sufficient mechanical damage that it is a hazard to other drivers. A black flag shown with a red flag indicates a practice session is over.
	The black flag with a white cross indicates a driver is no longer being scored. This is normally shown if a driver does not respond to a black flag within three laps.
	The blue flag with a yellow stripe is shown to warn slow drivers of faster cars approaching. NASCAR rarely punishes drivers for not obeying this flag; however, it is frequently displayed and warnings may be given if it is blatant (such as a lapped driver blocking for a teammate). NASCAR uses the yellow diagonal stripe on the blue flag because the flag is usually displayed on top of the starter’s stand, and not at eye-level to the driver from the track.
	The blue flag is used to indicate a local caution on a road course. It is not used on ovals. If a full course caution is required, NASCAR will use the yellow flag to indicate this. In the wake of a fatal corner worker crash at Daytona International Speedway in 2004 in a non-NASCAR sanctioned (but using track workers) race, NASCAR has become reluctant in recent years to use this flag, opting to full course cautions if any safety team members have to approach the track in an attempt to give safety workers a safer environment to inspect debris by forcing all cars under pace car speed, instead of race speed, to remove debris. The rationale is most of the field will be packed together while cleanup is happening, instead of being spread over the entire track.
	The yellow and red flag indicates that there is debris on the track. This flag is only used on road courses.

Beneficiary rule

In years past, NASCAR would permit drivers to “race back to the caution flag”. This would allow drivers to race for position just after a crash has happened, but before they had crossed the start/finish line with the yellow flag waving. Drivers had developed a gentlemen’s agreement to hold their position, and let slower cars gain lost laps, in this event rather than race, and in many instances, lead drivers would use this practice to reward lapped cars for not interfering with them during race conditions.

During the September 2003 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Casey Mears, in an attempt to race back to the caution to gain a lap, nearly ran into the side of the disabled car of Dale Jarrett, parked at the start-finish line following a restart crash.

This safety incident resulted in NASCAR banning the practice, and instituting a Beneficiary Rule to help the slower cars that would no longer be given laps back, by letting lapped cars race each other to gain a lap back.

One type of NASCAR race penalty which can be awarded is a one-lap penalty and the driver not being eligible to gain the lap back by the beneficiary. The beneficiary can be restored, however, by later racing the leader and passing the leader to gain the lap back. Once that happens, and that driver is lapped again, he would be eligible for the beneficiary rule.

Technical requirements and inspection

NASCAR will inspect every car before a race to ensure that this car does not violate any rule of its series, after the race the top 5 finishers and another random car will be re-inspected. These inspection periods involve measuring the angle or size of the spoiler, weighing the car, comparing the body lines to templates, distributing restrictor plates (for restrictor plate races), distributing the wings (for the Car of Tomorrow), and measuring the ride height.

All NASCAR race cars use a roll cage to protect the drivers and serve as the chassis. All vehicles use a front engine-rear drive layout with pushrod engines as overhead camshaft engines are not allowed. All engines are carbureted and fuel injection is not allowed. Forced induction is also not allowed, thus making all engines naturally-aspirated.

All cars racing in the top three divisions use radial slick tires supplied by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Goodyear maintains ownership of the tires at all times and leases them to teams during race weekends. Until 2009 Goodyear would issue limited numbers of tires to teams for testing at tracks not governed by NASCAR. Starting in 2009 NASCAR has banned all testing at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks and Goodyear isn’t allowed to supply tires for testing. Under the old rules (which NASCAR has said will go back into effect when the economy is better) Sprint Cup Series teams receive 200 tires, Nationwide Series teams receive 160 tires, and Camping World Truck Series teams receive 120 tires. NASCAR does not allow the use of rain tires on oval tracks as the fast turns and heavy cars place too much stress on the tires. In the late 90’s NASCAR did attempt using rain tires in road course competition for all major series, but a lack of rain and road course dates and the development of the heavier Car of Tomorrow meant that rain tires were not economically viable anymore for the Sprint Cup Series. The Nationwide Series may still use rain tires on a road course if needed. On August 2, 2008 NASCAR used rain tires in official competition for the first time in its existence in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec. The tires proved adequate in competition on a wet track, but heavy rains creating standing water caused the race to end prematurely after 48 of a planned 74 laps.

