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Advantage or golden point, which is the rule?
Three scoring systems exist in the rules: advantage, star point and golden point. The competition chooses.
You arrive at a tournament and the organiser says games are played with advantage. You are used to golden point. Which is correct?
Three scoring systems exist in the rules: advantage, star point and golden point. The competition chooses.
Why
The official rules give three ways to settle deuce, the golden point, with the receiving pair choosing who receives. The rules also permit competitions to use the traditional advantage system, where a pair must win two points in a row from deuce.
The rest of the reasoning
Both are legitimate; the competition regulations decide. The practical difference is tactical: under golden point the deuce point is a single high-pressure return, so who receives is a real decision.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Ask which system you are playing before the first game. Under golden point, one point at 40-40 decides the game; under advantage, you need two in a row.
Intermediate
Under golden point, the receiving pair's choice of receiver is an edge. Under advantage, the server has more room to be aggressive at deuce.
Advanced
Golden point favours the pair with the better return lob and the cooler head. Advantage favours the pair with the better serve-and-volley. Know which you are.
Common questions
You arrive at a tournament and the organiser says games are played with advantage. You are used to golden point. Which is correct?
Either. The competition decides; the FIP rules offer three systems.. Three scoring systems exist in the rules: advantage, star point and golden point. The competition chooses. The official rules give three ways to settle deuce, the golden point, with the receiving pair choosing who receives. The rules also permit competitions to use the traditional advantage system, where a pair must win two points in a row from deuce. Both are legitimate; the competition regulations decide. The practical difference is tactical: under golden point the deuce point is a single high-pressure return, so who receives is a real decision.
Why not either. The competition decides, and the official default is golden point?
Golden point is used at every level, but it is one of three options in the rules, not the default.
What should a beginner do here?
Ask which system you are playing before the first game. Under golden point, one point at 40-40 decides the game; under advantage, you need two in a row.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Golden point favours the pair with the better return lob and the cooler head. Advantage favours the pair with the better serve-and-volley. Know which you are.
What do the rules say?
At deuce the FIP rules allow advantage scoring, the star point (two advantages, then a deciding point) or the golden point, with the receiving pair choosing the side. The competition regulations state which applies.