Table Tennis
History and other facts!
By: Emora Baggett
Over 10 million players participate in
table tennis tournaments around the
world.
Table tennis is globally the most popular
racket sport, and is ranked 2nd of all
sports in participation.
The longest rally that was ever
recorded was a total of 32 000 hits.
It took 8 hours 42 minutes and 5
seconds.

What is Table Tennis?
How to Play
Table tennis is a fairly complex game. Not only
physically, but mentally. The game starts with two or
four people, a table, a racket and a ping pong ball.
Table tennis relies a lot on your hand eye coordination.
Lots of beginners improve this skill by practising
against a wall or with a balloon. The two people each
stand on a side of the table. When they are both ready
one person will serve the ball. It is important to
remember to loosen your grip when playing table
tennis. This will make it easier to move your wrist, and
you will have more accuracy. When you serve the ball,
it will bounce once on your side, then moves to the
opponent's side to bounce once there. The players will
proceed to hit the ball to the opposite side. Eventually
one of the players will miss the table, miss the ball or
hit the net. This is how the other player gets a point. At
the end of a game it is always polite to shake your
opponent’s hand, but maybe not during covid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
orurCluF9k0
Click here to see a
video I made with
stop motion
animation

Table tennis tournaments
Tournaments
Like other sports, table tennis has tournaments. Teams
from all over Saskatchewan come to these tournaments. Keep in
mind that these aren’t professional tournaments that I am
explaining, these are just the ones I am used to going to. When
you get there, we usually help set up and wait for everyone to
arrive. Once all the teams are there, the organizers will call groups
of three at random. If your name gets called then you go to the
selected table to meet your group. This group is called a round
robin. In the round robin you decide which two players will
participate first, the other player will score keep. After all three
players have competed, you will take the recorded score to the
judges. This is when you will be placed into the A, B or C category.
If you won all the games you will be in the A category. If you won
one game and lost one game, then you will be in the B category. If
you lost both of your games, then you will be in the C category.
For the rest of the tournament you will be in this category. You
will continue to play people and give the recorded score to the
judges. At the end of the tournament if you won enough games
you will get a medal.

History of Table Tennis
History
Table tennis originally came from England in the 1880s. It was made by Englishman David Foster.
Table Tennis was used as a substitute for lawn tennis when it was too cold in the winter. It caught on as a game you
could play for people who didn’t have a big lawn to play tennis in the summer. In 1901 the ping pong association
was formed. This sport continued to be played in only England but by 1920s it was being played all around the
world. By that time table tennis started to be taken more seriously as a sport. In 1921-1922 ping pong got its official
name table tennis. Then, the first ever table tennis championship was held in London in 1926. Lastly, in 1988 table
tennis became an olympics sport with singles and doubles. Table tennis continues to be enjoyed all around the
world, both for fun, and competitive.

How I got started
I started playing table tennis regularly in the
year of 2017. I remember the first time I ever
played table tennis. Sheena Koops, one of my
coaches and my auntie, set up a time to introduce
some kids to table tennis. I remember we did
exercises like: bouncing a ping pong ball up and
down on your racket, hitting a balloon with your
racket and blowing a ping pong ball across the
table to improve your hand eye coordination. I do
not exactly know what year this was, but it was
much earlier than 2017. After that table tennis
practice I didn’t start playing, but my older
cousins and siblings did. It was 2017 when I started
going to the practices. Then in 2018 I was in my
first tournament. The tournament was in Fort
Qu'appelle Elementary Community School, that is
the school I go to. I didn’t win any metals but it
was very fun. Later that year I won my first metal
in Carry the Kettle, it was a bronze medal in the C
category.

Table Tennis Spins
Table tennis is not only about hitting a ball on a table. Most
advanced players put spin on the ball when they play to make the
ball harder to hit back. You make spin by moving your racket a
special way. This will make the ball move differently and confuse
your opponent. There are lots of different kinds of spins, but I will
just explain the three most basic spins.
Because the ball has spin
on it, it will move a
different direction when
it hits the table.

