It is an indigenous game of Japan. The game started in late 19th century Japan where local lawn tennis enthusiasts, having embraced the game from the West, faced a dired shortage of tennis balls. Being the ingenious and resourceful people they are, the Japanese promptly designed
their own balls which was made of natural rubber to overcome the shortage.The rubber ball
can be manually inflated to vary the degree of pressure.The ball has a hardened area or
'nipple' into which the 'syringe' can be inserted without deflating the ball.
 

How is the game played ?

The historical background for the creation of soft tennis game has caused the game very identical to lawn tennis except that it was mainly a doubles game with only one set match. As the soft tennis ball travels faster than the lawn tennis balls, the singles game was never played until 1992 when the format of singles game was introdued. The first singles game was officially played in the 12th Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan 1994. By then, the doubles game format has also been
modified. It is expected that both doubles and singles games will be modified from time to
time to make them more challenging and exciting.

The doubles game plays almost the same system as the lawn tennis. All players must stand
behind the base lines except the receiver. When the game is in play, all palyers rush in the courts and they play the game like lawn tennis.The double court is the same as the tennis court.
The central strap of the net is removed to maintain a constant net height. Both players from the same team take turns to deliver a two-point serve. The counting of points starts from 1 to 4.
Deuce operates at 3 all.A lead of 2 points is required to end the game. The doubles game plays first to reach 5. Tie-break operates at 4 games all. The system of tie-break is similar to lawn tennis. In short, the soft tennis doubles game plays like the lawn tennis but the techniques
varies as the flight patterns and bounce characteristics of the ball are entirely different.
A good lawn tennis player may not be able to play the soft tennis well, but a good soft tennis player will be able to play lawn tennis well if not better.
 

Where Are the Championships Played ?

There are lots of soft tennis championships played in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The World
Soft Tennis Championships and the Asian Soft Tennis Championships are the major soft
tennis matches played every four years.
 

Soft tennis is an official event in the Asian Games as well as the East Asian Games. The World Soft Tennis Federation and the Asian Soft Tennis Federation ( ASTF ) are working hard  to
push in the game into more of the world sport events. Mr. Yukio Miyamoto, the Roving Ambassador from ASTF plays an active and important roles despite his old age. Let us hope
that the growing of soft tennis games will foster a better world understanding and peace as we
can see the emphasis of friendship in most of the international soft tennis championships.