Tip of the Week | What is a time cap?

As noted in last week’s tip, a time cap is a way to determine when the game ends and who wins it. As you’ve probably seen by now, it can take more time than we have good light to play to 17 points. There are two kinds of time caps, soft caps and hard caps. A soft cap is partially reliant on score - if a certain score has been reached by the soft time cap, the game ends and the team with the most points wins. Generally the soft cap is the end of the game if one team is up by two or more points at the predetermined cap time (e.g. 8:30 p.m.). A hard cap is a predetermined time when the game is over, regardless of score. In our Rec league, ties are allowed. For both soft and hard time caps, captains decide on them before the game, and the current point being played is finished if the time cap is reached during a point (so if it’s 8:30 p.m. but you’re still playing a point, you go until someone scores it).