HISTORY OF TABLE TENNIS
HISTORY OF TABLE TENNIS
Ping Pong Anyone?
The sport got its start in England towards the end of the 19th century when, after dinner, some upper-middle class Victorians decided to turn their dining room tables into miniature versions of the traditional lawn tennis playing field. Several different every-day objects were employed in constructing the sport. They used a line of books as the net. Rackets were lids from empty cigar boxes, and a little later, parchment paper stretched around a frame. The ball would be either a ball of string, or perhaps more commonly, a champagne cork or rubber ball.
Before “Table Tennis.”
When the game first started it was called by a number of different names. “Whif whaf,” “gossamer,” and “flim flam” were commonly used to describe it. The words, as can be assumed, were derived from the sound that the ball made when hit back and forth on the table. In 1901 though, English manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd registered one of the more popular names, Ping-Pong, as a copyright. He later sold the trademark to the Parker Brothers in the United States. Then in the 1920's the name and the sport were revived in Europe as table tennis.
MECHANICS
Overview
You can injure your neck trying to follow a table tennis match. The speed at which the players ping their balls back and forth are sometimes extraordinary. Table tennis -- a sport that became an Olympic event in 1988 -- has more than 300 million players worldwide; and it's easy to see why: the basic rules to table tennis are simple.
Play by the Rules
Before you are ready to learn the rules of play, you will need a few items of equipment. These include a table, a net, paddles and a ball. According to the International Table Tennis Federation Handbook, the official table size is 2.74m long, 1.52m wide and 76cm high. The table is split down the middle by a 15-1/4cm high net. You will need one ball that weighs 2.7g and is 40mm in diameter, and at least two rackets. The rackets can be any size, so long
Ping Pong Anyone?
The sport got its start in England towards the end of the 19th century when, after dinner, some upper-middle class Victorians decided to turn their dining room tables into miniature versions of the traditional lawn tennis playing field. Several different every-day objects were employed in constructing the sport. They used a line of books as the net. Rackets were lids from empty cigar boxes, and a little later, parchment paper stretched around a frame. The ball would be either a ball of string, or perhaps more commonly, a champagne cork or rubber ball.
Before “Table Tennis.”
When the game first started it was called by a number of different names. “Whif whaf,” “gossamer,” and “flim flam” were commonly used to describe it. The words, as can be assumed, were derived from the sound that the ball made when hit back and forth on the table. In 1901 though, English manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd registered one of the more popular names, Ping-Pong, as a copyright. He later sold the trademark to the Parker Brothers in the United States. Then in the 1920's the name and the sport were revived in Europe as table tennis.
MECHANICS
Overview
You can injure your neck trying to follow a table tennis match. The speed at which the players ping their balls back and forth are sometimes extraordinary. Table tennis -- a sport that became an Olympic event in 1988 -- has more than 300 million players worldwide; and it's easy to see why: the basic rules to table tennis are simple.
Play by the Rules
Before you are ready to learn the rules of play, you will need a few items of equipment. These include a table, a net, paddles and a ball. According to the International Table Tennis Federation Handbook, the official table size is 2.74m long, 1.52m wide and 76cm high. The table is split down the middle by a 15-1/4cm high net. You will need one ball that weighs 2.7g and is 40mm in diameter, and at least two rackets. The rackets can be any size, so long