Sepak Takraw

Overview

A net game played with a woven ball, in which the ball must not touch a player's arm. Each side (a regu) has three players. This page covers the regu (three-a-side) game under the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) Law of the Game 2024. ISTAF publishes separate editions for the double and quad formats, which aren't covered here.

Checked against the ISTAF Law of the Game 2024 (Regu), dated 1 January 2024. Law numbers below refer to it.

1. Court, net and ball

• Court: 13.4 m × 6.1 m, free of obstacles up to 8 m above the floor (Law 1.1). A service circle of 0.3 m radius sits on each side, and a quarter circle of 0.9 m radius at each end of the centre line (Laws 1.3–1.4).
• Net: 0.7 m wide, at 1.52 m for men and 1.42 m for women at the centre (Law 3.5). Posts are 1.55 m for men and 1.45 m for women (Law 2.1).
• Ball: woven synthetic fibre, 12 holes and 20 intersections. Men's ball: 0.41–0.43 m round, 170–180 g. Women's ball: 0.42–0.44 m round, 150–160 g (Law 4).

2. Players and positions

• A regu is three players: the tekong (server) at the back, and the left inside and right inside players in front (Law 5).
• Each regu may have two reserves. Two substitutions are allowed per set, and a player substituted earlier can re-enter the same set (Laws 7.3–7.4).
• Attire: jersey, shorts, socks and rubber-soled shoes without heels. The whole outfit counts as part of the player's body (Law 6.4).

3. The match

• A coin toss winner may choose to serve first or pick a side (Law 8.1).
• Best of three sets. A set goes to the first regu to 15 points. At 14–14 play continues to 17 points (the referee announces "Setting up to seventeen points"). Sets are separated by two-minute breaks (Laws 12.2–12.4).
• A point is scored whenever the other side commits a fault, whether they were serving or receiving (Law 12.1).
• Service alternates after every point, whoever wins it, and this continues at 14–14 (Laws 10.3, 10.5). The regu that received first in one set serves first in the next (Law 10.6).
• Sides change before each set, and in the third set when one regu reaches 8 points (Laws 10.7–10.8).
• Each regu gets one time-out per set of up to one minute (Law 13.1).

4. Service

• The tekong keeps their non-kicking foot inside the service circle and the two inside players stay in their quarter circles (Laws 9.2–9.3).
• One of the inside players throws the ball for the tekong to kick. The throw can't be made before the referee calls the score (Law 10.11).
• After a point is called, the tekong has 15 seconds to be ready. A delay earns a warning, and a repeat is a fault (Law 10.9).
• A service is valid if it passes over the net, touching it or not, and lands inside the boundary lines of the opponent's court (Law 10.13).

5. Faults

Playing faults for both sides (Law 11.3):

• Touching the ball on the opponent's side.
• Any part of the body crossing into the opponent's court, above or under the net, except on a follow-through after an aerial kick or block. If the body crosses before contact with the ball, it is not a follow-through.
• Playing the ball more than three times in succession.
• The ball touching a player's arm.
• Stopping or holding the ball under the arm or between the legs or body.
• Any part of a player's body or outfit touching the net, a post or the referee's chair.
• The ball touching the roof, a wall or anything other than the net.
• Using any external object as support to help a kick.

On service, the tekong lifting the non-kicking foot before contact, stepping fully out of the circle, not kicking the throw, or the ball failing to cross the net or landing out are also faults (Laws 11.1.4–11.1.8).

6. Discipline

• A yellow card is for offences such as ungentlemanly conduct, dissent, repeated infringements, delaying play, and entering or leaving the court without permission (Law 16.1).
• A red card sends the player off, for dangerous play, violent conduct, spitting, abusive language or gesture, or a second yellow card in the same match (Law 16.2).
• A sent-off player can be replaced if the regu still has a substitution left in the set. If both substitutions are already used, the set is lost (Law 7.9).

Commonly argued

• Arms can't touch the ball. The ball touching the player's arm is a fault (Law 11.3.4).
• A follow-through over the net is legal only after touching the ball.
• Service alternates every point, not every few points.
• The set can run past 15. At 14–14 it goes to 17.
• Injury: a player gets up to five minutes of injury time. If they can't continue and both substitutions are used, the set is awarded to the opponent (Law 14.2).