Take the Rules Quiz!
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: Have Hock Racket Rubber been taken off the approved ITTF or USATT list?

-submitted by Carl Golden on Sept 11, 1996

A: As a matter of fact, Hock Racket Rubber hasn't been taken off the USATT list. At least this was the state of affairs at the US Open in Florida this Spring. But there is an overwhelming opposition in the TT community, including many umpires - not excluding Your Friendly Umpire - to the legality of the rubber, since the rubber does not carry the ITTF logo. Thus, the rubber is illegal outside the US. However, the company paid to the USATT some fee for the approval of the rubber, as Your Friendly Umpire was told at the US Open in Florida, so we have to wait and see... Have fun with or without the Hock rubber.

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