How To Play Ping Pong: A Guide For Starters

There’s a lot of fun that you can experience in playing ping pong. If you are new to this sport, you can learn the basics now!

Ping pong is a fun sport, especially if you know how to play it. As a means of having fun, it is also considered healthy.

Many people are interested to learn the ropes of this game. If you are one of them, I suggest that you check out this simple but useful tutorial.

Who knows? You might become a player that can compete in tournaments and small leagues!

Invest On The Essential Equipment

Compared to other games and sports, ping pong is not that expensive. Of course, unless you are planning to go professional, there’s no actual need to splurge on various table tennis gears.

To start playing the game, you just need the essential accessories set for table tennis. This set should include an imported Ping Pong Paddle and a couple of balls.

If you want to play inside your home, you could make a customized table. But if you don’t want the extra hassle, you should just buy one instead.

There are affordable options out there in gameplease.com. So don’t fret about looking for one!

Find Someone To Play With

Next, you need to have somebody to play against you. Sure enough, you can’t do this game by yourself; in ping pong, it takes two to tango.

The person that you should play against should have the same skill level as you. If you can find someone a little better than you, then that’s okay, too.

In doing so, you can learn while having fun. You can play friendly matches and discover something along the way.

Alternatively, you can ping pong tables that can be folded in half. This feature enables you to do the playback mode–you hit the ball to the table so that it will bounce back to you.

The playback mode is quite useful for practicing. Even without someone to play with, this capability ensures that you can still sharpen your skills.

Learning The Basic Paddle Grips

In ping pong, there are two basic ways of gripping a racket: the shakehand and penhold. Both of these are used by many players in the world, even the pros.

Some people opt for a particular kind of grip because it is comfortable for them. Others use specific gripping styles so that they can execute a particular move seamlessly.

Regardless of the kind of grip that you want to learn, it is crucial that you don’t hold the paddle tightly. Make your hold firm but loose enough so that your wrist can move without restriction.

If you clutch the handle tightly, the force that you’ll utilize will come from your arm, not from the wrist. It is a risky thing to do since this would mean that your shots would become inaccurate.

For starters, the recommended grip is the shakehand. It is easier to master and execute.

If you are good enough, you can try exploring the penhold. However, you can still use the shakehand grip even if you are an experienced ping pong player already.

Learning How To Score

Scoring in ping pong is quite simple. You simply have to ensure that your opponent will miss returning the ball back to you.

There are various ways how to do this. You can force them to hit the net or do a shot that they have a minimal opportunity of hitting or returning.

During service, your opponent can score a point if your serve is not valid. An example of an invalid serve is when the ball hits your side of the table, then passes above the net and bounce to the other side.

Of course, under the rules of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), it is prohibited to volley the ball. You should not do anything from obstructing your opponent from seeing the ball.

A double hit is also considered a point for your opponent.

To win a ping pong match, you need need to reach the points needed for a set. Of course, you also need to win a number of sets before you can be declared the winner.

A standard ping pong game would require you to win three, four, or five sets. In a set, you should get 11 points first. However, if the players reach 10-10, then the first one who can have a lead of points will win the game.

Conclusion

These are some of the fundamental things that you need to learn if you want to play ping pong. Don’t be overwhelmed by them, though; once you start playing, these aspects will eventually get ingrained in you.

For now, just enjoy the game!

If you have questions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below.