Rules Of Table Tennis

If you do not have the time, the energy, or the warm climate to play a real game of tennis, you can always engage in the smaller version at home - by knowing the rules of table tennis. You will not need gym memberships or access to a public court to play table tennis - just good hand/eye coordination and a competitor. You should always play for fun, but knowing how the game is played is equally important, and easily accomplished with these brief rules for playing table tennis.

1. Necessary equipment. The pair of paddles that you use for table tennis should be black on one side and red on the other. You will need a white or orange ping-pong ball that has a size of 40mm. The appropriate size of a ping-pong table, with the proper net in the middle, is 2.74 meters in length, 1.525 meters in width, and 076 meters in height.
2. Keeping score. In order for a player to be victorious in table tennis they will have to win the best out of five games - seven or nine if you prefer. Each of these games will be played to 11 points, and must be won by a margin of two points or more. Points can be scored if the ball bounces on the edges of the table because it is considered part of the legal playing surface. .
3. Proper serving.  The correct way to serve in table tennis is to first sit the ping-pong ball in the open palm of your hand that you won't be holding the paddle with. Toss the ball a minimum of six inches into the air and strike it with your table tennis paddle. The ball must bounce off of the server's side of the table then over the net onto the opponent's territory. If the ball touches the net then it will need to be re-served. This situation is called a "let serve."
4. Taking turns.  The serve rotates between the two table tennis players once every two points. The exception to this rule is if the score is tied 10-10 then each player will get to serve one point at a time. Once a game in the series is won - players switch sides of the table. But in the final game of the series, the table tennis players alternate sides of the table after either of them reaches five points.