Many of us have heard the offensive player call "Out?" "Screen?" "Short?" "Hinder?" or "Block?" as a question to the referee and then hit the ball back to the wall, sometimes only half-heartedly, which practically brings the rally to a standstill. Of course, the opponent is taken aback and may or may not hit the next shot with full intention.

Sometimes the referee will stop play and call a replay, sometimes he will agree with the player who made the request and sometimes he will disallow the appeal and let the play stand. Should this be called an avoidable under Rule 4.8 F Distraction?

Well, it doesn t quite fit, since the rule and its interpretation refer only to distraction while the opponent is playing the ball. Clearly, this situation occurs when the offending player is on offense, but it's still a distraction that affects the opponent. In doubles, the rulebook allows teammates to talk to each other when it is their turn to hit the ball. However, this does not include appealing a call or asking for a hinder. This talking may affect the opponents and their ability to play the rally.

We prefer to treat this situation as an appeal, but the rulebook doesn't specifically deal with this type of an appeal. Therefore, the correct way for referees to deal with this is as follows:

Before the game, inform the players as to the calls they are allowed to make, such as wrist balls, backswing hinders, safety holdup and double bounces. Then warn the players that any talking during the rally will stop the play. As such, advise the players that it would be prudent to make any appeal after the rally has ended. If the appeal is not upheld, the appealing player loses the rally.

When a player makes a call during play while it is his or her turn to hit the ball, stop the play and invoke the appeal process. Keep in mind that if the player talks when the opponent is on offense, a distraction avoidable may still be the appropriate call. Also, other calls pertaining to the abuse of the appeal privilege, unsportsmanlike conduct and the like still apply.

Handle the appeal as you would any other. If the player's appeal is upheld, obviously there would be no avoidable call. If there are no linesmen, the referee is on his own to review the call. It's important to remember that hinders are not appealable calls whether there are linesmen or not. Thus, those appeals would not go to the linesmen. Finally, while we don't want referees to be intimidated into changing a call because a player stopped play, referees are able to change a call if it is the fairest thing to do.