Table Tennis Products at INTERSPORT

Welcome to INTERSPORT Table Tennis. Please click here to find INTERSPORT Store locations that specialise in Table Tennis equipment. You can also view general information about Table Tennis in our FAQ section below and find out about events taking place in 2010.

FAQ's

Equipment needed

Ball

• The international rules specify that the game is played with a light 2.7g,  40mm diameter ball.
• The 40mm ball was introduced after the 2000 Olympic Games.
• Stars on the ball indicate the quality of the ball. 3 stars indicates that it is of the highest quality, and is used in official competitions.

Table

• The table is 2.74 m (9ft) long, 1.525 m (5ft) wide, and 76cm (30inch) high.
• The table or playing surface is divided into two halves by a 15.25cm (6inch) high net.
• The table surface is often green or blue in colour.

Racket – Paddle - Bat

• Players should be equipped with a wooden bat covered with rubber, on one or two sides, depending on the grip of the player.
• This is called either a paddle, racket, blade or a bat depending on where in the world the game is being played.
• In the USA the term 'paddle' is common, in Europe the term is 'bat', and the official ITTF term is 'racket'.
• The different types of surfaces provide various levels of spin or speed
• A player has the right to inspect his/her opponent's bat before a match to see the type of rubber used and what colour it is. 
• Current rules state that, unless damaged in play, the bat cannot be exchanged for another at any time during a match.

Game play

Starting a game

• In competition, service is decided by a coin toss.

Service

• The ball must remain behind the endline and above the height of the table at all times during the service.
• The server cannot use his body or clothing to obstruct sight of the ball.
• A valid serve will entail the ball bouncing once on his/her half of the table, and then bouncing at least one time on the opponent's half.
• If the ball strikes the net during a serve, but does not strike the opponent's half of the table, then a point is awarded to the opponent.
• If the ball hits the net during a serve, but goes over and bounces on the other side, it is called a let.  This means that the serve is started again and the server receives no penalty.

Hitting the ball

• When the ball is hit, it must pass over or around the net to be a legal hit.
• If the ball travels around the net but lands on the opponent's side of the table, it is a legal hit and play continues.

Scoring

Points are awarded to the opponent for various reasons:

• If the ball bounces on one's side of the table more than once.
• Double hitting the ball. This can occur as the hand is considered part of the racket.  If the ball strikes the hand and reaches the other side of the table it is a legal hit.  If however, the ball hits the hand and then hits the bat before reaching the other side of the table this is considered to be a double strike of the ball and is, therefore, a foul.
• Allowing the ball to strike anything other than the bat, for example, main body.
• The ball not bouncing on the opponent's side of the table.
• Placing your free hand on the table.
• Making an illegal serve.
• Hitting the net with the bat or any body part.
• By volleying the ball (not allowing the ball to bounce on your side)
• The ball is considered out of bounds if; It touches a wall, ceiling, the opponent's body, or is stopped by the opponent's bat.

Alternation of service

• Service alternates between opponents every two points until a player reaches 11 points with at least a two-point lead, or until both players have 10 points a piece.
• If both players reach 10 points, then service alternates after each point, until one player gains a two-point advantage.
• In doubles, service alternates every two points between sides, but also rotates between players on the same team.

Series of games

• Matches are typically played for the best of five or seven games.
• After each game, players switch sides of the table and in the fifth or seventh, game ‘for the match’.

Styles of play

Grip

• Competitive table tennis players grip their bats in a variety of ways.
• The two main styles are known as 'Penhold' and 'Shakehand'.

Penhold

• The penhold grip is named as you hold the bat in a similar way to holding a pen.
• Penhold styles are popular among players originating from East Asian regions such as China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
• Traditionally, penhold players use only one side of the bat to hit the ball during normal play.

Shakehand

• The shakehand grip is named as it almost imitates how one would shake someone's hand.
• The shakehand grip is most popular among players originating in Western nations and South Asian nations, for example.
• Due to the increasingly fast nature of the game, the shakehand grip is becoming more widely used as it allows for more ease when carrying out a backhand shot, compared to the penhold grip.

Types of shots

• The strokes break down into generally offensive and defensive types of shot.

Offensive strokes

Speed drive

• Used mostly for keeping the ball in play and potentially creating an opportunity to strike an attack, the speed drive is primarily perpendicular to the direction of the stroke creating speed not spin.

Loop drive

• Essentially the reverse of the speed drive – the bat is more parallel enforcing the ball to graze the bat resulting in large amounts of topspin.
• The amount of topspin will allow the player to set themself up for a smash on the next shot.
• Variations in spin and speed add to the effectiveness of this shot.

Counter drive

• Usually a counter attack against drives (normally high loop drives).
• You have to close the bat and stay close to the ball so that the ball travels faster to the other side - this can be as effective as a smash.

Flick (or Flip in U.S and Asia)

• This stroke is usually used when the ball has not bounced beyond the edge of the table, calling for a short wrist flick from a backhand to a forehand shot or vice-versa.

Smash

• The offensive trump card in table tennis.
• A player will typically execute a smash when his or her opponent has returned a ball that bounces too high and/or too close to the net.

Defensive strokes

Push (or Slice in Asia)

• A push resembles a tennis slice: the bat cuts underneath the ball, imparting backspin and causing the ball to float slowly to the other side of the table.
• The aim of this is to make the ball land too short to be attacked.

Chop

• A chop is essentially a bigger, heavier slice, taken well back from the table.  It can be difficult to return due to the amount of backspin caused.

Block

• A block is executed by simply putting the racket in front of the ball; the ball rebounds back toward the opponent with nearly as much energy as it came in with.

Side Drive

• The aim of this shot is to put a spin on the ball either to the right of left.
• It is executed similarly to a slice, but to the right or left and not down.

Lob

• To execute a 'lob', a defensive player first backs off the table 4 - 6 metres; then, the stroke itself consists of simply lifting the ball to an enormous height before it falls back to the opponent's side of the table. 

Drop Shot

• The drop shot is a high level stroke, used as another variation for close-to-table strokes.
• The racket has to be positioned close to the ball just allowing it to touch it (without any hand movement). The ball should stay close to the net, with almost no speed and spin, and touches the other side of the table more than twice if the opponent doesn't reach it.

Topspin

• This is a spin shot; the top of the ball should be touched slightly so it returns quickly and without a straight path.

Basic Product Requirements

• Bats/Paddles/Racket
• Balls
• Table
• Net