Shiela Mae Tesorero

History of Table Tennis

Foreign

Like most other sports, table tennis had humble beginnings as a parlor game, open to anyone with
access to a table, paddle, and ball. The game began in the 1880s, when lawn tennis players adapted
their game to play indoors during the winter.

Ping-Pong is a trademark name for table tennis and associated equipment. The name Ping-Pong was
invented by the English firm J. Jaques and Son at the end of the 1800s and later trademarked in the
United States by Parker Brothers, the board game company.

The game quickly caught on, and as early as 1901, tournaments were being conducted with over 300
participants. The Ping-Pong Association was formed but was renamed The Table Tennis Association in
1922.

In 1902 a visiting Japanese university professor took the game back to Japan, where he introduced it to
university students. Shortly after, a British salesman, Edward Shires, introduced it to the people of
Vienna and Budapest, and the seeds were sown for a sport that now enjoys popularity all over the
world. In Britain, table tennis had also begun to spread outside the distinctly middle-class confines of
London, and leagues sprang up in provincial towns as far apart as Sunderland and Plymouth. In 1922, an
All England Club was formed, which boasted such luminaries as Jack Hobbs the cricketer and other
famous names of the time from the world of sport. The Daily Mirror organized and sponsored a
nationwide tournament in which there were 40,000 competitors.

Table tennis was firmly on the map, and on April 24, 1927, the English Table Tennis Association was
born, under the chairmanship and direction of Ivor Montague, son of Lord Ewatthling. He was not only
to become the architect of modern-day table tennis, but he also achieved critical acclaim as both a
director and film producer. At the time, The ETTA had a membership of 19 leagues but now has over
300, with around 75,000 registered players.

The first world championships were held in 1927 and were won by a Hungarian, Dr. Jacobi. Apart from
the famous Fred Perry redressing the balance for England in 1929, this was to be the start of an
unprecedented run of success for the Hungarians, who completely dominated the game throughout the
thirties. Their team was led by the legendary Victor Barna, whose inspiration and skill did so much to
elevate the game to sports status.

The 1950s saw the game turned upside down by the invention of the sponge or sandwich rubber, this
new material for bats, which, up until now, had been a relatively simple affair with a universal thin
covering of pimpled rubber.

Until this time, spin had played only a minor part in a game that had been dominated by the defensive
style of play. But these new bats or paddles, introduced by the Japanese, had the capacity to move the
ball around in an almost magical way. The ITTF, the games governing body, was quick to legislate in a
bid to control this new development, seen in some quarters as equipping players with an unfair
advantage. The thickness of the sponge and rubber sandwich was controlled and remains so to this day.
But the nature of the game had been changed, establishing the fast attacking speed and spin style of the
modern game.

Today, the sport both in England and abroad is very well established and is growing each year. The
culmination of this has been its recognition as an Olympic Games sport, being featured for the first time
in the 1988 games in Seoul. Television coverage of the mens singles final attracted an incredible
worldwide audience of 2 billion. In China, the game is played by literally millions at work, in school, and
in community parks. Chinese top players are regarded as national heroes with pop star statuses.

Local

Back in its infancy, table tennis started out in the United Kingdom in the late 1800s and quickly migrated
to the USA by 1898. Equipment of the time consisted of battledores long-handled, hand-made bats (or
rackets/paddles, as we call them) with a racket head-covered in animal skin. These were used up until
around 1905, but earlier than that (perhaps by 1902), battledores were slowly being replaced by smaller
handheld rackets covered with sandpaper surfaces. Sandbats, as they are called, were used up through
approximately 1928 in international competitions only to be replaced by rackets covered with hard,
pimpled rubber (short pips facing outward).

In the Philippines, table tennis was introduced around 1900 by American soldiers, who were part of the
first American colonization period in the Philippines. They brought with them early table tennis boxed
sets and in their past time between duties, they introduced table tennis to the local natives. It was called
ping-pong, as marketed by Parker Brothers Company (creators of the popular game of Monopoly), and
the introduction of table tennis into the Philippines by the Americans themselves, or in other cases,
through early teachers known as the Thomasites. After the US service members left the Philippines,
the Thomasites continued to introduce and perpetuate table tennis throughout the islands.

These early efforts were re-discovered by former Philippine National Table Tennis Team member and
now table tennis historian and Liha Ambassador Peter Cua, from Manila, who learned about this long
lost history around 2008, after being forgotten for decades. While the history may have been ancient,
Cua discovered that liha table tennis actually has been kept alive by many individuals playing in private
residences and back-alleys for decades.

