X4 Rulebook

The Set and time

LAW. X4 is played by four active Players. A Set is the officially evaluated timed unit. Competition Regulations select a Ball-in-Air duration of 3:00, 4:00 or 5:00. The corresponding Total Time limit is 4:00, 5:00 or 6:00.

APPLICATION. The authorized start releases Total Time. Ball-in-Air Time begins with the first legal Touch. Any member of the Team may introduce the ball by hand to start or restart a sequence. This introduction is not a sporting Touch or Pass and is not a Hand infringement. Following a Drop before the fifth Drop, Ball-in-Air Time stops while Total Time continues. Ball-in-Air Time resumes with the first legal Touch after the introduction. An official Master Pause suspends both clocks; release resumes Total Time and the first legal Touch resumes Ball-in-Air Time.

LAW. A Set ends at the first applicable Ball-in-Air limit, Total Time limit or fifth Drop. Authorized official termination is governed by the exceptional procedure. There is no 400-Touch termination condition.

Touch, Pass, Drop and Hand

DEFINITION. A Touch occurs when a Player contacts the ball. A Pass is the transfer of the ball from one Player to another. A Pass is complete when the other Player touches the ball. A Touch without a completed Pass is an incomplete Pass, represented by Drop under the approved sporting semantics.

EXAMPLE. If P1 passes to P2 and P2 touches the ball, P1's Pass is complete. P2's subsequent Drop does not make P1's completed Pass incomplete.

LAW. Drop penalties are -750 for the first Drop and -500 for each of the second, third, fourth and fifth Drops. The fifth Drop also ends the Set. Hand is a separate infringement with a -1500 penalty. Hand is not a Touch, Drop or RED Execution. The authorized hand introduction is not an infringement.

Actions and Skills

DEFINITION. Defense follows an Attack and directs the ball upward. Block is a Defense in which the defender projects decisively towards the attacker and reaches very close proximity at the moment of Attack. Arriving well before the Attack or remaining far from the attacker does not qualify as Block. Lift follows Defense without being an Attack, or follows another Lift with the applicable Continuity consequence; Lift directs the ball upward. Attack directs the ball forward or only slightly upward. A very slow execution may be classified as an additional Lift under sporting judgment.

No angle, speed, distance or millisecond threshold has been approved for these recognition conditions. Classification uses the approved observable criteria; this wording does not authorize dangerous contact.

LAW. Skills are recognized under the applicable version of the Skill Catalogue. V1 uses C1, C2, C3 and C4 with base values 1, 10, 35 and 70. The initial list appears in the Skill Catalogue V1 chapter; C5 is not operational in this release. Category and identity at the event remain historical facts when a later Catalogue changes.

INTERPRETATION. Trick means decoration of the execution, such as an arm movement, looking away from the ball or covering the eyes with a hand. Recognition is case by case; Trick does not automatically award GOLD or an additional bonus.

Technical production, repetition and penalties

Technical Pass Value = Skill Base × Execution Multiplier × Repetition Multiplier. RED × 0.5; YELLOW × 1.0; GREEN × 1.5; GOLD × 2.0. Execution belongs to the Player producing the outgoing Pass. GREEN/YELLOW/RED reflect the recipient movement required by that Pass. GOLD recognizes the extraordinary outgoing Pass produced after a difficult situation; it does not belong to the previous passer.

Repetition multipliers are 100%, 100%, 100%, 75%, 75%, then 50% for subsequent applicable uses. Counters are independent by Player, movement, side and category within the sequence. Jumping and Trick variants of the same movement/side in the same category share the applicable counter. A Drop resets all repetition counters; Drop count and Set clocks do not reset.

Automatic combination values: DLA 15, DA 40, AA 70 and AB 100. AB is an ATTACK followed by a BLOCK (B) with no drop, hand or official interruption in between. An isolated BLOCK scores nothing (Founder decision of 12/10/2026, replacing D-07 for new presentations). Inconclusive contributing evidence leaves the affected combination pending until correction/validation. No individual Attack +5 bonus, Impossible Ball or Creative Combination is used.

