Table Tennis

Table tennis has gone from being a game played in camps and basements around the world to being a fully professional sport. There are now table tennis Olympic games and table tennis tournament competitions held around the globe every year. If you enjoy a round or two of table tennis as a pastime, or want to be an informed spectator, take the time to learn table tennis rules so that you can play the game correctly. Then, learn some tricks and tips to help you become an even better player.

Table Tennis Rules

Table tennis may seem like a simple game, but if you attend a table tennis tournament you will realize that there are many technical table tennis rules that apply to an official game. The International Table Tennis Federation, the official table tennis governing body, publishes the official table tennis rules that most table tennis tournament officials go by. Some highlights of these official table tennis rules include the following:

A round of a table tennis tournament starts with the first serve. The ball is served so that it bounces one time on the opponent's half of the table and is then received and returned, bouncing on the server's half of the table. As long as the ball is in play, the rally continues. If the ball is not received by a player and bounces off of the table, or the player hits it too hard and it never bounces on the table, the rally is over. In most cases, a point will be awarded.

Official Table Tennis Rules: Lets

In some cases, a rally will end without a point being scored. This is called a let. According to ITTF table tennis rules, a let can occur in a table tennis tournament if:

• The ball hits the net during a serve
• The umpire interrupts play
• Player serves before the opponent is ready to receive
• A disturbance occurs that is not controlled by either player

Official Table Tennis Rules: Scoring

According to the ITTF's official table tennis rules, players will score a point in a rally that is not a let when:

• The opponent makes a bad serve
• The opponent makes a bad return
• The ball touches anything (other than the net) before being struck by the opponent (except in the case of the first serve and return)
• The ball flies out of bound without touching the player's court first after being struck by the opponent
• The opponent hits the ball twice
• If the opponent moves the playing service
• If the opponent touches the net
• If the opponent touches the playing surface with his hand

In table tennis Olympic games or any other table tennis tournament, play continues until one player or team reaches 11 points. However, official table tennis rules say that the winning team or player must win by 2 points total, so if both teams reach 10 points, play will continue indefinitely until a team has a 2 point lead. The match is won by the best out of any odd number of games as determined by the table tennis tournament advisors.

Olympic Table Tennis

Table tennis Olympic games are governed by the International Table Tennis Federation, which has its main office in Lausanne, Switzerland. Table tennis Olympic games first hit the Olympic scene in 1988 at the Seoul, Korea games. The Olympic table tennis tournament is a fast and furious game that looks nothing like the games of Ping Pong played in basements around the world.

In the past, the table tennis Olympic games included men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and women's doubles. This changed in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, when the doubles table tennis Olympic games were dropped and replaced with the Men's Team and Women's Team tournaments.

These Olympic table tennis tournament teams include three players per team. Team play includes five games in the overall table tennis tournament. The first two games are singles games, followed by a doubles game and two more singles games, alternating between the three players in a set order.

Table Tennis Tricks and Tips

Even if you do not have your sights set on the table tennis Olympic games, understanding a little more about the official table tennis rules will help you to enjoy the game even more, whether playing with friends or watching a table tennis tournament as a spectator.

If you are going to play table tennis, these table tennis tricks and tips will make you a formidable opponent for your next pick-up table tennis tournament:

Keep your eyes on the server's racket when receiving a serve, rather than on the ball.
Mix up your serves and returns in order to keep your opponent guessing.
Hold the racket with the Shakehand Grip. This involves placing your index finger on one side of the bat and your thumb on the other, wrapping the rest of your fingers around its handle.
Create topspin on your serve by moving your bat upwards and forwards just after hitting the ball.
These are just a few of the tips and tricks to use as you learn to play table tennis. Most of the best tips and tricks you will learn at the table as you practice this fast-paced game.