Club Documents

Downloadable Documents

Club Constitution

Conduct-Office and Committees

Conduct-Members and Guests

Procedures-Umpire

Behind The Scenes-Umpire

Hand Signals-Umpire

Score Indicator-Umpire

Rules of Table Tennis

Simplified Rules(Especially for Juniors)

SERVICE (Starting the Rally)

- Begin by holding the ball in your hand.

- Toss the ball almost straight up, without spinning it, and then hit it.

- Your aim is to make the ball first bounce on your side of the table, and then land on your opponent's side of the table.

- Make sure the ball is above the table and not hidden by anything (eg. shoulder, face, clothing etc).

- Remove your other hand from the way from the time you throw the ball until you hit it.

RECEIVE (Responding to the Serve)

- When the ball comes to your side after the serve, hit it back.

- Your goal is to make the ball touch your opponent's side or the net.

SCORING POINTS (Earning Points)

You score a point when your opponent:

- Makes a mistake with their serve or return.

- Doesn't follow the rules while playing.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG (Let and Fixing Mistakes)

Sometimes, things don't go as planned, and the game stops temporarily and the rally is played over, like:

- If the serve touches the net.

- If someone isn't ready when the serve happens.

- If something outside the game affects the play.

- If the umpire stops the game.

ORDER OF PLAY (Who Serves and Who Receives)

- In singles (one-on-one), a game of chance (like a coin toss) gives the lucky winner the choice whether they want to start serving, receiving, or which side of the table they want to start the match.
- Then the other person gets to choose one option from whatever choices remain (meaning the first person didn't choose that).

- The same thing happens in doubles (two teams of two), one person from each team plays a game of chance (like a coin toss), and the lucky winner gets to choose whether they want to start serving, receiving, or which side of the table they want to start the match.
- Then the other doubles pair's person gets to choose one option from whatever choices remain (meaning the first doubles pair person didn't choose that).
- Each pair gets to choose which of the two of them will be serving, and which of them will be returning in the first match.

- For both singles and for doubles, after every 2 points, the server changes to the person who was previously receiving, but there's an exception if both sides reach 10 points.
- If both reach 10 points, then the server changes after every 1 point.

SWITCHING SIDES (Changing Positions Around the Table)

Sometimes, we change positions during the game:

- After every game (When one person or pair have won the game).

- When it's the last game of the match, then when one person/pair reaches 5 point.

EXPEDITE SYSTEM (Speeding Up the Game)

If the game takes too long (more than 10 minutes) or if both players agree, we switch to the expedite system.
How it works is:

- Everyone gets a turn to serve, after every point.

- If the receiver can return the ball correctly 13 times, they earn a point.