Talk:Table tennis

In workplaces

The following line should be removed as it just a ad for a website: Employees in one such company (anonymous) congregate to play during lunchtime and at the end of the working day and register their players on the [50] website. 118.34.145.50 (talk) 02:26, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Infobox image

The rather poor image of part of a badly lit table tennis table and one racket does not do justice to this article. I have replaced it with the competition image used on almost all other language Wikipedias. The original image is now supporting the General description section but I think a better one should be found at a later date. Lumos3 (talk) 20:17, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Wiff Waff

Should 'Wiff Waff' be added to nicknames? The term already brings the user to this page, and their is movement in the UK to encourage the term over table tennis. (Following London Mayor Boris Johnsons lead here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Uix9kXIMVRM ). It's in common use, which I suspect was Johnson's intention. (That and to slight the Chinese).

- User:EdFortune —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.170.39.35 (talk) 10:33, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

blade -> racket

racket section claims "the official ITTF term is "racket." This section will use the ITTF term.", only to use "blade" a lot of times later. i could change it, but i'd prefer some opinion on that before i do (or somebody more experienced could do that). --Richlv (talk) 17:38, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Racket is the name for the complete thing, including rubber. Blade is the name for the bare wooden part, the part that holds the rubber sheet(s). So when people mention carbon layers and whathaveyou, they are effectively talking about the blade Wit (talk) 23:02, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Please define "let"

Dear Y'all -

Subject says it all.

William Goedicke goedsole@gmail.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.63.30.163 (talk) 02:57, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Spelling mistake

Can someone who knows how please change the spelling of "length" in the diagram of the table? (It is currently spelt lenght.) Safebreaker (talk) 01:06, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

I have requested for it to be fixed at the Graphic Lab. Guoguo12--Talk--  16:19, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

It is now fixed. Guoguo12--Talk--  19:34, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

Sandpaper paddles

Maybe they're there, but I couldn't find any mention of sandpaper paddles. I don't know about know but back about twenty years ago, they were pretty common. Kdammers (talk) 08:40, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

See http://www.allabouttabletennis.com/table-tennis-question-about-sandpaper-rackets.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.168.104.38 (talk) 08:23, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Who wrote the rules?

According to theis NYT book review: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/books/review/Conant-t.html?pagewanted=2, Ivor Montagu co-wrote the rules and founded the itnernational federation.Kdammers (talk) 08:40, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

"Chinese" ping pong

How to Play Chinese Pingpong?

Table tennis Practice of Specific Service and return Skills

1, When Return the rotation (Ben Ball) attack ball or block shot, you should keep the table tennis rackets face forward in an appropriate angle, hit the upper part of the ball, and regulate the forward power.

2, To return a long ball with spin chopping, cut or chop the ball with a propriate forward power, otherwise, lift and draw the ball up.

3, Facing a leftside upward spin ball, attack it or block the ball back (downward spin ball, chop the ball or pull the ball up back), with the racket face slightly forward (backward) and skewed slightly to the left, hitting the upper-right (lower) parts of the ball to offset the rotation force.

4. Facing a Right-side downward spin ball, attack it or block the ball back with racket face a little bit forward(bakcward) and skewed slightly to the right. hitting the upper-left (middle lower) part of the ball; the key part and skills are the same with returning a leftside upward (downward) spin ball. For more reading please reach Hylsports / HYLSOCIETY / How To Play.(Tonyhe2011 (talk) 02:38, 4 September 2011 (UTC))

There is a variation on ping pong called Chinese ping pong. It has nothing to do with China or Chinese players, though. Here is a description: http://ruweary2.blogspot.com/2008/02/chinese-ping-pong.html. It is also mentioned at http://www.rossteal.com/index.php/what-to-do-at-teal-lake and http://boxingdaypingpong.blogspot.com/2007/11/silent-assassin-charlie-bullen.html. It is well-known in America. Kdammers (talk) 08:58, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Miscellaneous

Moved to talk as possible trivia RJFJR (talk) 13:43, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Trivia|date=June 2009

