What is Ping Pong?
Table tennis is a sport where two players hit a ball back and forth to each other, with a racket on a table, in a manner similar to tennis. The rules are slightly different, but the concept is essentially the same. Table tennis is an Olympic sport, "ping-pong" is the recreational version of the same sport. Spin, speed and strategy play an important part in competitive table tennis matches. The speed of the ball can vary from slow spinny serves to fast smashes that travel as fast as 110 km/h.[citation needed] The playing surface is a 9 ft × 5 ft × 30 in high (2.7 m × 1.5 m × .762 m) hard rectangular table with the surface usually colored green, dark blue, or black. A 6 inch (15.2 cm) tall net divides the table in half (much like a tennis court) and is strung to extend 6 inches (15.2 cm) beyond the table on each side. It is often difficult for beginners to learn to use the correct footwork. At the beginning, you can get away with poor footwork since it is not the most important part of the game. But as you get better having good footwork becomes more and more important, until it is an essential component of the game in advanced play. Play is fast and demands possibly the quickest reactions of any sport. A skilled player can impart spin to the ball which makes its bounce difficult to predict or return with confidence. Spin combined with speed makes table tennis an exciting sport to play as well as to watch. The difference between Olympic level play and the average home recreational player is tremendous. Often a proper foundation of table tennis skills is required to understand how competitive players can do what seems impossible to the untrained eye. Keep your crouching position as much as you can while playing - this helps keep your center of gravity low, and will help you move around the court more smoothly. Standing up straight will raise your center of gravity, lock your knees and impair your ability to balance and move quickly. |
Table Tennis - Importance of Good Footwork!
Learn Ping Pong..... | Learn Ping Pong..
| One of the most frustrating experiences in Table Tennis can be playing someone who imitates a wall and sends every ball you hit right back at you! Aggressive blockers must be handled with care, since any lapses in concentration on your part will be swiftly punished with lightning counter-attacks. You can't afford to let up against these guys at all - you must stick to your game plan at all costs. Every weak attack or bad push that you make will cost you. I'll talk a bit more about what your plan should be in a little while, so stick with me. |
| The winner is the first to score 11 points, with each player alternating serves every two points. At 10-10 (or deuce) the players alternate with every serve. The winner is the first person to gain a clear two points advantage over his opponent. The 11 point game is an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) change which occurred in 2001. The 21 point game is still widely played at recreational level. All games played at national level and at international tournaments (ITTF) are played to 11 points in either a best of five (5) games (preliminaries) or best of seven (7) games format (championship matches). The point of using footwork is to get you to the ball so that you can hit the same stroke as much as possible. Good footwork allows you to consistently use your best technique, instead of having to stretch, be cramped, or bend from the waist. Good footwork is not just about sheer speed. It's also about moving the right amount at the right time. A slow player who moves correctly will have better footwork than a quick player who goes to the wrong place, or with his feet the wrong way around. One of the most common errors I see from beginners is what I call the 'all or nothing' syndrome. This is the habit beginners have of not moving their feet at all if they can stretch for the ball, even though this puts them off balance. Then, for balls that they can't reach by stretching, they move too far, and actually get too close to the ball, cramping their stroke. You can avoid this problem by remembering to always move to the ball, even if you only move six inches or so. Get in the habit of moving into position, and you will soon be able to get into the right position to hit the ball, whether it is near or far away. |
Great Ping Pong Tips!
Ping Pong is Great!
| Great Ping Pong Tips Get on the balls of your feet - not your toes and not your heels. Too much on your toes and you'll tend to overbalance forwards, and too much on your heels and you'll tend to lean backwards too much. Make sure your knees are bent, and you should have a slight crouch and a little amount of forward lean. Keep your feet light - some players like to bounce from one foot to another, and others like to jump on both feet at once. Use whichever you like, but keep moving - it's easier to get around if you are not standing still. For balls that are table height or lower, bend your knees more to get down to the ball, rather than bending from the waist. Using your knees allows you to hit the ball using your normal technique, while bending from the waist changes the way you have to swing, since your body is now leaning over. Try both ways and you will see what I mean. Against a good blocker, some players seem to give up on serving and returning serve at their best, thinking that it's a waste of time, since the blocker is going to be able to handle the third ball attack, and is not likely to attack with their own third ball. Don't be one of these players. Intelligent use of your own serves can help you get your chance to hit the ball hard that much faster, which helps cut down the chances of you making a mistake while waiting to get the setup. And good service returns keeps the blocker under pressure, stopping him from getting any easy attacks for cheap points. So pay attention right from the start. These are the usual tips that most people would give you when playing against blockers. Again, there is usually some value in them, but every now and again you'll come across opponents who won't be affected. A handful of tips can't replace the intelligent use of your brain in a match, so be prepared to discard those tips that aren't working. Hot Tips to Use! Loop both short and deep, and with good angles. Many blockers prefer to plant their feet, and are weak when blocking on the move. Also, many blockers stand very close to the table, and so can be weak against very deep balls. Use high spinny loops to avoid giving your opponent any pace to work off. Loop to the middle to avoid giving your opponent the opportunity to use wide angles against you. Chop beats block - so use more pushes in your game before choosing a ball to attack hard. If you have a good backhand attack, use this to open your attacks more often. Backhand opens can be performed more quickly than forehands, and can be harder to determine which direction they are going Learn Ping Pong Today |
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