BASIC SWIMMING RULES

BASIC SWIMMING RULES

The technical rules of swimming are designed to provide fair and equitable conditions for competition and to promote uniformity in the sport.  Each swimming stroke has specific rules designed to ensure that no swimmer gets an unfair competitive advantage over another swimmer.  The technical rules for each stroke may be found in the publication “Unites States Swimming Rules and Regulations”.  You can ask the coach to see a copy of this booklet.

Competitive Strokes

The four competitive strokes are (1) freestyle, (2) backstroke, (3) breaststroke, and (4) butterfly. Events are held in all of the competitive strokes at varying distances depending on the age-group of the swimmer. In addition, there is a combination of the strokes swum by one swimmer called the individual medley (IM). Other swimming events include relays, which are a group of four swimmers who either all swim freestyle (freestyle relay) or each swim one of the competitive strokes in the order of backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle (medley relay).

Freestyle

    

In Freestyle events, the competitor may swim any stroke. The stroke most commonly used is sometimes called the crawl, which is characterized by the alternate stroking of the arms over the water surface and an alternating (up-and-down) flutter kick. On turns and finishes, some part of the swimmer must touch the wall. Most swimmers do a flip turn.

Backstroke 

    

The Backstroke consists of an alternating motion of the arms with a flutter kick while on the back. On turns, swimmers may rotate to the stomach and perform a flip turn and some part of the swimmer must touch the wall. The swimmer must finish on the back.

Breaststroke

The Breaststroke requires simultaneous movements of the arms on the same horizontal plane. The hands are pressed out from in front of the breast in a heart shaped pattern and recovered under or on the surface of the water. The kick is a simultaneous somewhat circular motion similar to the action of a frog.

On turns and at the finish, the swimmer must touch the wall with both hands simultaneously at, above or below the water surface.

Butterfly

    

The Butterfly features a simultaneous recovery of the arms over the water combined with an

undulating dolphin kick. In the kick, the swimmer must keep both legs together and may not flutter,

scissors or use the breaststroke kick. Both hands must touch the wall simultaneously on the turns and the

finish.

Individual Medley

Commonly referred to as the I.M., features all four strokes. In the IM, the swimmer begins with the butterfly, then changes after one-fourth of the race to backstroke, then breaststroke and finally freestyle. 

Starts   

The swimmers are not allowed a false start. If they jump the start and the starter thinks they are trying to get an advantage (whether intentional or not-it does not matter), they will be taken out of the race. This is not like the Olympics where they are allowed two false starts.

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Rules of Badminton

The aim of badminton is to hit the shuttle with your racket so that it passes over the net and lands inside your opponent’s half of the court. Whenever you do this, you have won a rally; win enough rallies, and you win the match.

Your opponent has the same goal. He will try to reach the shuttle and send it back into your half of the court. You can also win rallies from your opponent’s mistakes: if he hits the shuttle into or under the net, or out of court, then you win the rally.

If you think your opponent’s shot is going to land out, then you should let it fall to the floor. If you hit the shuttle instead, then the rally continues.

Once the shuttle touches the ground, the rally is over. In this respect, badminton is not like tennis or squash, where the ball can bounce.

You must hit the shuttle once only before it goes over the net (even in doubles). In this respect, badminton is not like volleyball, where multiple players can touch the ball before sending it back over the net.

The shuttlecock (or shuttle) is a feathered (or plastic, mainly in un competitive games) projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently than the balls used in most rakquet sports; in particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball. Shuttlecocks have a much higher top speed, when compared to other racquet sports. Because shuttlecock flight is affected by wind, competitive badminton is played indoors. Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game.

Since 1992, badminton has been an Olympic sport with five events: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair consists of a man and a woman. At high levels of play, especially in singles, the sport demands excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, agility, explosive strength, speed and precision. It is also a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated racquet movements.

Playing Rules

The court is rectangular and divided into halves by a net. Courts are usually marked for both singles and doubles play, although badminton rules permit a court to be marked for singles only.[7] The doubles court is wider than the singles court, but both are of same length. The exception, which often causes confusion to newer players, is that the doubles court has a shorter serve-length dimension.

