Who Invented Table Tennis

The invention of table tennis was just as a part of fun or amusement. It is said that the game was invented by an English elite class. They used to play an indoor version of lawn tennis. Usually they played this game as an after dinner amusement. So it is not easy to say that who invented table tennis. There has been a lot of research on this field by many players as well as historians.

The table tennis in early days was just an indoor version of lawn tennis. It is said that an elite class in England played this type of game in their houses. They used to play lawn tennis but just in an indoor environment. The inventors of table tennis used to play the game with the help of daily life objects. There was no proper equipment for the game. In early days the main idea behind this new game was same as that of lawn tennis. So we can see that table tennis is an offshoot of lawn tennis. And as there were no rules the people playing it followed the rules of table tennis. The game was in existence in 1880’s as some British officers used to play it in there messes.

At first the equipment used for playing the game was normal daily life objects. The early version of the game played was entirely different ours. For instance lids of boxes served the purpose of rackets, while the corks of Champaign served the purpose of ball. The corks were rounded off so that they could bounce, apart from that knots of string were also used as balls.

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The early version of table tennis was only for the elite class of the society. Nobody else could play it, and so there is no proper account of who really invented the game or there is no proper name of the inventor of table tennis.

The first commercial production of table tennis or ping pong equipment began in 1887, by J.H. Singer of New York. This manufacture first time it in the history used the word Table Tennis. Actually during this time the game manufactured was being sold as a board game, not as a sport.

The first name associated with the invention of table tennis is David Foster. In 1890 David Foster introduced for the first time rackets, a ball made up of rubber and nets. He patented this game. The size of the ball used was 30 mm in diameter. The nets introduced were extended over to each side of the table. Around 1898, companies in England were popularizing the game by manufacturing the table tennis sets. The most prominent of all was J .Jacques & Sons. Actually it was J .Jacques & Sons Ltd who invented the Ping Pong. Later on ping pong was only associated to the equipment manufactured by J Jacques & Sons, which was off course more expensive. And so the company trademarked the term “Ping Pong” for their use only. So ping pong was invented for only J .Jacques & Sons Ltd. Earlier than this Hamley Brother trademarked the term “Gossima” this was done in the year 1900. Invention of ping pong came due to the sound produced by the equipment during playing.

Meanwhile in the US Parker Brothers acquired the Ping Pong rites for America, they worked very hard for the development of the game in the US and also for acquiring market for the equipment of the game.

The invention of Ping Pong ball is associated to English named James Gibb, who on a trip to US in 1901, found that celluloid balls were perfect for the game. He was the one who invented the ping pong ball.

In the year 1903, the modern version of the table tennis racket was introduced. It was made up of rubber sheet fixed on a wooden blade. And to this date modern rackets are somewhat designed on the same pattern.