Table Tennis

Table tennis (TT), affectionately known as Ping Pong (also known as Gossima, Whiff-Whaff, Flim-Flam), is a sport of two or four players hitting a ball back and forth to each other on a table divided by a net. The players hit the ball with paddles (racket). During the play each player allows a ball played towards him or her only one bounce on their side of the table and must hit it back so that it bounces on the opponent's side. Table Tennis is a fast game and demands quick reactions. A skilled player may impart spin to the ball. This makes the ball bounce difficult to predict or return with confidence. A combination of spin and speed makes table tennis an exciting sport to play as well as to watch. DO YOU KNOW In top-flight competition, service is decided by a coin toss At lower levels it is common for one player to hide the ball in one or the other hand, allowing the other player to guess which hand the ball is in. In recreational games, the players may have a rally for a minimum set number of hits, after which the rally is played out, with either the winner choosing to serve or the tableside. HISTORY OF TABLE TENNIS The origin of TT was in England. It was played as an after dinner amusement for upper class Victorians in the 1880s, mimicking the game of tennis in an indoor environment with everyday objects like books, champagne cork, etc. Its popularity led to manufacture of equipment commercially. The paddles were pieces of parchment stretched upon a frame, it generated sound. This gave the nickname of "whiff whaff" and "Ping pong" to table tennis. TABLE TENNIS IN OLYMPICS Debuted in 1988 at Seoul. Some of the glues are banned from Olympic competition because they make the ball travel up to 30km/h faster.

TABLE TENNIS STROKES

Defensive strokes

• Slice (aka the Push)
• Chop
• Block
• Lob
• Stop (or drop shot)

Offensive strokes

• Speed Drive
• Loop Drive
• Counter Drive
• Flip (or Flick in Europe)
• Smash

TABLE TENNIS TIT-BITS

• In national level and international tournaments all games are played to 11 points in either a best of five (5) games (preliminaries) or best of seven (7) games format (championship matches).
• The 11 points game is an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) change that occurred in the year 2001.
• Competitive table tennis is very popular in Asia and Europe. It is also gaining attention in the United States. China continues to dominate recent world titles.
• "Hardbat" is a table tennis variants which enables the competitors to use a paddle with small pips-out rubber (sponge is not allowed); and "Large ball", where a 44 mm ball is used to decrease the speed.