The full width of the court is 6.1 metres (20 ft), and in singles this width is reduced to 5.18 metres (17 ft). The full length of the court is 13.4 metres (44 ft). The service courts are marked by a centre line dividing the width of the court, by a short service line at a distance of 1.98 metres (6 ft 6 inch) from the net, and by the outer side and back boundaries. In doubles, the service court is also marked by a long service line, which is 0.76 metres (2 ft 6 inch) from the back boundary.

The net is 1.55 metres (5 ft 1 inch) high at the edges and 1.524 metres (5 ft) high in the centre. The net posts are placed over the doubles sidelines, even when singles is played.

The minimum height for the ceiling above the court is not mentioned in the Laws of Badminton. Nonetheless, a badminton court will not be suitable if the ceiling is likely to be hit on a high serve.

Equipment rules

Badminton rules restrict the design and size of racquets and shuttlecocks. Badminton rules also provide for testing a shuttlecock for the correct speed:

To test a shuttlecock, use a full underhand stroke which makes contact with the shuttlecock over the back boundary line. The shuttlecock shall be hit at an upward angle and in a direction parallel to the side lines.

A shuttlecock of the correct speed will land not less than 530 mm and not more than 990 mm short of the other back boundary line.

Serving

Each game is played to 21 points, with players scoring a point whenever they win a rally regardless of whether they served [7] (this differs from the old system where players could only win a point on their serve and each game was played to 15 points). A match is the best of three games.

At the start of the rally, the server and receiver stand in diagonally opposite service courts (see court dimensions). The server hits the shuttlecock so that it would land in the receiver's service court. This is similar to tennis, except that a badminton serve must be hit below waist height and with the racquet shaft pointing downwards, the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce and in badminton, the players stand inside their service courts unlike tennis.

When the serving side loses a rally, the serve immediately passes to their opponent(s) (this differs from the old system where sometimes the serve passes to the doubles partner for what is known as a "second serve").

In singles, the server stands in their right service court when their score is even, and in her/his left service court when her/his score is odd.

In doubles, if the serving side wins a rally, the same player continues to serve, but he/she changes service courts so that she/he serves to a different opponent each time. If the opponents win the rally and their new score is even, the player in the right service court serves; if odd, the player in the left service court serves. The players' service courts are determined by their positions at the start of the previous rally, not by where they were standing at the end of the rally. A consequence of this system is that, each time a side regains the service, the server will be the player who did not serve last time.

Scoring

When the server serves, the shuttlecock must pass over the short service line on the opponents' court or it will count as a fault.

If the score reaches 20-all, then the game continues until one side gains a two point lead (such as 24–22), up to a maximum of 30 points (30–29 is a winning score).

At the start of a match, the shuttlecock is cast and the side towards which the shuttlecock is pointing serves first. Alternatively, a coin may be tossed, with the winners choosing whether to serve or receive first, or choosing which end of the court to occupy, and their opponents making the leftover the remaining choice.

In subsequent games, the winners of the previous game serve first. Matches are best out of three: a player or pair must win two games (of 21 points each) to win the match. For the first rally of any doubles game, the serving pair may decide who serves and the receiving pair may decide who receives. The players change ends at the start of the second game; if the match reaches a third game, they change ends both at the start of the game and when the leading player's or pair's score reaches 11 points.

The server and receiver must remain within their service courts, without touching the boundary lines, until the server strikes the shuttlecock. The other two players may stand wherever they wish, so long as they do not block the vision of the server or receiver.

Lets

If a let is called, the rally is stopped and replayed with no change to the score. Lets may occur because of some unexpected disturbance such as a shuttlecock landing on court (having been hit there by players on an adjacent court) or in small halls the shuttle may touch an overhead rail which can be classed as a let.

If the receiver is not ready when the service is delivered, a let shall be called; yet, if the receiver attempts to return the shuttlecock, he shall be judged to have been ready.

For Singles matches, the rules are: 

-A match consists of best of 3 games.

-The side that first scored 21 points shall win.

-The side winning a rally shall add 1 point to its score.

-If a score becomes 20-20, the side which scores 2 consecutive points shall win that game.

