PATH-FIT
LESSON 1
HISTORY OF TABLE TENNIS
 Like many other sports, Table Tennis began
as a mild social diversion. It was probably
played with improvised equipment in
England, during the last quarter of the 19th
century. Though Table Tennis evolved,
along with Badminton and Lawn Tennis,
from the ancient game of Tennis (also
known as Jeu de Paume, Real tennis, Court
Tennis or Royal Tennis), the game was
developed after Lawn Tennis became
popular in the 1880s.
 Ancient woodcut showing jeu de paume
game, published in 1576
 Game manufacturers tried many
experiments to market an indoor version of
Lawn Tennis, including board and dice
games, Tiddledy Winks variations, card
games, racket and balloon games and others.
The first use of the name "Table Tennis”
appeared on a board and dice game in 1887
by J.H.Singer of New York. This probably
accounts for the mysterious entry in the
George S. Parker game catalog of the same
year: "Table Tennis: This game is laid out
like a Lawn Tennis court, played and
counted just the same, all the rules being
observed."
 The earliest evidence extant of an action
game of Tennis on a table is a set made by
David Foster, patented in England in 1890:
Parlour Table Games, which included table
versions of Lawn Tennis, Cricket and
Football. This game featured strung rackets,
a 30mm cloth covered rubber ball, a wooden
fence set up around the perimeter of the
table, and large side nets extending along
both sides.
 One year later famous game makers John
Jaques of London released their GOSSIMA
game. This game borrowed the drum style
battledores from the Shuttlecock game, and
used a 50mm webbed wrapped cork ball,
with an amazing 30cm high net!
 Neither of these action games were
successful, due to the ineffective ball: the
rubber ball had too wild a bounce, while the
cork ball had too poor a bounce. So the
concept was shelved until 1900, when the
celluloid ball was introduced to the game.
Jaques revived the older Gossima game but
changed the name to "Gossima or Ping
Pong". The name Ping Pong was derived
from the sound of the ball bouncing off the
drum battledores, each of which had a
slightly different sound. The higher pitched
sound suggested Ping, the lower pitch, Pong.
This can still be demonstrated today using
the antique battledores!
The game quickly caught on with the public,
marketed under many different names:
 Ping Pong or Gossima Ping Pong
 Table Tennis
 Whiff Waff
 Parlour Tennis
 Indoor Tennis
 Pom-Pom
 Pim-Pam
 Netto
 Royal Game
 Tennis de Salon
 and others.
 Gradually the two most popular names
prevailed: Ping Pong, and Table Tennis.
However, these competing names caused
some problems, as two associations were
formed, and with different rules for the
game some confusion resulted. Ping Pong
was trademarked in 1900 by Hamley
Brothers in England, and soon afterwards
Hamleys became "jointly concerned” with
Jaques. They rigorusly enforced the Ping
Pong trademark, requiring use of their Ping
Pong equipment in tournaments and clubs.
Parker Brothers, who acquired the American
rights to the name Ping Pong, similarly
enforced the trademark. Eventually it
became clear that for the sport to move
forward, the commercial ties had to be
severed.
 TIMELINE OF TABLE TENNIS
MILESTONES
(with thanks to the late Ron Crayden (ENG) and
his book, The Story of Table Tennis – the first
100 years with updates by the ITTF Museum)
 · 1880s
Adaption of lawn tennis to the dining table with
improvised equipment
 · 1890s
Several patents registered in England and the USA
Manufactured sets produced under trade names such
as Gossima, and Indoor Tennis, with Lawn Tennis
style rules
 · 1900
Introduction of celluloid balls to replace rubber and
cork ones. The celluloid ball had the perfect bounce,
and the game became a huge success
 · 1901
Table Tennis Association and rival Ping Pong
Association formed in England; amalgamated in
1903
First books on the game published in England
The game is introduced in China via western
settlements
  · 1904
Ping Pong craze fades, some pockets of popularity
in eastern Europe continue
  · 1922
Revival of the game in Europe, though laws varied
Establishment of standard laws of the Game in
England
  · 1926
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
initiated in Berlin
First World Championships held in London,
England. ITTF Constitution adopted, along with
first set of standardized Laws.
Ivor Montagu (ENG) elected first President
(Chairman)
  · 1920s–1950s
Classic Hard Bat Era (European Dominance)
  · 1926–1931
Maria Mednyanszky (HUN) wins the World
Championships five times consecutively.
Mednyansky wins 18 gold medals over-all
  · 1930–1935
Victor Barna (HUN) becomes five times world
champion and is runner-up 1931 losing the final
against his compatriot Miklos Szabados. Barna wins
a record 22 gold medals at world championships
during his career, 40 medals overall
  · 1936
Tenth World Championships held in Prague,
Czechoslovakia. The longest rally took place, the
first point taking over two hours
  · 1939
First continental association formed: South America
First World Championship held outside Europe:
Cairo, Egypt
  · 1950–1955
Angelica Rozeanu-Adelstein (ROU) wins the World
Championships six times in a row and is the last
non-Asian to win the female singles title until today
  · 1950s – 1970s
Age of Sponge Bat and Technology (Beginning of
Asian Dominance)
  · 1952
Nineteenth World Championships held in Bombay,
India The first to be staged in Asia and Japan’s
entry to the international scene
Hiroji Satoh (JPN) became the first player to win a
World Championship when using a racket covered
with thick sponge and is the first non-European
winner Inauguration of the Asian Federation & First
Asian Federation Championships
  · 1953
China entered the World Championships for the
first time
  · 1954
Ichiro Ogimura (JPN) is the epitome of Japanese
dominance with technological development and
physical training
  · 1956
Tomie Okada-Okawa (JPN) is the first female
player from Asia to win the World Championships
and stops the European reign on world’s female
table tennis.
  · 1957
World Championship changes to a two-year cycle
  · 1958
First European Championships, Budapest, Hungary.
The USSR made their entry to the international
scene
  · 1959
Rong Guotuan (CHN) is the first Chinese world
champion in any sport Racket standardization laws
enacted
  · 1962
First All-Africa Championships, Alexandria, Egypt
  · 1967
Ivor Montagu retired as President of the ITTF after
forty years in office
  · 1971
First Commonwealth Championships held in
Singapore
Ping Pong Diplomacy: table tennis played an
important role in international diplomacy when
several teams were invited to China for a series of
friendship matches after the 1971 World
Championships. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai:
“Your visit to China has opened the door for
people-to-people exchanges between China and the
USA.”
  · 1971
Stellan Bengtsson (SWE) wins the men’s singles
title and heralds the start of three decades of
Swedish influence, with top players such as Kjell
Johansson, Mikael Appelgren, Erik Lindh, Jan-Ove
Waldner, Jörgen Persson, and Peter Karlsson.
  · 1973
First World University Championships held in
Hanover, Germany
  · 1977
ITTF received formal declaration of its recognition
by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
  · 1979
First European Championships for Paraplegics
(wheelchair players) held in Stoke Mandeville,
England
  · 1980
First World Cup held in Hong Kong
  · 1981
World Championships held in Nova Sad,
Yugoslavia. Total triumph for China, whose athletes
win all of the seven gold medals
Table tennis admitted to the Olympic programme
(84th session IOC)
  · 1982
First World Veterans’ Championships held in
Gothenburg, Sweden
First World Championships for the disabled held in Team Championships separated from individual
Stoke Mandeville, England events, held in alternate years

