History of Table tennis and How to Play

Table tennis is a sport played with a small racket and ping pong. In this sport there can only be two or four players who hit the ball from one side of the table to the other with the racket. The ball or ping pong has to go over the net, so that the opposing player cannot return it. Its practice at first glance seems simple, but it really requires long and strong days of training, which must include physical, technical, psychological and competition preparation.

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Table tennis was born in England in 1870, thanks to a very rainy day that prevented playing field tennis in a tennis club, several of the athletes began to play with totally improvised material, the paddles were wooden lids of boxes of tobacco, and as a ball they used corks from duly cut champagne bottles. The table, a pool table divided by some books.

As it turned out to be quite a hobby, the same ones who improvised playing tennis spread this game throughout England. This excited several manufacturers who registered trademarks referring to the nascent game. Competition between manufacturers produced increasingly refurbished racket and ping pong equipment.

One of the most widely used inventions at that time was a parchment racket with a 45-centimeter-wide handle and the balls with which it was played were made of plastic. The sound of the plastic balls when they touched the rackets was of “ping” and the one of the ball in the table the sound of “pong”. At the same time, the name of Ping Pong is registered as a brand and distinction of the sport.

In the year 1899, the name of Ping Pong began to have a marked success in England. In 1901 great table tennis tournaments were held in England with the participation of 300 players and with prizes designed in cash. For that same year, the Ping Pong Association was established in England.

In 1952 the Japanese burst onto the world scene with success and with revolutionary techniques. In 1961, Japanese rule became the Chinese. In 1973, Sweden and in 1979, Hungary were proclaimed world champions. In 1988, Table Tennis was incorporated into the Seoul Olympic Games. At that time, the number of associations affiliated to the International Federation was 126 and the number of players with a federation license amounted to 30 million, being the third most practiced sport in the world.

Equipment and some regulatory points to play table tennis

First of all, you need a table specially made for sports with measurements of: 2.74 meters long and 1.52 meters wide. The height from the floor should be 76 centimeters. The material of the table can be any, as long as it facilitates the bouncing of the ball. It should have a net in the middle, the height of which is 15.25 centimeters. It is divided by 4 lines that are the bottom line, the center line and 2 equal and parallel lines that are called side lines. The color of the table should be matte and dark.

Second, to practice you need a paddle or racket that historically at the beginning of this exciting sport was simply a piece of wood but an advance as simple as placing a thin layer of rubber on both sides made this sport an entertaining game that loved to many people. There are 2 ways to take the paddle in table tennis: A western style in which both sides are used, the paddle is taken by the handle with the fingers gathered on it and an oriental way in which the fingers extend over one face of the paddle thus using only one face during the game.

Third, the uniform or suit to practice it. It consists of a short-sleeved polo shirt, trousers as short as possible, for women, a skirt, socks and sports tennis shoes; long hair for women and men must be tied back. Other garments may not be worn during the game, unless the referee allows it. It is advisable not to wear clothing the color of the game ball. For lighting setup you can check out Lepro.

The number of players is between 2 or 4 participants. The referee draws between the players whose winner decides whether to start with the service or to choose the side. The loser of the draw chooses the option that remains. At the start of the game, the server has only one attempt to serve, although if the ball touches the net and bounces on the opponent’s ground, the service must be repeated.

Each player has 2 serves and the game ends when one of them reaches 11 points, the exception is that they must reach them with a minimum difference of 2 points, otherwise each player performs one service each until the difference of 2 points. When this happens it is called that the player won a game.

In doubles matches the players of the pair will have to hit the ball alternately (one first and one later). In doubles, the service will always be crossed from the right side of the player who serves to the right side of the player from the opposing team, including the rebound in the center line as valid.

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