Table Tennis Rules Q & A

Saturday 11th March 2006

Peter Bannister asked:

Greg,

could you clarify what would happen if you were glueing-up and your rubber came off (or part off). Could you replace your bat with a similar one?

I havent had this happen to me yet - but people I know have !!

Cheers
Peter

Greg replies:

Hello Peter,

It's an interesting question - there is nothing in the rules that I can find that deals specifically with the issue of the rubber coming off completely or partly. The rules mainly deal with adhesives in terms of what they can contain, not whether they fully attach the rubber to the blade.

There are still some guidelines which can be applied to this issue though - in the ITTF Handbook for Match Officials, section 7.4 would be relevant.

7.4 Damage

7.4.1 A racket which is legal when a player starts to use it may become damaged to an extent which invalidates its legality by, perhaps, destroying the continuity of the covering or the uniformity of pimples over a significant part of the surface. If a player wishes to continue with a damaged racket and the umpire has any doubt about its continuing legality he should immediately report to the referee.

7.4.2 In deciding whether to allow further use of a damaged racket the referee should consider primarily the interests of the opponent. The ball is likely to rebound unpredictably from a damaged surface and this could cause difficulties for both players, although the player who wishes to use the racket has implicitly accepted this risk. Therefore, unless the damage is trivial, it is generally better for the racket to be replaced.

In my own opinion, I find it hard to see how a player would benefit from using a racket that has rubber partly coming off, or even that has rubber that is glued around the edges and has no glue in the middle. The big question is how unpredictable would this be to the opponent? Hard to say really.

In general, if a player's rubber came off or partly off, I think almost all referees would agree that the racket is damaged and allow the player to use a replacement. Note that the rubber must come off accidentally though, according to section 7.3.3 of the Handbook. No good peeling off the rubber on purpose because you don't like your glue job and want to go to your backup bat!

7.3.3 A player is not allowed to change a racket during a match unless it is accidentally damaged so badly that it cannot be used. If it is discovered that a player has changed an undamaged racket the umpire should immediately suspend play and report to the referee, who may disqualify the player.

However, I also think that if a player really wished to continue with a racket that has part of the rubber loose (perhaps he does not have a replacement bat?), he could mount a valid argument that the rubber is still attached and he should be allowed to continue with that bat. The referee could argue that the amount of attachment has changed since the start of the match, and thus the racket is damaged though. A tough call either way - how attached is attached? All or nothing or a percentage in between? Don't even ask me about what should happen if the rubber is partly off before the match starts - I don't want to think about it! Perhaps the ITTF should include some guidance on this matter, just in case?

Another interesting question would be if the blade was coloured correctly under the rubber, and the rubber came off completely - would a player be allowed to continue with the same bat? If so, is the bat considered damaged since he is still allowed to use it? And in this case, how can a bat be considered damaged when the rubber is partly off, but not damaged when the rubber is completely off? (My head is starting to hurt about now!)

Best regards,

Greg Letts 16th March 2006

Copyright Greg Letts 2006