Impound rule

In 2005, NASCAR implemented a system of impounding cars between qualifying and the race, similar to Formula One’s parc fermé. All cars used in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race must be either a Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Dodge Charger, or Chevy Impala. With the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow the differences between the different models were significantly lessened, but teams can have differences in engines, and setups. NASCAR created work lists that teams may perform immediately after qualifying and a few hours before the race. All work is to be done under the supervision of NASCAR officials. NASCAR will not allow teams to return to their cars once the work is complete. In 2006 and 2007 due to teams needing more practice time with the Car of Tomorrow, and at the request of new cable partner ESPN, the rule was applied to 5 Sprint Cup races after being used in 21 races during 2005. The rule is still applied to all Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series races as well as many smaller series.

Gear Rule

Among the major series, NASCAR will enforce restrictions on the gear ratios teams may use at certain race tracks. NASCAR will provide teams a choice of possible differential gear ratios, while the highest transmission gear must be a 1:1 ratio and no other gear may be higher than 1.28:1. Overdrive gears are not permitted. The purpose of the rule is to lower the maximum RPM of the engines during races thus lowering the cost of building race engines. This is in contrast with other series such the IRL IndyCar Series or V8 Supercar which limit engine speed electronically.

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt past a net into the opponent’s court.
The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century as “lawn tennis” which has heavy connections to various field/lawn games as well as to the ancient game of real tennis. After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs.
The rules of tennis have not changed much since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1960 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and then the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the line (or chair) umpire’s call of a point.
Tennis enjoys millions of recreational players and is also a hugely popular worldwide spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the “Majors”): the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

History

Most historians believe that tennis originated in France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand. It was not until the sixteenth century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called “tennis.” It was popular in England and France, but the game was then played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, which historians now refer to as real tennis.
Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera’s croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world’s first tennis club in Leamington Spa. The Courier of July 23, 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.
In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed and patented a similar game — which he called sphairistike (Greek: σφάίρίστική, from ancient Greek meaning “skill at playing at ball”), and was soon known simply as “sticky” — for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales. He likely based his game on the evolving sport of outdoor tennis including real tennis. According to some tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of real tennis and applied them to his new game.
The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877. The first Championships culminated a significant debate on how to standardize the rules.
In America in 1874 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda where she met Major Wingfield. She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club in New Brighton Staten Island, New York. The exact location of the club was under what is now the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The first American National tournament in 1880 was played there. An Englishman named O.E Woodhouse won the singles match. There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. There were different rules at each club. The ball in Boston was larger than the one normally used in NY. On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions. The U.S. National Men’s Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. National Women’s Singles Championships were first held in 1887. Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891. Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis. Together these four events are called the Majors or Slams (a term borrowed from bridge rather than baseball).
The comprehensive rules promulgated in 1924 by the International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known as the International Tennis Federation, have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tie-break system designed by James Van Alen. That same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games but returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under demonstration event in 1984. This reinstatement was credited by the efforts by the then ITF President Philippe Chatrier, ITF General Secretary David Gray and ITF Vice President Pablo Llorens, and support from IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. The success of the event was overwhelming and the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a full medal sport at Seoul in 1988.
The Davis Cup, an annual competition between men’s national teams, dates to 1900. The analogous competition for women’s national teams, the Fed Cup, was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF.
In 1926, promoter C.C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen. Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.
In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the open era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the beginning of the open era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis’s popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).
In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Each year, a grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members are hosted on its grounds.

Equipment

Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment required for play. Beginners need only a racquet and balls.

Racquets

The tennis racquet comprises a handle and neck joining a roughly circular frame that holds an array of tightly pulled strings. For the first century of the modern game, racquets were of wood and of standard size, and strings were of animal gut. Laminated wood construction yielded more strength in racquets used through most of the 20th century until first metal and then composites of carbon graphite, ceramics, and lighter metals such as titanium were introduced. These stronger materials enabled the production of oversized rackets that yielded yet more power. Meanwhile technology led to the use of synthetic strings that match the feel of gut yet with added durability.

Balls

Tennis balls are of hollow rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant color was gradually changed to Optic Yellow in the latter part of the twentieth century to allow for improved visibility.

