Ping-Pong is the trademark name given to the sport of table tennis by English and American manufacturers of game equipment, so named because of the sound the ball makes when bouncing off paddles and tables. Table tennis is a miniaturized version of lawn tennis that originated in England in the late 19th century, according to the International Table Tennis Federation, which creates the rules for the game.
Equipment
The Ping-Pong table measures 2.74 m in length and 1.525 m in width, approximately 9 feet long by 5 feet wide. The top surface of the table rests at a height of 76 cm, about 30 inches above the floor. A net divides the table in half lengthwise, reaching a height of 15.25 cm, or 6 inches.
Each player uses a flat paddle or racket that can be any weight, size or shape, but must have a blade made of at least 85 percent wood. The blade is red on one side and black on the other, and the striking surface is covered with a layer of pimpled rubber. The table tennis ball measures 40 mm in diameter, weighs 2.7 g and is white or orange in color.
Service
The players draw lots, and the winner gets to choose either the order of service or the end of the table he wishes to play from.
The serving player rests the ball on the palm of his hand and tosses it into the air to a height of at least 16 cm, or 6.3 inches, then lets it fall to the table in his court, without the ball touching anything on either its ascent or descent. Once the ball bounces off the table, the server tries to hit it with his paddle over the net into his opponent's court, where the receiver tries to return the ball back over the net to the server's court, and so on, in a back-and-forth process called a rally.
Scoring
A rally results in a let, in which no points are scored, if the umpire decides that an interruption or obstruction has interfered with the game. Otherwise, a player receives a point if her opponent fails to return the ball, hits the ball off the playing table or into the net, hits the ball more than once before returning it, moves the table, touches the net, or hits the ball with anything other than the proper side of his table tennis racket.
After every two points are scored, the receiving player becomes the server and the serving player becomes the receiver. When one player earns 11 points, she becomes the winner of the game. Should both sides tie the game at 10 points, one player must lead by a margin of two points to become the winner; at this point in the game, service changes after every point is scored, rather than every two points.
Table tennis matches are played to the best of an odd number of games. For example, in a five-game match, the first player to win three games is the victor in the match.
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