Ping-Pong/

Table Tennis
By: Jim Youngman
Equipment

 Two Ping-Pong
Paddles
 Ping-Pong Ball
 Ping Pong Table w/
net (dimensions are
labeled on image
Objective
 To manipulate the ping-pong
ball to score 11 points
 Points are gained for errors
opponent makes
 Missing the ball after it
bounces on one’s side
 Having the ball hit one’s side
twice
 Hitting the ball twice
 Hitting the ball with anything
other than paddle or wrist
 Not causing the ball to
bounce on opponents side
 Placing hand on table or
moving table
Rules
 An initial head toss determines who serves
 Serves must be incepted by a no spin toss that is at least 16cm in the air
 During serves ball is not permitted to touch the net and a let is called (two lets per serve)
 The side of services alternates between odd/even points
 In a professional game each server has two serves, no matter if points are won or lost
 Professional games last until one player has at least 11 points and has a 2 point lead over
opponent
 A series of best of 5 games
Paddle Grip

 Paddle can be
gripped in various
fashions
 The traditional
method is called the
shake hand grip
 However other
methods are more
effective for spins
Styles/Strokes
 Offensive moves
 Speed Drive
 Fast ball hit open paddle
without arc to open
opportunity for smash
 Loop Drive
 Ball is hit at an angle to
create top spin
 Smash
 When ball is hit too high by
opponent close to the net,
player swings with full force
and aims toward the middle
of opponents half
 Defensive moves
 Slice
 Ball is hit at an angle below
the ball to cause backspin
 Chop
 Similar to speed drive
except is used when player
is a few steps behind table
 Lob
 Ball is lofted from below the
table with an upward moving
stroke
Types of Play

 Recreational
 Like professional but
games are played to 21
points and serve
alternates every 5 points
 Doubles
 Same rules of
professional ping-pong
apply but hits must
alternate between players
History/Factoids

 Game originated in
England, and rules
were derived from
tennis
 Became an Olympic
sport in 1988
 China currently
dominates the ping-
pong world
Reference

 http://www.americantabletennis.com/defa
ult.asp?aspxerrorpath=/attplayers.aspx
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping_pong#T
he_ball
 http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-
images/ping-pong.html
 http://www.pongworld.com/more/rules.ph
p