  · 1985   · 2004
European Youth Championships held in The Hague, During the Olympic Games in Athens, Table Tennis
Holland ranked 5th among all sports for television viewing
audience
·
Modern Olympics Era (Chinese Reign with few   · 2005
exceptions)
World Championships held in Shanghai, China.
  · 1988 Total triumph again for China, winning all of the
For the very first time, table tennis was featured in five gold medals.
the Olympic Games that were held in Seoul, South
Korea  · 2006
World Championships held in Bremen, Germany.
  · 1992 The Chinese athletes complete the collection with
Former World champion, Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) two gold medals in the team events
became Olympic singles champion and reputedly,
the first table tennis millionaire  · 2007

  · 1995 World Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia.

Total triumph number five for China, winning all of
World Championships held in Tianjin, China. Total the five gold medals
triumph for China for the second time, winning First appearance of table tennis as a compulsory
seven gold medals sport at the Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand

  · 1996  · 2008
Beginning of the ITTF Pro Tour, with events taking China sweeps the Team championships in
place all around the world Guangzhou

  · 2000 China wins all the Gold at the Beijing Olympic

After the Olympics in Sydney, the ball size is Games
increased to 40mm for improved television viewing
 · 2010
  · 2001 Table tennis is part of the first Youth Olympic
Games
Game score changed from 21 to 11 points World
Championships held in Osaka, Japan. Total triumph
for China for the third time, winning all of the seven
gold medals

  · 2002
Implementation of the ITTF World Junior Circuit
(U18) and World Cadet Challenge (U15 continental
team competition)

