Updated Rules
We are excited to announce that updates to the IRF Ruleset have been officially approved by a vote of the National Governing Bodies. You can find the new rules here.
The Process
The IRF Rules Committee, led by Ben Dantowitz (USA) and Manuel Abalos (Chile) started the process by collecting proposals through a submission form open to the entire roundnet community. From there, they reviewed, organized, and categorized the suggestions, focusing primarily on ways to create clarity, close loopholes, remove redundancy, and refine language for a better shared understanding. While this process aimed mainly at clarification, more significant rule change proposals still need to be evaluated. Those types of changes take more time and testing to responsibly implement and did not make sense this close to a World Championship.
Once everything was organized, the proposals were shared with NGBs in advance of the IRF’s Annual General Assembly with suggested changes highlighted . At the General Assembly, the rules committee presented their work and answered questions from NGBs. Following this meeting, the NGBs were given time to share recommendations and feedback on the specific language of the proposal or any additional elements that should be considered. After incorporating this feedback, a final version of the proposal was shared for NGBs to vote on.
What’s Changed?
We recommend that you read the updated rules in their entirety to make sure you understand everything that has changed (and to get a refresher on them in general). Looking at the changes highlighted version is an easy way to hone in on the differences. Anything highlighted in red is something that was removed and anything highlighted in green is something that was added. A majority of the proposal was simply revising the language to be more clear. That said, there are a few important areas that we wanted to call out:
4.2. Execution of the Serve
This section got an overhaul. Notable changes here include:
The receiver must now acknowledge readiness
Better defined positions and restrictions during serve process
Clarity on shoulder height for the serve and definition of an athletic stance
5.6.2.2.1. Hinder and the No Hit Zone
This rule clarifies that you can still win a point if you’re forced into the no hit zone by a hinder.
Chapter 9: Observers and their Responsibilities
Gone but not forgotten. This entire section has been removed from the rules so that it can be it’s own asset. This untangles the rules from the best practices on their enforcement to allow easier updates to observing protocols.
As final note, the Overview section now includes a line that states the obvious - all players are expected to know the rules. The only way to actually know the rules is to read them yourself. So we encourage and appreciate you taking the time to read through them.
We know that the work here is not done, but we are happy with the progress that has been made with this revision. Special thanks to Ben Dantowitz and Manuel Abalos who spearhead this project! We will continue to fine tune the process and appreciate your feedback and participation to keep driving the sport forward.
