Ping-Pong Primer

by Jim Langley of the Santa Cruz Table Tennis Club

The most popular sport in the world, the one played by more people than any other is soccer. Everybody knows that, right? But I'll bet you don't know what the number two sport is. It's table tennis - also known as Ping-Pong. It's a sport so large, that the world championships have to be held every other year because all the world attends and the organization of the event is so difficult. Imagine a stadium with a hundred table tennis tables blanketing the floor and twice as many athletes and you can get an idea of what it's like: Ping-Pong pandemonium!

Game or Sport?

About now you may be thinking, "Sure, lots of people have Ping-Pong tables and play the game, but that's what it is - a game; not a sport."

Top picture shows two babes playing ping pong. Bottom picture shows a female athlete playing table tennis. Which would you rather see? Wait, don't answer that.

Actually it's both. When played in the basement or garage or living room by recreational players, the way most Americans know Ping-Pong, it may raise heart rates a bit, but it's mostly just for fun - two people patting a little ball back and forth over the net. When the greats face off, however, it's one of the fastest and most entertaining sports there is. And way too explosive to be contained by the average rec-room.

The table is only 5 feet wide by 9 feet long but top players can place the ball so precisely and deceptively that their opponent must sprint madly during a point to reach it. Powerful forehand and backhand strokes called loops produce tremendous topspin that makes the ball shoot off the table or curve wildly to the left or right. Players often stand 15, even 20 feet away from the table to handle the speed and spin. And the action is way fast. During a point in championship play for example, the ball can cross the net four times in the same amount of time it would take Roger Clemens' fast ball to reach home plate.

And Clemens has nothing on table tennis' top pitchers. Service is a major part of the game and the best servers disguise the ball contact when they strike it so you can't easily tell what spin they're putting on it. One serve the ball may barely drop over the net, the next it'll rocket down the line for a clean ace. When you finally get a read on the server's stuff and try to stroke a ball over the net, you misread the spin and pop it up giving your opponent an easy kill shot. It can be very frustrating facing a great server.

At the top level the players are super fit. They do drills at the table for up to four hours a day, lift massive weights to build power, do brutal footwork drills and stretch like crazy to remain limber. Visualization and drills to build focusing power are crucial too because controlling your nerves is so important.

What I like about table tennis, however, is that it's the perfect complement to aerobic sports. When you're bicycling or running, which I do, it's often painful to push hard enough to achieve your fitness goals. Race, and the suffering can go way up.

At the Ping-Pong table though, I'm never suffering like that. The fitness I have from aerobic sports allows me to get to more balls than most other players and my level of play is higher because of it. But what I like is the game aspect, that there's no clock to beat, no need to rev my heart and lungs to searing limits. All I have to do is follow the little ball and try to land it on the table more than my opponent. If I can do that, I can win. It gets addictive after a while. And I maintain fitness while having a blast.

A Thinking Person's Game

In fact, one of the reasons table tennis is so challenging and fun is that athleticism is just a part of the puzzle. Fitness helps but much more crucial is understanding what's going on. The game is a game of spin and the person who understands how to spin the ball for a given situation and read and react to the spin that the opponent can put on the ball, is usually the person who wins. You can't just whack the ball. You've got to figure out what's happening and try to do the right thing.

Sports scientists who have studied table tennis recognize it as one of the most difficult sports to master because of the many demands on the player. To reach the highest level, an athlete must be able to move reflex quick, have the stamina to play matches all day, hit perfect strokes, be able to concentrate intensely and the most difficult part, he must be able to adjust in a nanosecond to the ever-changing spin, speed and direction of the ball.

It's a combination of skills that humbles awesome athletes. They're fast enough, strong enough, coordinated enough and aerobic enough to get to the ball and hit it hard. But only the rarest ones can develop the touch and focus needed to adjust to and lift a ball over the net that's as heavy as a rock because your opponent set it spinning at 1,500 rpm with a vicious slice.

Everyone's Sport

One of the most appealing things about table tennis is that it's a game for everyone and one that has no divisions. Take the other night: Several wheelchair players visited our club and one played on the Blue Table, which is reserved for the best members.

This little kid can kick your hiney.

This guy played four quality players and destroyed them all. Games are played to 11 points and no one got more than 4 against him. It was like trying to hit through a wall. And, he could move blink quick when he had to.

It begs the question: In what other sport would you face a wheelchair player or an 8-year old or a grandmother - and lose? Those things happen all the time in major table tennis tournaments. It's one of the fairest sports that way, one where everyone is equal.

Of course there are separate categories for kids, women, men, seniors, wheelchair players, etc. in championship play. But all may also play in the general rounds that group people according to their ability rather than differences in sex, age or physical condition as well. And that's where some of the most interesting and most fun matchups occur.

You don't have to enter tournaments to face varied opponents. That's the way it is when you play at table tennis clubs too. There, everyone plays everyone else.

How to Get Involved

Does table tennis sound like something you'd like to try? Or have you played at home and think you're pretty good and would like to test yourself out in the real world? In most major cities and many minor ones, there are table tennis clubs and they're almost always ready to accept new members. At some you may pay a yearly fee but most also charge per visit. (The going rate is about $3 to $5 per night.) Usually a club will have several to a dozen tables and you'll put your paddle on the floor next to the table to signal that you'd like to play the winner of the match. Matches are usually 3-out-of-5 games with the winner remaining at the table and the loser sitting down. Some clubs do it differently but they'll fill you in when you contact them.

This club system makes table tennis a great sport for travelers. If you get involved with the sport and join the United States America Table Tennis ($40 for a year's membership that allows you to play in USATT-sanctioned events), you'll receive a listing of clubs across the country. Toss your paddle in your suitcase and a pair of sneaks and shorts and you can get a great workout, make new friends and have some fun away from home. It's an indoor sport too so you needn't worry about the weather.

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