There have been many rule changes in Table Tennis over the years. One of the latest has been the rule where if the ball is out of play and you volley it you don’t lose the point.

This is a rule that has proved effective at the top level of Table Tennis but at the school and social level it can be a nightmare.

The professional can tell as soon as they hit the ball whether it is going in or out and similarly when the ball has passed over the end line. The novice very often doesn’t know whether the ball has gone over the end line or not and sometimes doesn’t even know that they have volleyed it instead of letting it bounce!

The professional has one or two umpires that can make that decision. The novice doesn’t often have an umpire at the school level or in the garage and if they do they probably have as little judgement as the novice players.

This all points to some interesting arguments and probably the only contentious issue in school level matches and those social games at lunchtime, if the new rule is known at all.

As a result at primary school level I often just revert to the old volleying rule and say that if you hit the ball on the full you lose the point. Saves lots of arguments.

Thankfully the rest of the Table Tennis rules are pretty easy to administer at school level.

Is there a way to make this easier… I am not sure…