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Paul Kovac	See if you can Stump the Ump... E-mail questions to Paul Kovac - your friendly on-line USATT umpire. Please note: Questions which have answers that are easily found by consulting the rules may not merit a reply.

Q: If a player makes a return and the ball strikes the outermost edge of his opponent's side of the table, and leaves the edge in a downward direction (because it only "brushes" the table, is it a good return? Or does the ball have to bounce in an upward direction for for the return to be legal?

- submitted by Marc Johnson

A: The ball does not have to bounce in the upward direction to be considered a good stroke. The rule is written with the assumption that every match has a qualified umpire at the table. He/she decides the legality of everything what happens during play. When there is no umpire at the table, the players control the legality of play. They are expected to do that to the best of their knowledge of the rule while observing common sense, respect of the opponent, fair play and sportsmanship. The rule does not say anything about which way the ball has to bounce. The rule only makes a distinction between the playing surface and the side of the playing surface. Edges count as playing surface regardless which direction the ball bounces, which depends on the direction and the angle of the incoming ball.

A careful eye of the umpire, when he/she is on the same side of the table, should be able to tell whether the ball hit the edge or the side, and his/her decision counts. With only one umpire at the table, he/she can not resolve with absolute certainty disputes regarding situations of the above-described nature when they happen on the other side of the table. In that case the umpire must rely on the help from the player who is closer to the situation. Again, fair play and sportsmanship come into play. As a last resort, in a (hopefully) rare case when the two players/teams can not agree, to avoid unproductive arguing and insure the continuity of play, a reasonable umpire would call a let.

- answered by Paul Kovac - your friendly on-line USATT umpire