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Table Tennis

Table tennis is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth with 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. A skilled player can impart several varieties of spin to the ball, altering its trajectory and limiting an opponent's options to great advantage.

The game is controlled by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), founded in 1926. Since 1988, table tennis has been an Olympic sport which includes four events. From 1988 until 2004, the events were men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008 the doubles have been replaced by the team events (Beijing was the first time where table tennis had an Olympic team event).

General Description
The game is played with two or four players hitting a ball with rackets back and forth to each other on a table, in a manner similar to tennis. The rules are slightly different, but the concept is very similar. In singles play, the serve is not required to cross from the server's right-hand court to the receiver's right-hand court (or left to left) as it is in tennis. However, serving across is required in doubles play. Ball spin, speed, placement, strategy and tactics play an important part in competitive table tennis matches. The speed of the ball can vary from slow serves with much spin to smashes that travel as fast as 112.5 kilometers per hour (70 mph).

The game is played on a 274 cm × 152.5 cm × 76 cm high (9 ft × 5 ft × 30 inches high) table. The International Table Tennis Federation requires a total playing area not less than 14 m long, 7 m wide and 5 m high for competitions. No limitations in size or shape are specified. You cannot win on a let. It is counted as a redo.

Modern rackets are usually covered with a thin layer of rubber on the racket's striking surface. The rubber may have pimples pointing outwards or inwards, as well as a thin layer of sponge between the wood center and the rubber surface. Since spin plays a large role in the modern sport of table tennis, the composition of the rubber and the combination of sponge and rubber is designed to maximize the amount of spin and speed a player can impart onto the ball. Other technological improvements include the use of carbon or other synthetic layers as part of the blade to increase the size of the sweet spot or the stiffness of the blade.

The ball used in table tennis has a diameter of 40 mm (formerly 38 mm), is made of celluloid, and is hollow. A three star rating on a ball usually implies a top quality ball, in relation to its bounce, roundness and their respective consistency between balls of the same make and type.

The winner is the first to score 11 points or more while being ahead by 2 points or more. Players alternate serves every two points. At 10-10 (or deuce) the players alternate with every serve; the winner is then the first person to gain a two point advantage over his opponent. The 11 point game is an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) change which occurred in 2001. Previously, the first player to gain 21 points (except in case of a deuce, handled as described above) won the game. All games played at national level and at international tournaments (ITTF) are now played to 11 points in either a best of five games (preliminaries) or best of seven games format (championship matches).

History
The game originated in England. It was played amongst upper class Victorians as an after dinner entertainment activity, commonly known then as "wiff-waff". A row of books were to be stood up along the center of the table as a net, two more books served as rackets and were used to continuously hit a golf-ball from one end of the table to the other. Eventually, table tennis evolved into the modern game in Europe and the United States. The popularity of the game led game manufacturers to sell the equipment commercially. Early rackets were often pieces of parchment stretched upon a frame, and the sound generated in play gave the game its first nicknames of "wiff-waff" and "Ping-pong". A number of sources indicate that the game was first brought to the attention of Hamley's of Regent Street under the name "Gossima". The name "ping-pong" was in wide use before English manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked it in 1901. The name "Ping-Pong" then came to be used for the game played by the rather expensive Jaquesses equipment, with other manufacturers calling theirs table tennis. A similar situation arose in the United States, where Jaques sold the rights to the "Ping-Pong" name to Parker Brothers.

The next major innovation was by James Gibb an English enthusiast of table tennis, who discovered novelty celluloid balls on a trip to the U.S. in 1901 and found them to be ideal for the game. This was followed by E. C. Goode who in 1901 invented the modern version of the racket by fixing a sheet of pimpled, or stippled, rubber to the wooden blade. Table tennis was growing in popularity by 1901 when table tennis tournaments were being organized, books on table tennis were being written, and an unofficial world championship was held in 1902. During the early 20th century the game was banned in Russia due to a belief that was held by the rulers at the time that playing the game had an adverse effect on players' eyesight. In 1921, the Table Tennis Association was founded in England, and the International Table Tennis Federation followed in 1926. London hosted the first official world championship in 1927. Table tennis was introduced as an Olympic sport at the Olympics in 1988.

In the 1950s rackets that used a rubber sheet combined with an underlying sponge layer changed the game dramatically, introducing greater spin and speed. These were introduced to England by the sports goods manufacturers S.W. Hancock Ltd. The use of speed glue increased the spin and speed even further, resulting in changes to the equipment to "slow the game down".

