PACKET #30

TABLE TENNIS
INSTRUCTIONS
This Learning Packet has two parts: (1) text to read and (2) questions to answer.

The text describes a particular sport or physical activity, and relates its history, rules,
playing techniques, scoring, notes and news.

The Response Forms (questions and puzzles) check your understanding and apprecia-
tion of the sport or physical activity.

INTRODUCTION
Table tennis, or ping-pong, is an enjoyable sport but it can be highly competitive. Each
player tries to outscore his opponent through the use of skill, strength, speed, stamina
and strategy. The game is somewhat similar to tennis, where players hit the ball back and
forth over a net.

The game is played on a table surface with

the use of paddles and a ping-pong ball.
The objective in the game is to be the first
to score 21 points.

Table tennis is a game played by many

people around the world. Games of table
tennis are played in schools as well as
homes. People young and old alike enjoy
this fast-paced and action-packed game.
For the serious player, there are many as-
sociations and organizations that sponsor
competition. In addition, table tennis is an
Olympic sport.

HISTORY
The origin of table tennis has never been exactly pinpointed, even though it’s a relatively
young sport. The sport is younger than lawn tennis and not much older than basketball.

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
The earliest known form of the sport, called indoor tennis, was played in the early 1880s
by British army officers in India and South Africa. They played the game by using lids
from cigar boxes as paddles and rounded corks from wine bottles as balls. They set up a
row of books across the middle of a table to establish the net.

James Gibb, an Englishman who visited the United States in 1900, brought some hollow
celluloid balls home and began playing indoor tennis with friends using the new balls.
Gibb apparently came up with the name “ping pong,” representing the sounds of the ball
hitting the paddle and then the table.

In 1902 an Englishman, E. C. Goode, covered

his wooden ping pong paddle with pebbled
rubber. This allowed him to put spin on the
ball. A Ping Pong Association was founded in
England that same year.

The first world table tennis championship tour-

nament was held in London in 1927. From
then until World War II, Hungary dominated
the sport. The American Ping Pong Associa-
tion was formed in 1930.

Central European dominance continued for a time after World War II, but Asian players
took over the sport beginning in 1953. One factor in the sudden emergence of Asian stars
was the introduction of the foam rubber paddle by Japan’s Horoi Satoh in 1952. The new
coating made the game faster and also allowed players to put even more spin in the ball.

The first national table tennis championship was staged in 1931 by the American Ping
Pong Association (APPA). Only the men’s singles was contested. The APPA was con-
trolled by Parker Brothers, which held the trademark on the word “ping pong.”

In the meantime, several other table tennis associations sprang

up around the country. In October of 1933, the U. S. Table
Tennis Association (USTTA), was organized.

The USTTA tournament was open to all comers. In 1936,

though, there was a special closed division for U. S. citizens
only. This was used to select U. S. representatives at the world
championships that year. This tournament is considered the
first U. S. national championship. There wasn’t another until

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
1976, when the U. S. national tournament was inaugurated.

Table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988, with singles and doubles competition for
both men and women.

HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED

The game is won when one person scores 21 or more points and is two points ahead of
his or her opponent. In other words, you can win with a score of 21-19 but not 21-20. If
there is less than a two point difference, the game continues until one player is ahead by
two points.

Scoring points

The server must successfully serve the ball

to the other side of the table or lose a point to
the opponent. Once the ball is in play, either
player can score a point, if the other is un-
able to return the ball successfully to the other
side of the table.

Serving the ball

The server must throw the ball up at least 6 inches without spin before hitting the ball.
Flicking the ball to the paddle with the thumb or holding the ball and hitting it are illegal
services. The served ball must hit the table on the server’s side before bouncing over the
net. It must then hit the table on the other side. If it hits the net or misses the table on the
other side, it is a lost point.

If the ball hits the net and lands on the other side of the table, it is a let serve. The ball can
be served again.

Doubles game

In a doubles game, the ball must be served across the table to the opposite court. If it
does not hit the table on the opposite court, the opponent gets the point.