Sandbat play or liha table tennis in the Philippines is from the native Tagalog word liha or sandpaper
and is a direct descendant of play that existed over 100 years ago. Nowhere else has this been preserved
so well.
Definitions

Grip - is a way of holding the racquet in order to hit shots during a match

Parts of racket - the blade, rubber and glue

Blade - Its made of wood, and sometimes other materials like carbon. But thin layers of wood
constitute the primary component of the blade. The blade is the paddles face, and the grip is
called the handle. Layering the wood has been done for quite some time, as its often believed
to add to the competitive edge rather than using a single piece of wood. Manufacturers are
constantly trying different combinations and thicknesses of wood layers and other materials to
gain more speed and greater control. The layering extends to the handle (grip) as well.
Sometimes the handle is hollowed-out to produce less weight and a feel that some prefer.

Rubber - Players strike the ball with the rounded part of the blade, the face. While rules allow
for the player to use just the wood for striking the ball (still in force?), sheets of rubber
compounds are typically glued to the wood on both sides of the blade. Usually, a thin layer of
foam or sponge is affixed to the rubber sheets before being glued to the wood. Rubber sheets,
with or without sponge backing, are made of many natural and synthetic compounds,
depending on the effect desired (what a player can do with the ball, like spin, speed and
control). Even the thickness of the sponge plays a role in the behavior of the struck ball. Rubber
sheets with thick sponge often produce a much faster shot than with thinner sponge layers. The
rubber sheets (before applied to the paddle) are not the same on both sides. One side is
smooth, and the other has pimples or pips. Some rubber sheets have the pips side glued to
the sponge, some like it reversed, so they hit with the pip side. It all depends on what they want
to do with the ball. The rules say one side of the paddle (rubber) must be red, the other black.
Ive played against some players who paint one side but apply no rubber to that side (not sure if
this is still legal). Whether one uses rubber with pips out or in, sponge or not, paint or rubber,
its all up to the player (and the rules).

Glue is used to hold everything together. This applies to the blade/handle and the rubber
components. See the rules about glues, because there are some restrictions. The adhesive used
to hold the rubber to the wood blade is usually of a different quality than that used to hold the
blades wood layers together. Rubber sheets degrade after awhile, losing their grip, and they
must be replaced. How often theyre replaced depends on the amount of use, the type of
rubber and the players preference. Some replace the rubber every time they play, others use it
for months before replacing it. Higher ranked players change rubber more often, because of the
frequency with which they play and re-glue.
EQUIPMENTS OF TABLE TENNIS

Aside from a racket, ball and table very little equipment is needed for table tennis, making it one of the
worlds most popular recreational sports.

Racket also called bats or paddles, "racket" is the official ITTF term for the instrument used to hit the
ball. Table tennis rackets are made of plywood and covered in pimpled or inverted rubber with a thin
layer of sponge in between. The combination of sponge, pimpled rubber and plywood allows the ball to
travel at maximum speed and is conducive to adding spin to the ball, although many players today
prefer inverted rubber because it is resistant to spins, allowing for effective defensive shots. Most
rackets have a long handle but the Japanese racket has a raised handle and the Chinese racket a much
shortened handle, allowing for varying ways of gripping the racket.

Table Tennis Racket

Ping Pong ball international regulations require a table tennis ball to be 40 mm in diameter and made
from hollow celluloid. The required diameter was changed from 38 mm in 2003 in an attempt to slow
the ball down, causing controversy amongst some Chinese players who are famed for their ability to
spin the ball so fast, a return is impossible. The colour of the ball used depends upon the colour of the
table but is usually the colour that stands out most effectively against the table. The quality of ball is
denoted by a number of stars: one, two or three. Three star balls are the most expensive but are very
good quality and will last a lot longer than balls with one star.

Table official table tennis tables are 2.74 m in length, 1.525 m wide and 0.7 m high. Tables are made
from a manufactured timber and covered in a smooth coating to reduce friction, allowing the ball to
have maximum bounce. A white line borders the table and divides it lengthwise, marking the right hand
and left hand half of each side.

Table Tennis Table

Net the net stretches across the middle of the table and should be 15.25 cm high.

Clothing there is no specific uniform required for table tennis, although in official competitions teams
will wear clothes representative of their countries colours. Loose, non-reflective clothing is
recommended and footwear should allow good ankle control and quick movements, as opposed to
trainers that are specifically designed for running.