Lesson 4

• Different Sports Categories


  • Individual Sports
  • Dual Sports
  • Team Sports
• The game started in England in the 19th century
• "Whif Whaf," "Gosammer," and "Flim Flam" were commonly used to describe the game
• "Ping-Pong" was registered by J. Jacques and Son Ltd as a copyright


  1901
• First Equipment in Table Tennis


  • Cigar box lids as rackets
  • Champange Corks
  • Pile of Books
  • Ball of String
  • Rubber Ball
• Evolution of Table Tennis


  • Celluloid Balls were introduced by James Gibb, an English man
  • E.C Goode introduced pimpled rubber on a light wooden blades as rackets
• Modern Table Tennis Equipment

  • The table shall be in rectangular surface, 274cm in length and 152.5 cm in width, supported so that its upper surface, termed the playing surface, shall lie in a horizontal plane 76cm above the floor
  • The racket may be of any size, shape, or weight but the blade shall be flat and rigid
  • The ball shall be made, with a diameter of 40mm and weigh 2.7gm
  • Nets and posts should be sturdy, simple to assemble and easy to attach to tables of any thickness. Removable nets and posts are recommended
• Table Tennis Basic Skills

  • The grip favored by most players in the Western world is known as the "shake hands" grip
  • At the beginner stage, ball control may not be good enough to allow reasonable stroke play, which could be a particular problem with young children where hand and eye coordination may not be well developed
  • There are 4 basic strokes: Backhand Push, Forehand Drive, Backhand Drive, Forehand Push
  • Service can be regarded as the most important stroke in Table Tennis
  • Service return can be regarded as the 2nd most important stroke in Table Tennis
• Tactics and Understanding of Table Tennis


  • Variation of strokes
  • Consistency of Strokes
  • Move opponent
  • Vary pace, spin, direction
  • Play to own the strengths (style of play)
  • Play on opponent's weakness
• General Rules

  • The choice of playing position at the table and order of service are determined by toss coin
  • The change of service takes place every after 5 points have been scored
  • At the start of a new game, the player who served first in the previous game becomes the receiver and the receiver becomes the server, vice versa
  • A game is won by the player who first scores 21 points with a 2-point margin
  • A match consists of the best two (2) of three (3) games
• It must be of any size, shape, or weight but the blade shall be flat and rigid.


  Rackets/Racquet/Bats
• Originally thought to be made from cork progressing to India rubber, then Jacques, elastics and now celluloid plastics.


  Ball
• The ball shall be made, with a diameter of 40mm with a weight of 2.7gm
• It should be sturdy, simple to assemble and easy to attach to tables of any thickness.


  Net and Poles
• Removable nets and poles are recommended
• 4 Modern Table Tennis Equipment

  1. Table
  2. Rackets
  3. Ball
  4. Net and Poles
• 5 Basic skills of Table tennis

  1. Grip
  2. Ball control
  3. Basic strokes
  4. Service
  5. Service return
• It is the stroke that starts every rally.


  Service
• The receiver should vary the direction of the return by making good use of the available angles and lines of play.


  Service return