What you need to know about table tennis 🏓

          TABLE TENNIS 🏓 

IS an indoor game based on tennis, played with small bats and a ball bounced on a table divided by a net.
      

Description

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth across a table using small rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net.

                       HISTORY OF 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 Fédération Internationale 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.

The first world championships were held in London in 1926, and from then until 1939 the game was dominated by players from central Europe, the men’s team event being won nine times by Hungary and twice by Czechoslovakia. In the mid-1950s Asia emerged as a breeding ground of champions, and from that time the men’s team event has been won by either Japan or China, as has the women’s event, though to a lesser extent; North Korea also became an international force. In 1980 the first World Cup was held, and Guo Yuehua of China won the $12,500 first prize. Table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988, with singles and doubles competition for men and women.

               

                            LET TALK ABOUT TABLE TENNIS 
                              🏓🏓EQUIPMENTS 
 Table tennis equipment is relatively simple and inexpensive. The table is rectangular, 9 feet by 5 feet (2.7 metres by 1.5 metres), its upper surface a level plane 30 inches (76 cm) above the floor. The net is 6 feet (1.8 metres) 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 coloured 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 colour. The racket may be any size, weight, or shape.
      
                     HOW TO SCORE A POINT IN TABLE TENNIS 🏓 

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.

   

                HOW TO MAKE A GOOD SERVICE  

                 IN TABLE TENNIS 🏓 

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 untakable services and the game became farcical. Finger spin was universally banned in 1937.