Table Tennis
The table tennis game is played on a table which is divided into two portions with the help of a net. The main idea behind that of table tennis is same as that of a lawn tennis, only the set of rules are different. The players are required to hit the ball into the opponents’ court. The dimensions of the table used in table tennis are 274 cm x 152.5 cm x 76 cm high. In addition to this the height of the net is 15.25 cm.
Usually in table tennis or ping pong the player to serve first is chosen by a toss of a coin. This technique is practiced in international level competitions, however at low levels this techniques is not used. But a technique of hiding the ball by the umpire selects the first server. There are also other techniques involved for selecting the first server.
The origin of table tennis dates back to the 19th centaury where the game of table tennis was introduced in England by some elite class Victorians, which dates back to 1880. The earlier version of table tennis resembled to lawn tennis just being played inside the house, or simply table tennis was an adapted version of lawn tennis. And due to this it was called “indoor tennis”. It is said that the game of table tennis was started only for amusement purposes. The game at first was only played by the elite class or by British officers. They used to play the table tennis with the help of box lids and Champaign corks. The lids of the boxes were used as bats or rackets while the corks were uses as a ball, similarly the net was made up of books arranged in the middle if the table. The equipment used in early days composed objects used in daily life.
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As the table tennis game achieved popularity so began the manufacturing of the equipments of table tennis. It was during this time that the commercial sale of the equipment began. The earlier equipment included rackets made up of parchment pieces stretched out over a frame. The sound produced from the rackets during playing earned this game a nickname ping pong. In addition the name “Ping Pong” was only used for the equipments manufactured by the Jacques & Sons Ltd , this equipment was rather expansive than their counterparts. Other manufactures still called their equipment as table tennis.
The increase in popularity of the game gave way to in the creation of two associations, “The Table Tennis Association” and the “Ping Pong Association”. Their creation dates are not exact but a rough idea is that that they were created back in 1901. But since the creation of ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) in 1926 the “Ping Pong Association” in England merged with the “Table Tennis Association”. Moreover in America proper tournaments were being conducted by the “Ping Pong Association” for the promotion of ping pong equipment in which only copyrighted equipment was used. But at the present time the term ping pong is referred to as table tennis.
The basic skills in table tennis are good control and coordination of body and also quick in reflexes. Learning these skills require a lot of time and patience. In addition to these skills table tennis also require a lot of timing.
During the past 55 years Asian players have dominated the world of table tennis. Before World War II European players were dominant, but now Asian players continue the domination. Many Asian players have won the major titles in table tennis. There are many championships in Asia, working in collaboration with many Asian table tennis associations. In Asia table tennis is the most popular sport.
The penhold style in table tennis was introduced by Asian players, in this technique or style the handle of the racket is held between the thumb and the forefinger thus allowing shooting the ball using only one side of the racket, the other side is generally not used. Penhold style is most common in Asian countries like China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