  · 2003
First ITTF World Junior Championships in
Santiago, Chile

PATH-FIT
LESSON 2
TERMINOLOGIES AND EQUIPMENT
TERMINOLOGIES
Service – done at the start of each rally
Server – player due to strike the ball first in a rally.
Receiver – player due to strike the ball second in a
rally.
Strike – a player strikes the ball if he touches it in
play with his racket held in the hand, or with his
racket hand below the wrist.
Racket hand – hand carrying the racket.
Free hand – hand not carrying the racket.
Return of service – the ball must be hit after it has
bounced on the receiver’s half of the table. The
return must be made straight back over the net onto
the opponent’s half of the table.
Rally – period during which the ball is in play. The
rally ends if the ball does not land on the table or if
a player misses or fails to return the ball to the
opponent’s table.
Let – a rally of which the result is not scored.
Point – a rally of which the result is scored.
Drive – a more controlled hit. It is not a smash, and
it has no spin. It is done with a direct or frontal hit.
It is better to hit the ball immediately after the ball
hits the table for a faster ball movement.
Spin – rotating the ball in different directions
(topspin, underspin, sidespin, and no spin)
Smash – to hit the ball with force. The ball is better
hit after reaching its peak, when the ball goes down
to the level of the eyes.
Block – it has no force. It is a counter or defensive
move
Push – the ball is hit with the racket brushing
underneath the ball with less force.
Lob – returning the ball to the opponent at a high
level. Ball is almost at head level.
Umpire – person appointed to control a match.
Assistant umpire – a person appointed to assist the
umpire with certain decisions.
Obstruction – a player obstructs the ball if he, or
anything he wears or carries, touches it in play,
when it is above or travelling towards the playing
surface and has not passed beyond his end line, not
having touched his court since last struck by his
opponent.
Forehand – side facing the palm of the hand.
Backhand – side facing the back of the hand.
Grip – manner in which the racket is held.
End line – shall be regarded as extending
indefinitely in both directions.
EQUIPMENT
1. Table
 The upper surface of the table, known as
the playing surface, shall be rectangular,
2.74m long and 1.525m wide, and shall lie
in a horizontal plane 76cm above the floor.
 The playing surface shall not include the
vertical sides of the tabletop.
 The playing surface may be of any
material and shall yield a uniform bounce
of about 23cm when a standard ball is
dropped on to it from a height of 30cm.
 The playing surface shall be uniformly
dark colored and matt, but with a white
sideline, 2cm wide, along each 2.74m edge
and a white end line, 2cm wide, along each
1.525m edge.
 The playing surface shall be divided into
2 equal courts by a vertical net running
parallel with the end lines and shall be
continuous over the whole area of each
court.
 For doubles, each court shall be divided
into 2 equal half-courts by a white center
line, 3mm wide, running parallel with the
side lines; the center line shall be regarded
as part of each right half-court.
2. Net
 The net assembly consists of:
- upright post
- height adjuster
- horizontal part of the net post
- attaching system (clamp)
 The net is intended to be an
obstacle but it shouldn't increase the
probability of a player gaining a
lucky point.
 A ball hitting the top of the net
should fall back on the hitter's side or
bounce forwards - it shouldn't fall
over onto the receiver's side.
 This means that the tension along
the top of the net should be
 significantly higher than the rest of  The ball shall be made of celluloid or similar
the net. plastics material and shall be white or
 Therefore, the fabric must be orange, and matt.
suspended by a cord which must be
tight and it must be attached only
loosely to the posts.
 Some net assemblies have no
suspension cord and these nets
cannot be used in tournament play.

3. Racket2.0mm
 The racket may be of any size, shape
or weight but the blade shall be flat
and rigid.
 At least 85% of the blade by
thickness shall be of natural wood;
an adhesive layer within the blade
may be reinforced with fibrous
material such as carbon fibre, glass
fibre or compressed paper, but shall
not be thicker than 7.5% of the total
thickness or 0.35mm, whichever is
the smaller.
 A side of the blade used for
striking the ball shall be covered
with either ordinary pimpled rubber,
with pimples outwards having a total
thickness including adhesive of not
more than 2.0mm, or sandwich
rubber, with pimples inwards or
outwards, having a total thickness
including adhesive of not more than
4.0mm.
 Ordinary pimpled rubber is a single
layer of non-cellular rubber, natural
or synthetic, with pimples evenly
distributed over its surface at a
density of not less than 10 per cm2
and not more than 30 per cm2.
 Sandwich rubber is a single layer
of cellular rubber covered with a
single outer layer of ordinary
pimpled rubber, the thickness of the
pimpled rubber not being more than
2.0mm

4. Ball
 The ball shall be spherical, with a
diameter of 40mm.
 The ball shall weigh 2.7g.