How to play Table Tennis

What table tennis is

Table tennis, often called ping pong, is a racket sport played across a table divided by a low net. Players hit a light ball back and forth, and every return must bounce once on the other side. Points are short and fast, and much of the game is about spin: the way a ball is struck changes how it flies, how it bounces and how it leaves the other player's paddle.

Playing table tennis on AllFun

In AllFun Table Tennis you see the table from behind your own end. Your paddle follows your finger and meets the ball by itself; the swipe at that moment decides the shot. A still paddle blocks, a slow touch pushes the ball low with backspin, a fast flick drives it with topspin, and a fast swipe on a high ball smashes it. Swipe to one side to curve the ball. On a computer, move the mouse and flick it up; click, Space or Enter serves.

The computer has three levels, Easy, Medium and Hard, played by Mako, Nova and Pixel, in a single game or the best of 3 or 5. Online, through Play Online or a friend's link, choose one game or the best of 3. The Aim guide in Settings shows where the ball will bounce and where your shot will land.

The rules

Scoring

Every rally wins a point, whoever served. A game goes to 11, but it must be won by two clear points: at 10–10, known as deuce, play goes on until one player leads by two. Matches are the best of an odd number of games, such as three, five or seven.

The serve

• The server tosses the ball up from an open palm and strikes it as it falls, from behind the end of the table.
• The serve must bounce once on the server's half, then once on the receiver's half.
• The serve passes to the other player every two points. From 10–10, it changes after every point.
• A serve that clips the net and then lands correctly is a let and is played again, with no point given.
• In singles, the serve may land anywhere on the receiver's half. In doubles it must cross diagonally, right half to right half.

The rally

After the serve, each player must let the ball bounce once on their own side and send it back onto the other half, over or round the net. You lose the point if you miss, hit the net without the ball going over, send it off the table, let it bounce twice, or hit it before it has bounced on your side. A ball that clips the top edge of the table is good; one that hits the side of the table is not.

What spin does

Topspin makes the ball dip and kick forward off the table. Backspin makes it float and check, and a flat return of a backspin ball tends to drop into the net. Side spin curves the ball in the air and makes it jump sideways off the paddle.

Six tips for winning more points

1. Read the swing. A fast upward swing means topspin: keep your return low. A slow brush under the ball means backspin: lift it.
2. Place it before you power it. A ball sent wide to one corner wins more points than a hard one straight at the other player.
3. Vary your serves. Mix short, slow serves with long, fast ones, so the receiver can never settle.
4. Recover to the middle. After every shot, move back towards the centre of your end so both corners stay in reach.
5. Attack the high ball only. Smash a ball that sits up; answer a low, short one with a soft push and wait.
6. Hit through the ball. On AllFun, keep your finger moving as the paddle meets the ball; a swipe that stops is only a block.

A short history

Table tennis began in the 1880s as an after-dinner parlour game, sometimes with books for a net. It joined the Olympics in 1988, and in 2001 the game to 21 gave way to today's game to 11.

Table tennis FAQ