IBSA Showdown SHOWDOWN RULES 2026 – 2029

(DRAFT PROPOSAL).

The following draft proposal contains modifications to the current 2022-2025 rules, to be considered for ratification by the IBSA Executive Board.

These rules shall govern all Showdown play at all sanctioned events.

These regulations consist of four parts:

A: DEFINITIONS AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

B: RULES OF PLAY

C: TEAM PLAY RULES

D: APPENDICES

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A: DEFINITIONS AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

1. TABLE

Showdown table must conform with the following specifications:

- Parts of the table:

Playing deck:

The perfectly level surface of the horizontal board.

* Other: A recommendation for organizers to provide non-slip table pads will be added to the Tournament Organization Manual.

2. BALL

Ball must conform to the following specifications:

- Sound: the ball must be audible.

- Diameter: the ball must be round and have a diameter of six (6) cm.

- Surface: the ball must have a hard and smooth surface.

- Weight: 23-28 gr.

In tournaments awarding IBSA ranking points, balls to be used must be approved by the IBSA

Showdown Sport Committee. In one tournament only one type of ball can be used.

3. BAT

Bat must conform to the following specifications:

- Material:

The bat must be constructed of a hard, smooth material.

• All bats with a non-wooden blade surface must be covered with a soft material. The soft cover can be up to two (2) mm thick on each side, but the overall width of the blade must not be wider than ten (10) mm.

4. SPORTS EQUIPMENT

4.1 Mask

Mask must conform to the following specifications:

- Mask must completely obscure the player’s vision; complete darkness must be achieved by wearing the mask, therefore absolutely no light is allowed to be seen when the referee checks it.

- The rim of the glasses must be padded with foam or silicone material to completely shut out all light.

- Darkened alpine skiing glasses or adequate alternatives like goalball masks are the only types allowed. Mask structure must be semi-rigid or rigid (e.g., approved goalball masks; sleep masks are explicitly prohibited).

- Players medically unable to wear standard masks must wear occlusive eye patches.

- It is the player’s responsibility to have an adequately prepared mask to be allowed to take

part in a competition.

4.3 Hand Protection

Players must wear hand protection which extends may extend max** six (6) cm above the wrist joint.

The hand protection must conform to the following specifications:

- The hand protection must consist of one piece.

- The hand protection must not enlarge the hand by more than two (2) cm on each side.

- The thickness of the hand protection may be maximum 2,5 cm in the front part (all fingers) up to the wrist.

- The thickness of the part above the wrist joint can be maximum 1 cm.

- When measuring the hand, the thumb is excluded.

- Players may wear arm protection beyond the hand protection (6 cm from the wrist joint), e.g. sweat bands, bandages etc.:

• it must be a different color from the hand protection;
• it must not enlarge the arm more than 1 cm on each side;
• it must extend maximum 6 cm down to the elbow;
• this part of the protection is not considered to be part of the batting hand.

5. PLAY

- Language:

During the match only the official languages of the tournament shall be used. There can be two official languages in national tournaments.

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B: RULES OF PLAY

6. OFFICIALS

6.2 The referee must be clearly identifiable as the referee. Referees should wear black sport pants or shorts, sport shoes and a shirt with a ‘Referee’ sign on it. No national symbols are allowed.

6.4 The referee must conduct the match in the official languages of the tournament.

The referee must only address players and conduct the game in the official language(s). Referees may briefly consult each other in another language for clarification.

7. MATCH

*Commentary: A recommendation to disallow single-set matches in ranking tournaments will be added to the Tournament Guidelines.

8. TIME LIMIT MATCH

*Commentary: A recommendation to disallow time limits in ranking tournaments will be added to the Tournament Guidelines.

9. BEFORE THE MATCH

9.4 Before the match the player (or teams) must announce the name of the coach and of the

interpreter to the referee.

a) The player can announce the coach even if the coach is not present.

b) The coach can enter/leave the room only when the set is over when the set is over, during time-outs and change of sides.

c) The player can change the announced coach until the referee has started the warm-up.

d) Player’s coach cannot also be an interpreter. The interpreter is allowed to communicate only with the player and the referee(s), only for translation. The coach can act as an interpreter with the referee's permission for each translation; otherwise rule 19.4.3 applies.

10. GAME PROCEDURES

10.3 Players must wear the mask during the whole match and can not touch it except between sets, during time-outs and change of sides. If the player needs to touch the mask when it is not allowed, he/she must ask the permission to the referee:

a) The request to touch the mask must be done to the referee during break in play. If permission is given, the player must turn away from the table and be at the end of the table. Between sets and during change of sides, the player may touch the mask only after he/she has changed the side.

b) Before play resumes the referee checks the mask so it is correctly worn.

*Simplified version for final draft: "Touching the mask or any part of the head is forbidden during play. Players may only adjust their mask during time-outs, change of sides, and between sets, and must first turn away from the table. At all other times, permission must be requested from the referee."

