Rule Change: Edge Balls out or a let

I don´t see any problems with edge balls and no reason why the rules should be changed. They´re just part of the game. Edge balls happen to everybody the same - so nobody has an advantage or disadvantage by them (and nobody can really do them on purpose). So first a change of the rules wouldn´t change the score and second it would only lead to complications like Alois described.

And also I don´t see a need for apologies. As a beginner I am even surprised at these apologies. I apologize because it seems to be a kind of a habit for table tennis players.

Apologizing for net or edge ball is a kind of sportsmanship. So i dont think that you should not apologize for a net or edge ball

Thanks Alois and others for your comments.

First to Alois, I'm not talking about edge balls the way you described, I'm talking about the obvious ones that nobody disputes. The ones where you're into a rally and both are trying their hardest and one person accidently overplays it and hits the edge causing both players to gasp. I have NEVER seen anybody dispute an OBVIOUS edge ball. The ones you're talking about seem to be already causing controversy so maybe playing the let would stop this??

Thomas, the issue I have with "it's part of the game" is that it's not really part of the game. It happens during a game, yes, just like a ball coming from another table happens in a game. Why don't we keep playing those points instead of calling a let?? It's an unecessary part of the game. I see it as a "conditions of play are disturbed in a way which could affect the outcome of the rally".  I don't see people training to try and hit egdes or anyone training to get back accidental edge shots so why is this 'part of the game'? Your comment of "(and nobody can really do them on purpose)" sort of emphasises this point, doesn't it? Which then brings me to why I always apologise - because I didn't mean it.  Don't you feel bad when you win a point by accident??? Or do you feel good that you got lucky, ie you trained so hard to get a lucky shot?

And I don't think "it happens to everybody the same so nobody has an advantage". If your opponent does it 3 times before you do 1, are you not psychologically at a disadvantage? I don't know you personally but I've read other people on here that it affects, when they've done NOTHING wrong.

I just think that edge balls cause more harm psychologically (leading to bad sportsmanship) than at least playing a let would.

Judging edge balls would lead to a lot of disputes I think. It's already hard enough sometimes to decide if a ball is "in" or "out" when it touches the left of right edge of the table while coming from the outside ("did it touch the corner or the side?" I.e. "was the outgoing angle bigger than the incoming angle?") Now imagine applying this to all the edge balls. Lots of them are obvious, but a good amount of them are really not and bounce just a fraction less than they would have normally. Any long ball oddly bouncing could be called "lets" by more or less honest players. I have a player in my club who puts so much spin on his topspins that they have a deadly low rebound. So any time one of these lands on the white line, it looks like an edge ball. So I'd gladly avoid these situations and rather count on the fairness of lady luck to balance things for both players more or less. I think it's very similar to the "ball hits the finger + the racquet" topic: gives an unfair advantage to the author, but so hard to judge that all in all, we're better off accepting them all.