Over reaching? is that officially prohibited?

Question

I used to hit the ball while its coming before it crossess oy side of the net..why should I wait till it cross if I can hit it earlier...would somebody tell the the official or standard rules for this? my big thanks. This usually happens when you are playing doubles

Answer 1

You have to wait until it crosses the net onto your side.

The reason you should wait is because the rules prohibit you from hitting it earlier... so, if you don't wait, you lose the point

Answer 2

Yes it is. You can check the rules at the usta website. Even in other sports, over reaching is not allowed. The only time you're actually allowed to do that in Tennis is during one extremely rare condition: when your opponent returns a shot and it bounces on your side of the court and for some reason(like the wind blows it) it goes back to his side of the court. When this happens, you can reach over the net and hit the ball before it bounces on his side.