11. COIN TOSS

11.1 Prior to the warm-up, the referee proceeds with the coin toss. Player “A” (first on the list) will be asked to choose head or tail. The player winning the coin toss will be given the choice of serving or giving the serve to the opponent. taking the serve or choosing the starting side of the table.

12. WARM-UP

12.1 Warm-up is started and stopped by the referee by either blowing the whistle or giving a verbal command.

12.2 The amount of time for warm-up is 60 seconds. The referee gives an audible warning 15 seconds before the end of the warm-up by calling "15 seconds", and ends the warm-up with a whistle.

12.3 Warm-up can be omitted completely if both players ask for it.

12.4 During warm-up players must wear all required Showdown equipment.

12.5 During warm-up talking between player and the coach is not permitted (rule 19.3.6 applies in case of infraction).

14. PLAY

14.2 The referee will roll the ball to the serving player and ask both players, first the returner and then the server, if they are ready to play. When the referee receives positive acknowledgement from both players answering “yes”, the referee announces the score and then the number of the serve referred to the serving player. announce first the number of the serve, followed by the current score, both referred to the serving player. Then the referee asks both players, first the returner and then the server, if they are ready to play. Upon receiving positive confirmation (“yes”) from both players, the referee will signal the start of play by blowing the whistle once. This procedure should be used by starting the match, set, after time-outs and unusually long breaks.

15. SCORING POINTS

15.7 Out

When each of the listed infractions occurs, the referee will blow a single whistle and call the playing mistake “out”, and one (1) point will be awarded to the opponent of the player who commits the fault.

15.7.1 If the player hits the ball with the bat or batting hand and causes the ball to leave the playing area of the table.

15.7.2 If the player hits the ball and it touches the top of the contact board.

15.7.3 If the ball hits the ceiling or any other object not part of the table.

17. TIME-OUTS

17.4 Medical Time-out

17.4.1 The referee can call a medical time-out if the player is injured. The referee resumes the match with a re-serve if the match was stopped when the ball was in play.

17.4.2 The player must be ready to play by five (5) minutes otherwise he/she loses the match, rule giving up a match applies.

17.4.3 The medical time-out cannot be called before the match has begun (see rule 7.4).

18. CHANGE-SIDES

18.8 During the change-sides the player can refresh. [Removed to allow refreshment during any break at referee's discretion]

19. WARNINGS AND PENALTIES

19.4 Penalties without warnings

Each of the listed infractions will immediately cause a two (2) points penalty.

19.4.1 Touching the mask without the referee's permission when it’s not between sets, during time-outs or change of sides and without the referee's permission.

19.5 Other sanctions

19.5.1 Very serious misconduct by the player and/or the coach:

19.5.3 The player must be at the playing room at the specified time **with the equipment ready for inspection. If the player is more than five (5) minutes late, the referee declares the loss of the match by default for no-show. If a player repeatedly appears late, he/she can be excluded from the tournament. The 5-minute count starts when the table is free and at least one referee is present.

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C: TEAM PLAY RULES

21. TEAMS

21.1 Teams must be mixed and can consist of a minimum of three (3) to a maximum of six (6) players with a maximum of two (2) coaches.

22. ADDITIONAL RULES

22.8 Substitution

Each team is entitled to one (1) substitution during a match. The team can substitute one (1) player either for technical, tactical or medical reasons. [Reason for substitution removed]

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D: APPENDICES

Appendices will be updated to reflect approved technical changes (e.g., hand protection diagrams).

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SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER MANUALS

The following items are recommended for inclusion in the Referee Manual and Tournament Organization Manual rather than the core rules:

For the TOURNAMENT ORGANIZATION MANUAL:

1. Table Stability: Recommendation to provide non-slip rubber pads for table legs.

2. Protests & Appeals: A detailed, standardized protocol for handling protests.

4. Equipment Checks: Schedule checks by team/nationality to avoid referees checking their own country's players.

For the REFEREE MANUAL:

1. Definition of a "Stroke": Clarify the legal action for striking the ball.

2. Serve Procedure: The ball must be stationary before the serve; silent repositioning after the whistle is allowed.

3. Delaying Play: Guidance on applying Rule 19.3.9 for players holding the ball audibly for excessive time.

4. Communication Protocol: Remove superfluous referee dialogue; use "clarification" for discussions; mandate silence after score announcement.

5. Role Clarification: Define roles for two referees (e.g., one tracks ball, one tracks defender).

6. Error Correction: Procedure for correcting scoring/serving errors discovered later.

7. Timeout Management: Mandate stopwatch use and audible countdowns (15s) for timeouts and change-sides.

8. Medical Protocols: Guidance for handling persistent medical issues (e.g., bleeding).

9. Mask/Head Touch: Clarify what part of the head is allowed to touch and what not.

10. Equipment Inspection: Detailed guidelines on checking bat materials, glove construction, and under-gloves.

11. Warm-Up Procedure: To ensure a standardized and clear procedure, referees should:

• Start the warm-up with a single whistle blast.
• Give a clear verbal warning by calling "15 seconds" when 45 seconds have elapsed.
• End the warm-up decisively with a long whistle blast at 60 seconds.