A game of table tennis can be a leisurely activity for the family or a fun way for you to get in shape. Most sports clubs have table tennis tables so that members need only to bring their own table tennis racquets. Buying your own racquet for the first time is often a major decision you must make because a table tennis racquet will have a major impact on your playing skills.

Get The Right One For Yourself

When buying your first ping pong paddles, you want to know what to look for and what to avoid. A bad paddle or inadequate rubbers can greatly affect your overall rate of improvement.

Knowing what to look for when shopping for ping pong paddles is essential to your performance and the quality of your table tennis game.

Common Mistake Fro Many People

The most common mistake that many people make when purchasing ping pong paddles is buying premade paddles. The problem with these kinds of ping pong paddles is that they come with the rubbers already attached.

Since the typical life of the rubber is not more than a year, this can be a major disadvantage, and in most cases, a waste of money. If the paddle is old stock, you may not get what you pay for, and opting for a newer paddle would have meant better performance.

The second thing to consider when picking out ping pong paddles is your blade. You don’t want a blade that is too fast or slow. A good all-around blade from a manufacturer such as a Butterfly or Stiga often offers the best performance and is the most reliable option for those just beginning or who want a more competitive edge.

The grip and type of grip are other important factors for ping pong paddles. You want a grip type that is the most suited to your style of play, and a grip that feels comfortable.

Basic Types of Table Tennis Racquets

There are two basic types of table tennis racquets to choose from:

* Recreational racquets

Recreational types are pre-assembled wood and rubber racquets that provide good to moderate performance levels, sufficient for beginners and recreational players. These racquets are less expensive than custom-made types and are usually available in most sporting goods stores. If you don’t want to go through the hassles of selecting wood blades and rubbers and gluing them together, then this type is for you.

* High-performance custom racquets

Seasoned players invest in high-performance table tennis racquets because these provide the right kind of spins and speeds best suited to their playing styles. This type of racquets is made of specialized and higher quality table tennis rubber and blades which produce higher speeds and spins than recreational racquets.

Competitive players assemble their own racquets by choosing the type of rubber (inverse, pips or antispin), padding and blade (natural wood or composite materials). Users of custom racquets generally enjoy playing advantage against opponents with recreational racquets.

How To Select Custom Table Tennis Racquets

Getting a high-performance custom racquet is a good idea for those who play table tennis regularly or who want to develop their games. Unlike recreational racquets, custom racquets allow you to replace rubbers when they are worn out, damaged or no longer responsive to your playing style.

Consider your playing style when buying a custom racquet and choose from among the following:

* offensive spin, which produces high spins with less emphasis on speed
* offensive speed, which produces high speeds with less emphasis on spin
* all around spin, which provides superior spin control and the ability to mix in topspin offense
* all around speed, which provides enough control and high offensive ability to mix in topspin offense
* defensive spin/control, for defensive play, when you want to control the rhythm of your opponent’s game by producing deceptive returns and a variety of spins.

As you develop your skills, you will want to change blades or rubbers or table tennis racquets altogether, so it’s best not to buy the most expensive racquet immediately.

Why do you need a ping pong ball launcher? It can be very useful to practice and improve your techniques…

Find out more…

A ping pong ball launcher or a ping pong robot is a programmed machine that used to shoot or fire table tennis balls to the other end of the table for practice purposes.

Table tennis is played by two or four players and it will not be possible for one person to practice the game alone except the player use a ping pong ball launcher.

Most people practice ping pong in their local clubs where they have many table tennis tables and players to train with.

Some players, unfortunately, may not have access to a table tennis club or do not have anybody around to practice their game with.

This is the reason why a table tennis ball launcher is a very important table tennis accessory for some people.

Do You Need Such Ping Pong Equipment?

Ping pong ball launcher can be very useful for beginners who want to master the basic table tennis strokes.

It is used by many table tennis players to improve on their techniques, by practicing with the robot when there is no other player around to practice with.

The robot is an equipment that can help players to master their techniques quickly and effectively because you can program the robot to feed the same shot consecutively with the same spin.

It can be very handy if you have it at home because it will help you to effectively master the basic skills in table tennis.

After knowing any new technique, a ball launcher can be very helpful for you to master that technique because after you get the same shot continuously, you will definitely get it right. Besides, it is very useful for you to improve your fitness and speed.

How to Use a Ping Pong Ball Launcher?

This piece of equipment is easy to set up, all you need to do is attach it to your table and you plug it to electricity.

It is not difficult to set up with the table tennis table and it does not require much space like when two players are playing.

Some robot comes with a net that catches the ball and can feed it back into the robot.

It can be adjusted by programming the speed and spin according to the way you want to receive the balls from the machine.

The Bottom Line….

Ping pong ball launchers are very useful for beginners if used efficiently for practicing basic strokes and footwork. It can also help to improve body fitness and eye coordination.

It allows a player to be able to practice alone without any other player or coach around, but you must know that the ball launcher is not the same as a coach and is only a machine which cannot guide you as a coach would do.