Miscellaneous

Advanced players improve their performance through a number of accoutrements. Vibration dampers may be interlaced in the proximal part of the string array for improved feel. Racket handles may be customized with absorbent materials to improve the players’ grip. Players often use sweat bands on their wrists to keep their hands dry as well. Finally, although the game can be played in a variety of shoes, specialized tennis shoes have wide, flat soles for stability and a built-up front structure to avoid excess wear.

Playing Manner

Court

Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface, usually grass, clay, a hardcourt of concrete and/or asphalt and occasionally carpet (indoor). The court is 78feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles matches. Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (91.4 cm) high in the center.
The modern tennis court owes its design to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield who, in 1873, patented a court much the same as the current one for his stické tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield’s version, but with the hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle.

Lines

The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The short mark in the center of each baseline is referred to as either the hash mark or the center mark. The outermost lines that make up the length are called the doubles sidelines. These are the boundaries used when doubles is being played. The lines to the inside of the doubles sidelines are the singles sidelines and are used as boundaries in singles play. The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest singles sideline is called the doubles alley, which is considered playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the center of a player’s side of the court is called the service line because the serve must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally stands when making a serve. The line dividing the service line in two is called the center line or center service line. The boxes this center line creates are called the service boxes; depending on a player’s position, he or she will have to hit the ball into one of these when serving. A ball is out only if none of it has hit the line or the area inside the lines upon its first bounce. All the lines are required to be between 1 and 2 inches (51 mm) in width. The baseline can be up to 4 inches (100 mm) wide if so desired.

Play of a single point

The players (or teams) start on opposite sides of the net. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player is the receiver. Service alternates game by game between the two players (or teams.) For each point, the server starts behind his baseline, between the center mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server.
In a legal service, the ball travels past the net (without touching it) and into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service box, this is a let or net service, which is void, and the server gets to retake that serve. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. A fault is a serve that falls long or wide of the service box, or does not clear the net. There is also a “foot fault”, which occurs when a player’s foot touches the baseline or an extension of the center mark before the ball is hit. If the second service is also faulty, this is a double fault, and the receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a legal service.
A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of the player or team hitting the ball exactly once before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures except the net, provided that it still falls in the server’s court. The ball then travels back past the net and bounces in the court on the opposite side. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point.

Scoring

A tennis match is determined through the best of 3 or 5 sets. Typically for both men’s and women’s matches, the first player to win two sets wins the match. At certain important tennis tournaments for men, including all four Grand Slam tournaments and the final of the Olympic Games, the first man to win three sets wins the match. A set consists of games, and games, in turn, consist of points.
A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three points are described as “love”, “fifteen”, “thirty”, and “forty” respectively. (See the main article Tennis score for the origin of these words as used in tennis.) If at least three points have been scored by each player, and the scores are equal, the score is “deuce”. If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is “advantage” for the player in the lead. During informal games, “advantage” can also be called “ad in” or “ad out”, depending on whether the serving player or receiving player is ahead, respectively.
In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., “fifteen-love”) after each point. The score of a tennis match during play is always read with the serving player’s score first. After a match, the score is always read with the winning player’s score first. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score.
A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40-love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play.
A break point occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a game point. Break points are of particular importance because serving is generally advantageous. A receiver who has two (score of 15-40) or three (score of love-40) consecutive chances to win the game has double break point or triple break point, respectively.
A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the trailing player wins the game, a tie-break is played. A tie-break, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7–6. Only in the final sets of matches at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, and Fed Cup are tie-breaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two-game lead. A “love” set means that the loser of the set won zero games. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score.
In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase “Game, set, match” followed by the winning person’s or team’s name.

Rules variations

Another, however informal, tennis format is called Canadian doubles. This involves three players, with one person playing a doubles team. The single player gets to utilize the alleys normally reserved only for a doubles team. Conversely, the doubles team does not use the alleys when executing a shot. The scoring is the same as a regular game. This format is not sanctioned by any official body.
“Australian doubles”, another informal and unsanctioned form of tennis, is played with similar rules to the “Kiwi” style, only in this version, players rotate court position after each game. As such, each player plays doubles and singles over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving. Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2 points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she holds serve and the doubles team each taking one if they break serve.
Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as people who require a wheelchair for mobility. An extra bounce is permitted. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and able-bodied matches. It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a wheelchair player and an able-bodied player (referred to as “one-up, one-down”), or for a wheelchair player to play against an able-bodied player. In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair users only.

