Clarification of 3 Rules

hi, can you clarify these 3 rules for me, thanks.

1. the rule about your free hand not allowed to touch the table - does this mean only your hand or your whole arm or any part of that side of your body?

2. i know you are not allowed to volley in table tennis but what if you are leaned over the table (say just after a short push) and the opponent blasts the ball and it hits you before it could have a chance of hitting your side of the table whos point is that?

3. the rule about the ball not being allowed to hit the side of the table - if it goes over the table and clips finely the edge of the table that is in, but if say you are out wide and hit back around the net and the ball clips the near side of the table but high enough to be called the top edge of the table (hope this makes sense) is that always declared out even if it is high enough to bounce upwards.

thanks.

Hi Andrew,

Here are some answers to the 3 rules questions.

1. Only your free hand is not allowed to touch the table.  So your elbow, forearm etc is allowed to touch the table.

2. If the ball hits you while you are over the table you lose the point.  This is the same if it hits your bat when your bat is over the table.

3. This is a difficult rule to enforce.  The rule is that it is out if it hits the side of the table.  The only time it is an issue is if the ball is hit from outside the line fo the table. After a while you start to be able to tell with the sound of the ball on the table and the way the ball bounces off the table.  Initially, if the ball goes up it may be an edge, but this also depends on how high the ball was when it was hit.