Question: Is it a Fault if the Ball Sticks to Your Hand When You Serve in Ping-Pong?
At comp the other day...It was fairly hot and my hands were sweating...and 3 times it did not leave my hand after I had made my usual throwing movement.
The opposition wanted to score a point against me but I maintained that according to the rules, the ball is in play after it leaves the hand...well my ball did not leave my hand so it was not in play...also I had not made a swing at the ball.
The rule also mentions about making an attempt to throw the ball...however it does not have any rule for "ball stuck to palm of hand"...ie did not leave the palm, hence satisfying one of the rules.
Who is right?
Answer: For my money, the relevant ITTF Law for this situation is this one:
2.6.1 Service shall start with the ball resting freely on the open palm of the server's stationary free hand.
If the ball sticks to your hand when serving and you are unable to toss it up, then it could not have been resting freely on your open palm - because if it was resting freely it wouldn't have stuck!
In my opinion, this means that the service has not really started yet, because the very first condition has not been met - it is not resting freely on your palm. As the umpire, if your palm is open and your hand is stationary, I would not penalize you for having the ball stick to your palm. Also, Point 9.4 of the ITTF Handbook for Match Officials states
It is essential to understand when the ball is considered as being "in play" because it is only during this time that a point, other than a penalty point, can be scored. The ball is in play from the last instant at which it is stationary on the palm of the server's free hand before being intentionally projected in service, and until the server has taken this action this instant is not defined.
The above regulation also confirms that the ball is not in play until it has been intentionally projected in service. So if the darn ball is stuck to your hand, it hasn't been projected, so the ball is not yet in play, in my opinion. And since a point can only be scored when the ball is in play (apart from penalty points for misbehavior etc.), I don't see how you can lose a point through a fault call.
BUT
Other umpires might argue that if your palm is not open and you serve, that is a fault, so by the same logic, if the ball is not resting freely and you try to serve, that is a fault as well. They would argue that is up to the player to make sure the ball is resting freely and not stuck. Personally, I feel that that is a harsh interpretation of the rules (after all, the ball is supposed to be at rest, so how are you supposed to know if it's stuck or not?), but I could see a case to be made for this point of view, although I would not support it myself.
