You’ll need the right equipment to get started. First, you’ll want a table. The tables that are used look a lot like a tennis court – they are usually rectangular and green with white lines. A six-inch net is used to divide the table in half.
Next, you’ll need a ball and paddles. The balls used in tournaments and during professional competitions are made of plastic and are hollow inside. Paddles, sometimes called rackets, are mostly made of wood. Each side is covered with a sheet of rubber. Often times the rubber sheets are made with different textures. This allows players to hit the ball at different speeds and with different types of spin. Even if a player chose different textures for each side of the paddle, official regulations require one side to be red and one side to be black. This way, players can always tell which side of the paddle their opponent is using.
Games
Chances are, you’ve played table tennis at school or at a friend’s house. But did you know table tennis, also called Ping-Pong, is one of the most popular competitive sports in the world? It can be very different from what you might play at school or at home with friends. Table tennis is played at a very fast pace – some people even say it’s the fastest ball sport in the world! This makes it really challenging and requires athletes to be in great shape. AND, they have to have super hand-eye coordination!
Table tennis is a pretty new when you compare it to sports like running or soccer. In fact, it started at the end of the 19th century. It’s believed that table tennis began in England where people used common household objects like corks and box lids to play. Once hollow, plastic balls replaced the cork and rubber balls originally used, the game became popular in North America too. These new balls allowed people to play with more bounce and at a much faster pace which helped to turn the game into a competitive sport.
During any physical activity, it’s always important to play it safe! Understanding the rules of a game always helps, and you should do things like stretching to help prevent injuries. So when playing table tennis, make sure you play by the rules and stay alert. It’s also a good idea to rest in between training sessions so that your body can relax and your muscles can recover from the workout!