Time to serve

Emil Palm Asked 8 years ago

So I've been sitting now and reading the rules for 20 min but can't find it. 
From that you grab the ball and stand by the table how LONG do you have to serve? Like I've seen in some VM/OS matches that the player get a yellow card for "Delaying the serve" and I know there accualy is a timelimit but I can't find it. 
So how long do you accualy have to serve from the moment that you grab the ball and stand by the table. 
(We have some people in our series that stand there for allmost 1 min to serve) That's the reason I ask

Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago

Hi Emil,

There is no actual time limit placed on it but play needs to be continuous.

It is a bit discretionary on the umpire but it is something that the umpires usually get pretty right.  You can tell if a player is just delaying and that is when the umpire needs to step in.

In the Handbook it says that the Umpire is responsible for: maintaining the continuity of play;