GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
What makes a serve legal in table tennis?
A serve starts with the ball resting freely on the server’s open, stationary palm. The server tosses it almost straight upward without adding spin, lets it rise at least 16 centimeters and fall, then strikes it so it bounces on the server’s court before reaching the receiver’s court. Until contact, the ball stays above the playing surface and behind the end line and remains visible to the receiver. As soon as the ball is projected, the server’s free arm and hand must leave the space between the ball and the net. In doubles, the serve travels from the server’s right half to the receiver’s right half. An umpire may relax a requirement when physical disability prevents compliance; the event rules and the official’s observation still matter.
For Players and viewers trying to distinguish a legal table-tennis serve from a service fault. · Updated
Start with an open, still palm
The ball must rest freely on the server’s open free hand, and that hand must be still when the service begins. A ball already moving in the palm or held between fingers does not meet that starting condition.
After release, the toss rises nearly vertically, without a spin imparted by the hand, to at least 16 centimeters. It must then fall without touching something else before the racket strikes it.
Keep the ball visible and clear the serving space
From the start of the service until racket contact, the ball stays above the level of the table and behind the server’s end line. The server, a doubles partner, or something either is wearing or carrying must not hide it from the receiver.
There is a separate free-arm step: as soon as the ball is projected, the server moves the free arm and hand out of the space between the ball and the net. That space includes the area above the net’s height. The umpire or assistant umpire must be able to judge whether the service follows the Laws.
Send the falling ball to the correct court
The server strikes while the ball is falling. It bounces first on the server’s court, then goes directly to the receiver’s court. In doubles, those bounces must be on the right half-courts on both sides.
If an umpire is unsure about a service the first time in a match, the official may stop play and warn the server. A later serve by that player or doubles partner that is still not clearly legal is treated as incorrect. The first warning is not a blanket allowance for repeated unclear serves.
Account for the narrow exception and event rules
The umpire may relax a service requirement when satisfied that a physical disability prevents the player from meeting it. That is an official’s exception for the circumstances, not a general change to the checklist.
These summaries use the ITTF Statutes 2026. Under the Constitution’s Article 55.4 transition, existing instruments apply only so far as they remain compatible and have not been superseded. The competition provisions also allow specified variations, so check the event’s published rules before applying a general explanation to a particular match.
Two hypothetical serves
Suppose fictional player Amina starts with the ball freely on an open, still palm, tosses it 17 centimeters almost straight up without spin, keeps it visible and behind the end line, moves her free arm and hand clear of the ball-to-net space as soon as she releases it, then strikes the falling ball onto her court and directly to the receiver’s court. Those stipulated facts fit the ordinary checklist. Now change one fact: suppose her shirt hides the ball from the receiver before contact. That serve fails the visibility requirement. These examples are fictional and do not decide an actual call; an umpire may relax a requirement when physical disability prevents compliance.
Related questions
Does the server have to move the free arm before or after tossing?
The free arm and hand must be removed from the space between the ball and the net as soon as the ball has been projected. This requirement is separate from keeping the ball visible to the receiver.
What happens after an umpire is unsure whether a serve is legal?
On the first uncertain service in a match, the umpire or assistant umpire may interrupt play and warn the server. A later service by that player or the doubles partner that is not clearly legal is treated as incorrect.