| Table tennis is an Olympic racket sport where two | | | | by the opponent. |
| players, or two teams of two players, hit the table | | | | A table tennis player loses a point if he fails to return |
| tennis ball back and forth, across the net on a table, | | | | his opponent's shot, allows the ball to bounce more |
| with wooden paddles. The manner of play is similar to | | | | than once on his side of the net, fails to hit the table |
| that of tennis, hence the name. | | | | with his shot, hits the ball twice, places his hand on the |
| The playing surface is a table, 30 inches above the | | | | table, hits the ball before it bounces on his side of the |
| ground that is approximately 9 feet long and five feet | | | | table, or fails to execute a legal table tennis serve. |
| wide. A six-inch high net divides the table in half. The | | | | Table tennis players have many strokes at their |
| table tennis ball has a diameter of 40 mm, is made of | | | | disposal. Offensive table tennis strokes include the |
| celluloid, and is hollow. This article will discuss a few | | | | speed drive, loop drive, and smash. |
| basic elements of table tennis, scoring, rules, and basic | | | | A speed drive is a shot hit with a square racket face |
| strokes. | | | | swung parallel to the table that results in a hard, flat |
| Official table tennis rules mandate table tennis matches | | | | shot. |
| consist of either a best of five or a best of seven | | | | A loop drive is a shot hit with a closed racket face |
| series of games played to 11 points. The first player to | | | | swung nearly perpendicular to the table. The loop drive |
| reach 11 points with a margin of two wins the game. | | | | in table tennis is comparable to a groundstroke in tennis |
| In a best-of-five match, the first player to win three | | | | hit with a large amount of topspin. |
| games wins the match. In a best-of-seven match, the | | | | The smash is an extremely offensive shot that |
| first player to win four games wins the match. In the | | | | involves swinging the racket down on a high bouncing |
| 11-point game format, players alternate serves every | | | | ball to generate a large amount of speed. |
| two points. If the game reaches a score of 10-10, | | | | Defensive table tennis strokes include the chop and |
| players alternate serve every point until one player | | | | the block. |
| achieves a margin of two points. | | | | The chop is table tennis's version of the slice. Table |
| Historically, a standard game of table tennis was | | | | tennis players execute the chop by swinging the |
| played to 21 points with players alternating serve | | | | paddle from high to low with an open racket face |
| every five points. This method remains the preferred | | | | imparting backspin. |
| method for recreational table tennis players. | | | | Finally, the block is a simple stroke used to counter |
| To start each point, the server tosses the ball, from an | | | | attacking shots. To execute the block, table tennis |
| open palm, at least 6 inches into the air. The server | | | | players simply place the paddle behind the approaching |
| strikes the ball with the paddle so that the ball bounces | | | | ball and allow the ball to hit the paddle. |
| on his side of the table before bouncing on his | | | | Players must strategically employ a mixture of |
| opponent's side. A table tennis player wins a point by | | | | offensive and defensive shots to win a game of table |
| hitting a shot that strikes the table and is not returned | | | | tennis. |