What a pull is actually like

A pull is short and brutal. The two teams take up the rope, lean back until it comes tight, and on the command to pull they drive with their legs. Most casual pulls are over in under a minute. Between evenly matched club teams a single pull can last several minutes, with long stretches where nobody moves and both sides simply hold. Your legs and grip do the work, your arms stay nearly straight, and you finish each pull breathing hard with forearms that will not close properly for a few minutes. A session is a handful of pulls with real rest between them, plus time spent setting up, swapping sides and talking through what went wrong.

Men braced low on a tug of war rope on a sports field, feet dug in, with a few onlookers standing behind them — Braced on the rope, feet dug in

02

How a match is decided

Teams

Eight pullers a side in the organized sport. Competitions are run by weight class, so the limit is the total weight of the team, not the size of any one person.

The rope

Marked at the center, and again 13 feet (4 meters) to each side. A center line is marked on the ground.

Winning a pull

You win when the side mark nearest your opponents is dragged across the center line. In other words, you have to gain 13 feet of rope.

A match

Best of three pulls. Teams change ends after the first pull.

The start

Under the international rules the judge calls "pick up the rope", "take the strain", "steady", then "pull". Nobody pulls before that last word.

Fouls

Sitting down, touching the ground with anything but your feet, and locking the rope against your body so it cannot move. In the sport, repeated cautions cost a team the pull.

Casual pulls

With fewer people or a shorter rope, shrink the distance. A 6-foot gain is plenty for four a side on a 40-foot rope.

The official rulebook

TWIF rules manual The full international rulebook as a free PDF: rope, markings, fouls and judge signals

03

Safety rules that are not optional

Never wrap the rope around a hand, wrist, arm or waist, and never tie loops or knots in it. A loaded rope tightens like a snare, and people have lost fingers and hands this way.
Use only a thick natural-fiber rope made for pulling. Nylon ropes, tow straps and bungee cords stretch under load and whip back hard if they break or are let go.
Keep the numbers sensible. Every extra puller adds load, and giant many-a-side pulls on an ordinary rope are how ropes snap. Follow the maker's limit and stay near eight a side or fewer.
Appoint one person who is not pulling to start and stop every pull. A whistle blast means everyone eases off together. Nobody ever lets go suddenly.
Pull on flat grass or sand that is clear of rocks, holes, sprinkler heads and anything behind either team. Never pull on pavement or across water, mud pits or a slope.
Never anchor the rope to a vehicle, tree or post, and keep spectators well back from the rope and out of the line behind each team.
Match the sides by total weight and keep small children off a rope with adults on it.

04

Your first match, step by step

Two pullers leaning back on a taut rope beside a row of colored disc cones on a turf field — Disc cones marking the line on a turf field

05

The skills that win pulls

The lean

Body in a straight line from heels to shoulders, leaning back at a steep angle so your weight hangs on the rope. Bending at the waist wastes it.

The grip

Both palms facing up, rope tucked between your arm and your side, arms almost straight. Your hands are hooks. Your legs are the engine.

The heel

Dig the edge of your heel into the turf and push the ground away from you. Feet turned sideways give a bigger edge than toes pointing at the other team.

The hold

When the other side attacks, drop your hips, lock your legs and give nothing. Most pulls are won by the team that holds better and waits.

The drive

Everyone steps back on the same call, a few inches at a time. Eight people moving together beat eight stronger people moving separately.

Five pullers leaning low on a rope on a grassy hillside under a wide evening sky — Low on the rope, moving as one

A puller sitting back on the rope behind a line of disc cones while a crowd watches from the sideline

06

Ways to pull

One field day, two kinds of club

Casual PullsFriends, family, coworkers or a school group on a lawn, with whoever turns up and house rules. This is where nearly everyone starts.

Start here

Pick a date, invite at least eight people, and run a best-of-three match on a park field or big flat lawn using the rope, markers and whistle from the kit below. Split the sides by adding up body weight, not by headcount.

Club Pulling, outdoorsThe classic sport. Eight a side on grass in weight classes, bare hands, and boots with a hard flat heel for cutting into turf. The season runs through spring and summer.

