PING PONG TABLE TENNIS

Table tennis equipment

Balls

Ping-pong balls can be purchased from many sports stores, although most clubs will purchase them from table tennis dealers. Balls of 40mm diameter are now used, so be careful that you aren't playing with any old 38mm balls that you might have had lying around for years!

Table

The table is 2.74 m (9 ft) long, 1.525 m (5 ft) wide, and 76 cm (30 inch) high with any continuous material so long as the table yields a uniform bounce of about 23 cm when a standard ball is dropped onto it from a height of 30 cm

Racket

Players are equipped with a laminated wooden racket covered with rubber on one or two sides depending on the grip of the player. The official ITTF term is "racket", though "bat" is common in Britain, and "paddle" in the U.S.

Table tennis, also known as ping pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, players must allow a ball played toward them only one bounce on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side. Points are scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage. When doing so the hitter has a good chance of scoring if the spin is successful.