• Multi-talented sportsman Max Woosnam, an Olympic and Wimbledon champion at lawn tennis and one-time captain of the England national football team, once defeated actor and film director Charlie Chaplin at table tennis while playing with a butter knife instead of a racket.
• Table tennis inspired the first commercially successful video game, Pong.
• In the early 1970s the People's Republic of China (PRC) invited American table tennis players to a tournament in the PRC. This marked a thawing in relations with the United States that was followed up by a visit by U.S. president Richard Nixon. The popular media therefore dubbed this visit "Ping Pong Diplomacy".
• At the 1936 World Championships contested in Prague, two defensive players took over an hour to contest one point. The entire match lasted over four hours.
• More than 30 table tennis companies exist around the world, making a full line of accessories from rackets to warm-up suits.
• A man in Hawaii has invented a three-player table for table tennis, calling it Tri-Pong.
• One variant exists termed "Peripheral Ping Pong" where players use their peripheral vision at all times. This is done by both players (singles match) focusing on each others eyes.
• There are also competitions in table tennis variants: "Hardbat", in which all competitors use a racket with small pips-out rubber (sponge is not allowed); and "Large ball", where a 44 mm ball is used to decrease the speed.
• Comedian George Carlin once noted in a stand-up routine that all racquet sports are derivatives of Ping Pong: for instance, tennis is "Ping Pong played while standing on the table," and even volleyball is "racquetless, team Ping Pong played with a raised net and an inflated ball while standing on the table."
• Returnboards are "table tennis ball exchange training devices" to improve your table tennis technique: topspin, counter, flip, serve, chop, footwork and stability during fast rallies.

References

The fact that It was Called Wiff Waff before Ping Pong is disputed

This article in a newspaper claims that It was called Ping Pong before Wiff Waff.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4657126.ece

Therefore the main article should, if investigation proves the article is correct, be changed in the History Section.

I will leave others to do this and decide. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chulcoop (talk • contribs) 01:09, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

Hmm... interesting. Thanks for your help. Guoguo12--Talk--  01:28, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

See http://www.allabouttabletennis.com/who-invented-table-tennis.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.168.104.38 (talk) 08:26, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Top link doesn't work for me, do you mean...

Inventors of ping-pong say Mayor Boris Johnson is wrong

Hcobb (talk) 13:14, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Faced Paced or Not?

In the history section of the article, it was stated that the ITTF was trying to slow the game down to make the game easier to watch on television. But then it seemed to contradict itself when the article said that they changed the numbers of points to make it faster. Were they trying to make it faster or slower? If you didn't mean that, could you make it clearer?

I didn't make any changes to the article; I thought the author might like to do it.

Kolrok (talk) 10:37, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

They probably wanted to decrease the speed of the ball, but also decrease the length of the match. Seems perfectly consistent to me. (Matthias, who can't be bothered to log in.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.200.22.2 (talk) 15:09, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Scoring and alternation of services and ends

In the "Scoring" section, the article states "A game shall be won by the player first scoring 11 points ...". In the following section of the article, "Alternation of services and ends", it states, "In the 21-point game system, service would alternate every 5 points." If there is a 21-point game system, this should be mentioned in the "Scoring" section to make the statement in the "Alternation ..." section easier to follow. Coyets (talk) 11:42, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Old rule. May be removed if it's misleading. MediocreVisitor (talk) 12:39, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Ratings

As I understand it, players are rated. A section on ratings would prove helpful to those like me who don't know much about them. Abenr (talk) 21:28, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

So, not originally Chinese, eh?

Interesting that the game doesn't originate from China. How about that? Given its strong associations with the country today, and (I apologize to say it - sorry if anyone takes offense) the fairly Chinese-sounding name "ping pong," one would assume the game came originally from China.

After all, as early as the 1920s, more Nationalistic, less Western-oriented or Westernized students at Fudan University in Shanghai, who wore more traditional style scholars' robes or the like were playing table tennis, and not taking part, for the most part, in field games such as soccer (football) which their counterparts from overseas (students of Chinese descent from overseas), those students more likely to be wearing Western-style clothing, played. (Yeh, Wen-Hsin. The Alienated Academy. Cambridge: Harvard Univ Press, 1990. p114.)

I truly am fascinated to learn the British origins of this game. Good work to everyone involved in this article! Though I do think it'd be great to have a section on the history of ping pong in China - its introduction, its spread and development into a sport very much associated (at least here in the US, if not in China) with China. Cheers. LordAmeth (talk) 08:03, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Room size for tournaments and private use

I would like to see a section about how big the room needs to be for tournaments and private use. Ie. ceiling height, side space and length behind players' backs.

Can I use this site as reference: http://www.allabouttabletennis.com/table-tennis-room-size.html

Seems like the private web site of someone who knows his stuff but not any officially endorsed site. --Teodor 11:01, 25 April 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Teodor605 (talk • contribs)

Official regulations: ITTF Handbook 3.2 Equipment and Playing Conditions. MediocreVisitor (talk) 11:52, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Section 6.2 "Topspin" -- apparently contradicting statements

statement 1: "This stroke is the predominant technique used in professional competition..."

statement 2: "Topspin is the least common type of spin to be found in service at the professional level. ..."

Is this the result of dueling authors with opposite opinions? In any case, neither statement cites a source but each statement has a supporting reason in the text. Rather than delete both, I hope to see if one can be verified as true (or both valsified) by someone who knows more about table tennis than I do.