Surface

There are four types of court surface used in professional play. Each surface is different in the speed and height of the bounce of the ball. The same surface plays faster indoors than outdoors.

Officials

In most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an officiating head judge or chair umpire (usually referred to as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make factual determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines whether the ball has touched the net during service. In some tournaments, certain line judges, usually those who would be calling the serve, are replaced by electronic sensors that beep when an out call would have been made. In some tournaments, electric line calls aren’t made, but rather are used to assist the linespeople. When a ball lands in a spot where the linesperson isn’t sure if the ball was in or out, a noise is made that only linespeople can hear (because they are wearing headsets), and helps them to make the call. In some open-tournament matches, players are allowed to challenge a limited number of close calls by means of electronic review. The US Open, the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, the US Open Series, and World Team Tennis started using a “challenge” system in 2006 and the Australian Open and Wimbledon introduced the system in 2007. This used the Hawk-Eye system and the rules were similar to those used in the NFL, where a player gets a limited number of opportunities to challenge per match/set. More recently, a player may use unlimited challenges in a set, provided that he or she is not incorrect more than three times. In clay-court matches, such as at the French Open, a call may be questioned by reference to the mark left by the ball’s impact on the court surface.
The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or team captain, the referee may overrule the umpire’s decision if the tennis rules were violated (question of law) but may not change the umpire’s decision on a question of fact. If, however, the referee is on the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire’s decision.
Ball boys and girls may be employed to retrieve balls, pass them to the players, and hand players their towels. They have no adjudicative role. In rare events (e.g., if they are hurt or if they have caused a hindrance), the umpire may ask them for a statement of what actually happened. The umpire may consider their statements when making a decision. In some leagues, especially junior leagues, players make their own calls, trusting each other to be honest. This is the case for many school and university level matches. The referee or referee’s assistant, however, can be called on court at a player’s request, and the referee or assistant may change a player’s call. In unaffiliated matches, a ball is out only if the player entitled to make the call is sure that the ball is out.

Juniors

In tennis, a junior is a player 18 and under who is still legally protected by a parent or guardian. Players on the main adult tour who are under 18 must have documents signed by a parent or guardian. These players, however, are still eligible to play in junior tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducts a junior tour that allows juniors to establish a world ranking and an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. Most juniors who enter the international circuit do so by progressing through ITF, Satellite, Future, and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit. The latter three circuits also have adults competing in them. Some juniors, however, such as Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman Gaël Monfils, have catapulted directly from the junior tour to the ATP tour by dominating the junior scene or by taking advantage of opportunities given to them to participate in professional tournaments.
In 2004, the ITF implemented a new rankings scheme to encourage greater participation in doubles, by combining two rankings (singles and doubles) into one combined tally. Junior tournaments do not offer prize money except for the Grand Slam tournaments, which are the most prestigious junior events. Juniors may earn income from tennis by participating in the Future, Satellite, or Challenger tours. Tournaments are broken up into different tiers offering different amounts of ranking points, culminating with Grade A.
Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions as well. To succeed in tennis often means having to begin playing at a young age. To facilitate and nurture a junior’s growth in tennis, almost all tennis playing nations have developed a junior development system. Juniors develop their play through a range of tournaments on all surfaces, accommodating all different standards of play. Talented juniors may also receive sponsorships from governing bodies or private institutions.

