OFFICIAL RULES OF POLYBOL®

POLYBOL® is a netless racket game played in a duel or as a team, with 2 to 10 players.

The court is made up of circles: each player has their own circle and must defend it.

The principle is simple: hit the ball into an opponent's circle so that they cannot retrieve it before it touches the ground.

1. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE GAME

The ball is played directly as a volley: no bounce is allowed before the strike.

Each rally continues until a point is scored or a fault is committed.

A set is played to 21 points.

A match is generally played as a best of 3 sets. Depending on the competition format, it can also be played as a best of 5 sets.

2. THE PLAYER'S CIRCLE

Each player is assigned a circle they must defend.

At the moment an opponent hits the ball, the player must be inside their circle.

Once the ball has been struck by the opponent, they may step out of their circle to retrieve it and hit it back.

The boundaries of the circle are part of the playing area: a ball that touches the circle line is in.

3. HITTING AND RETURNING THE BALL

The ball must be retrieved before it touches the ground.

In 1-on-1, the player has only one strike to return the ball.

In a team, only one strike is allowed for the entire team. Passing between partners is therefore prohibited.

Excluding specific service rules, the ball can be returned to any opponent's circle.

4. THE BALL'S TRAJECTORY

During a normal strike, the ball must travel with an upward trajectory.

A clearly downward trajectory is considered a smash and must follow the specific smash rule.

When it is truly impossible to determine if the trajectory was upward or downward, the point is replayed.

5. THE SMASH

The smash is allowed, but it requires a special rule.

To perform a valid smash, the player must hit the ball while jumping and land completely outside their circle.

Upon landing the jump, no part of the body must touch the inside of the circle or its boundary.

If a foot, hand, knee, or any other body part touches the circle or its boundary upon landing, the smash is a fault and the point is lost.

Smashing is prohibited on the serve.

6. THE SERVE

To serve, the player stands in their circle with one foot on the black service strip.

The ball must be tossed before being hit.

The serve must respect the authorized trajectory: it cannot be smashed.

When a player or team regains the serve, the first serve is free and out-of-cycle: the server can choose any opponent's circle.

If they win the rally and keep the serve, the service cycle begins.

The server then chooses an opposing player and serves into their circle. If they win again, they must serve to a different opposing player, and so on.

All opposing players must have been served before the same player can be chosen again.

Once all opposing players have been served, a new cycle can begin.

If the serving team loses the rally, the serve immediately passes to the opposing team.

When that team regains the serve, they in turn benefit from a first free out-of-cycle serve.

7. HOW TO SCORE A POINT

A valid ball that lands in an opponent's circle normally earns 1 point.

A player or team also loses the rally in the event of a fault, notably if:

• the ball touches the ground before being retrieved;
• the ball is sent outside a valid circle;
• the ball lands in their own circle;
• a team takes more than one strike;
• a downward strike is performed without respecting the smash rule;
• the smash does not respect the jumping and landing conditions;
• the serve is sent into the wrong circle after the receiver is designated;
• any other game rule is not respected.

8. 2 AND 3 POINT ZONES

Depending on the court configuration, intersections between circles create special zones allowing you to score 2 or 3 points.

These zones can be formed by the intersection of 2, 3, 4, or 5 circles, depending on the configuration and the number of players.

A ball that clearly lands in a 2-point zone scores 2 points.

A ball that clearly lands in a 3-point zone scores 3 points.

The exact value and location of these zones depend on the court configuration.

👉 The official POLYBOL® setup diagrams available on the website are the reference for determining the 2 and 3 point zones for each configuration.

9. TEAM PLAY

The same principles apply regardless of the number of players.

One player = one circle.

1 vs 1: 2 circles
2 vs 2: 4 circles
3 vs 3: 6 circles
4 vs 4: 8 circles
5 vs 5: 10 circles

As the number of players increases, positioning, target selection, and collective strategy become more important.

10. THE CAPTAIN AND POSITIONING

From 3 vs 3 onwards, each team designates a captain.

Before the set begins, the captain determines the position of their players in the various circles and chooses the team's organization.

Once the set has started, each player keeps their circle.

During the following set, the captain may change the team's positioning.

11. ONE STRIKE PER TEAM

When a team receives the ball, only one player may hit it before returning it to the opposing team.

Passing between partners is prohibited.

During the rally, once the serve is completed, the ball can be sent to any opponent's circle.

12. CHOOSING THE RECEIVER ON SERVE

After the first free out-of-cycle serve, the server must designate the opposing player they wish to serve to.

The receiver confirms that they are ready.

The serve must then be sent into the designated player's circle.

If the server sends the ball into another player's circle, the serve is a fault and the point is lost.

As long as their team keeps the serve, the server must serve the different opponents successively.

They cannot serve to the same player twice before having served to all players on the opposing team.

When all have been served, a new cycle can begin.

13. ROTATION OF SERVERS

Within a team, players serve in turns according to a defined clockwise order.

Players do not change circles: only the role of server rotates.

When a team loses the rally, the serve passes to the opposing team.

When they subsequently regain the serve, the next player in the rotation order becomes the server.

This new server then benefits from the first free out-of-cycle serve, then applies the normal cycle if they keep the serve.

14. CHANGING THE SERVING TEAM

A team keeps the serve as long as they win the rallies.

As soon as they lose a rally, the serve passes to the opposing team.

The score therefore evolves with each rally, while possession of the serve depends on the result of the previous rally.

15. WINNING THE MATCH

A set is played to 21 points.

The match is played as a best of 3 sets, or as a best of 5 sets when the competition format provides for it.

The same fundamental rules thus allow for playing from 1 vs 1 to 5 vs 5, while expanding the possibilities for positioning and strategy.