Vier (a new sport)
The new sport of Vier was created by Ian Welsman of Canada in February 2022. Two teams of two try to gain possession of a square court with tennis equipment. Each player is equipped with a standard tennis racquet and there is one ball used throughout the whole game shared by all four players. The object of the game is for your team to win 3 out of 5 sets. To win a set, your team must have possession of the ball in all four squares.
Equipment Required: Tennis Racquets (4, 1 per player), Tennis Ball (1), Ping Pong Paddles coloured with the team colours (4, 2 per team, one of each team's per referee)
Sport Description
Vier is played on a 11 metre x 11 metre court. The court is equally divided into four squares, marked by two crossed white lines. The edges of the court are also marked by white lines. The crossed lines meet the edge of the court at the middle of each side, 5.5 metres away from the corners. For our sake, the top left corner of the court is square A, top right, square B, bottom right, C, bottom left, D.
Each player is equipped with a standard tennis racquet and there is one ball used throughout the whole game shared by all four players.
Two players are together on one team and the other two are another. The object of the game is for your team to win two rounds. To win a round, you must win 3 out of 5 sets. To win a set, your team must have possession of the ball in all four squares.
The game starts with a coin toss. A randomly selected team will decide heads or tails. Then when the coin is flipped, whoever wins gets to decide if they would like to serve first or defend first.
The serving team lines up with one member at the corner of square A that does not border another square and the other member anywhere else. The player in the corner is the server and the player elsewhere is the pointe. We'll call the serving team team 1 and the non-serving team team 2.
1S = Server from team 1
1P = Pointe from team 1
2S = Server from team 2
2P = Pointe from team 2
In a legal serve, the server hits the ball, which is a standard tennis ball, with his racquet and his pointe will try to catch it. However it is only a legal serve if the ball is caught by the pointe in the square that was served from, in our example of 1S serving, 1P must catch the ball in square A. From there they will try to have possession in all of the other squares before returning to their home square, the home square being the square that they both start and end at. To have possession of a square, you must have caught a ball that was passed the square by your teammate. However, you have to go in order. The serving team must gain possession of the squares in clockwise order, the other team in counterclockwise order. Once you do this you win a set. First team to win 3 of 5 sets wins the round. First to win two rounds wins the match.
All passes made by any player must be made by hitting the ball with the racquet, or else the other team gets possession of the ball.
All catches must be made with the hand. Here are the approved ways of making a catch:
- Player hits ball with racquet, other player on his team catches it with his hand
- Player hits ball with racquet, ball bounces in bounds once on court, other player on his team catches it with his hand
Unauthorized methods of making a catch:
- Catching any ball that bounced out of bounds or on the boundary line
- Catching any ball while the player who caught it was out of bounds
- Catching any ball that was thrown with the hand
- Catching any ball that bounced more than once between hitting the racquet and the catch
- Catching any ball that was kicked intentionally
- Catching any ball that was not hit with the racquet of the person making the pass
Now let's observe what happens in each situation if one of these were to happen.
Other team gets to serve from the outer corner of the square that the ball was last in bounds in
Other team gets to serve in the square that the ball was caught in
The team that caught it maintains possession of the ball, but wherever they caught it is their new 'home square' and they have to start and finish there now (see 'Recovery')
Other team gets to serve from the corner of the square that the ball was kicked in
Other team gets to serve from the corner of the square that the player who did not hit the ball properly was in.
A home square resets when a team has regained possession of the ball. A reminder, the home square is where the team must start with possession and end with possession to win a set. There are two ways this can happen, an interception, a recovery, and an out of bounds ball.
Interception
An interception occurs when a player catches a ball that was passed by a player on the other team (the player who passed the ball was trying to pass to his teammate). This results in the team of the player who caught the ball gaining possession. The square that the ball was intercepted in becomes the intercepting teamâ s new home square. Play does not stop and the intercepting team does not need to serve, they can just play on.
Recovery
A recovery occurs when a ball is picked up off the ground by any player on either team or if any player gains possession when it is not considered a catch or an interception (for example, the ball bounced multiple times). Results in a reset of home square. The new home square is wherever the ball was recovered. Play continues, just like after an interception, with no serve.
Out of Bounds Ball
An out of bounds ball occurs when a ball ends up out of bounds. Whichever team last touched the ball before it went out of bounds loses possession of the ball, and the other team gets to serve from the square that the ball went out of bounds from. This is the serving teamâ s new home square.
If any player is deemed by the referees to be engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct, the set is automatically awarded to the other team (they automatically win and the next set is played). If the misconduct occurs between sets, the next set after the break is automatically awarded to the other team. A set is also awarded to the other team if the pointe serves rather than the server (i.e. 2P serves to 2S instead of vice-versa).
Also, it should be noted that simultaneous possession of the ball is treated as an interception.
Referees
There are two referees. Each referee has two paddles in his hand. Each is a different colour. The colour must be visible on both sides of the paddle. The colours correspond to the colours of each teamâ s jersey. For example, if one team is red and one is black, then each referee will have one black paddle and one red one.
The referees stand on opposite sides of the court. One is responsible for squares A and B and one is responsible for squares C and D. Referees are not permitted to step in bounds during play. They must stand at the halfway point of the outer lines of the court that mark the edges of their squares. So, this means they stand facing each other, but from opposite ends of the court.
If the home square of the team that currently has the ball is the responsibility of one of the referees, then that referee must hold up the paddle corresponding to that team in the air above his head. If it is in squares A or C, the appropriate referee holds the appropriate paddle with his left hand. For B and D, the right hand. This helps spectators keep track of where the home square is.
When the team that had possession loses possession, then the current paddle is lowered by the referee, and the appropriate paddle is raised immediately afterwards.
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Related Pages
- See our large list of other New Sports
- Complete list of unusual sports
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