The rules of table tennis will be different for a college table tennis tournament than they are in your basement during a raucous house party. For one thing, official games of table tennis don't involve beer bottles. Additionally, hitting the ball off the wall is against the rules (I know, I'm taking the fun out of it)... and the ball has to be completely spherical, too (the dented, warped ball you trampled won't work, I'm afraid). How you play table tennis in your basement is your business. The following are official rules for playing table tennis.
- Duration. A table tennis match can be any odd number of games you want it to be, but the "best-of" format is the rule; you can make your match "best three games out of five," "five games out of seven," seven of nine," or any odd-numbered "best-of" length you choose. When a player wins that designated majority, the match ends.
So what is a game, you ask? A game consists of however many rallies it takes a player or doubles team to score 11 points. In the event that the score is tied at 10-10, the first player or team to pull ahead by two points wins the game.
- Scoring. Many people mistakenly think that table tennis is scored like volleyball, where you must be serving in order to add a point to your score. A player or team can score on any point they win, regardless of who's serving.
- The serve. During a game, players or teams take turns of two serves.
- The server must begin by holding the ball in the flat upward palm of his free hand. That way, the server can't give the ball any wild spin while tossing the ball.
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Author: Brian McDonald