Articles Directory | Free Articles | New Articles Daily

In order to efficiently play table tennis, one has to learn the basics first before anything else. Even if you are just having basement ping-pong games, you still need to learn these in order to rally better and to have thorough fun in playing this indoor sport. Here are some basic things in table tennis that you need to know.

Grip

You need to settle with what grip you will use in holding your paddle. There are 2 basic types of grips, the shakehands and the penhold. There are 3 more grips aside from these two, the V grip, Seemiller and the pistol grip but in the interest of keeping things simple for a beginner, let us focus on the first 2.

The penhold grip was popularized by the Chinese players. The paddle is held just like how one hold a pen, the index finger and the thumb acts like a claw and holds on to the paddle's handle. The other fingers are curled at the racket's back. The shakehands grip on the other hand, holds the entirety of the racket handle to the fullest. The thumb touches on the blade, the index finger lies extended on the bottom side of the paddle and the rest of the fingers grip on the handle fully.

Serve

One of the easiest serves in table tennis is the forehand serve. To start with this type of serve, you need to stand at a 45 degree angle at the end of the ping-pong table. Bend your knees and keep your legs apart to gain more balance and to prepare for the counter rally from the opponent. Also, have your torso pointed forward.

Place the ball on the on your palm and position the racket behind the ball. The angle of your arm with the paddle should be roughly 90 degrees. Throw the ball approximately 7 inches in the air and hit the ball with your paddle.

Counter hit

If you are on the other side of the net, waiting for your opponent to serve or rally the ball back to your court, one of the most basic movement is the counter hit and its easiest variation is the forehand counter hit. To do this, the starting position is with your legs far apart to maintain balance, one foot slightly behind the other. Knees should be bent and the upper body slightly forward to allow for a quick reaction to the rallied ball. As the ball is heading towards you, move your arm slightly backwards then hit the ball. When the ball has been sent to the opponent's side, make sure you look at the opponent's movements more than just following the ball with your eyes. This will allow you to prepare for the ball going back to you.

Familiarize yourself with these basics and you will find that you will slowly become more and more adept in playing ping-pong. Master these movements and soon enough, you will find yourself playing table tennis at a level higher than that of a beginner's.