Freestyle + Competitive · 2026 Edition
The official rules
Every rule for both modes of play. New to Hantis? Start with the eight ways a rally ends, or grab the one-page Quick Start.
Getting started
All you need is a tennis ball, four tables the same size and three friends.
1.0Equipment
The ball
The most common ball used to play Hantis is a tennis ball. For maximum effect, make sure it's a new one out of a pressurized can. Other balls can be used on less-bouncy plastic tables, for example a high-bounce rubber ball.
The tables
Any type of table can be used to play Hantis. To play, you will need 4 tables of the same size.
1.1Setting up
Where to play
You can play Hantis almost anywhere: indoors, outdoors, on a beach, in a park, on a basketball court, or even in a squash court for extra X-Factor bounces. Beach volleyball courts are our favorite, because they give you an area of play with set boundaries and you can dive on the sand.
Table placement
Set up the 4 tables in a 2×2 pattern as shown in Figure 1.1. The distance between each table depends on your skill level.
| Level | Gap between tables |
|---|---|
| Beginner | 3 ft (90 cm) |
| Intermediate | 4 ft (120 cm) |
| Advanced | 5 ft (150 cm) |
Freestyle boundaries
8 m × 8 m, up to 16 m × 8 m. Adapt the boundary to the space you are using: hallway, driveway, garage, classroom or gym.
Tip: shorten the boundary to prevent overuse of "the slam."
Competitive boundaries
| Boundary | Metric | Imperial |
|---|---|---|
| Official boundary | 8 m × 8 m | 26.25 ft × 26.25 ft |
| Adaptive: full sand court | 16 m × 8 m | 52.5 ft × 26.25 ft |
| Adaptive: half sand court | 8 m × 8 m | 26.25 ft × 26.25 ft |
| Adaptive: racquetball or squash court | 13.7 m × 7.6 m | 45 ft × 25 ft |
Tip: create a neutral environment with no extra objects in the way (balls, chairs, people, clothes or backpacks).
What is an X-Factor?
Any surface besides the players, the four tabletops and the ground is called an X-Factor and is completely neutral. X-Factors include walls, ceilings, or anything else surrounding the playing area. The ball may even bounce off the legs of the tables and still be in play. During the serve and for the rest of the rally, the ball may bounce off these surfaces with no penalty to the other team. If the ball gets stuck or stops moving on an X-Factor, it is dead, and whoever touched it last is at fault: the player who last struck it, or the player whose table it last bounced off, is out (Freestyle) or loses the point (Competitive). Keep track of how many touches and bounces you've had, because X-Factors do not reset your hit count.
1.2Who goes where?
Freestyle Hantis
There are 2 modes of play: Freestyle and Competitive. Freestyle Hantis involves 2 teams of 2, with each of the 4 players at their own table. When a player gets out, they go to the back of the line, and the other players rotate around to the empty table ahead of them, toward the serving table. If you've ever played four square, it's the same rotation.
Competitive Hantis
In Competitive Hantis the starting positions are the same as Freestyle, except you don't rotate and there is no line. You keep the same teammate throughout the game and score points instead of getting people out. For more on Competitive Hantis, see Section 6.
The serve
2.0Serving the ball
A regulation serve
To serve, hold the ball in one hand and, with your other hand, strike the ball downward onto your own table and then onto either of your opponents' tables. You may also throw the ball up and serve it with that same hand. You must be behind the back of your table to serve.
What you can't do
You may not throw the ball as a serve. You may not strike the ball directly onto your opponent's table. You may not serve to your teammate's table. Your teammate can't touch the ball until it has changed possession by touching either an opponent or their table.
Trick serves
Some variations of the serve are called trick serves. These include kick serves, scissor-kick serves, elbow and header serves, and tweener serves. As long as you strike the ball onto your own table with any part of your body and then onto an opponent's table, it's a legal serve.
2.1Line of scrimmage
Starting positions during a serve
The line of scrimmage decides where each team can stand immediately before a serve. The serving team can stand anywhere behind the back of their tables. The receiving team can stand anywhere up to the front of their tables. As soon as the ball has been served, players can move about freely.
