If you have never played in a tennis ladder before, it is a great way for new players to get started. Here are the basics... No matter where you start on the ladder, after a period of time you will end up playing games with people of similar ability. If you improve, you are likely to go up the ladder but you will then be playing against harder opponents.

If you wish to take a break from the ladder (e.g. you are away for 6 months) then you can do so by clicking on 'take a break' from the admin page (you need to be logged in to access this page).

Newly registered players will be added to the bottom of the ladder but will get one chance to challenge anyone on the list and place themselves where they think they belong.

When you are ready to make a challenge, go to the rankings page (you must be logged in first). Then click on the player you wish to challenge and follow the instructions. The ladder rules are listed below.

1. You may challenge a player up to 4 positions above you in the ladder at any time. This does not apply to first-time challengers who can challenge anyone in the ladder.

2. All matches should be played within 16 days of a challenge being made, otherwise the challenger wins by forfeit.

3. If either party is more than 30 minutes late in attending an agreed match, then the late or non attender loses the match.

4. If you play and win your challenge, you jump above the person you beat. Therefore you may jump up to 4 positions at a time.

5. The match will be best of 3 sets as standard, with a tie-break to 7 in all sets.

6. If no result has been recorded by two thirds of the way through the challenge period, a reminder is emailed to both players.

7. If no result has been recorded by the end of the challenge period, a warning is sent to record the result within 2 days ("grace period").

8. If no result has been recorded by the end of the grace period, the challenger automatically wins by forfeit. In this case, the challengee will drop one position below the challenger and will not be able to challenge for 2 days. The challenger will be able to challenge right away.

9. If the challenger wishes to cancel a challenge, they may do so within the challenge and grace period with no consequences.

10. If the challenged person (challengee) wishes to forfeit the challenge, they can record this within the challenge and grace period and the match is won by the challenger. The challengee will drop one position below the challenger and will not be able to challenge for 2 days. The challenger will be able to challenge right away.

11. To prevent players to continually make challenges, a "challenger ban period" is imposed. After they have played a match, challengers may not re-challenge until this ban period has elapsed. Currently, this is set to 2 days.

12. Also, a "re-challenge ban period" is imposed to prevent two players to keep challenging each other, no matter who the last winner was. This period is currently set to 7 days.

13. A minimum period of 30 days is set for resting players. Players taking a break from the ladder cannot rejoin before this period has elapsed. However, when the player waives his/her free first-time challenge, this minimum resting period is waived.

14. A person being challenged will be given an "immunity period" from the moment the result of their match is recorded. During this period, a player cannot be challenged again. This period is currently set to 2 days.

15. A person cancelling a match will be given a ban period from challenging again, this is to avoid people repeating challenges with the same players or swapping challenges for whatever reason. Currently, this period is set to 2 days.

16. In the case of a forfeit when the challenger challenged from the bottom of the ladder using a first-time challenge, the challenger will not move up any position but will retain his/her first-time challenge and will be able to re-challenge immediately. The player conceding the match will move down by 4 positions and will be given a challenge ban of 2 days.