Hitting my table edge first

Ian Hutchison Asked 3 months ago

The other day I hit a half-long ball from below the table, plenty of topspin, it caught the edge of the table on my side, carried on up & forward & fell just short on my side of the net. If it had landed on my opponent's side, would that have been legal?

Alois Rosario Answered 3 months ago

Hi Ian,

It sounds like you managed to generate a lot of topspin — enough for the ball to bounce on your side and still travel back toward your opponent.

However, in a normal rally, once the ball has bounced on your side of the table, the point is over unless it’s your own serve. So even if the ball had spun up and landed on your opponent’s side, it would not have been a legal shot. The rules state that during a rally, the ball must pass over (or around) the net and land directly on your opponent’s side without first bouncing on yours.