2.2Faults
Faults during Freestyle
A fault is when you miss your opponent's table while serving. You're allowed 1 fault each time you serve. Hit 2 faults and you're out, even if you serve legitimately in between the 2 faults.
Faults during Competitive
You only get faults when you are set point or match point down. All other missed serves give the other team a point. A double fault gives the other team a point, and with it the set or match.
Possession
Possession is the heart of Hantis. Know whose ball it is, and how many hits and bounces are left.
Hits
Once the ball has been served, the receiving team has possession. Each of the 2 players in possession is allowed 1 bounce on their table and 2 hits with their body. The most common body part to use is the hands, because they give the most control, but you can use your feet, knees, head or anything else, as long as you only hit the ball twice. A hit off your clothing counts as one of your hits.
- 1Serve bounces on A's table
- 2A pops it up (hit 1)
- 3A passes (hit 2)
- 4Bounces on B's table
- 5B sets it up (hit 1)
- 6B strikes it onto Red's table (hit 2). Possession changes.
Passing
The goal of Hantis is to score points or get your opponents out, depending on whether you're playing Competitive or Freestyle. One of the best ways to do this is to use your teammate. While your teammate gets into an ideal position, you use your hits to pass the ball to them, and they can score. You can get tricky and pass several times to use up your set of hits. Confusing the other team gives you the upper hand.
Change of possession
As soon as the ball touches the other team's table or a player on the other team, possession changes. They then have their 2 hits and 1 bounce each, and your hit count is reset.
Dribbling
Any time the ball is hit onto a player or table, possession changes, so the ball can be hit again to bounce it out of the opponents' reach. This means the ball can be dribbled indefinitely on the other team's tables, because possession changes after every bounce and hit. Players who are being dribbled on can try to intercept the dribble at any time.
Simultaneous hits
If two hands are used at the same time to hit the ball, it counts as two hits, even if only one of the hands touches the ball. A simultaneous hit followed by a single hit counts as 3 hits, and you are out (Freestyle) or lose the point (Competitive).
Simultaneous hits by opposing players
If two opposing players hit the ball at the same time and it then drops out of play without touching either player or a table, the referee decides whether to award the point to one team or replay the point. Without a referee, settle it as in 7.0.2.
How to score or get someone out
Every rule on this page works the same way in both modes of play. Only the result changes.
Freestylethe player is outCompetitivethe other team scores
Triple touch
If you touch the ball 3 times in one possession, you are out. That includes three hits in a row, or a third hit after your teammate passes the ball back to you when you've already used your 2 hits.
Table-table
If the ball hits your table twice in one possession, you are out, whether the bounces come one after the other or with a number of hits in between.
Table-ground
If the ball hits your tabletop and then the ground, you are out.
Hit the edge and went down? See Section 5, the Edge Rule.
Body-ground
If the ball hits your body and then the ground, you are out. That goes for a mis-hit while attacking and for getting hit while defending. If you were the last to touch the ball, you're out.
Grab · carry · hold · catch · cup
Contact with the ball is a hit, strike or slap. The ball may not be cupped, grabbed, held, caught or carried. If you do any of these, you are out.
Trap
If you trap the ball so it stops between your hand (or any body part) and your opponent's table, you are out.
Out of bounds
When you play with a boundary and the ball goes out of bounds, the last person who touched it is out. If you smash the ball onto a table and it goes out of bounds, you are out, even though it hit your opponent's table.
Possession changes the instant the ball touches the other team or their table (3.0.2), and that resets every hit and bounce count. X-Factors (walls, ceilings, table legs) are neutral but don't reset your count (1.1.4).
Double-Point / Double-Out
A Double happens when you strike the ball and it hits both of your opponents' tables without interruption, then hits the ground. You've just beaten two players at once. If anyone touches the ball after your hit, it can't be a Double and the regular rules apply.
If it hits one table, clips the edge of the other and comes back to hit the first table, sadly that isn't a Double. It's two bounces on the first table (4.0.1).
