Ping pong, otherwise known as table tennis, is a popular indoor sport enjoyed by many around the world in facilities ranging from recreation clubs to school common rooms etc. Ping pong is very similar to tennis in that players on opposite sides of the ping pong table hit the ball back and forth over a net. But similarities end there as ping pong is played on a table surface rather than a hard court, thus the name "table tennis." To enjoy a game of ping pong, you need a ping pong ball, a net, ping pong table, and paddles.

Rules of Ping Pong

In a ping pong game the first player to reach 21 points is declared the winner. However, upon one player reaching 21 points with the opponent trailing less than 2 points, the game must continue until one player takes a definite 2 point lead over the opponent, at which point that player is declared the winner.

To start a point the server serves the ball with the paddle to the opponent's side of the ping pong table. If the server fails to serve the ball into play, either by serving the ball into the net or serving it out, the point goes to the opponent. Once the ball is in play either player can score points. The players must hit the ball back to the opponents' side of the table. If one player fails to return the ball to the opponent's side either by netting the ball or hitting it out, the point then goes to the opponent.

To start a point with a serve, the server throws the ping pong ball up at least 6 inches and as it comes down the server hits the ball with the paddle. Before crossing over the net the served ball must hit the server's part of the table first before bouncing a second time on the opponent's side. After the serve the ball remains in play as long as it clears the net and bounces once on the opponent's side of the table with each stroke. The point ends either when a player hits the ball into the net, or when the ball goes out without bouncing at all on the opponent's side of the table, at which time the opponent earns a point.

Ping pong games can be played as a single as well as a doubles game. In a doubles game, an additional rule is that the ball must be served diagonally across to the opposite court. If the server fails to serve to the diagonal area on the opposite side then the opponent gets the point.

As you can see the rules of the ping pong game is nice and simple enough so that anyone new to ping-pong can easily enjoy a game of ping-pong without much trouble and confusion.