Or, if someone thinks this is not in fact a contradiction then it is unclear and such someone should rewrite it for clarity. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.80.129.214 (talk) 21:41, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

The clue here is the phrase "in service" in statement 2, which is clearly referring to the specific action of serving to begin a point. Topspin SERVES are less common in professional competition (because they are very easily attacked by good players), whereas throughout the rest of the ensuing rally, from the return of serve onward, modern top-level players are constantly looking to attack, which usually means a topspin drive stroke, hence statement 1. It is perfectly clear and not at all contradictory so long as you understand that the service is a different stroke from any other - just as it is in tennis for example.

A topspin serve is more commonly used in the lower-level amateur game. It is not favoured by better players, as a topspin serve is so easily attacked by a competent player. This is, I assume, why statement 2 mentions "at the professional level".

I hope this will help to demonstrate that the statements previously made (not by me, I'm just a table tennis player) are not contradictory. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Deemacphotos (talk • contribs) 20:36, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Grips

"The most popular style, usually referred to as the Chinese penhold style, involves curling the middle, ring, and fourth finger on the back of the blade with the three fingers always remain touching one another." There is a difference between the ring and fourth fingers? — Preceding unsigned comment added by RoTi37 (talk • contribs) 00:47, 11 September 2011 (UTC)

Serve

should be changed -> triangle serve — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.228.69.244 (talk) 23:53, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Edit request on 22 January 2012

ping pong was made in china Gaucho1998 (talk) 19:52, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

 Not done, source?--Jac16888 ^Talk 19:57, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

No, table tennis was not made in China. The page will not be changed unless you provide a reliable source. BoredomJS (talk) 17:52, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Unofficial Table Dimensions

The image showing the dimensions of a table state in the caption that it shows the "unofficial" dimensions. However, everywhere I search for an answer on the subject states that the measures indicated in the image are the "official" dimensions. So, should the caption be changed? Or is it that there is no official official standard, but the dimensions shown in the graphic are just so widely accepted as to seem "official"? 63.215.121.26 (talk) 15:17, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

Good spot! I would suggest referring to the ITTF rules and regulations, though I don't know what their policy is on reproducing anything, and the PDF file for the table regulations alone stretches to 22 pages! (http://www.ittf.com/stories/pictures/T1_The_Table_BoD2013.pdf) It does, however, support the dimensions shown in the diagram and I suggest that the simplest correction here would be to replace the word "unofficial" with "official".

It may also be worth noting that the ITTF document states that the table surface shall be "uniformly dark coloured and matt", and not specifically blue or green as stated in this Wikipedia article. However, the current list of ITTF approved tables does include only blue and green. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Deemacphotos (talk • contribs) 20:55, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Hardbat Blurb

"Because hardbat killer shots are almost impossible to hit against a skilled player, hardbat matches focus on the strategic side of table tennis, requiring skillful maneuvering of the opponent before an attack can become successful."

This excerpt is misleading and should be rewritten / deleted. The references to "killer shots" being almost impossible against skilled players are not true for modern hardbat play, where rallies have shortened dramatically as well.

It more accurately describes hardbat play in its heyday (i.e., around 70 years ago). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.96.141.195 (talk) 19:27, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Who the fuck is Dan Wasall and why is he a notable player?

Looks like vandalism.

It is. Reverted. Thanks for the alert. --NeilN ^{talk to me} 16:54, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Rewrite

This article is written very... oddly. I am planning a re-write. Most of the changes will be in the wording and organization, however, I will make the parts about gameplay and equipment much more accurate and informational. Right now it seems like it is a childrens' book. That being said, is there anything people want me to take into consideration while doing this. I have looked at the rest of the talk section already. ImVeryAwesome (talk) 00:50, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

Table tennis vs Ping Pong

Apparently there is a difference: http://www.bbc.com/sport/35418169 --ukexpat (talk) 04:22, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

• Yes, I am agree. See World Championship of Ping Pong and The World Championship of Ping Pong (WCPP) is a global pop culture event.. They use another equipment. --Peter Porai-Koshits (talk) 21:26, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Donald Duck story

It could be noteworthy that ping-pong balls play a large part in a 1950s Donald Duck story by Carl Barks where Donald and the nephews raise a sunken ship by placing millions of ping-pong balls inside the wreck. That story is further notable because of its IRL consequences: When a real-life inventor tried to patent a method for raising sunken ships by means of oxygen-filled bags, he was denied the patent because the patent office saw the Barks story as a "prior description in a print medium" and thus found the man's invention illegible for patent. The entire issue with the Donald Duck story and the denied IRL patent even became the subject of an episode of MythBusters, where they determined that the price for 100 million ping-pong balls required to lift such a large wreck as in the story would equal the price of a new, identical ship. --79.242.222.168 (talk) 10:02, 28 July 2016 (UTC)