Ping Pong/Table Tennis by Kendall

     Ping pong or table tennis started sometime in the 1880s where it was played among the upper-class as an after-dinner parlour game. They would convert their dining room tables into miniature types of the original tennis playing field (Table Tennis History, 1). Various every-day objects were used to create the sport. The game was first called by many names such as "whif-whaf", "gossamer", and "flim flam". The game was played with paddles made from cigar box lids and balls that consisted of champagne corks (Table tennis, 1).

     Table tennis grew in popularity after James W. Gibb innovation that changed the style of the game. Gibb was a British enthusiast of table tennis who found novely celluloid balls during a trip to the U.S. in 1901 and learned that these were essential for the game. Another enthusiast, E.C. Goode, created the modern version of the racket by fixing a sheet of pimpled/stippled rubber to the  wooden blade in 1901 (Table tennis, 1). By 1901, tournaments were beginning to be organized, books were written to describe about table tennis, and even a non-official world championship was set up in 1902. Sometime in the 1900s, table tennis was banned in Russia because the rulers at that period of time deduced that playing the game had an adverse effect on players' eyesight.

     Later in 1921 the Table Tennis Association was founded in Britain and the International Table Tennis Federation followed after in 1926. In 1926 the first ever official World Championships was organized in London and in 1933 the United States Tennis Association now called USA Table Tennis was created. Some time in the 1950s, rackets began to be used with a rubber sheet combined with an underlying sponge layer that had a huge  change to the game with the establishment of greater spin and speed (Table tennis, 1). These were first introduced to Britain by S.W. Hancock Ltd. who was a sports goods manufacturer. Speed glue was used to increase the spin and speed which led  to changes of the equipment to "slow the game down" (Table Tennis, 1). Table tennis was even introduced as an Olympic sport at the Olympics in 1988.

      Several rule changes were made after the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney by the ITTF (International
Table Tennis Federation).  The first one was that the older  38 mm (1.50 in) balls were officially replaced by 40 mm (1.57 in) balls in October 2000. This was used to increase the ball's air resistance and slowed down the game with positive effects. Shortly afterward, the ITTF altered the scoring system from a 21-point to an 11-point score system. They also changed the rules on service that was made to prevent players from hiding the ball during service and to increase the average length of rallies and to reduce a server's advantage, which was effective in 2002 (Table tennis, 1).

       Table Tennis is still around today and continues to play a great influence around the world. It it is played by several countries worldwide and is in the Olympic sports. Table tennis will continue to play a huge role in sports and continue to maintain its popularity and be a good game for anyone that wants to play table tennis.

Works Cited 

"Table Tennis." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2014. Web. 08 May 2014. 

"History of Table Tennis." History of Table Tennis. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.

"National Table Tennis Championships Tournament News, Updates, Fixtures, Results, Videos." SportsKeeda. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.

BBC News. BBC, 18 Aug. 2008. Web. 11 May 2014. 

"Table Tennis Rules." Table Tennis Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.