The Official Rules & Information on Table Tennis

Table tennis, or ping-pong, is a popular sport played around the world. It became so popular that in 1988, table tennis became an official sport of the Olympic Games. Because of its strong following both domestically and internationally, it's important to understand the rules of the game from a worldwide standpoint. Serious table tennis players should follow the rules established by the International Table Tennis Federation.

Table

The table can be made of any material as long as it produces a uniform bounce. A table tennis ball should reach a height of 23 centimeters when dropped from a height of 30 centimeters. The surface of the table should be 2.74 meters long and 1.525 meters wide and should be divided into two equal courts length-wise. The net should be stretched tight about 15.25 centimeters above the surface.

Ball

A standard table tennis ball should weigh 2.7 grams, with a diameter of 40 millimeters. Standard table tennis balls can be found at most sporting goods stores.

Paddle

The paddle, or racket, can be any size as long as the blade is flat and rigid. At least 85 percent of the paddle needs to be made from natural wood. A layer of carbon fiber, glass fiber or compressed paper may be used, but cannot be thicker than 7.5 percent of the total thickness, or 0.35 millimeters, whichever is smaller. Traditional table tennis rackets can be purchased at most sporting goods stores. International Table Tennis Federation rules require players to show the umpire and opponent the paddle so they can inspect it prior to the match.

Serving

To begin a match, a player must toss the ball vertically into the air and then hit it so that the ball hits his or her court first and then hits the opponent's court. The ball needs to be thrown into the air without spin. The ball can make contact with the net as long as it bounces in the opponent's court.

Scoring Rules

If a player fails to make a correct serve or cannot return a shot, the opponent is awarded a point. Each player must only hit the ball once per shot and the ball cannot bounce more than once in each court. After two points are scored, service is switched to the opponent. The first one to reach 11 points is the winner, unless the game is tied at 10 apiece, at which point the players will alternate each serve until somebody wins by two points.