Table tennis

Players and equipment

Two players, or two pairs. A table with a net, a bat each and a ball, and a room with some space behind each end. A full-size table is nine feet by five with a net six inches high; any bat will do at home.

SquareScores keeps the score: a row is a game, a column is a player or a pair, and the finish line is eleven points unless the host moves it. Twenty-one is the old scoring, and some tables still play it.

The deal

Toss for the first serve. The winner may serve first, receive first or choose an end. The server holds the ball flat on an open palm, throws it up at least six inches and strikes it so that it bounces once on their own side and once on the other. The ball must be behind the end of the table and above its surface when it is struck, and in plain view: you may not hide it behind your body or your free arm. Serve two points each, alternating; from ten-all, one point each. In doubles the serve goes diagonally, from the server's right half to the receiver's right half, and partners take alternate strokes.

Play

After the serve, the ball must bounce once on your side before you return it, and must land on your opponent's side. It may go over the net or round the side of it. A ball that hits the edge is in; one that hits the side of the table is out. A serve that clips the net and lands in is a let and is played again, as often as it happens. A ball that clips the net during a rally and lands in is simply in play.

A point is lost when

The ball misses the table

Or bounces twice on your side

You hit it before it bounces

A volley is a lost point

The serve is wrong

Thrown too low, hidden, or not bouncing on your own side first

You touch the table with your free hand

Or move it, or touch the net

You may turn the bat and hit with either face. A ball that comes off the fingers holding the bat is a fair hit; one that comes off the wrist or the arm is not.

Scoring

Point

1

Every rally ends in a point for somebody

Deuce

—

At ten-all the serve alternates and you need two clear points

Game

The match

First to eleven, two clear

Enter the points as they come or the final score when the game ends: the sheet shows who is nearer the line. Two clear is the table's rule, not the app's: a game that runs past eleven ends when you say it does.

A worked game

Alice and Ben play a game. Alice wins the toss and serves.

Points 1 and 2

1–1

Alice serves both. Ben nets his first return, then wins a long rally

Points 3 and 4

1–3

Ben serves both, one a let that is replayed. Two fast serves into Alice's backhand

Points 5 to 16

8–8

The serve goes on changing every two points. Alice reads Ben's backspin and lifts it back, and draws level

Points 17 to 20

10–10

Ben serves two, then Alice. Each holds serve

Point 21

10–11

Deuce: the serve now changes every point, and it is Ben's turn. Alice returns it long

Point 22

11–11

Alice serves short, Ben pushes it back, she attacks and he misses

Point 23

12–11

Ben serves; Alice's return clips the net and drops in

Point 24

13–11

Alice serves and Ben puts the return off the end of the table

Alice wins 13–11: at ten-all somebody has to get two clear. On the sheet the game is entered as 13 against 11, or built up a few points at a time, and End match banks it. The next game starts from love-all with Ben serving first.

Game 1

Alice

13–11

Game 2

Ben

7–11

Game 3

Alice

11–5

Game 4

Alice

11–9

Best of five, so the first to three games takes the match, and Alice has it 3–1. The leaderboard counts games won: Alice 3, Ben 1.

Ending

Tap End match when a game is won, and the leaderboard counts games won. A match is best of five or seven games; swap ends after each game and, in the deciding game, when the first player reaches five. The player who served first in one game receives first in the next.

Serve and return

The serve is the one shot nobody can hurry you on, so make it do a job. A short serve, one that would bounce twice on their side if left alone, cannot be hit hard and has to be pushed back; a long, fast serve into the backhand corner forces a stretch. Mix them, and mix the spin. On the return, watch the bat at the moment it touches the ball rather than the ball in the air: the way the bat brushes tells you what the ball will do when it bounces. Push a short serve back short, and drive a long one.

Spin, in plain words

Topspin comes from brushing up the back of the ball. It dips over the net, kicks forward off the bounce, and flies off a flat bat high and long. Backspin comes from brushing under the ball: it floats, sits down as it lands, and a flat return goes into the net. Sidespin, from brushing across it, curves in the air and kicks to one side. The cure is the same each time: read which way the bat brushed, and angle your own bat the other way. Open the face and lift against backspin; close it and press down against topspin.

The third ball

Count the strokes of a point. The serve is the first ball, the return the second, and the third is the server's again. Good players serve not to win the point outright but to make the return predictable, then attack the return they knew was coming. A short backspin serve is nearly always pushed back; be ready with a topspin attack on that push. Win most of your third balls and you win most games.

Playing to the elbow

Everyone has a spot where forehand meets backhand, roughly at the elbow of the playing arm, and a ball aimed there forces a decision and a cramped stroke either way. Watch where your opponent stands, because the spot moves with them. Once they start guarding it, the wide forehand and the wide backhand are both open.

One more ball

At most tables the point is lost, not won: somebody misses. The player who keeps one more ball on the table wins about two points in three without hitting anything special. Return to the middle after every stroke and place the ball before you try to hit it hard. Power comes last.

The 21-point game

Until 2001 a game was to twenty-one, two clear, and the serve changed every five points, then every point from twenty-all. A match was best of three or five games. Plenty of tables still play it: set the finish line at twenty-one when you launch and the sheet says how far each player is from it.

Doubles

Two a side. The serve goes diagonally from the server's right half to the receiver's right half, and partners must hit alternately: a player who hits twice in a row loses the point. After each pair of points the receiver becomes the server and the previous server's partner receives, so all four take their turn in a fixed order. The pair that served first in one game receives first in the next.

The expedite rule

If a game is still going after ten minutes and fewer than eighteen points have been played, the rest of the match is played with the serve changing every point, and a receiver who makes thirteen good returns in a row wins the point. It is rarely seen outside a tournament.

Round the table

For a crowd. Everyone lines up at the two ends, the first player hits the ball and runs round to the other end while the next in line takes the return, and so on round the table. Miss and you are out; the last two play a short game for the win.

A shorter or longer line

Play to seven for a quick knockabout, or to fifteen if eleven feels too short. The host moves the line at launch and the sheet's caption follows; the two-clear rule still belongs to the table.

Does the serve have to bounce on your side first in table tennis?

Yes. A serve must bounce once on the server's own side of the net and then once on the receiver's side; one that goes straight over is a fault and the point is lost. In singles it may land anywhere on the other side; only in doubles must it go diagonally, from your right half to their right half.

What happens if the ball hits the net on a serve?

If it clips the net and still lands on the receiver's side, it is a let: no point to anybody, and the serve is taken again, however many times it happens. If it hits the net and fails to land on the other side, the server has lost the point. During a rally a ball that touches the net and lands is simply in play.

Can you volley in table tennis?

No. You must let the ball bounce on your side before you hit it. If you hit it, or it touches you or your bat, while it is over the table or still travelling towards it, you have lost the point. If it has already passed the end of the table without bouncing, it was going to miss anyway, and the point is yours whether or not you catch it.

Is the edge of the table in?

The top edge is in; the vertical side is out. A ball that hits the top edge usually jumps up and away; one that hits the side drops almost straight down. Listen for the sound too, and where there is real doubt most tables play the point again.

How many points is a game of table tennis?

Eleven, and you have to win by two, so a game tied at ten-all carries on until somebody leads by two. Until 2001 a game was to twenty-one. A match is the best of five or seven games.

Who serves after deuce?

At ten-all the serve changes every point instead of every two. Whoever's turn it would have been serves once, then the other player, and it keeps alternating until the game is won.