Pingpong, also known as table tennis, is commonly played for competition and leisure. The USA Table Tennis Association has specific rules for official table tennis competitions. Competitions can have singles events, which consist of two opposing players, and doubles, with two players on each team. Professional table tennis competitions have umpires who enforce the rules.
Games and Matches
Each game in table tennis is played to 11. If both players score 10 points, the first player to score two more points than his opponent wins the game. The official umpire must state the score before each point. The number of games in the match is specified before the competition takes place. Each match must consist of an odd number of games. The player who wins the majority of games wins the match.
Serving
The serve refers to the action that a player takes to begin each point of the competition. A player must rest the table tennis ball on the palm of his open hand. The ball should be held in the opposing hand to which the player holds his table tennis paddle. The server must toss the ball vertically into the air. The ball must rise 16 cm above the palm of the server's hand. The server must hit the ball out of the air with the paddle to land first on his side of the playing table. A successful serve must bounce off the server's side of the table and onto the opposing player's side. The serving player must alternate back and forth to the left and right half of his playing side for each serve. If a serving player fails to execute a successful serve, the opposing player gets a point.
Returns and Lets
The return refers to the receiving player's attempt to hit the serve back over the net. The receiving player may return the serve out of the air or allow the ball to bounce once on his side. The returned ball must go over or around the net to be considered still in play. A let refers to when a point must be replayed. A let may take place when the ball touches the net during a successful service attempt. If the receiving player is not given enough time to prepare, or if he doesn't attempt to return the service, the exchange is ruled a let. If the table tennis competition is somehow disturbed by outside forces, the exchange may be ruled a let.
Member Comments