Topspin backhand serve slow motion.
Top Spin
Top spin is a very important shot
that is used lots, specifically in attack
shots. When players use top spin, it
prevents the ball from flying off the
table. For example, if I were to hit a
ping pong ball with top spin, it will
most likely hit the table. If I were to hit
the same shot at the same angle but
this time with no spin, the ball will
most likely miss the table.
Follow these directions to learn
topspin. First, get in your athletic
stance. Place your racket tilting
upwards beside your bent knees. When
the ball comes wait until it is at a good
height, then brush the ball forcing it to
rotate forward. The ball will then hit the
opponent's side of the table.
Top spin example.
Top spin forehand rally.
Top spin backhand rally.
Top spin slow motion serve.

Back Spin
Backspin is usually used as a
defence shot. When someone has
hit the ball with lots of spin you
usually would hit backspin back to
them. This shot is sometimes very
difficult to return. If the player
tries to block the ball, it will most
likely fly of the table.
To successfully use backspin
in a game follow these steps. Start
with your athletic stance.
Secondly, have your racket slightly
closed. When the ball approaches
you, slightly extend your bent legs
and move your racket somewhat
upwards. Remember the more you
brush the ball the more spin will
be put on the ball.
Backspin example
Backspin rally Backspin serve

Side Spin
I don’t use side spin nearly as much as
I use the other spins, but it is still very
important. I usually only use side spin for
serves, but some people use it in rallies and
games. Side spin in made when you hit the
ball so that it rotates to the left or to the
right. This will make the ball move in a
different direction when it hits the table.
To make side spin start with your
athletic stance. Your racket should be in
front of you and slightly open. Hold the ball
in your non dominant hand. Remember to
have your hand open flat so that you are not
holding the ball in a fist. Throw the ball up
in the air and brush the ball to the side,
while at the same time pushing it slightly
forward. Hopefully this serve will help you
win the point!
Side spin example
Side spin serve

CanadianTableTennis
Association
The Canadian Table Tennis Association is a non-profit
organization for table tennis in Canada. They are the reason
Canada has table tennis games and tournaments. In 1929 the
Canadian Table Tennis Association (CTTA) was formed.

Table Tennis Canadian Ratings
Everytime you compete in a tournament your rating gets higher. A
rating is a number that you can look up on the internet. Usually people
that are more skilled get higher ratings. You also get a higher rating if
you do good in a game.
Paul Noel
Paul Noel is ranked 2nd in Saskatchewan in the men’s category. His rating is 1705.
Ian Muirhead
Ian Muirhead is ranked 30th in Saskatchewan in the men’s category. His rating is 652.
Sheena Koops
Sheena Koops is ranked 6th in Saskatchewan for the women's category. Her rating is 684.
Emora Baggett
Emora Baggett is ranked 35th is Saskatchewan in the women’s category. Her rating is 191
Table Tennis Canada Ranking /
TTCAN Ranking / Canadian
Ranking

Videos
Smash slow motion
Smash
Footwork exercise
Cool table tennis shots
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=l_tzXQC4His
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=luQ7OP2Guwg
Fun Facts
Sometimes people use pips on
there racket. Pips changes the
spin that you put on the ball, so it
confuses the opponent.
The first ever table tennis
racket was a cigarette box
and the first ever ping pong
ball was a champagne cork.
Regular rubber
Pips rubber

Bibliography
Who Invented Table Tennis.
https://www.selbycivicsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/DavidFosterqr.pdf
The Complete History Of Ping Pong.
A Brief History Of Table Tennis
History of Table Tennis - An Authoritative Summary of the First 90 Years
National table tennis champion proud of her Saskatchewan roots
Saskatoon table tennis athlete becomes national champ
t3 ping pong
https://www.ttsask.ca/about-us
Table Tennis