Double Touch penalty. Exceptional Double Touch, in this definition, means two or more conscious consecutive touches by the same Player and is recorded as a punishment. The progression per Player and per Presentation is -100 for the first occurrence, -200 for the second, and -300 for the third and each later occurrence, with Continuity -2. Do not combine occurrences by different Players. The penalty is recorded in P; recording it does not create an additional Skill or Pass or fictitious technical production. Actual Passes remain subject to the general validity and eligibility rules. Recognized Two-Touches Skills are not automatically Double Touch infringements.

Continuity and Flow

Continuity outcomes are +1, 0, -1 and -2. Neutral outcomes are excluded from the analyzable denominator. Applicable relationships include Attack→Opposite, Defense→Side and Defense→Lift→Return. Lift→Lift is -2. Wrong Action or target after Direct Return is -1. The initial repeated Attack/Defense duel is allowed as defined in the approved sequence; prolonging it beyond that condition produces -2 for each further applicable repetition.

Flow Index = Continuity× 0.35 + Participation× 0.25 + Technical Balance× 0.25 + Rhythm× 0.15. Flow describes structural collective play; it is not a subjective style grade. Public presentation uses the supplied category, not a 0-10 aesthetic score. Score T = ((G + C) - P) × F, with G valid technical production, C combinations, P sporting penalties and F the applicable official Flow multiplier.

Participation reflects eligible Player Pass share; Technical Balance reflects eligible individual technical production share. The strongest applicable band must contain all four Players: EXCELLENT 20-30%, GOOD 17.5-32.5%, MODERATE 12.5-37.5%, WEAK 7.5-42.5%; otherwise VERY_WEAK. Rhythm uses Passes Per Minute over valid Ball-in-Air time: EXTRAORDINARY ≥56; INTENSE 48-<56; PROFESSIONAL 40-<48; MODERATE 32-<40; SLOW 24-<32; VERY_SLOW <24.

When validated Touches exist but no Continuity events are analyzable, Continuity is CRITICAL with internal factor 0.35. When validated Touches exist but no eligible technical production exists, Technical Balance is VERY_WEAK with internal factor 0.35. Apply the minimum only to the affected component, without redistributing weights. An absent factual denominator does not create an observed zero percentage. Invalid time is a data-quality condition to resolve, not automatic PPM zero.

Officials, conclusions and historical integrity

Operators capture sporting evidence; Verifiers establish the verified time projection; Head Judges classify, review and validate within the approved workflow. After authoritative validation, only internally authorized CENTRAL profiles may make governed changes within their specific capability and scope. Operator or Head Judge role alone gives no post-validation write authority. Corrections preserve prior evidence and versions.

Zero validated Touches produces NO CONTEST. NO CONTEST is not automatically disqualification, a numeric zero result, a ranking position or qualification. An interrupted Presentation that is ended under the approved non-resumption procedure has no final result; Head Judge-classified evidence up to the pause remains validated as defined. A serious injury preventing a Player from continuing removes the Team from the championship under the approved rule. Its previous official history is preserved.

Opposite relationships are 1↔4 and 2↔3. Distances of 4.0-4.5 m between opposite Players and 2.0-2.5 m between side Players are unofficial positioning references only. They are not simultaneous mandatory limits, measurements of an official court, compliance criteria or grounds for penalties. The diagram represents Player relationships, is not to scale, and does not establish an official area.

Repetition - application and examples

The key is Player + recognized movement/Skill + applicable side + category + sequence. Different sides or categories have independent counters. Jumping, adding Trick or changing Execution colour does not create another counter when movement, side and category remain the same. Changing movement does not erase previous counters. Each Drop resets every counter; Hand or Master Pause does not reset counters by itself. The next Set begins with new counters.

First, second and third uses: 100%; fourth and fifth: 75%; sixth and later: 50%. For one movement/side/category with base 10 and GREEN: 15, 15, 15, 11.25, 11.25, 7.50. After a Drop, the next use returns to 15. The other side has its own counter.

Last Pass

Last Pass is permitted only at temporal termination. The last legal Touch may count without a completed reception; it does not authorize voluntary early termination and does not replace a fifth Drop. Execution is always GREEN, × 1.50, never GOLD. The eligible event counts once in G, Participation, Technical Balance and Rhythm. Combos use observed Actions only; do not invent a reception, Combo or Continuity relationship requiring a later Touch that did not occur.

Continuity - calculation and bands

Continuity % = max(0, min(100, 100 × (Correct - Break - 2 × Severe Break) / N)). N counts analyzable events; Neutral is excluded. Inconclusive context must be resolved before validation.

