Bug tennis, sometimes called bug ping-pong, is the repeated back-and-forth of a bug report between testers and developers because the problem cannot be reproduced, is poorly described or is disputed. Each side keeps returning the report to the other, and the bug spends more time travelling than being fixed.
Why it matters: Every return trip costs time, attention and goodwill. Bug tennis is a common sign that testing is being done without the skills to isolate a problem and describe it clearly. It slows delivery, frustrates teams and can leave real issues unfixed when people give up and close the report.
In practice: Bug tennis is avoided by writing bug reports that let someone else reproduce the problem easily. That means isolating the issue as far as possible, giving clear steps, the environment and data used, expected and actual results, and evidence such as screenshots, logs or recordings. A quick conversation between tester and developer often settles in minutes what a long comment thread cannot.
Examples:
- A developer marks a report "cannot reproduce", the tester reopens it with "still happens", and the cycle repeats for a week.
- A bug is returned because it does not say which browser or account was used, then returned again because the steps still miss a setting.
- An intern logs vague reports during a testing push, leading to a flood of clarification requests from developers.
Common pitfalls:
- Treating "works on my machine" as the end of the discussion, instead of investigating what differs between the two environments.
- Continuing the exchange in comments when sitting together or sharing a screen would resolve it far faster.
How do you stop bug tennis? Improve the first report so it can be reproduced without questions, and talk directly as soon as a report bounces back once. Agreeing as a team what a good bug report contains also helps.
Is bug tennis a sign of a bad tester or a bad developer? Usually neither. It is more often a sign of unclear reporting, missing information or poor communication between roles.
