General Description

Play is on a nine by five foot (2.7 m by 1.5 m) hard rectangular table with the surface usually painted green or dark blue. A 6 inch (15.25cm) tall net bisects along the short axis of the table and is strung to extend 6 inches (15.25cm) beyond the table on each side. The paddles, also known as bats or rackets, are usually about 15 cm across and made of rubber coated plywood, although the rules specify no particular size. The 40 mm diameter ball is hard, lightweight and made of celluloid.

Play is fast and demands possibly the quickest reactions of any sport. A skilled player can impart spin to the ball which makes its bounce difficult to predict or return with confidence.

The winner is usually the first to score 11 points, a change which occurred in 2001 when the International Rules were changed, although the 21 point game is still widely played at recreational level. All games played in US national (sanctioned by USATT) and international tournaments (ITTF) are played to 11 points in either a best of five (5) games (preliminaries) or best of seven (7) games format (championship matches).