Serve five times

In common play, each player serves the ball--resulting in a score--five times. Then the

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
other player serves. There are various methods to
determine who serves first.

Returning the ball

A player tries to return the served ball to the

opponent’s side. He or she must not let the ball hit his
side of the table before going over the net. It must
strike the table on the other side of the net. If it does
not, the opponent scores a point.

The players hit the ball back and forth until one misses a shot, giving the other player the
point.

There are a number of strategies used to win a game of table tennis. Some of these
include hitting to the weak side, slamming the ball and putting spin on the ball.

EQUIPMENT
The equipment required to play table tennis are a ping-pong table, a net, paddles and
ping-pong balls. Following is a summary of official table tennis rules on the equipment
used.

Table

The table should be 274 cm. x 152.5

cm. (9 ft x 5 ft) in size and 76 cm. (2
ft. 6 in.) above the floor. It is usually
painted with a dark green matte fin-
ish and has a white 2 cm. (3/4 inch)
line along each edge. There is also a
white 3 mm. (1/8 in.) line down the
center of the table for use in doubles
games.

Net

The net divides the playing surface into two courts of equal size. The net should be 15.25
cm. (6 in.) high, with the post being at most 15.25 cm. (6 in.) outside the side lines. The
bottom of the net should be as close as possible to the playing surface.

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
Ball

The ball should have a diameter of 40 mm., weigh 2.7 gm. and be made of celluloid or
similar plastic material. It can be white or orange.

Paddle

The paddle or racquet may be of any size, shape or weight but the blade shall be flat and
rigid. A side of the blade used for striking the ball shall be covered with either pimpled
rubber or sandwich rubber having a total thickness including adhesive of not more than
4 mm. The surface should be flat and pimples distributed evenly to avoid unusual re-
turns.

NEWS & NOTES

USA Table Tennis is the national governing body for the Olympic sport of table tennis in
the United States. The USA Table Tennis web site contains information about the sport
in the United States. This site even includes a listing of champions in the following
categories: Olympic, Pan Am, World, Paralympic, U.S. Open and World Cup. Hall of
fame profiles are also provided at this site.

The USA Table Tennis web site is:

http://www.usatt.org/index.shtml

Table tennis competition in the United States includes both men and women play.

There is also an active web site for Canadian table tennis news. This site includes team
ratings, Canadian national team information, the results of recent competitive evens and
links. You can view this site at:

http://www.ctta.ca/ewelcome.html

Olympic Competition:

Table tennis has a short Olympic history, although worldwide it has been one of the most
popular forms of family fun.

Making its debut at Olympic level in Seoul in 1988, table tennis has earned the reputa-
tion of being the fastest ball sport on earth. While there are more than 150 member

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
countries at international level, the sport is dominated by Asian nations.

In 1988 scandal surrounded the women’s events, with both the Chinese and Korean
teams rumored to have asked their players to “throw” some games. In the end, South
Korea took the gold medal in the men’s singles and women’s doubles, while China won
the other two gold medals.

The following are gold winners for Olympic competition in table tennis.

MEN

2004-ATHENS Singles: Seung Min Ryu, Korea

Doubles: Ma Lin/Chen Qi, China

2000-SYDNEY Singles: Kong Linghui, China

Doubles: Wang Liqin/Yang Sen, China

1996-ATLANTA Singles: Liu Guoliang, China

Doubles: Kong Linghui/Liu Guoliang, China

1992-BARCELONA Singles: Jan-Ove Waldner, Sweden

Doubles: Lu Lin/Wang Tao, China

1988-SEOUL Singles: Yoo Nam-kyu, South Korea

Doubles: Chen Longcan/Wei Qingguang, China

WOMEN :

2004-ATHENS Singles: Zhang Yining, China

Doubles: Wang Nan/Zhang Yining, China

2000-SYDNEY Singles: Wang Nan, China

Doubles: Wang Nan/Li Ju, China

1996-ATLANTA Singles: Deng Yaping, China

Doubles: Deng Yaping/Qiao Hong, China

1992-BARCELONA Singles: Deng Yaping, China

Doubles: Deng Yaping/Qiao Hong, China

1988-SEOUL Singles: Chen Jing, China

Doubles: Hyun Jung-Hwa/Yang Young-Ja, South Korea

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
STUDENT RESPONSE PACKET #30
TABLE TENNIS
NAME _____________________________

DATE ______________________________

WHAT TO DO

The following questions will help you to have a greater appreciation and understand-
ing of Table Tennis. Write your answers in the spaces below the questions. If there is
not enough room, write on the backs of these sheets. Be neat, spell correctly, and write
in complete sentences.

