Articles | Interesting Table Tennis Tidbits

Table tennis has a rich history and a controversial beginning. But aside from that, there are a lot more interesting facts to know about this game. If you are a fan of this sport, here are some of very remarkable information that you should also know.

The creation of this game is credited to a number of people but according to the International Table Tennis Federation or ITTF, the person who invented this sport based on patent records is David Foster.

The ping-pong table length can be within the range of 2.735 meters to 2.745 meters, a huge variance for serious players.

Ping-pong only became a sport in the Olympics during the summer of 1988 when it was held in Seoul, South Korea.

The name table tennis was not used initially for the active sport of hitting a ball over the net with rackets. It was initially a term used for a board game created by a New Yorker in the late 1880's. A board game was created because of the rising popularity of lawn tennis during that era.

The ITTF announced by the end of the year 2000 that the ball diameter needs to be increased from 38 millimeters to 40 millimeters. This happened in order to make the game more easy to follow. A bigger ball means a slower rally speed, allowing the untrained eye to be able to follow the game more closely.

Another step that was done to make the sport more watchable over the television was the scoring system became 11-point.

The world's fastest smash on record using a 38 millimeter ping-pong ball was done by a man named Lark Brandt, a New Zealand native that was able to hit the ball so hard it left with a speed of almost 113 kmh.

The Chinese and the South Koreans hold most world titles in this sport. Sweden also at times wins in world matches.

The Soviet Union temporarily banned this game starting 1930. For 20 years, this game was a forbidden game to play as it was believed to be very harmful to the players' eyes.

The only approved colors by the ITTF for the ping-pong table is green or blue. However, it indicates in medical journals that most men of Caucasian decent are blind to the green or red color so ITTF highly encourages the use of blue tables rather than greens.

Other names for this sport are whiff-waff and gossima. The name gossima never really stuck to the public though.

Ping-pong and table tennis mean exactly the same thing. Some people believe that the former is a game while the latter is a sport but that is not true. Both words mean the same and can be used interchangeably.

As seen here, this particular indoor sport is not only fun to play, it also is very interesting to know about. Table tennis sure is a great field to learn more about.