Tug of War Rules

Tug of war is a team sport wherein two teams with equal members are put to test against each other in a sheer show of strength. The objective of the sport is to either pull all the members of the opposite team, or a certain part of the rope, into their own territory. The fact that the tug of war rules very easy to understand and the equipment required is minimal makes it a popular sport in various parts of the world. This may come as a surprise for many, but it was a part of the Summer Olympics between 1900 to 1920.

Tug of War Rules and Regulations

Tug of war is played in almost all the countries in the world, however, only a few countries have proper governing bodies for the same. The supreme body governing international events, The Tug of War International Federation (TWIF) has 53 member countries associated with it. Given below are some of the standard rules of this sport, constituted to ensure that it is played in true spirit.

Teams
According to the formal rules of tug of war each team should have a maximum of 8 members, however, the combined weight of these 8 members should not exceed the weight determined for that particular category.

Rope
The rope used for tug of war should be 120 ft in length, 10 cm in circumference and should be marked with a red colored tape right in the center. Right from the center of the rope mark 15 ft on each side with a blue colored tape. The rope can have knots to facilitate proper grip, but these knots have to be evenly spaced out to ensure fair play.

Field and Marking
The area wherein the sport will be played should ideally be a flat grassy patch of land. A line, referred to as the center line, is marked in the playing zone, and the rope is placed in such a manner that its center marked with the colored tape should be lying right on the center line. At a distance of 4 meters, on either side of the center line, you should mark 2 more lines. This is the point wherein the first member of each team will stand.

How to Play
As mentioned earlier, the center of the rope should exactly come above the center line at the commencement of the actual competition. As soon as the referee blows the whistle, each team can start pulling the rope into their territory. The objective of each team is to pull the rope, along with the opposition team, to their side. As soon as the part of the rope marked with the blue tape (15 ft), crosses over to center line the team which has pulled the rope to their side wins the bout.

Fouls
A certain technique has to be followed whilst attempting the pull, failing which it will be considered to be a foul, and may call for a disqualification. For instance, lowering your elbow below the knee while pulling is considered to be a foul known as locking. Touching the ground for longer period is also considered to be a foul.

When it comes to tug of war strategies, the basic knowledge of these rules is quite helpful. You also need to not that these rules may differ from one competition to another. For instance, when the sport is played as a part of fun team building activities, most of these rules are altered to make it more of fun and less of a competition. The rules for world championships, on the other hand, are much more stricter and their implementation is given utmost importance.