TABLE TENNIS

The game was invented in England in the early days of the 20th century and was originally called
Ping-Pong, a trade name. The name table tennis was adopted in 1921–22 when the old Ping-
Pong Association formed in 1902 was revived. The original association had broken up about
1905, though apparently the game continued to be played in parts of England outside London
and by the 1920s was being played in many countries. Led by representatives of Germany,
Hungary, and England, the Federation International de Tennis de Table (International Table
Tennis Federation) was founded in 1926, the founding members being England, Sweden,
Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Wales. By the mid-1990s more
than 165 national associations were members.
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players
hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small
solid rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve,
the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce once
on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least
once. A point is 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.

HISTORY
The sport originated in Victorian England, where it was played among the upper-class as an
after-dinner parlor game. It has been suggested that makeshift versions of the game were
developed by British military officers in India around the 1860s or 1870s, who brought it back
with them. A row of books 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.
The name “ping-pong” was in wide use before British manufacturer J. Jaquez & Son Ltd
trademarked it in 1901. The name “ping-pong” then came to describe the game played using
the rather expensive Jacques’s equipment, with other manufacturers calling it table tennis. A
similar situation arose in the United States, where Jacques sold the rights to the “ping-pong”
name to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers then enforced its trademark for the term in the
1920s, making the various associations change their names to “table tennis” instead of the
more common, but trademarked, term.
The next major innovation was by James W. Gibb, a British enthusiast of table tennis, who
discovered novelty celluloid balls on a trip to the US 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 to the extent that tournaments were being organized, books
being written on the subject, and an unofficial world championship was held in 1902. In those
early days, the scoring system was the same as in lawn tennis.
Although both a “Table Tennis Association” and a “Ping Pong Association” existed by 1910,
a new Table Tennis Association was founded in 1921, and renamed the English Table Tennis.
Association in 1926. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) followed in 1926.
London hosted the first official World Championships in 1926. In 1933, the United States Table
Tennis Association, now called USA Table Tennis, was formed.
In the 1930s, Edgar Snow commented in Red Star Over China that the Communist forces in
the Chinese Civil War had a “passion for the English game of table tennis” which he found
“bizarre”.] On the other hand, the popularity of the sport waned in 1930s Soviet Union, partly
because of the promotion of team and military sports, and partly because of a theory that the
game had adverse health effects.
In the 1950s, paddles that used a rubber sheet combined with an underlying sponge layer
changed the game dramatically, introducing greater spin and speed. These were introduced to
Britain by sports goods manufacturer S.W. Hancock Ltd. The use of speed glue beginning in the
mid,1980s increased the spin and speed even further, resulting in changes to the equipment to
“slow the game down”. Table tennis was introduced as an Olympic sport at the Olympics in
1988.

EQUIPMENT, RULES AND PLAY OF THE GAME

Table tennis equipment is relatively simple and inexpensive.
The table is rectangular, 9 by 5 feet (2.7 by 1.5 meters), its upper surface a level plane 30
inches (76 cm) above the floor. The net is 6 feet (1.8 meters) long, and its upper edge along the
whole length is 6 inches (15.25 cm) above the playing surface.
The ball, which is spherical and hollow, was once made of white celluloid. Since 1969 a plastic
similar to celluloid has been used. The ball, which may be colored white, yellow, or orange,
weighs about 0.09 ounce (2.7 grams) and has a diameter of about 1.6 inches (4 cm).
The blade of a racket, or bat, is usually made of wood, is flat and rigid, and may be covered
with a thin layer of ordinary stippled, or pimpled, rubber, which may be laid over a thin layer of
sponge rubber and may have the pimples reversed. Whatever combination is used, each of the
two sides of a paddle must be different in color. The racket may be any size, weight, or shape.
The net is 6 feet (1.8 meters) long, and its upper edge along the whole length is 6 inches (15.25
cm) above the playing surface.
A match consists of the best of any odd numbers of games, each game being won by the
player who first reaches 11 points or who, after 10 points each, wins two clear points ahead. A
point is scored when the server fails to make a good service, when either player fails to make a
good return, or when either player commits a specified infraction (e.g., touches the playing
surface with a free hand while the ball is in play). Service changes hands after every two points
until 10-all is reached, when it changes after every subsequent point.
The serve is made from behind the end of the table, the server tossing the ball upward
from the palm of the free hand and striking it as it descends so that it first bounces on the
server’s own court and then, passing over the net, bounces on the opponent’s court. In serving,
no spin may be imparted to the ball by the fingers. This was not always so. Finger spin,
especially in the United States, reached a stage where the experts could produce untakeable
services and the game became farcical. Finger spin was universally banned in 1937.
Interest to the spectator lies in observing the ability of one player to defeat another by
well-thought-out strategy. Increasing the speed of the game, slowing it down, varying the
direction of or imparting different spin or pace to the ball, and employing gentle drop shots
over the net when the opponent is out of position are some of the tactics that may be used to
support the strategy planned.
Slow or defensive play at one time was so dominant that, at the 1936 world
championships in Prague, an hour was needed to decide a single point. Play is now restricted. If
a game is unfinished 15 minutes after it has begun, the rest of that game and the remaining
games of the match proceed under the Expedite System. Thereafter, if the service and 13
following strokes of the server are returned by the receiver, the server loses the point. The
service changes after each point.
Table tennis may be played with one player at each end of the table or with two players
at each end who may be both men or both women or one of each. Worldwide, the women’s
game is comparable in organization to the men’s, and women take part in world championships
and all other organized events. Table tennis as well as being fully organized is also extremely
popular as a recreational game and is so played in all types of sports clubs, social clubs, and
game rooms, in the home, and even outdoors when conditions are reasonably calm.