-If the score becomes 29-29, the side that scores the 30th point shall win that game.

-The side winning a game serves first in the next game.

-When one side reaches 11 points, both players get a 60 second break.

-Both sides get a 2-minute break between first and second games, and another 2-minute break between second and third game.

-Other rules shall remain the same. 

For Doubles matches, the rules are: 

-One service only

-Back service line remains and the current rule applies. 

The chart below explains the 3x21 rally point scoring system for doubles matches. 

In a Doubles match between A&B against C&D. A&B win the toss and decide to serve. A will serve to C. A shall be the initial server while C shall be the initial receiver.

Rules of Cricket Game

Rules of Cricket Game

Cricket is a game played with a bat and ball on a large field, known as a ground, between two teams of 11 players each.

The object of the game is to score runs when at bat and to put out, or dismiss, the opposing batsmen when in the field.

Whether you are looking to play in the backyard with a mate or join a club Cricket-Rules will help you learn the basics and begin to enjoy one of the most popular sports in the world.

   

The first four laws cover the players, the umpires and the scorers.

Law 1: The players. A cricket team consists of eleven players, including a captain. Outside of official competitions, teams can agree to play more than eleven-a-side, though no more than eleven players may field.

Law 2: Substitutes. In cricket, a substitute may be brought on for an injured fielder. However, a substitute may not bat, bowl, keep wicket or act as captain. The original player may return if he has recovered. A batsman who becomes unable to run may have a runner, who completes the runs while the batsman continues batting. Alternatively, a batsman may retire hurt or ill, and may return later to resume his innings if he recovers.

Law 3: The umpires. There are two umpires, who apply the Laws, make all necessary decisions, and relay the decisions to the scorers. While not required under the laws of cricket, in higher level cricket a third umpire (located off the ground and available to assist the on-field umpires) may be used under the specific playing conditions of a particular match or tournament.

Law 4: The scorers. There are two scorers who respond to the umpires' signals and keep the score.

Ways to score runs

The aim of the batsmen is to score runs. One of the main cricket rules is that for batsment to score runs they must run to each other's end of the pitch (from one end to the other). In doing this one run is scored. Cricket rules state they may run multiple runs per shot. As well as running they can also score runs by hitting boundaries. A boundary scores the batsmen either 4 or 6 runs. A four is scored by hitting the ball past the boundary after hitting the groud while a six is scored by hitting the ball past the boundary on the full (before it hits the ground). Cricket rules also state that once a 4 or 6 has been scored any runs physically ran by the batsman are null & void. They will only obtain the 4 or 6 runs.

Other ways runs can be scored according to the cricket rules include no balls, wide balls, byes & leg byes. Cricket rules state that all runs scored by these methods are awarded to the batting team but not the individual batters.

A "No Ball" can be declared for many reasons: If the bowler bowls the ball from the wrong place, the ball is declared dangerous (often happens when bowled at the batsmen's body on the full), bounces more than twice or rolls before reaching the batsman or if fielders are standing in illegal positions. The batsman can hit a no ball and score runs off it but cannot be out from a no ball except if they are ran out, hit the ball twice, handle the ball or obstruct the field. The batsman gains any runs scored off the no ball for his shot while the team also gains one run for the no ball itself.

A "Wide Ball" will be declared if the umpire thinks the batsman did not have a reasonable opportunity to score off the delivery. However if the delivery is bowled over the batsmen's head it will not be declared a wide but a no ball. Umpires are much stricter on wide deliveries in the shorter format of the game while being much more relaxed in test cricket. A wide delivery will add one run to the batting team and any runs scored by the batsman. The batsman is not able to get out off a wide delivery except if they are stumped, run out, handle the ball, hit their wicket or obstruct the field.

A "Bye" is where a ball that isn't a no ball or wide passes the striking batsman and runs are scored without the batsman hitting the ball.

A "Leg Bye" is where runs are scored by hitting the batsman, but not the bat and the ball is not a no ball or wide. However no runs can be scored if the striking batsman didn't attempt to play a shot or if he was avoiding the ball.