Toward the end of 2000, the ITTF instituted several rules changes aimed at making table tennis more viable as a televised spectator sport. First, the older 38 mm (1.5 inch) balls were officially replaced by 40mm balls. This increased the ball's air resistance and effectively slowed down the game. By that time, players had begun increasing the thickness of the fast sponge layer on their rackets, which made the game excessively fast, and difficult to watch on television. Secondly, the ITTF changed from a 21 to an 11-point scoring system. This was intended to make games more fast-paced and exciting. The ITTF also changed the rules on service to prevent a player from hiding the ball during service, in order to increase the average length of rallies and to reduce the server's advantage. Variants of the sport have emerged. "Large-ball" table tennis uses a 44 mm ball which slows down the game significantly. This has seen some acceptance by players who have a hard time with the extreme spins and speeds of the 40mm game. The ball's mass is 2.47 grams.

There is a move towards reviving the table tennis game that existed prior to the introduction of sponge rubber. Classic table tennis like Liha or "hardbat" table tennis players reject the speed and spin of reversed sponge rubber, preferring the 1940-60s play style, with no-sponge, short-pimpled rubber equipment, when defense is less difficult by decreasing the speed and eliminating any meaningful magnus effect of spin. Because hardbat killer shots are almost impossible to hit against a skilled player, hardbat matches focus on the strategic side of table tennis, requiring skillful maneuvering of the opponent before an attack can be successful.

Equipment
» Ball
The international rules specify that the game is played with a light 2.7 gram, 40 mm diameter ball. Generally, it is the most-used ball. The rules say that the ball shall bounce up 23 cm when dropped from a height of 30 cm thereby having a coefficient of restitution of 0.88. The 40 mm ball was introduced after the 2000 Olympic Games. However, this created some controversy as the Chinese National Team argued that this was merely to give non-Chinese players a better chance of winning[citation needed]. A 40 mm table tennis ball is slower and spins less than a 38 mm one. The ball is made of a high-bouncing gas-filled celluloid, colored white or orange, with a matte finish. The choice of ball color is made according to the table color and its surroundings. For example, a white ball is easier to see on a green or blue table than it is on a grey table. Stars on the ball indicate the quality of the ball. 3 stars indicates that it is of the highest quality, and is used in official competitions.

• The volume is 32000p/3; approx. 33510 mm³
• The surface area is 1600p; approx. 5027 mm²
. The circumference is 40p; approx. 126 mm

• Allowing the ball to bounce on one's own side more than once.
• Double hitting the ball. Note that the hand above the wrist is considered part of the racket and making a good return off one's hand or fingers on the racket-holding hand is allowed, but hitting one's hand or fingers and subsequently hitting the racket is a double strike and an error.
• Allowing the ball to strike anything other than the racket (see above for definition of the racket)
• Causing the ball not to bounce on the opponent's half (i.e., not making a "good" return)
• Placing one's free hand on the playing surface or moving the playing surface
• Offering and failing to make a good serve (i.e., making a service toss and failing to strike the ball fairly into play)
• Making an illegal serve: (e.g., one preceded by a player's hiding the ball or his failing to toss the ball at least 16 centimeters (six inches) in the air).
• Hitting the net with racket or any body part.
• By volleying the ball (not allowing the ball to bounce on your side)
• The ball is considered out of bounds if: It touches a wall, ceiling, the opponent's body, or is stopped by any outside force except the opponents racket.

Penhold

The penhold grip is so-named because one grips the racket similarly to the way one holds a writing instrument. The style of play among penhold players can vary greatly from player to player. The most popular style, usually referred to as the Chinese penhold style, involves curling the middle, ring, and fourth finger on the back of the blade. The amount of curl in the fingers can vary from clenched, to almost perfectly straight. The three fingers however, will always remain touching one another. Chinese penholders favour a round racket head, for a more over-the-table style of play. In contrast, another style, sometimes referred to as the Korean or Japanese penhold grip, involves splaying those three fingers out across the back of the racket, usually with all three fingers touching the back of the racket, rather than stacked upon one another. Korean/Japanese penholders will often use a square-headed racket for an away-from-the-table style of play. Traditionally these square-headed rackets feature a block of cork on top of the handle, as well as a thin layer of cork on the back of the racket, for increased grip and comfort. Penhold styles are popular among players originating from East Asian regions such as China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.
Traditionally, penhold players use only one side of the racket to hit the ball during normal play. The side which is in contact with the last three fingers is generally not used. However, the Chinese have developed a new technique in which a penholder utilizes both sides of the racket. This is referred to as the Reverse penhold backhand (RPB) where the player produces a stroke (most often topspin) by turning the traditional side of the racket to face him or herself, and swinging, with a backhand motion, using the opposite side of the racket. This stroke has greatly improved and strengthened the penhold style both physically and psychologically, as it eliminates the strategical weakness of the traditional penhold backhand.

