A Little Refresher on the Rules

Pat Zwloenski sent this to most of us and I thought it was worth posting for everyone to see. We all know the rules - but these may be a couple that we forget when we bring in new players. Thanks for sending this Pat!

The latest Rules are found at the following cite: http://www.usapa.org/officialrules/pbrules.html

Among the rules of interest to me were:

Serve Under hand defined: Rule 4.A. 1. "Arm must be moving in an upward arc and the paddle head shall be below the wrist when it strikes the ball.

Rule 4.D.Serves foot fault:
"When the ball is struck the servers feet shall not:
1. touch outside the extension of the outside lines;
2. touch outside the extension of the center line
3. touch the court, including the baseline.( notice this says "when the ball is struck" it appears that after the ball is struck, your momentum can carry you into the court. He is absolutely right!! Once you hit the ball you can move inside the line - but most players know that to stay back after the serve is the best practice.

Non-volley Rules that clarify my erroneous prior understanding: Most of us refer to the non-volley area as "The Kitchen". Rule 9.C. " momentum carries hitting player into the "kitchen" even after the ball is dead(bounces twice on opponents side.)
I always thought that once the ball hit twice on the opponents side you could let go and fall into the kitchen. Rule clearly say "No".Simply can not fall into "zone" even after the ball is dead.
Rule 9 D. Can't be in the "Zone" jump up after a return ball , hit it in the air and land out side the "zone"(acrobatic ability). Both feet have to be outside the zone , on the ground, prior to hitting a return volley.

Rule 12 J. 2. Hitting ball between top wire of the net and the bottom wire is a fault( ball must go over the net, but this seems in conflict with the following rule:

Rule 12. K. If a ball hit at an angle bounces in to the receiving court and the receiving player can hit it around the post, BELOW the net level into the opponents court, it's GOOD.( what happens if you hit it on the near side of the post, but between the net wires? doesn't sound fair, but...)

(Just think of the space between the top and bottom wire as an extension of the net - may help to better understand the rule)

I didn't note the rule number, but its specifically stated that it is a Fault when your ball hits the POST and bounces into the opponents court. Your fault.

Some very good reminders!