Be Player-Friendly

I personally would recommend that even non-playing officials should still be friendly to the players, but not familiar - there is a big difference. A friendly relationship between you and the players will help smooth over any little mistakes you make (and you will make them!), as the players will cut you more slack.

Just make sure that you are equally friendly to both sides to avoid any claims of bias. Don't be afraid of calling faults for illegal serves or making the hard calls, just make the call, explain why in a firm voice, and don't argue about it. If anyone is unhappy call for the referee.

Use Your Common Sense

If you are a fellow player that is umpiring, ask the players for a little slack and suggest a reasonable solution to any problem. If the problem is about a question of fact, such as net ball on service or an edge/side ball that you are 50/50 about, playing a let is a reasonable compromise. If this is not acceptable to both players, make your best guess and stick to it - it is up to you in the end anyway.

If the problem is regarding rule interpretation, don't be afraid to say that you don't know and call in the referee - that is what he is there for. If the referee is unavailable, suggest a reasonable compromise and see if you can get both players to agree to it. If not, you had better wait for the referee to make a ruling. If there is no referee at all - take it to the tournament organizers and let them sort it out. If you are just playing casual games or club games, tell both players to that you are the umpire and you'll make the decisions, and if they don't like it they are welcome to find somebody else.

Other common sense actions to take as an umpire include:

• Write down the score immediately after each game, it's surprising how easy it is to forget!

• If one of the players calls a let on service, in general go with his call. Most players are pretty fair about this. If any player is doing it consistently and his opponent is getting agitated about his calls, warn both players that in future you will make the judgements on let serves, and to play until they hear your call.

• If umpiring doubles, stand up if you can - it will make calling the center-line [links url=/od/glossary/g/fault.htm]service faults[/link] much easier.

• On a point of fact such as an edge ball - if both players disagree with a decision of yours, be gracious and accept their advice. I would want to be absolutely 100% certain I was right before I overrode both players.

• If you realize you have made a mistake, admit to it there and then, apologize and correct the situation.

• If another ball comes onto the court of your match, call a let immediately, and then work out whether the point was over or not. Don't wait to see if the point is about to finish.

• If another ball does come over to your court - discourage players from other courts calling lets on your court - you are the umpire and not them. They should be waiting quietly for you to call a let.

• For any disturbance that you think might affect the players - just call a let straight away. It's easier to call the let when you shouldn't have then to ignore the let you should call - at least you have something to justify your let call, even if it wasn't as bad for the players as you thought.

• Check the bats for overhanging rubber, missing pimples, etc. If you are not sure about its legality get the referee. Check that the opponent has no problems with the bat either - that way you are less likely to have complaints halfway through a match, or after one.

Conclusion

Return to Table Tennis - Basic Concepts

• 1
• 2
• 3