I have a serve question.

[Pete]

If I throw the ball up on the toss of my serve but don't make a movement with my playing arm, does this constitute as a serve?

[Amayzde]

If you throw the ball up it counts. Doesnt matter you dont make any arm movement or swing at the ball the point will go to the opponent.

But on amature level most players think when you dont swing at the ball and catch it it doesnt count.

[Pete]

If you throw the ball up it counts. Doesnt matter you dont make any arm movement or swing at the ball the point will go to the opponent.

But on amature level most players think when you dont swing at the ball and catch it it doesnt count.

Thanks for clearing that up, I have seen this happen quite often in the league.

[htfu]

see section 2.06 and 2.10 of the ittf handbook for the official rules :

http://www.ittf.com/ittf_handbook/ittf_hb.html

tldr : the service starts with the ball in the palm of your hand, if you miss or do not hit the ball after you have thrown it up you have not completed the serve and hence you will lose the point. enforcement of the rules will vary ...

[Hamasaki_Fanz]

If you throw the ball up it counts. Doesnt matter you dont make any arm movement or swing at the ball the point will go to the opponent.

But on amature level most players think when you dont swing at the ball and catch it it doesnt count.

this usually happens because there are distraction so he needs to cancel the serve and catch the ball

[JHB]

It's an odd rule that one, isn't it ? I wonder why the rule differs from lawn tennis, and would anyone be that bothered if ITTF changed the rule ?

[htfu]

i reckon it would vary due to tennis being an outside sport where wind could have more of an effect on the ball trajectory during service than table tennis.

[Tinykin]

It's hardly ever a problem in TT especially where the players understand the rules.

[Outerveneer]

It's not legal, I sometimes ask the opponent if i can throw up the ball just to check the light before my first serve in the match. Just to avoid misunderstanding.

[Der_Echte]

What the OP describes is clearly an attempt at a serve, so of course he would lose the point catching the ball if there wasn't a let condition happening.

I would propose an alternate way to test the lighting condition would be to leave the bat on the table far away next to the net and do a couple ball tosses from the serve position.There is NO WAY someone could say that was a serve attempt with a straight face unless they were a sociopath trouble maker on the wrong meds and too many missed meals.