The 4 basic shots

The four basic table tennis shots:

1. Forehand Drive 

    2. Backhand Drive

     

1. Forehand Push

      

1. Backhand Push

    

Table Tennis Balls

Balls have a rating system that uses stars that is determined by the manufacturer. Ranging from one to three, the best balls and the only balls you should use for most purposes are the three stars. 

These can typically be purchased in packs of 3, 6 or 12 or in bulk. Good quality balls last a long time when given the proper treatment.

As of July 1, 2014, all ITTF events started using Plastic Polystyrene 'Poly' balls. The playing characteristics of the new balls are unique but very similar to celluloid. They transport more safely and are more environmentally friendly. Non-poly balls (celluloid) may still be legal for some tournaments and it is up to national and regional table tennis governing bodies to determine what type of ball to use for their tournaments.

As of 2017 manufacturers started using a new type of plastic - ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) - for table tennis balls. ABS offers improved roundness and durability over poly balls and is more environmentally friendly.

Rules from the International Table Tennis Federation

Here is the link to the official ITTF rules, updated to 2017:

ITTF Official Rules 2017

History of Table Tennis

Origins

Table Tennis originates from Victorian society, when upper class people used to reproduce a miniature version of outdoor tennis inside their wealthy mansions.

They used a line of books as the net and paddles 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.

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 an English manufacturer 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.

Evolution

At the beginning of the 20th Century other refinements were made. Players started using celluloid balls, that proved them to be perfect for the sport. In 1903, E.C Goode replaced parchment paper and cigar box lids with pimpled rubber on light wooden “blades” as rackets. And after the world championships in Prague in 1936, where two defensive players took over an hour to contest one point, the net was lowered to make the game-play faster.

Spreading

Around this time, the sport spread to other European countries and to the United States. Asian countries like China, Korea and Japan learnt it from British Army officers who held posts in those places. There was an unofficial world championship held in 1901, but the first official world championship was held in London in 1927 by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ITTF was founded in Berlin in 1926 by England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Wales.

Asian influence

Although it may seem today that the sport, in the professional realm, is dominated by Asian countries like China and Korea, it wasn’t always that way. Before the late 1950’s and early 60’s, European players from Hungary especially, but also from France and Sweden seemed without competition. But in 1952, Japanese player Horoi Satoh introduced the foam rubber paddle. The paddle made the game faster and spinning the ball became an even greater factor. Japan became the main winner in the world competitions in 1960, and by the mid 1960’s China took over the reigns through to the early 1980’s. Their absolute domination of the sport was finally subdued with the entering of table tennis into the Olympic Games in 1988 and the participation of players from Korea and Sweden.