# Towel

> A towel for wiping moisture from the court surfaces; in tournament play one should be made available.

From the rulebook:

> Towels In tournament play a towel should be made available for wiping moisture on the court surfaces. Reasonable time should be allowed by the referee for this purpose only. Players should obtain a towel and proceed directly to the surface to be wiped, then directly return the towel. Players are not to interrupt this procedure to wipe any part of their body or eye guards. The respective 10 seconds allowed per  Rule 4.1.E.Time and regular time outs are for this purpose. In the event the referee d…

— [One-wall · Rule 2.1 Courts](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/2.1/c.md)

## Quick Qs

- **Is a towel required?** In tournament play a towel should be made available for wiping moisture on the court surfaces. A player may leave the court only at the referee’s direction, to get a towel and return directly to it. ([One-wall 2.1(c)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/2.1/c.md))
- **Who checks that towels are available?** The referee’s pre-match duties include checking on the availability and suitability of all materials necessary for the match, such as handballs, towels, scorecard, pencils and a timepiece. ([One-wall 3.4(a)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/3.4/a.md))
- **What if a player takes too long wiping the court?** The referee may ask for the towel to be returned and restart play, and abuse of the procedure may be a technical. ([One-wall 2.1(c)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/2.1/c.md))

## Where it shows up

- [One-wall · Rule 2.1 Courts](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/2.1.md): c
- [One-wall · Rule 3.4 Referee](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/one-wall/3.4.md): a
- [Four-wall · Rule 2.1 Courts](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/four-wall/2.1.md): c
- [Four-wall · Rule 3.4 Referee](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rules/four-wall/3.4.md): a

## Related

- [Gloves](https://handball.theperfectship.com/gloves.md)
- [Uniform](https://handball.theperfectship.com/uniform.md)
- [Time-out](https://handball.theperfectship.com/time-out.md)
- [Referee](https://handball.theperfectship.com/match-referee.md)

## Ref questions

- [All Equipment questions (7)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/referee/equipment.md)

Rules text: United States Handball Association, used with written permission — https://www.ushandball.org/