Question: In Table Tennis, Is Your Serve Allowed to Bounce Twice on Your Opponent's Court?
- I was always under the assumption that the serve had to strike my opponent's end of the table only once. If it bounced twice, it was a loss of point. I've also played the serve as needing to be hit the length of the table, not at a serious angle. It's probably the same false concept: Since we didn't think the ball could bounce twice on the receiver's end, we also extrapolated that to the angles, since going so short on the serve would've resulted in two bounces if hit straight ahead.
- Also, can you serve as far to the outside of the table as long as you're behind the imaginary service line?
Larry
Answer: Hi Larry,
Thanks for your questions - here are my answers:
- The serve can bounce more than one time on your opponent's side of the table. Serious angles are allowed as well. You may be thinking of the laws for serving to a receiver in a wheelchair, which are slightly different, and which state that the point is a let:
2.9.1.5 if the receiver is in wheelchair due to a physical disability and the ball
2.9.1.5.1 leaves the receiver’s half after touching it in the direction of the net;
2.9.1.5.2 comes to rest on the receiver's half;
2.9.1.5.3 in singles leaves the receiver’s half after touching it by either of its sidelines - Yes, you can serve far outside the sidelines of the table, provided the ball is behind the endline of the table, according to Law 2.6.4, which states:
From the start of service until it is struck, the ball shall be above the level of the playing surface and behind the server's end line, and it shall not be hidden from the receiver by the server or his doubles partner and by anything they wear or carry.So it is perfectly legal to serve from way outside the sidelines of the table, provided the ball remains behind the endline at the start of the serve. In practice, this is not done very often since it can put the server out of position for the rest of the rally.