Match play

A tennis match is intended to be continuous. Because stamina is a relevant factor, arbitrary delays are not permitted. In most cases, service is required to occur no more than 20 seconds after the end of the previous point. This is increased to 90 seconds when the players change ends (after every odd-numbered game), and a 120 second break is permitted between sets. Other than this, breaks are permitted only when forced by events beyond the players’ control, such as rain, damaged footwear, damaged racquet, or the need to retrieve an errant ball. Should a player be determined to be stalling repeatedly, the chair umpire may initially give a warning followed by subsequent penalties of “point”, “game”, and default of the match for the player who is consistently taking longer than the allowed time limit
In the event of a rain delay, darkness or other external conditions halting play, the match is resumed at a later time, with the same score as at the time of the delay, and the players at the same end of the court when rain halted play, or at the same position (north or south) if play is resumed on a different court.
Balls wear out quickly in serious play and, therefore, in ATP and WTA tournaments, they are changed after every nine games with the first change occurring after only seven games, because the first set of balls is also used for the pre-match warm-up. As a courtesy to the receiver, the server will often signal to the receiver before the first serve of the game in which new balls are used as a reminder that they are using new balls. However, in ITF tournaments like Fed Cup, the balls are changed in a 9-11 style. Continuity of the balls’ condition is considered part of the game, so if a re-warm-up is required after an extended break in play (usually due to rain), then the re-warm-up is done using a separate set of balls, and use of the match balls is resumed only when play resumes.
A recent proposed rules change is to allow coaching on court during a match on a limited basis. This has been instituted in women’s tennis for WTA Tour events from 2009 onwards.

Shots

A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob.

Serve

A serve (or, more formally, a “service”) in tennis is a shot to start a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The serve may be hit under- or overhand.
Experienced players strive to master the conventional overhand serve to maximize its power and placement. The server may employ different types of serve including flat serve, topspin serve, slice serve, and kick (American twist) serve. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness. If the ball is spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter’s point of view and curve left if spinning clockwise.
Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an “ace”.

Grips

Players use various grips during play, including the continental (The “Handshake Grip”), eastern (Can be either semi-eastern or full eastern. Usually used for backhands.), and western (semi-western or full western, usually for forehand grips) grips. Different grips generally are used for different types of spin and shots.

Forehand

For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on the right side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the left side of the body. There are various grips for executing the forehand, and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the continental, the eastern, the semi-western, and the western. For a number of years, the small, apparently frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players. No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racquet, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In the 1940s and 50s, the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to achieve a devastating effect against larger, more powerful players. Currently, France’s Fabrice Santoro uses a two-handed forehand. Some females such as Monica Seles and France’s Marion Bartoli also use a two-handed forehand.

Backhand

For right-handed players, the backhand is a stroke that begins on the left side of their body, continues across their body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of their body. It can be executed with either one hand or with both and is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. For most of the 20th century, the backhand was performed with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich, but they were lonely exceptions. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, and later Mats Wilander and Andre Agassi used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large number of the world’s best players, including Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. Two hands give the player more control, while one hand can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. Reach is also limited with the two-handed shot. The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, had a powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and 1940s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a very accurate slice backhand through the 1950s and 1960s. A small number of players, notably Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides.

Other shots

A volley is made in the air before the ball bounces, generally near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent’s court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, once again generally in the vicinity of the net. The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player approaches the net. It is an offensive shot used to take preparation time away from the opponent. From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon, hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent’s court to either enable the lobber to get into better defensive position or to win the point outright by hitting it over the opponent’s head. If the lob is not hit deeply enough into the other court, however, the opponent may then hit an overhead smash, a hard, serve-like shot, to try to end the point. Finally, if an opponent is deep in his court, a player may suddenly employ an unexpected drop shot, softly tapping the ball just over the net so that the opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it.

Tournaments

Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men’s singles, women’s singles, and doubles, where two players play on each side of the net. Tournaments may be arranged for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. Example of this include the Orange Bowl and Les Petits As. There are also tournaments for players with disabilities, such as wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis. In the four Grand Slam tournaments, the singles draws are limited to 128 people for each gender.
Players may also be matched by their skill level. According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, a player is given a rating that is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive matches. For example, the United States Tennis Association administers the National Tennis Rating Program, which rates players between 1.0 and 7.0 in 1/2 point increments. Average club players under this system would rate 3.0-4.5 while world class players would be 7.0 on this scale.