A robot cannot replace a real opponent or human because a human opponent cannot be programmed like a robot which is predictable.

You might have been playing table tennis for fun or as a recreational activity, but if you are serious to learn how to play ping pong, you need to know the basic table tennis rules for beginners.

The basic rules include rules for starting a game, rules for scoring points and rules for serving. These basic rules are all you need to know as a beginner and it will be sufficient for you to develop your game and improve on your techniques.

In official competition, a match winner is a player that has the best of any odd numbers of games, usually the best of five or seven games.

Rules for Starting a Game

According to the official rules, a coin is tossed to decide which player will serve first in a game.

A player can also hide the ball in one hand and put both hands under the table for the other player to guess which of the hand the ball is hidden.

If a player guesses right he or she will be the first to serve and if a player guesses wrong, the reverse will be the case.

The play to serve system can also be used to decide who to serve first in a game. The ball is played back and forth four times and then the players play out the points. The player that wins the point, will be the first to serve.

How to score points

• A point is scored if an opponent fails to make a correct service or returns.
• A point is scored if after making a service or return the ball touches anything apart from the net before being struck by the opposing player.
• A point is scored if a player moves the table, touches the net or put the free hand on the table surface during a rally.
• A point is scored if a player obstructs the ball and also if the ball passes over the player’s court after being struck by the opponent.
• A point is scored if a player hit the ball twice.
• A game is won by the first player to score 11 points, except when the players score 10 points each. In this situation, the game shall be won by the first player having a lead of two points.
• For example, if two players have 10 points each, the first to get 2 points more than the other wins the game.

The rules to serve

• For a serve to be legal, a player must toss the ball up at least 6 inches and hit the ball before it touches the table.
• For a serve to be legal, a player must not hide the ball from his opponent.
• Players can change serves after every 2 points until a player wins the game.
• After the end of each game, the players can change sides and the player who served first in the previous game will be the one to serve first in the next game.
• In table tennis doubles the service is executed from the right-hand side and the sequence of the returns is different.
•  A let is called if the ball touches the net before crossing over to the side of the receiver or when the receiver is not ready when the ball was served.
• A let is when a game is interrupted in the process of a serve or during a rally.

Basic and Official Rules of Table Tennis

Do you want to know the important basic rules of table tennis for beginners? Or do you wish to have yourself got familiar with the laws of table tennis including the official table tennis rules for professional and international players? If so, you have come to the right place in which you are going to get all the required information in this site.

The international official table tennis rules are controlled by the worldwide organization, which is known as International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The organization was founded and established in 1926.

ITTF preserves a global position ranking system plus organizes several international table tennis events including the World Table Tennis Championship. Today, the organization already have got 215 members. If you would want to know more, you may get the official table tennis rules which are indicating in the ITTF laws of table tennis handbook.

2 Rules Categories

The rules associated with table tennis or ping pong can be categorized into 2 major categories:

The first category is the fundamental table tennis rules which are aiming for recreational players and beginners; the other category is the official table tennis rules or ping pong laws which tend to be reviewed by ITTF every year.

For serious amateur players who really want to improve on their game, it is very important to know the current official table tennis rules.

For a beginner or recreational player, the knowledge of some basic rules of the sport is sufficient enough to play and enjoy the game at that level.

Some of you might also be wondering about what is the difference between ping pong rules and table tennis rules and want to know which of these terms is officially correct according to the rules and regulation governing the sport.

Basic Table Tennis Rules for Beginners

As a beginner you can relax, take your time to learn the game, all you need is to know some basic skills like how to start a game-knowing who to start or receive the first service of the game, you also need to know how to choose and use the table tennis racket, paddle or bat.

As a beginner or recreational you only need a cheap table tennis racket and as your game improves, you can upgrade to a more high quality but an expensive racket.

I will give you some important basic table tennis rules for beginners to enable you to develop your skill and have fundamental knowledge on how to play the game according to the rules.

Official Table Tennis Rules

With serious amateur players who are really determined about improving their standard of the game or taking their game to the championship level, there is the need for them to know the correct official rules and regulations of table tennis because the rules are reviewed every year.

As a serious player, you must know about any changes made in the rules of the sport so that you will know what to do and what not to do when you are playing a game in a tournament or in your table tennis club.

The official table tennis rules are complete lay down rules and regulations intended to cover any possible occurrence that may arise when a professional game of table tennis is played.

The official rules of table tennis can apply for both amateurs and professionals, but on some occasions, the official rules and regulations of table tennis is used depending on the level and standard of competition.

For the more serious or amateur players who want to improve on their game and play in official table tennis club tournament or professional championships games, I will give you the most recently reviewed and updated official rules and regulations of table tennis as specify in the ITTF official laws of table tennis handbook that reviewed and updated annually in their office site.

Ping pong or table tennis is one of the games with several benefits and it’s mostly played in game halls, corporate places, and homes. It’s an addictive sport that requires adequate preparation and training.

