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Your smash hits your partner's back. Whose point?
The ball touching your partner is the same as it touching you: point lost.
You smash from behind your partner and the ball clips their shoulder before crossing the net. What happens?
The ball touching your partner is the same as it touching you: point lost.
Why
A ball that touches any player or their clothing ends the point against that player's pair, and that includes your own shot touching your own partner. Smashing through your partner's position is the usual way it happens.
The rest of the reasoning
The tactical point is bigger than the rule: if you are hitting an overhead from behind your partner, they should already have moved to the side and forward, and you should be hitting cross-court, away from them, not down their line.
What this means at your level
Beginner
When your partner is about to hit an overhead behind you, take one step sideways toward the glass. It makes the lane for them.
Intermediate
The overhead from behind your partner goes cross-court by default. Straight down the line is where your partner is standing.
Advanced
The rule works the same for a ball that touches your partner after their own shot: a ball coming back off the glass onto them ends the point too.
Common questions
You smash from behind your partner and the ball clips their shoulder before crossing the net. What happens?
Theirs. It touched a player on your side. The ball touching your partner is the same as it touching you: point lost. A ball that touches any player or their clothing ends the point against that player's pair, and that includes your own shot touching your own partner. Smashing through your partner's position is the usual way it happens. The tactical point is bigger than the rule: if you are hitting an overhead from behind your partner, they should already have moved to the side and forward, and you should be hitting cross-court, away from them, not down their line.
Why not replay it?
No let. Hitting your partner is a point lost, and usually a sign you were hitting from the wrong place.
What should a beginner do here?
When your partner is about to hit an overhead behind you, take one step sideways toward the glass. It makes the lane for them.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The rule works the same for a ball that touches your partner after their own shot: a ball coming back off the glass onto them ends the point too.
What do the rules say?
The point is lost if the ball touches a player of the pair, including a shot struck by their own partner.