Grand Slam tournaments

The four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. They are held annually and include, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Apart from the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The ITF’s national associations, Tennis Australia (Australian Open), the French Tennis Federation (French Open), the United States Tennis Association (US Open), and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon), are delegated the responsibility to organize these events.
Aside from the historical significance of these events, they also carry larger prize funds than any other tour event and are worth double the number of ranking points to the champion than in the next echelon of tournaments, the Masters 1000 (men) and Premier events (women). Another distinguishing feature is the number of players in the singles draw, 128, more than any other professional tennis tournament. This draw is composed of 32 seeded players, other players ranked in the world’s top 100, qualifiers, and players who receive invitations through wild cards. Grand Slam men’s tournaments have best-of-five set matches throughout. Grand Slam tournaments are among the small number of events that last two weeks, the others being the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California and the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. Currently, the Grand Slam tournaments are the only tour events that have mixed doubles contests. Grand Slam tournaments are held in conjunction with wheelchair tennis tournaments (with the exception being Wimbledon, where the grass surface prevents this) and junior tennis competitions. Grand Slam tournaments are often seen as the culmination of a particular season, such as the US Open Series. These tournaments also contain their own idiosyncrasies. For example, players at Wimbledon are required to wear predominantly white, a rule that has motivated certain players, such as Andre Agassi, to skip the tournament. Wimbledon also has its own particular methods for disseminating tickets, often leading tennis fans to follow complex procedures to obtain tickets.

Masters 1000

The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a group of nine tournaments that form the second-highest echelon in men’s tennis. Each event is held annually, and a win at one of these events is currently worth 1000 ranking points. When the Association of Tennis Professionals, led by Hamilton Jordan, began running the men’s tour in 1990, the directors designated the top nine tournaments, outside of theGrand Slam events, as “Super Nine” events. These eventually became the Tennis Masters Series. In November at the end of the tennis year, the world’s top eight players compete in the ATP World Tour Finals, a tournament with a rotating locale. It is currently held in London, England.
On August 31, 2007 the ATP announced that major changes will take place in 2009. The Masters Series will be renamed to the “Masters 1000”, with the addition of the number 1000 referring to the number of ranking points earned by the winner of each tournament. Contrary to earlier plans, the number of tournaments will not be reduced from nine to eight and the Monte Carlo Masters will remain part of the series although, unlike the other events, it will not have a mandatory player commitment. The Hamburg Masters event will be downgraded to a 500 point event. The Madrid Masters will move to May and onto clay courts, and a new tournament in Shanghai will take over Madrid’s former indoor October slot. In 2011 six of the nine “1000” level tournaments will be combined ATP and WTA events.

• Actually in the adjacent suburb of Key Biscayne, Florida.

• Actually in the adjacent French commune of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

• Actually in the suburb of Mason, Ohio.

250 and 500 Series

The International Series for men is split into two categories, both run by the ATP: the 250 Series and 500 Series. Like the Masters 1000, these events offer various amounts of prize money, and some regular International Series events offer larger prize monies than 500 Series tournaments. The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships offer the largest financial incentive to players, with total prize money of US$1,426,000.

Challenger Tour and Futures Tournaments

The Challenger Tour for men is the lowest level of tournament administered by the ATP. It is composed of roughly 160 events and, as a result, features a more diverse range of countries hosting events. The majority of players use the Challenger Series to work their way up the rankings, including World No. 1s Pete Sampras, Marcelo Ríos, Patrick Rafter, and Gustavo Kuerten. Andre Agassi, between winning Grand Slam tournaments, plummeted to World No. 141 and used Challenger Series events for match experience and to progress back up the rankings. The Challenger Series offers prize funds of between US$25,000 and US$150,000.
Below the Challenger Series are the Futures Tournaments, the main events on the ITF Men’s Circuit. These tournaments also contribute towards a player’s ATP rankings points. Futures Tournaments offer prize funds of between US$10,000 and US$15,000; however, futures status is granted only to events offering a total of US$30,000, meaning that two or three tournaments are played. Approximately 400 Futures Tournaments are played each year.

Premier events

Premier events for women form the most prestigious level of events on the Women’s Tennis Association Tour after the Grand Slam tournaments. These events offer the largest rewards in terms of points and prize money. Within the Premier category are Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and Premier tournaments. The tiering system in women’s tennis was introduced in 1988. At the time of its creation, only two tournaments, the Lipton International Players Championships in Florida and the German Open in Berlin, comprised the Tier I category. In 2009, four tournaments are Premier Mandatory, five tournaments are Premier 5, and ten tournaments are Premier.