Being successful in this game requires athletic ability, skill, and endurance. It also requires using the correct ping pong gear. The ping pong gear is vital in improving your game since ping pong is enjoyed with good equipment such as ping pong tables or paddles.

Now, let’s review The Best Indoor and Outdoor Ping Pong Tables you can buy today.

Joola Inside Table Tennis Table with Net Set

This is a quality competition table tennis table with excellent durability, ideal for the home, gym room, office. It has a standard size of 9×5 feet with a regular height.

Although it’s expensive, the quality is worth the price. It has different thickness of fiberboard which determines its durability and stiffness. Different 4-wheel trolley mechanism supports both halves of the table and hold it in place. This table can be folded in half to form the playback mode for practice.

Pros

• Easily assembled
• Foldable with decent mobility
• Net stays upright
• Different thickness available
• Durable

Cons

• Not sturdy for competitions

STIGA Advantage Table Tennis Table

STIGA brand of table tennis table are of good quality, and they have been a leading table tennis table manufacturers. It is suitable for competitions, recreational purpose, and very easy to set up.

It is half-assembled by the manufacturers and takes few minutes to complete the assembly after purchase. The net on the table is similar to the ones used in tournaments with 72” cotton blended.

This table can fit into anywhere such as offices, schools, homes, because of its size which is 9×5 feet. The only problem with STIGA is that, it doesn’t have playback mode, so you’ll need an opponent to play with.

Pros

• Easy to assemble
• Cotton blended net
• Sturdy
• Smooth finish with good bounce
• Both halves of table are independent

Cons

• Table height cannot be adjusted

Killerspin Revolution Table Tennis Table

Killerspin table tennis table is not designed for competitions but to improve performance. It has a very attractive look which might add beauty to any place it is kept such as recreational room at the office, playroom in your home.

The base of the table is plated with arched aluminum to provide higher stability. The surface of this table has anti-glare coating for full visibility during a match, and it is designed with a premium 22mm thick MDF. It is easy to assemble, and the frame is held firmly by stainless steel hinges.

Pros

• Colorful design
• Anti-glare surface
• Stainless steel hinges
• Arched support

Cons

• Very heavy
• Not portable

Cornilleau Indoor/Outdoor table tennis table

Cornilleau has a different support mechanism and is made of galvanized steel. It has rigid supports and big wheels to cruise through bumps and stand firmly on all surface. The supporting bars of this table are also made of galvanized steel.

The surface of the table is laminated to provide a perfect bounce and makes the table very durable to withstand all weather conditions. The 7mm laminated surface reduces the glare from the table, and it is foldable to allow the playback mode. The portable body and strong frame of this table makes it suitable for indoor and outdoor sessions.

Pros

• Made from galvanized steel
• 7mm laminated surface
• Large double-wheels
• Levelers and rigid supports

Cons

• Very expensive
• Wheels can warp if left uncovered outside

Butterfly Centerfold Rollaway 25

For players who want a top quality ping pong table for practice, this table is the best fit. It is one of the best quality tables in the market with a brand name, Butterfly, which is a widely known brand in amateur, club, and professional circles.

This brand is also associated with top quality table tennis equipment such as blades, balls, and table tennis tables.

The Butterfly Centerfold Rollaway 25 table tennis table is ITTF approved which makes it suitable for use in competitions. It has a 25mm blue table top, sturdy legs, and it’s portable and foldable for easy storage with 5-years warranty.

The table top has a superb bounce and it’s good-looking. It is also easy to set up as it comes reassembled, so, you only need to add the net and post.

Pros

• No assembly needed
• Approved by ITTF
• Best bounce with 25mm table top
• 5-years warranty

Cons

• Very heavy
• No ball storage compartment
• Table top needs absolute care and attention.

Kettler Indoor Table Tennis Table

This is an excellent table with 7/8” thickness. It has a good quality and folds up easily on each side.

The table surface offers consistent bounce and it comes with ball and paddle holder for added value. Once it is set up, it gives pleasure to play on.

Pros

• Integrated racket and ball holder
• Suitable for tournaments due to its size and quality
• 5” rubber wheels for easy transport
• 2” square steel legs for stability
• Folds easily and portably

Cons

• Difficult to assemble.

Dunlop Premium 2-Piece Table Tennis Table

This table tennis table is very attractive with a good price. It has a 1” table top thickness and it’s suitable for tournaments.

It is portable and folds up compactly, thereby making storage easy. It is also very easy to move about because of its 4” rolling caster wheels.

Pros

• Has a full size regulation
• Locking casters
• Solid feel, consistent bounce
• 1” thick table top

Cons

• Clamp pads for the net not sufficient to protect the table surface.

Conclusion

Before making that purchase, go through the above reviews carefully. Consider the warranty period, integrated ball and racket storage solution, table top thickness for good bounce, sturdy legs, and finally, the price of the product.