Question--reaching over the net.

[jessey]

Regarding the rules of tennis, I've heard one can reach over the net to hit the ball if necessary. Is that true? If so, what counts as necessary?

For example, I'm at the net and see a moonball falling seemingly onto the net, can I reach over and hit the ball in case it bounces up the tape and into my side of the court?

 

[Hokiez]

No. You can only reach over the net if the ball has already bounced on your side. For example, if that moonball had a lot of backspin, landed just on your side and the spin caused it bounce back onto your opponents side, you could then reach over the net to hit the ball.

 

[WildVolley]

Hokiez is correct.

If you see the moonball falling, you can't contact it on the opponent's side of the net. If it crosses over to your side, however, you can take it out of the air with a swinging volley in which you finish over on the opponent's side of the net (as long as you don't touch the net in the process). These are the shots that I see causing the most controversy in doubles. Opponents might dispute that you didn't wait until the ball crossed that imaginary plane.

 

[jessey]

thanks guys, that was really helpful!

 

[mozzer]

You can even run around the net to their side i believe!

 

[fuzz nation]

This is a good rule to be familiar with and I'm actually checking it right now.

You may eventually run into someone who tries to call you for reaching over the net, but I believe that in our unofficiated matches, we have to call this on ourselves the same way that we would concede a point for touching a ball with our hair, clothing, etc. or even just barely brushing it with our racquet as we let it go and land out.

...Looked over my little rule book and although the official rules don't specify who makes this call, the Code asserts that a player calls this on himself or herself. In general, we make calls on what happens on our side of the net, so this makes sense to me. Apparently an opponent is only right to ask you if you're sure you didn't reach over the net, touch a ball that you let go by, etc. in the same way that they might ask if you're sure about a line call.

 

[WildVolley]

You can even run around the net to their side i believe!

Careful. You can't step in their court until after the point is over.

In theory you could jump over the net to hit a ball that has spun back over, but you'd have to put the ball out of play before you land or else your opponent would get the point.