Table Tennis Rules: Skills & Techniques of Table Tennis

Table Tennis Skills & Rules 

Table tennis or ping pong is one of the widely appreciated sports on a global level which has also made a prominent impression in popular culture. The origins of the sport have been traced back to the late 19th century when upper-middle-class Victorians utilized their dining room tables for playing a new and smaller version of lawn tennis.

It is quite interesting to note the various names which the sport earned in its early days which were largely based on the sound made by the ball hitting back and forth on the table. Some of the names such as ‘flim-flam,’ ‘whif whaf’ and ‘gossamer’ could even tickle your funny bones. However, one of the popular names or a synonym for the sport was copyrighted by an English manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd. in 1901 and was sold to the Parker Brothers in the US sometime later.

Subsequently, the sport, as well as its name, got revamped in the 1920s in Europe thereby leading to table tennis as we all know it today. The following article would take you through a tour of information about the sport, its benefits, rules for playing and various techniques implemented for playing table tennis.

# Skill for Play Table Tennis

Table Tennis Rules

This is the first question that you should find answers to before understanding how to play table tennis. The nature of the sport makes it a promising candidate for inducing profound health benefits for players. First of all table tennis is a quick sport and requires a strategy for playing. These characteristics demand improved reflexes, movement speed and mental alertness alongside thence of the body.

Furthermore, table tennis is not a contact sport thereby ensuring the safety of players. A look at the health benefits of playing table tennis could also pique your interest in the sport before a comprehensive knowledge of table tennis and its various aspects. Table tennis could be attributed as one of the major reasons for the improvement in hand-eye coordination which is responsible for stimulating concentration, mental alertness, and tactical strategy.

Hence table tennis could be aptly helpful for younger players to improvise their reflexes while older people could refine their tactics. The requirement of constantly moving in a lateral motion during table tennis demands effective cardiovascular health and is responsible for improving balance and lowering the chances of falling that can benefit ageing people effectively.

Table tennis requires players to focus on different variations such as hitting the ball hard, developing different types of spin on the ball and developing accuracy that contributes to promising improvements in mental acuity of players. The short-distance range and fast pace involved in table tennis are responsible for the improvement of fine as well as gross muscle movements that contributes to improvement in reflexes.

Table tennis is noted for intermittent bursts of pressure on the muscles and recovery that can contribute to fast-twitch muscle development. An understanding of how to play table tennis could also help in knowing its health benefits for people with back problems, issues in twisting ankles and knee surgery. Table tennis contributes to improvement in core strength as well as strength of arm and leg strength without exerting additional burden on the joints.

The fast pace of the sport is also responsible for burning a higher amount of calories by playing table tennis just for an hour. Various research studies have concluded that playing table tennis could lead to a promising improvement in the blood flow to the brain thereby reducing the concerns for dementia. Table tennis has also been proved to be a helpful sport in the improvement of cognitive awareness as well as motor skills that gradually decline with age.

# Rules for Playing Table Tennis  | Ping Pong Tips and Techniques

Table Tennis

To obtain a clear impression of table tennis from the perspective of a beginner, it is essential to understand the rules of the game. The objective of table tennis is to score 11 points in a game by outperforming the opponent which can be accomplished through the opponent hitting the ball off the table or into the net as well as missing a hit to the ball.

The matches are generally conducted with five, seven or nine games in which the performer that achieves 11 points in the majority of games wins the competition. It is essential to reflect on the rules for players and equipment used in the game. First of all, in a singles game of table tennis one player is pitted against one while in doubles two players are pitted against other two.

However, for the sake of flexibility in understanding the game better, it would be advisable to focus on rules of singles games. Regarding scoring, it is inevitable that if the opponent hits the ball on the net or away from the table or misses a hit, then the player receives a point. While serving, the opponent wins a point in the case of a failed serve.

Another important highlight to keep in mind about how to play table tennis is that volleying and obstructing the ball are not allowed. Furthermore, it is also mandatory to remember that hitting the ball twice could lead to awarding points to the opponent. A player wins a game if the player reaches 11 points and in the case of a tie in a game, the first player to lead by two points wins the game.

A table tennis match is won by the player that can win a majority of games in the pre-allotted number of games. The following points could simplify the understanding of the rules of table tennis. Table tennis involves a pre-defined number of games and players have to score 11 points to win each game.

The first player to serve is decided by a coin toss or any other form of lot-drawing. Each player has to serve twice alternatively, and it is mandatory to serve from an open palm after tossing the ball six inches up. The serve is considered valid only if it bounces on the service side and lands on the receiver’s side after clearing the net.

The awarding of points in table tennis, as well as conditions for resolving ties in a game, has been described above in the information on how to play table tennis. Following each game, there is an alteration of the position of players at the ends of the table as well as the first person to serve the ball. Furthermore, the deciding game of a match would involve players swapping their ends after one of the players accomplishes five points.

# Basic Skills in Table Tennis | Improve Your Skills

Table Tennis Shots

Like most sports, it is essential to obtain a clarified understanding of technical basics. So, as a beginner, it is mandatory for identifying the basic strokes that are implemented in the case of table tennis which could be developed further as a player progresses in their training. A clear impression of these basic strokes could help in addressing major technical issues in the long term as well as complicated moves in their future games.

The improvement of skills in table tennis is largely based on a comprehensive understanding of the four basic strokes such as forehand drive, backhand drive, backhand push and forehand push. To anticipate how to play table tennis, a detailed description of these basic moves can prove to be productive. The forehand drive is specifically constituted of four aspects such as stance, backswing, strike, and finish.

Regarding stance, the player should ensure that the width between the feet is more than shoulder-width alongside keeping the active foot slightly back than the passive foot as well as ensuring that their body leans forward, weight exerting on the balls of player’s feet and knees should be bent. The backswing is the first movement after seeing the ball that involves rotation of the body to tight from hips and shifting the weight to back foot.

The strike is considered as forwarding movement and is the opposite of the backswing. Subsequently, the finish involved in the forehand drive is the concluding point of the shot. These movements in the forehand drive are also involved in the case of the other basic strokes and vary accordingly thereby demanding comprehensive practice of each of these moves.

Before learning of the basic strokes involved in table tennis, it is also imperative to focus on some of the other basic aspects to be conformed to in the sport. The three imperatives that are included in table tennis include basic movement patterns and footwork in table tennis, appropriate table tennis grip and the stance and ready position adopted by the player in table tennis.

Many coaches have emphasized on the necessity of a complete understanding of grip, stance, and footwork before practicing strokes on the table. So, with a comprehensive depiction of the benefits of playing table tennis, its history, and basic rules of the game and techniques of table tennis, it can be concluded that with a certain level of practice table tennis can be mastered within few days. The medical wonders of playing table tennis and pop culture status of the sport explicitly indicate that age is not a bar for playing the sport and can be a healthy alternative to recreation.

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