Delay of Game

Play shall be continuous, except during time outs. A delay of game penalty may only be called by an official. Rules Clarification August 1996 Continuous play defined: Between balls, a player shall be allowed to wipe their brow, dry their hands, adjust their grip, change their stance, or any other activity they deem necessary to prepare themselves for the play of the next ball, providing the combination of ALL such activities takes less than 5 seconds. After a delay of game infraction play shall resume in at most 10 seconds. At the end of 10 seconds another delay of game call should be made. Taking too much time to serve the ball or to put the ball back into play may be grounds for delay of game. The first infraction of this rule is a warning. Subsequent infractions will result in the player being charged with a time out. Example: Player charged with delay of game. If still not ready to resume play after 10 seconds time out charged. If after the time out still not ready, another 10 seconds second time out charged.