EQUIPMENT
- Ball: The international rules specify that the game is played with a light 2.7 gram, 40 mm diameter ball.
- Table: The table is 2.74 m (9 ft) long, 1.52 m (5 ft) wide, and 76 cm (30 inch) high with a Masonite (a type of hardboard) or similarly manufactured timber, layered with a smooth, low-friction coating.[20] The table or playing surface is divided into two halves by a 15.25 cm (6 inch) high net. An ITTF approved table surface must be in a green or blue color.
- Racket: Players are equipped with a laminated wooden racket covered with rubber on one or two sides depending on the grip of the player. The official ITTF term is "racket", though "bat" is common in Britain, and "paddle" in the U.S.
history
- The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) was founded in 1926. Table tennis made its Olympic debut at the 1988 Seoul Games.
- High society origins: It is thought that upper-class Victorians in England invented table tennis in the 1880s as a genteel, after-dinner alternative to lawn tennis, using whatever they could find as equipment. A line of books would often be the net, the rounded top of a champagne cork would be the ball and occasionally a cigar box lid would be a racket.
- Modern changes: Table tennis started as a genteel, after-dinner game, but is now a fast, high-tech sport. It also has the most participants of any sport in the world. The sport has progressed enormously since it was first invented. Nowadays, players use specially developed rubber-coated wooden and carbon-fiber rackets and a lightweight, hollow celluloid ball. Thanks to their high-tech rackets, they can now smash the ball at over 150 kilometers per hour! (93 MPH)
- Popular appeal: It is estimated there are 40 million competitive table tennis players and countless millions playing recreationally making it the sport with the most participants worldwide. This is largely owing to its enormous popularity in China, which has become the dominant force in the sport.
Table Tennis Rules
The Game
o Table Tennis can be played as singles or doubles and involves a game up to 11 points. A match is the best of any odd number of games (usually 3,5 or 7). This depends on time constraints. 1 game is also acceptable and time efficient for schools table tennis. Another option to this is to play by time limit (5 minutes) with the person leading at the end of the time limit the winner. If scores are level, then the game is won by the first player to get 2 points in front with serves alternating.
Starting the Game
o The game commences in one of two ways to see which player will serve first: (a) a toss of a coin or (b) one player (or the umpire or scorer) hides the ball in one hand below the table; the other player must then select which hand is holding the ball.
Service
o Players serve from behind the table to their opponent so that the ball bounces first on their half of the table and then on their opponent's half of the table. If the service hits the net on the way over, but is otherwise a successful service then this is termed a "let" service and the server may have another serve. Service alternates after every two points.
Return of Service
o 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, (ie: the ball does not have to bounce on both halves of the table for the return, but only onto the opponent's half of the table).
Rally
o The receiver must return the serve by hitting the ball after it has bounced. The ball is then hit alternately over the net onto the table by each player until one player fails to return the ball. The ball must be struck before it bounces twice on the table. The rally ends if the ball does not land on the table or if a player misses the ball, or if a player hits the ball without it bouncing on their side of the table.
Scoring
o A point is scored each time a rally is won. A game is won when a player reaches 11 points. If the players reach 10 points each, then the game is won by the first player to get 2 points in front with serves alternating. A match is won when one player wins the game in the case of 1 game being played. In longer matches the first player to win a majority of possible games is the winner i.e. 2 out of 3, 3 out of 5, 4 out of 7. If playing by time limit, the same rules apply, with the leader at the time limit winning. If the scores are level, then the game is won by the first player to get to 2 points in front with serves alternating.
o When scoring, the server's score is always called first.
o Table Tennis can be played as singles or doubles and involves a game up to 11 points. A match is the best of any odd number of games (usually 3,5 or 7). This depends on time constraints. 1 game is also acceptable and time efficient for schools table tennis. Another option to this is to play by time limit (5 minutes) with the person leading at the end of the time limit the winner. If scores are level, then the game is won by the first player to get 2 points in front with serves alternating.
Starting the Game
o The game commences in one of two ways to see which player will serve first: (a) a toss of a coin or (b) one player (or the umpire or scorer) hides the ball in one hand below the table; the other player must then select which hand is holding the ball.
Service
o Players serve from behind the table to their opponent so that the ball bounces first on their half of the table and then on their opponent's half of the table. If the service hits the net on the way over, but is otherwise a successful service then this is termed a "let" service and the server may have another serve. Service alternates after every two points.
Return of Service
o 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, (ie: the ball does not have to bounce on both halves of the table for the return, but only onto the opponent's half of the table).
Rally
o The receiver must return the serve by hitting the ball after it has bounced. The ball is then hit alternately over the net onto the table by each player until one player fails to return the ball. The ball must be struck before it bounces twice on the table. The rally ends if the ball does not land on the table or if a player misses the ball, or if a player hits the ball without it bouncing on their side of the table.
Scoring
o A point is scored each time a rally is won. A game is won when a player reaches 11 points. If the players reach 10 points each, then the game is won by the first player to get 2 points in front with serves alternating. A match is won when one player wins the game in the case of 1 game being played. In longer matches the first player to win a majority of possible games is the winner i.e. 2 out of 3, 3 out of 5, 4 out of 7. If playing by time limit, the same rules apply, with the leader at the time limit winning. If the scores are level, then the game is won by the first player to get to 2 points in front with serves alternating.
o When scoring, the server's score is always called first.
Study Guide
Table Tennis Study Guide | |
File Size: | 10 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Skill Assessment criteria
Table Tennis Skill Assessment.pdf | |
File Size: | 13 kb |
File Type: |
classroom resources
Table Tennis Rules.docx | |
File Size: | 142 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Table Tennis Service Rotation Diagram.docx | |
File Size: | 138 kb |
File Type: | docx |
spanish resources
Spanish Table Tennis Study Guide | |
File Size: | 10 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Spanish Table Tennis Rules.docx | |
File Size: | 22 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Spanish Table Tennis Skill Assessment.pdf | |
File Size: | 183 kb |
File Type: |
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