Freestyle · both opponents outCompetitive · 2 points
The Edge Rule
Did it hit the table or not? It depends on which edge the ball hit, and which way it went next.
Leading edge and up
If you strike the ball onto the leading edge of a table (the edge closest to you) and it goes up, it remains in play. If it then touches the ground, the player who started at that table is out.
Leading edge and down
If you strike the ball onto the leading edge of a table (the edge closest to you) and it goes down, you are out. The ball needs to hit the top surface to be considered in.
Far edge and down
If you strike the ball over a table and it hits the far edge and goes down, it is in, and you have won the point. Even though the ball went downward off the table, it clipped the top surface of the table, not the side as in 5.0.1.
Competitive rules
Fixed teams of two, playing for points. These rules apply to Competitive Hantis only.
Starting out
Unlike Freestyle Hantis, in Competitive Hantis you score points instead of getting people out. You also don't rotate around the tables. You keep the same teammate throughout each match and for the whole tournament.
Point, set, match
A Competitive Hantis match is the best of 1, 3, 5 or 7 sets of "first to 21, win by 2." The tournament organizer chooses the match length.
Time restrictions
If you're running out of time to get through games, you may reduce the winning score, for example to first to 15 or first to 11. You must always win by 2 points.
Paper, scissors, rock
Before a Competitive match starts, decide who will serve first with paper, scissors, rock.
Service rotation
The team that wins the first serve picks one of its players to serve. That player serves 5 times. The serve then alternates through each of the 4 players for the rest of the match, each serving 5 times and then passing the serve to the other team. Count serves, not points: a Double scores 2 points but uses only 1 of the server's 5 serves.
| Serves | Server | Serves | Server | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–5 | Team 1, player A | 21–25 | Team 1, player A | Change ends after every 10 points: at 10, 20, 30 and so on (6.0.6). At set or match point, the trailing team serves until the score is level (6.0.7). |
| 6–10 | Team 2, player C | 26–30 | Team 2, player C | |
| 11–15 | Team 1, player B | 31–35 | Team 1, player B | |
| 16–20 | Team 2, player D | 36–40 | Team 2, player D |
Serving side
Each player may choose which table they serve from, but they must make all 5 serves from that table. They can't switch until their next turn to serve. Right-handers are more likely to pick the right table and left-handers the left, because each opens up both opponents' tables to the server's dominant hand.
Change of ends
After every 10 points, teams must swap ends. This evens out outside factors like sunlight and wind.
Set point and match point
When a Hantis match reaches set point or match point, the team that is losing serves until the scores are level. Once the scores are level, the team that reached that score first serves. A team should never be serving for a set or a match. The serving team may choose its serving player.
Miscellaneous rules
Contact
Hantis is a non-contact sport, but there will be some incidental contact. The official ruling is that it works like basketball: you may make slight contact while contesting the ball, but you can't block another player's movement. In Competitive play, the referee decides blocking calls: either award the point to the team that was fouled, or replay the point. Without a referee, settle disputes as in 7.0.2.
Table disruption
If a table is moved or disrupted by accident during play, play on, unless it directly causes an unfair point, in which case you replay the point. If a player deliberately moves a table to gain an advantage, they lose that point.
Disputes over points
Hantis is a game of honesty and fairness. If you know you've touched the ball, own up to it. If there are disputes over carries, blocking or touches, solve them in a civil manner using any of these methods:
- agree to replay the point;
- play paper, scissors, rock for the point; or
- watch the rally back on video, if possible.
Tricks
Mastering Hantis
There will come a time in your Hantis career when you want to explore more of what the game has to offer, beyond getting people out with a smash they can't reel in or a little tap they can't get to.
The good news is that Hantis is all about creativity. Use your 2 hits to their full advantage. Try trick shots with your head or feet, or between-the-legs shots. If you get really good, experiment with trick shots and set plays with your teammate. Nothing gets a crowd going like a long rally finished off with some trick-nastiness or a Double.
Dribble trick combo
One of the best ways to set yourself up for a trick shot is to dribble the ball on your opponent's table. Every bounce resets your hit count, which gives you more time to prepare, and you're right up close to their tables for maximum effect.