How do you play Tennis Rally?
Run to where the ball will land and press a swing button just before the ball comes within racket reach. The ball goes toward the direction you are holding at contact, and if your opponent cannot get it back, you win the point.
The camera looks down on the court from above the stands. The red player at the bottom is you; the yellow player at the top is the computer or your friend. The ball always has a shadow under it, so the gap between the ball and its shadow tells you how high it is. While your opponent's shot is in the air, a dashed ring blinks where it will first bounce so you know where to run.
You can hit the ball after one bounce or before it bounces (a volley). Hitting a ball high above your head turns into a smash automatically. The serve, however, must bounce once before it can be returned.
What do the three swing buttons do?
Hit sends a fast, low, deep ball; Lob lifts it high over your opponent; Drop dies just over the net. The same button also changes with your timing and the direction you are holding.
| Button | Shot | Best used when |
|---|---|---|
| Hit | Topspin drive that flies low and lands deep. With good timing it becomes a faster power shot | Most rallies |
| Lob | A very high arc that lands near the back of the other court | Your opponent is close to the net |
| Drop | Backspin shot that bounces low just past the net | Your opponent is far behind the baseline |
| Smash | Happens on its own when you hit a high ball with Hit or Drop. Very fast and steep | Your opponent's short lob |
Hold left or right at contact to aim near that sideline, or hold nothing to send the ball toward the middle. Adding forward (toward the net) makes a short, sharp angle; adding back sends it deep near the baseline. Bigger angles are harder to reach but also more likely to go wide.
How do I hit a power shot?
Press swing about 0.1 seconds before the ball reaches your racket. The ball leaves an orange trail, flies much faster, and the screen shakes a little with a POWER! label.
Press far too early and you swing at air. A little early or late and the ball is slower with a shaky direction, so it often goes out. Very late and you mishit it into the net. A good rule at first is to press half a beat before the ball feels like it has reached your side.
How do I serve?
On your serve, press swing once to toss the ball up, then press again when it reaches the top. A shrinking ring appears around the ball and turns green at the best moment.
The serve must land in the service box diagonally across the net. You can move left or right along the baseline before the toss. Hold outward at contact for a wide serve, inward for the T, or nothing for a body serve. Missing the box or hitting the net is a fault; the second serve is slower but safer, and two faults in a row is a double fault that gives the point away. A serve your opponent cannot touch is an ace.
How is the score counted?
Just like real tennis: 0, 15, 30, 40, and one more point wins the game. The first to the chosen number of games wins the set and the match.
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Your ball lands in and your opponent cannot return it before the second bounce | Your point (winner) |
| Your ball lands outside the lines | Opponent's point (out) |
| Your ball does not clear the net | Opponent's point (net) |
| 40 all | Deuce. Win a point for advantage, then one more for the game |
| First to 4 games (6 in a full set) | Wins with a 2 game lead |
| 4 all (6 all in a full set) | Tiebreak to 7, win by 2 |
A ball touching any part of a line is in. The serve changes every game, and winning your opponent's service game shows a big BREAK! banner. Under the scoreboard you will see deuce, advantage, break point, match point, and the rally count once it passes 4.
What is different about the three computer levels?
Easy is slow and often misjudges where the ball will land. Normal predicts the landing spot and gets there early. Hard also aims for the corner farthest from you and lets balls that are going out fly past.
| Level | Feet | Reaction | Shots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Slow | Rechecks every 0.4 s, large position errors | Random directions, frequent errors |
| Normal | Fairly quick | Every 0.2 s, predicts the landing spot | Aims for open court about half the time, lobs if you rush the net |
| Hard | Quick | Every 0.1 s, near exact prediction | Far corners and sharp angles, mixes drops and lobs, leaves out balls |
Tips for winning
- Watch the dashed ring, not the ball. As soon as your opponent hits, the first bounce spot appears. Stand a little behind it and half a step to the side for a comfortable swing.
- Return to the middle after each shot. If you stay in a corner, you cannot reach the next ball to the other side.
- Hit behind your opponent. If they just ran to the right, send the next ball to the left corner.
- Mix drops and lobs. Drops work when your opponent stands deep behind the baseline; lobs work when they come forward.
- Do not force power. A mistimed swing often goes out, so on hard balls it is better to send it to the middle and keep the rally alive.
Controls and two player mode
- Keyboard: move with the arrow keys or WASD; Space or J to hit, K to lob, L for a drop shot. The direction you are holding at contact is where the ball goes. P or Esc pauses.
- Mouse: press and drag on the court and your player runs to that spot. A short click is a normal swing, right click lobs, and middle click or Shift click plays a drop shot.
- Phones and tablets: move with the round stick at the bottom left and swing with the big button (Hit) and the small buttons (Lob, Drop) at the bottom right.
- Two players on one screen: the red player at the bottom uses WASD with Space (hit), Q (lob) and E (drop); the yellow player at the top uses the arrow keys with / (hit), . (lob) and , (drop). On phones each half of the screen gets a stick and buttons, and the top set is turned upside down for the player sitting across.
- Court and length: on the title screen choose hard blue, hard green or clay. Clay bounces a little higher and slower and keeps ball marks and dust where the ball lands. Match length is short (4 games) or full (6 games).
Wins per level and your longest rally are stored only in this browser and are never sent to a server. The players, crowd, court, ball sounds and applause are all drawn and synthesized in code.