1. How does a player try to outscore his opponent?

2. What is the object of the game?

3. What was the earliest known form of table tennis? Who played it and where
was it played?

4. Who was James Gibb?

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
5. What invention is E. C. Goode credited with for the game of “ping pong?”
What change did his invention bring to the game?

6. When did table tennis become an Olympic sport? What type of competition was
offered?

7. How are points scored in table tennis?

8. How is the ball served in a doubles game?

9. How many serves does each player get?

10. What are some of the strategies used to win a game of table tennis?

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
 Physical Education 30 Crossword
Name: ___________________ Date: __________

1 2 3 4

5 6

8 9

10 11 12 13

14

15

16

17 18

19

Across
5 Table tennis can be a highly ______ sport
7 The first world table tennis championship tournament was held here
8 Parker ______ held the trademark on the word “ping pong”
10 From 1927 until World War II this country dominated the sport of table tennis
12 Table tennis balls can be either white or _____
15 This player must throw the ball up at least six inches without spin before hitting it
17 These players took over the sport beginning in 1953
18 Table tennis is an _____ sport
19 Table tennis is a game played by many people around the ______

Down
1 He covered his wooden ping pong paddle with pebbled rubber
2 The type of serve when the ball hits the net and lands on the other side
3 He began playing indoor tennis using hollow celluloid balls
4 The ball is often made of this material
6 The earliest form of table tennis was called “______ tennis”
8 The _____ of the net should be as close as possible to the playing surface
9 The game of table tennis is played on one
11 The table is usually printed this color
13 The net divides the playing surface into two courts of _____ size
14 The ____ of table tennis has never been exactly pinpointed
16 The blade of this must be flat and rigid

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.
 Name: ___________________ Date: __________

Physical Education 30 Word Search

V Y V R V W G Q E T C O C X G U L V T G
B Y E Z M W D Q E V R L C B C D S B A R
C U L H L F U N K I Z I O D S I D G B E
Y H B Y B A N P G B P C I N I L G Y L E
D P Y E L I A I L M E R D D R S Q Z E N
I V G D S R N O Y V M S B Q K N F X R U
U N B E K O N L I N D D H E T K V W A L
D Z D E G D O T B Y H O K Z A B M C F Q
X O R O O N I E U B C E D U U J A Z B F
C P Q N O T A W E V K S E R B C N Z R H
O G V O E R H R G F A S K T O W U B R L
B O H P S W D U O F L T S G B Z T F X J
E F M O A E K I N P F T H N J U B D U X
L O P R T O W C O G X Y H I Q X B L G K
C T E B Z H P E H L A E R P X F I R U P
H F A K M B G V E D U R L E N E G O W L
S T K Y C R A F H G U L Y D V A D W Y P
Y T G M Y R N K V Y U E L L D R I O Y B
L B K A L R P K X H E D K E W A E S O U
T C Q A C E S L W M W G B P C W P S A G

Circle the words in the above puzzle.

1. ASIAN 11. OLYMPIC
2. CELLULOID 12. ORANGE
3. COMPETITIVE 13. ORIGIN
4. EQUAL 14. PADDLE
5. GIBB 15. PARKER
6. GOODE 16. PING
7. GREEN 17. SERVER
8. HUNGARY 18. TABLE
9. INDOOR 19. TENNIS
10. LONDON 20. WORLD

Physical Education Learning Packets #30 Table Tennis Text © 2006 The Advantage Press, Inc.