Ways Batsmen can be given out according to cricket rules

There are a number of different ways a batsman can be given out in the game of cricket. When a bowler gets a batsman out it is said that the bowler gets a "wicket". Following are the different ways a batsman can be given out according to the rules of cricket:

Bowled - Cricket rules state that if the ball is bowled and hits the striking batsman's wickets the batsman is given out (as long as at least one bail is removed by the ball). It does not matter whether the ball has touched the batsman's bat, gloves, body or any other part of the batsman. However the ball is not allowed to have touched another player or umpire before hitting the wickets.

Caught - Cricket rules state that if a batsman hits the ball or touches the ball at all with his bat or hand/glove holding the bat then the batsman can be caught out. This is done by the fielders, wicket keeper or bowler catching the ball on the full (before it bounces). If this is done then cricket rules state the batsman is out.

Leg Before Wicket (LBW) - If the ball is bowled and it hits the batsman first without the bat hitting it then an LBW decision is possible. However for the umpire to give this out he must first look at some of the factors stated in the cricket rules. The first thing the umpire need to decide is would the ball have hit the wickets if the batsman was not there. If his answer to this is yes and the ball was not pitched on the leg side of the wicket he can safely give the batsman out. However if the ball hits the batsman outside the line of off stump while he was attempting to play a stroke then he is not out.

Stumped - A batsman can be given out according to cricket rules when the wicketkeeper puts down his wicket while he is out of his crease and not attempting a run (if he is attempting a run it would be a runout).

Run Out - Cricket rules state that a batsman is out if no part of his bat or body is grounded behind the popping crease while the ball is in play and the wicket is fairly put down by the fielding side.

Hit Wicket - Cricket rules specify that if a batsman hits his wicket down with his bat or body after the bowler has entered his delivery stried and the ball is in play then he is out. The striking batsman is also out if he hits his wicket down while setting off for his first run.

Handled The Ball - Cricket rules allow the batsman to be given out if he willingly handles the ball with the hand that is not touching the bat without the consent of the opposition.

Timed Out - An incoming batsman must be ready to face a ball or be at the non strikers end with his partner within three minutes of the outgoing batsman being dismissed. If this is not done the incoming batsman can be given out.

Hit The Ball Twice - Cricket rules state that if a batsman hits a ball twice other than for the purpose of protecting his wicket or with consent from the opposition he is out.

Obstructing The Field - A batsman is out if he willingly obstructs the opposition by word or action

There are many other cricket rules. However these are most of the basics and will get you well on your way to playing the game. Many of the more advanced rules & laws can be learned along the way and are not vital to general play.

In professional cricket the length of a game ranges from 20 overs of six bowling deliveries per side to Test cricket played over five days. The Laws of Cricket are maintained by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) with additional Standard Playing Conditions for Test matches and One Day Internationals.

The traditional version of the game, Test Match cricket, has been rivaled in popularity by shorter more spectator friendly versions of cricket in recent years.

            Test Matches

      One Day Matches

      20-Twenty Matches

Cricket Balls

Red Balls - Test match cricket is played with a red ball, achieved in the manufacture process by dying the leather in a paraffin wax.

White Balls - White balls are used in one-day and 20-20 cricket matches. The white is 'painted' onto the balls, and therefore the ball has different properties than the traditional red balls. The white balls are much more visible than the traditional red-dyed ball against the backdrop of players' colored clothing, however they are tend to discolor and deteriorate more quickly.

Pink Balls - The ICC is trailing the use of pink balls for the possible use in day/night Test matches. Bangladesh and England were set to appear in the first-ever day-night Test during a series in England in May-June 2010, but this may be delayed there are reservations about the ball and teams have not been keen to test out the newly developed pink ball. The main concerns with the pink ball include whether the ball retains its color or needs to be changed more frequently due to discoloration or wear and tear, and to what extent batting, bowling and fielding conditions vary with a different ball. In the early 1990's, an orange ball was experimented with, but apparently that did not work out well.

Cricket Bats

Cricket bats are traditionally made from the wood of a willow tree.

The ICC banned Kookaburra's graphite-reinforced bat on October 1 2006.

Knocking In Your New Cricket Bat - an article by Ian Canaway.

More rules about MCC