Table Tennis, also known as Ping-pong fast-paced racket-and-ball game played on a table by two or four persons, usually indoors. Named for its resemblance to the outdoor game of tennis, the game is similarly popular both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport, especially in Asia. Table tennis is played on a table measuring 9 ft by 5 ft, with its upper surface 30 in above the floor. The resiliency of the surface is such that a standard table tennis ball, when dropped from a height of 1 ft, will rebound to a height anywhere from 8.75 to 9.75 in. Like tennis, table tennis involves hitting the ball back and forth over the net until one of the players misses the ball, or hits it into the net or off the table; in each of these cases the opponent scores a point.
To make a legal serve a player holds the ball on the flat, outstretched palm of the hand anywhere behind the end of the table, then throws it up and strikes it as it falls. The server must move his or her free arm to the side as soon as the ball leaves the hand to ensure that the free arm does not block the opponent’s view of the serve. The ball must hit the table on the server’s side of the net first, then hit the table on the receiving side before being returned. When a serve touches the net but is otherwise a good serve, it is called a “let” and played over.
