Table Tennis: Indoor Version of Lawn Tennis
Table Tennis
Table Tennis is an Olympic Sport which is played indoors – although it can be played outdoors as a recreational sport.
The game was invented in the late 1880’s when game makers tried to emulate the popularity of lawn tennis by developing indoor versions of it. Around 1898 the English sports company John Jaques & Son were manufacturing the first table tennis sets and popularizing the game. They used rackets (bats/paddles) with velum stretched over an outer casing (similar to small drum) attached to a handle. This gave arise to the name Ping Pong which was derived from the sound that was made by different sized rackets striking the ball.
Table Tennis is played on a hard table measuring:
9 feet (2.74m) long,
5 feet (1.525m) wide and
2 feet 6 inches (76cm) high and the net is:
6 feet (1.83m) long and
6 inches (15.25cm) high.
The racket may be of any size, shape or weight. The rules are liberal on this because a larger size or heavier weight would be a disadvantage, because of the speed needed to compete in the modern game of table tennis.
Rackets used in competition, and at many table tennis clubs, are required to have red and black rubber sheets on opposite sides. This rule was enacted to prevent players who use either two different advanced specialized rubber sheets with very different playing characteristics, or rubber sheets of the same type with one side altered, from having an advantage over their opponents. Before the two-color rule, a player could, by using two very different rubber sheets on opposite sides of the racket, gain an advantage by twirling the racket during or between rallies. This would have the effect of confusing the opponent as to which of the two radically different rubber sheets was actually used to strike the ball. As a result, the opponent would be kept guessing as to whether the oncoming shots would be fast or slow, have a lot of spin or none at all. This confusion caused many unforced errors that the rule-makers sought
Table Tennis is an Olympic Sport which is played indoors – although it can be played outdoors as a recreational sport.
The game was invented in the late 1880’s when game makers tried to emulate the popularity of lawn tennis by developing indoor versions of it. Around 1898 the English sports company John Jaques & Son were manufacturing the first table tennis sets and popularizing the game. They used rackets (bats/paddles) with velum stretched over an outer casing (similar to small drum) attached to a handle. This gave arise to the name Ping Pong which was derived from the sound that was made by different sized rackets striking the ball.
Table Tennis is played on a hard table measuring:
9 feet (2.74m) long,
5 feet (1.525m) wide and
2 feet 6 inches (76cm) high and the net is:
6 feet (1.83m) long and
6 inches (15.25cm) high.
The racket may be of any size, shape or weight. The rules are liberal on this because a larger size or heavier weight would be a disadvantage, because of the speed needed to compete in the modern game of table tennis.
Rackets used in competition, and at many table tennis clubs, are required to have red and black rubber sheets on opposite sides. This rule was enacted to prevent players who use either two different advanced specialized rubber sheets with very different playing characteristics, or rubber sheets of the same type with one side altered, from having an advantage over their opponents. Before the two-color rule, a player could, by using two very different rubber sheets on opposite sides of the racket, gain an advantage by twirling the racket during or between rallies. This would have the effect of confusing the opponent as to which of the two radically different rubber sheets was actually used to strike the ball. As a result, the opponent would be kept guessing as to whether the oncoming shots would be fast or slow, have a lot of spin or none at all. This confusion caused many unforced errors that the rule-makers sought