Attack targets the opposite Player; Defense opens to a side Player; Defense → Lift → Return requires return to the original defender. Lift → Lift is -2. Return to the wrong Player is -1. In 1 A → 4 D → 1, Player 1 must Attack Player 4 again; wrong Action or target after Direct Return is -1. The initial chain 1 A → 4 D → 1 A → 4 D → 1 A is valid; the next defender return to that attacker prolonging the duel is -2, as are later applicable repetitions. This is distinct from Skill Repetition.

Participation / Technical Balance

Participation = eligible Player Passes / eligible Team Passes × 100. Technical Balance = eligible Player technical production / eligible Team technical production × 100. Use the strongest band containing all four Players; boundaries are inclusive. VTI excludes Combos, penalties and Flow.

Rhythm

PPM = eligible Passes / actual Ball-in-Air minutes. Do not use Total Time or a fixed five-minute denominator. Invalid time is not PPM zero.

Flow - conversão e Professional Flow Standards

FI = 0.35 × Continuity factor + 0.25 × Participation factor + 0.25 × Technical Balance factor + 0.15 × Rhythm factor. Categories and multipliers are distinct. Only Official Flow determines F.

Continuity LOW, Participation WEAK, Technical Balance WEAK or Rhythm SLOW cap Official Flow at GOOD. Continuity CRITICAL, Participation VERY_WEAK, Technical Balance VERY_WEAK or Rhythm VERY_SLOW cap it at FUNCTIONAL. Apply the most restrictive ceiling without raising a lower calculated band. FI does not change and no additional penalty is applied.

Official EXTRAORDINARY requires FI ≥0.95, Continuity EXTRAORDINARY, Participation EXCELLENT, Technical Balance EXCELLENT, Rhythm INTENSE or EXTRAORDINARY and no active Standard. If any requirement fails, the maximum is EXCELLENT or the applicable lower ceiling.

Skill Catalogue V1

The Skill list may be updated. Every release identifies the current version and its application date; historical results retain the version used at the event. Catalogue updates do not silently change a previous event value.

Base values: C1 = 1; C2 = 10; C3 = 35; C4 = 70. C5 is outside this edition. The list below retains the author's original Portuguese sporting vocabulary. These are 40 textual groups with sides and variants, not "40 Skill IDs". Jumping OR Trick is distinct from Jumping AND Trick. Trick is observable decoration, such as an arm movement, looking away or covering the eyes; it does not automatically grant GOLD or a bonus.

CATEGORIA 1: basic

chapa (direita e esquerda)

coxa (direita e esquerda)

ombro (direito e esquerdo)

peito

cabeça

CATEGORIA 2:

peito de pé/letra/chilena/calcanhar/canela (direito e esquerdo)

chapa (direita e esquerda) pulando ou com trick

scorpion (direita e esquerda)

coxa (direita e esquerda) pulando ou com trick

ombro (direito e esquerdo) pulando ou com trick

peito pulando ou com trick

cabeça pulando ou com trick

sarrada

costela/costas

lombar/bunda

shark em pé (direita e esquerda)

back knee (direita e esquerda)

CATEGORIA 3:

peito de pé/letra/chilena/calcanhar/canela (direito e esquerdo) pulando ou com trick

chapa (direita e esquerda) pulando e com trick

scorpion (direita e esquerda) pulando ou com trick

coxa (direita e esquerda) pulando e com trick

ombro (direito e esquerdo) pulando e com trick

peito pulando e com trick

cabeça pulando e com trick

sarrada pulando ou com trick(direita e esquerda)

lombar/bunda pulando ou com trick

costela/costas pulando ou com trick

shark pulando (direita e esquerda)

bicicleta (direita e esquerda)

back knee pulando ou com trick (direita e esquerda)

CATEGORIA 4:

peito de pé/letra/chilena/calcanhar/canela (direito e esquerdo) pulando e com trick

scorpion (direita e esquerda) pulando e com trick

eclipse (direita e esquerda)

sarrada pulando e com trick (direita e esquerda)

lombar/bunda pulando e com trick

costela/costas pulando com trick

shark pulando e com trick (direita e esquerda)

voo da águia (direita e esquerda)

bicicleta com trick (direita e esquerda)

back knee pulando e com trick (direita e esquerda)