Shakehand

The shakehand grip is so-named because one grips the racket similarly to the way one performs a handshake. The grip is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "tennis grip" or a "Western grip," although it has no correlation to the Western grip used in Tennis. The shakehand grip is most popular among players originating in Western nations and South Asian nations, for example. Today, though, there are many Asian players using the shakehand grip. This is due to the increasingly fast nature of the game, making the backhand stroke more prevalent, a stroke which is difficult to execute consistently at a high standard when using the penhold grip.

Speed Drive

These strokes differ to ones from other racket sports like tennis. The racket is primarily perpendicular to the direction of the stroke, and most of the energy applied to the ball results in speed rather than spin, creating a shot that does not arc much, but is fast enough that it can be difficult to return. A speed drive is used mostly for keeping the ball in play, applying pressure on the opponent and potentially opening up an opportunity for a more powerful attack.

Loop Drive

Essentially the reverse of the speed drive. The racket is much more parallel to the direction of the stroke ("closed") and the racket thus grazes the ball, resulting in a large amount of topspin. A good loop drive will arc quite a bit, and once striking the opponent's side of the table will jump forward, much like a kick serve in tennis. Returning a loop drive may not be as difficult to return as a speed drive; however, because of its topspin, it is more likely to rebound off the opponent's racket at a very high angle, setting up an easy smash (described below) on the follow up. As the loop drive requires a lot of topspin, players generally use their entire body to generate the movement required. Variations in spin and speed add to the effectiveness of this shot. Chinese players categorize loop-drives in 3 variations based on trajectories:

1. The "Loop"
   The "Loop" produces a more pronounced loopy arc, with a higher trajectory and extreme topspin, but is typically slower.
2. The "Loop Kill" ("Rush" in China)
   The "Loop Kill" produces a flatter arc, with higher speed that resembles a speed drive but with stronger topspin, typically used for replacing speed drive or smash in "put-away" situations.
3. The "Hook"
   Similar to a regular Loop, but carries a tilted topspin (or is referred as the "top-side" spin), it bounces sideways and downward upon hitting the table. Similar to but stronger than the defensive "side-drive" described below.

Counter Drive

Usually a counter attack against drives (normally high loop drives). You have to close the racket and stay close to the ball (try to predict its path). The racket is held closed and near to the ball, which is hit with a short movement "off the bounce" (before reaching the highest point) so that the ball travels faster to the other side. If performed correctly, a well-timed, accurate counter-drive can be as effective as a smash.

Flip (or Flick in Europe)

When a player tries to attack a ball that has not bounced beyond the edge of the table, he/she does not have the room to wind up in a backswing. The ball may still be attacked, however, and the resulting shot is called flip because the backswing is compressed into a quick wrist action. A flip is not a single stroke and can resemble either a drive or a loop in its characteristics. What identifies the stroke is instead whether the backswing is compressed into a short wrist flick.

Smash

The offensive trump card in table tennis. A player will typically execute a smash when his or her opponent has returned a ball that bounces too high and/or too close to the net. Smashing is essentially self-explanatory - large backswing and rapid acceleration imparting as much speed on the ball as possible. The goal of a smash is to get the ball to move so quickly that the opponent simply cannot return it. Because the ball speed is the main aim of this shot, often the spin on the ball is something other than topspin. Sidespin can be used effectively with a smash to alter the ball's trajectory significantly, although most intermediate players will smash the ball with little or no spin. An offensive table-tennis player will think of a rally as a build-up to a winning smash; only a calculated series of smashes can guarantee a point against a good opponent. However, most players will be able to return at most one or two smashes consistently. Provided that the opponent is not too close to the table or too far away from the ball, a smash can be lobbed, chopped, blocked or even counter-looped, albeit with some difficulty. A player who smashes generally works out a series of smashes (and possibly drop-shots) to rush the opponent out of position, put him off balance, or both. Smashers who fail to do this find it difficult to win a point against an excellent defense.

Push (or Slice in Asia)

The push is usually used for keeping the point alive and creating offensive opportunities. A push resembles a tennis slice: the racket cuts underneath the ball, imparting backspin and causing the ball to float slowly to the other side of the table. While not obvious, a push can be difficult to attack because the backspin on the ball causes it to drop toward the table upon striking the opponent's racket. In order to attack a push, a player must usually loop the ball back over the net. Often, the best option for beginners is to simply push the ball back again, resulting in pushing rallies. For good players it may be the worst option because the opponent will counter with a loop, putting you in a defensive position from which most likely you will lose, unless you are a good chopper. Another option to pushing is to flip the ball when it is close to the net. Pushing can have advantages in some circumstances. Players should only push when their opponent makes easy mistakes. Offensive players should only push for variation and not for general rallies. A push can easily be counter-looped into the opposite corner if it is not short enough. The goal of most player's pushes is to make the ball land too short to be attacked, rather than attempting to over-spin the opponent.

