About Table Tennis
Ranked #6 in the world, Table tennis/Ping Pong has 900 Million Fans. (Asia, Europe, Africa, Americas)
Table tennis is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth with rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, players must allow a ball played toward them only one bounce on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side. Points are scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. A skilled player can impart several varieties of spin to the ball, altering its trajectory and limiting an opponent's options to great advantage.
The game is controlled by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), founded in 1926. Since 1988, table tennis has been an Olympic sport which includes four events. From 1988 until 2004, the events were men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008 the doubles have been replaced by the team events (Beijing was the first time where table tennis had an Olympic team event).
Table Tennis Basics
Table Tennis Rally
Recommended Table Tennis Resources
Training for Table Tennis
Table Tennis Warm Ups
The importance warming up offers three major benefits to a player, namely:
- 1. Low risk of injury – by doing low intensity exercises that simulate the movements you'll be doing in a match or training session, you prepare the body for them and avoid the risk of getting a muscle or joint injury by a high percentage. Think of your muscles as an elastic string. Stretch it in a fast snapping motion and the string might break, but if you stretch it slowly and gradually, it will get used to its new form and successfully stretch. The warm-up phase stands for the gradual and slow stretching of the string.
- 2. Higher performance – a player that is warmed up will dish out a better performance than if he jumped straight into a match, because of two reasons: he will not be worried about injuries and will be able to play at the best of his abilities and his heart rate, respiration and mental setup will already be fixed on the same wavelength needed for a match. This also works for training sessions, so if you want your players to train at their fullest potential, make sure they warm up well beforehand.
- 3. Flexibility – Most warm up programs include stretching exercises and these have a double role: they prepare your muscles, tendons and joints for the upcoming effort, much like any other warm-up exercise and they increase your flexibility, making you more agile, and better player.