Act of volleying for contacted items or partners

9.B.1. The act of volleying begins when the ball is struck out of the air before bouncing (volleyed) and ends when the player’s movement from the follow-through action (momentum) stops. For anything contacted during the act of volleying, act of volleying ends when its act of volleying imparted motion ends.

9.B.1. The act of volleying begins when the ball is struck out of the air before bouncing (volleyed) and ends when the player’s movement from the follow-through action (momentum) stops.

The "two become one" concept is not well defined. For contacted items or partners, current 9.B. can be read as contacted items either having potential to cause faults only during the player's own act of volleying, or having no defined endpoint at all. Once imparted with motion from the volley, contacted items are treated separately from the momentum of the one making the volley. The rule verbiage should reflect this, so players can know the point in time after which they, and any contacted item or partner, may make contact with the NVZ without causing a fault.

1) Player A1 volleys a ball from the baseline and loses his grip on the paddle. He comes to a stop, his act of volleying completed. However, his paddle continues forward and slides into the NVZ. (Current 9.B./9.B.1. rules specify two possible outcomes; no fault, or no endpoint to his paddle touching the NVZ throughout the rally without fault. Revised 9.B.1. would clarify that the paddle touching NVZ only from volley-induced motion would cause a fault, even if the volleyer's own momentum had ended).

2) A1 leaps backwards to volley but pushes A2. A1's act of volleying ends, but afterwards, A2 steps in the NVZ from the push. Fault.

3) As A1 volleys, his hat falls off and comes to rest on the court. The wind blows it into the NVZ. No fault, since the hat's volley-induced motion had ended prior to NVZ contact. (Current 9.B.1. has this either a fault, or dependent on whether A1's momentum had ended.)