Chop

A chop or cut is the defensive, backspin counterpart to the offensive loop drive. A chop is essentially a bigger, heavier slice, taken well back from the table. The racket face points primarily horizontally, perhaps a little bit upward, and the direction of the stroke is straight down. The object of a defensive chop is to match the topspin of the opponent's shot with your own backspin. A good chop will float nearly horizontally back to the table, in some cases having so much backspin that the ball actually rises. A chop such as this can be extremely difficult to return due to the enormous amount of backspin. Sometimes a defensive player can impart no spin on the ball during a chop, or frequently add right- or left-hand spin to the ball. This may further confuse his/her opponent. Chops are difficult to execute, but are devastating when completed properly because it takes a tremendous amount of topspin on a loop drive to return the ball back over the net.

Block

The block or short is a simple shot, barely worthy of being called a "stroke," but nonetheless can be devastating against an attacking opponent. A block is executed by simply putting the racket in front of the ball - the ball rebounds back toward the opponent with nearly as much energy as it came in with. This is not as easy as it sounds, because the ball's spin, speed, and location all influence the correct angle of a block. It is very possible for an opponent to execute a perfect loop, drive, or smash, only to have the blocked shot come back at him just as fast. Due to the power involved in offensive strokes, often an opponent simply cannot recover quickly enough, and will be unable to return his own shot blocked back to him/her. Blocks almost always produce the same spin as was received, which is almost always topspin.

Push-Block

High level players may use what is called push block or active block, adding speed to the ball (with a small topspin movement). When playing in the Penhold Grip, many players use push blocks when being pressured on the backhand. Chinese pen-hold players refer to it as a push-block as they literally "push" their backhand forward, instead of simply blocking it.

Kill Spin

Kill spin is a new shot that is played only when the ball bounces low just on the other side of the net. To play the shot, you must stand at the side of the table, open your bat angle, and bend your arm, then, you as lightly and as softly as possible just touch the ball over the net and bring your bat back slightly. This creates a lot of back spin in an extremely light shot which results in the ball just trickling over the net and bouncing many times, making it almost impossible for your opponent to hit it back.

Side Drive

This spin shot is alternately used as a defensive and offensive maneuver. The premise of this move is to put a spin on the ball either to the right or the left of the racket. The execution of this move is similar to a slice, but to the right or left instead of down. This spin will result in the ball curving to the side but bouncing in the opposite direction when the opponent returns it. Do not attempt a right-side spin (moving your arm to the right when hitting the ball) when too close to the left side of the table, and vice versa. To return, simply execute the same sided spin as your opponent just gave you.

Lob

The defensive High Ball or Lob is possibly the visually most impressive shot in the sport of table tennis, and it is deceptive in its simplicity. To execute a High Ball, a defensive player first backs off the table 4-6 meters; then, the stroke itself consists of simply lifting the ball to an enormous height before it falls back to the opponent's side of the table. A High Ball is inherently a creative shot, and can have nearly any kind of spin you can imagine. Top quality players use this fact to their advantage in order to control the spin of the ball. For instance, though the opponent may smash the ball hard and fast, a good defensive Lob could be more difficult to return due to the unpredictability (and heavy amounts) of the spin on the ball. Thus, though backed off the table by tens of feet and apparently running and leaping just to reach the ball, a good defensive player can still win the point using good High Balls. However, most of the time one will lose the point so it is not recommended unless it is really necessary.

Drop Shot

The drop shot is a high level stroke, used as another variation for close-to-table strokes (like harai and slice). You have to position the racket close to the ball and just let the ball touch it (without any hand movement) in a way that the ball stays close to the net with almost no speed and spin and touches the other side of the table more than twice if the opponent doesn't reach it. This stroke should be used when opponents are far from the table and not prepared to get close to the table. This technique is most usually done by pen-holders and players who use long or short pimples. A very deceiving technique, this could result in the opponent failing to reach the ball after misjudging the distance of the ball. A perfectly executed stroke after a topspin sequence can win a point.

Top Spin

This is a spin shot that can be used as a powerful spike or just getting the ball on the other person side of the table. To do this shot you must slightly touch the top of the ball with the racket. This is a very easy shot to do, but may require a bit of practice.

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