in or out
Rules
tim gerg Asked 10 months ago
I know that the centerline is consider in, when serving in doubles, my question is about the overhang of the ball. When the ball hits the table, only a dot of the ball would actually touch the line, if the ball were to actually touch the table 1/4 inch from the centerline, the majority of the ball would overhang the line making it difficult to know if it made actual contact with the table or it was close. Should the overhang be considered or just the very small contact of the table and the ball?
Alois Rosario Answered 10 months ago
Hi Tim,
This is always difficult to tell with the Table Tennis ball.
If any part of the ball is over the line it is usually considered to be in.
Recommended Video
Doubles Serving Rules
In this video we go over the somewhat complicated rules of serving for doubles in table tennis. There are a couple of extra rules for doubles that you don't apply to singles. In doubles you always serve from the right hand box diagonally to your opponent's right hand box. Each player has 2 serves each. If you've just been receiving then it's your turn to serve next.
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tim gerg Posted 10 months ago
It sounds like you are saying that the only part of the ball that actually contacts the line (only a dot) is technically in, but referees usually allow the overhang also? There comes a point though that the overhang is so little that it actually looks out. It seems like it actually ends up being open to a different interpretation of each referee and a spot for disagreement in recreational play. Sorry for the hair splitting question, don't mean to put you in a corner, but this comes up every game.
Hi Tim,
It is actually impossible to tell accurately from the umpires view. I don't see it happening too often in matches that the ball is on part of the line.