Start here

Open the member associations list, find your national body, and email it asking for the nearest club and its next training night. Clubs own the rope and will tell you what boots to bring.

TWIF member associations

Club Pulling, indoorsThe same sport on long rubber mats in a sports hall, wearing flat rubber-soled shoes. There are no heel holds, so it rewards timing and body position even more.

Start here

Ask your national association whether any club near you trains indoors over the winter, then show up in clean flat-soled gym shoes. Mats, rope and coaching come from the club.

TWIF member associations

Open a card to see what to do first. Casual Pulls ends in a button that adds leather gloves to the kit, and both Club Pulling cards add grip rosin.

07

Choosing and checking a rope

Material

Twisted natural fiber such as manila, jute or thick cotton. It barely stretches, it grips well in sweaty hands, and it is what the sport itself uses.

Thickness

About 1.25 to 1.5 inches across for adult teams, which matches the competition rope. Thinner rope cuts into hands and is weaker.

Length

Allow roughly 5 feet of rope per puller plus the clear stretch in the middle. That works out to about 40 feet for four or five a side and 100 feet for eight a side.

Ends and middle

Plain ends with no handles, loops or knots, and a visible center marker. Add side marks yourself with colored tape.

Before every session

Check the full length for cuts, broken strands, stiff or powdery patches and a musty smell. Any of those means the rope is done.

Afterward

Let it dry fully before coiling it loosely and storing it indoors off the floor. Natural rope that is put away damp rots from the inside.

Close-up of a pale three-strand twisted rope against a dark blurred background — Three twisted strands, close up

08

What trips beginners up

Expect sore hands. Rope burn and blisters are normal in the first few sessions until your palms toughen.
Expect your grip to fail before your legs do. That fades within a few weeks of regular pulls.
Expect size to matter less than you think. A lighter side that leans and steps together will hold a heavier side that does not.
Drop the arm pulling. Hauling hand over hand tires you in seconds and is a foul in the sport.
Drop the sit-down. Falling onto your backside feels strong but gives up your footing, and it is also a foul.
Drop the jerk at the start. A sudden snatch throws your own team off balance and loads the rope far more than a steady drive.
Do not pull on consecutive days at first. Lower back, hamstrings and forearms need a day or two to recover.

A team of seven leaning back on a rope across a grassy hillside, with woods and farmland behind them — A team pull on a grassy hillside

09

Where to learn and find a team

The sport is small and club-based, so the fastest way in is through a national association. The Tug of War International Federation lists every member country, and each association can point you to clubs, novice competitions and coaching. In the US, organized tug of war is concentrated in the Upper Midwest, where clubs often run novice pulls alongside local festivals. Clubs are used to newcomers and teach the technique from scratch, so ask to join a training night before you buy anything. Watching championship footage is also worth an evening, because the low, flat body angle of good teams is hard to picture until you see it.

Find the sport and a club

10

What the kit covers

One rope is the whole sport, so that is where the money goes. A 40-foot rope is enough for small-sided pulls, and a 100-foot rope in competition thickness is the comfortable choice for full teams. The rest of the list is what makes a pull fair and safe: cones to mark the lines, a whistle for the judge, and leather gloves for casual pulls. Club pullers use bare hands, so the grip rosin at the end is for them. Footwear is not on the list on purpose. For casual pulls, wear sturdy boots or cleats you already own. Sport-legal pulling boots are specialist items that your club will help you source.

A laughing adult and three small children in rain boots pulling a thick natural-fiber rope on grass

11

Kit for the pull

Every line, with its options side by side

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The rope, cones and whistle start in the kit. Leather gloves join when you switch on Casual Pulls, and the rosin bag joins with Club Pulling.

Line 01

Tug of war rope

Essential · Core equipment

It is the one piece of equipment the sport has. A thick natural-fiber rope gives every puller a safe grip and does not stretch or snap back the way synthetic rope does.

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Tug of War

What a pull is actually like

How a match is decided

Safety rules that are not optional

Your first match, step by step

The skills that win pulls

Ways to pull

Choosing and checking a rope

What trips beginners up

Where to learn and find a team

What the kit covers

Kit for the pull

Tug of war rope

Field marker cones

Referee whistle

Leather work gloves

Grip rosin bag