Prompt Line Calls

2026 Rule:

8.F “Out” Call and Signal. Players must promptly signal an “out” ball audibly by voice, visibly by a hand signal, or both.
8.F.3 Out Call Timing. If a player returns the ball, their “out” call must be made before the ball is hit by the opponent or before the ball becomes dead; otherwise, play continues. If a player does not return the ball, an “out" call made promptly will be recognized, even if the ball becomes dead before the “out” call is made.

2025 Rules:

Amend 6.C.7 and 6.C.7.b as follows:
6.C.7 All “out” calls must be promptly signaled audibly by voice and/or visibly hand signal.
(No change to 6.C.7.a)
6.C.7.b If a player/team does not return the ball, an “out" call made promptly will be recognized, even if the ball becomes dead before the “out” call is made.

6.C.7. “Out” calls must be promptly signaled by voice, by hand, or both, typically before the opponent hits the ball or the ball becomes dead. Any “out” call made immediately without delay will be recognized, even if the opponent hits the ball or the ball becomes dead before the call is made.

OR

“Out” calls must be signaled without delay after the ball bounces, by voice, by hand, or both.

OR

(2024 version) All “out” calls must be made prior to the ball being hit by the opponent or before the ball becomes dead. “Out” calls must be promptly signaled by voice
by hand, or both.

6.C.7.a (Rescind)

6.C.7.b (Rescind)

6.C.7. All “out” calls must be promptly signaled by voice and/or hand signal.

6.C.7.a. If a player/team returns the ball, the “out” call shall be made before the opponent hits the ball or the ball becomes dead.

6.C.7.b. If a player/team does not return the ball, they may make an “out" call, appeal the call to the referee, or defer to their opponents to make the line call up until the next serve occurs.

For many decades prior to 2025, the rules have required promptness in making “out” calls. The measure for a prompt line call has been that "out" must be called before the ball is hit by the opponent or before the ball becomes dead. However, strictly applying “before the ball becomes dead” is sometimes detrimental to prompt line calls when the ball becomes dead almost immediately after bouncing. In an effort to remedy this situation, rule 6.C.7.b was introduced in 2025, allowing players to make delayed “out” calls, but only when they did not return the shot.

While it is true that players sometimes only have a split second to make an “out” call before the ball becomes dead, this applies to a small segment of rally-ending shots and it holds true whether the ball is returned or not. Applying rule 6.C.7.b only to shots that are not returned is therefore fundamentally unfair.

Consider a ball landing out of bounds near the non-volley zone that Player A hits into the net post versus a ball that lands out of bounds but speedily careens off the playing surface into a fence before Player B can hit it. Since a ball does not become dead immediately upon bouncing, there is a timeframe – although extremely short – during which an “out” call can be promptly made in both these situations. However, if the ball is perceived to hit the net post before Player A says “out,” the “out” call is not allowed and Player A loses the rally. On the other hand, pursuant to rule 6.C.7.b, Player B is allowed considerable additional time to make the “out” call because they did not hit the ball, which results in Player B winning the rally. Despite both players facing the same short time period to make an “out” call before the ball became dead, a prompt call made by Player A resulted in loss of the rally, while the delayed call made by Player B led to a rally won. The extra time granted by rule 6.C.7.b to a player who does not hit the ball is a definite advantage over the time constraint applied to a player who returns the ball per rule 6.C.7.a.

Current rule 6.C.7.b contradicts the long-standing principle of promptness for line calling, which upholds fairness in sports, by allowing players to delay their line calls for as long as until the next serve occurs. This generous time allowance far exceeds what is commonly considered prompt. “Out” calls are normally made within 5 seconds after the ball bounces, while it can generally take 20 or more seconds after a rally ends for the next serve to be made. Allowing this additional time for delayed line calls introduces opportunities for players to potentially cheat and disrupt the game flow. When a player does not return a shot, the rule allows them time to discuss the situation with their partner, receive illegal coaching signals from spectators, and even take a time-out to be legally coached, which could potentially add an additional minute to the already lenient amount of time allowed to make an "out" call on the rally-ending shot.

According to Rule 6.C.4, spectators should not be consulted on any line call. Similarly, rule 13.C.2.a states that spectators should not be consulted on any call. However, there is currently no prohibition against a player taking a time-out before making an “out” call pursuant to rule 6.C.7.b, which would allow spectators to weigh in on a line call situation contrary to the intent of the rules. To ensure that spectators do not influence line calls, players should be required to make all line calls before taking a time-out. Moreover, adhering to promptness eliminates the opportunity for spectators to get involved in making line calls since all calls would be promptly made before any time-out could be called.

Furthermore, allowing a line call to be delayed as late as the next serve is particularly problematic if the score has been called for the next rally and the server is about to make the serve. Acknowledging an “out” call at that time significantly disrupts the flow of the game as it necessitates the referee and the players to abandon the current rally to go back and reverse the outcome of the previous rally. This situation defies the principles of promptness and smooth game flow. For efficient game flow, all actions and decisions related to each rally should be completed before starting the next rally.

To preserve fairness in line calling, the principle of promptness must prevail in all instances. When the players are responsible for making their own line calls, they must be allowed an opportunity to make the line call, no matter how short the timeframe may be before the ball becomes dead. Players should continue to be required to make prompt line calls in all situations, whether the ball is returned or not.

A referee typically allows about five seconds for a player to make a line call before ruling the ball “in,” so any line call made within four seconds after the ball bounces is commonly considered prompt. While setting a specific time limit for making a line call may not be practical, it is reasonable that any “out” call made without delay should be recognized as prompt since it would be made immediately after the ball bounces and well before four seconds elapses. Incorporating this practice into the rules will equate to recognizing all “out” calls made immediately after the ball bounces, even when the ball is hit by the opponent or becomes dead a second before the call is heard or seen. This is a fairer resolution to the issue that rule 6.C.7.b was created to address.

Current rules 6.C.7.a and 6.C.7.b should be rescinded, and rule 6.C.7 should be revised to take “without delay” into consideration as a condition for prompt line calling. (If necessary, the Officiating Handbook or a case study can provide additional guidance on what constitutes “without delay” promptness. If this proposal is not adopted, rule 6.C.7 should be reverted back to the 2024 version to preserve the promptness principle in line calling, as used by other sports.)

Scenario 1: The second server for Team A serves at match point. The opposing team hits a rally-ending shot that is well inside the court and not returnable be Team A. Team A makes no call, so the referee rules the ball “in” and calls a side out. Players A1 and A2 start a discussion as they roll the ball to Team B. Just as the referee extends their arm to begin calling the score to start the next rally, player A1 says, “I’m going to call that one 'out.'” The opposing team immediately appeals the line call because their shot was clearly “in.” The referee's view of the ball had been blocked by Player A1, so the referee has to allow the delayed “out” call to stand pursuant to rule 6.C.7.b. This action not only disrupts the flow of the game since the referee and players have to stop to deal with the delayed line call and appeal, and reverse the results of the prior rally, but also results in Team A winning the match. Had rule 6.C.7.b not been in place, a prompt call would have been required, as for other rally-ending shots, and Team A would not have been able to make the “out” call to reverse their initial no-call reaction.

Scenario 2: Player A hits a fast-paced serve that lands about six inches behind the baseline next to Player B’s foot. Although Player B tries to get out of the way, the ball immediately hits Player B’s shoe after bouncing. Player B calls “out” as the ball hits the shoe. Despite the ball being dead, the referee would accept the “out” call since it was made without delay, immediately after the ball bounced.