History Of Table Tennis

If look into the history of table tennis, you will find its origins are unique in the sport's world. Most other sports began as something very akin to what they are today, but the history of table tennis shows this to be not the case in this sport.

It is generally assumed that the game has its origins in England as an after dinner amusement for upper class Victorians in the 1880's. This upper class of people was trying to mimic the game of tennis but in an indoor environment. In these early days, common, everyday objects were originally used as the equipment for the game. For example, a row of books would be the net, the rounded top of a Champagne cork was used as the ball or, in some cases, a knot of string was used as the ball, and a cigar box lid was used as the bat or paddle.

The next step in the history of table tennis was to have the game manufactured and sold commercially. The early paddles were often pieces of parchment stretched over a frame, and the sound generated in play gave the game its first nickname of Ping Pong.

It was at this point in the history of table tennis that the name ping pong was normally used for the game when it was played by the more costly Jaques equipment; when played by less expensive manufacturers it was called table tennis. The next step in the history of table tennis came when Jaques sold the rights to the ping pong name to Parker Brothers. Today, the term ping pong is used as a generic name for table tennis.

The next two innovations in the history of table tennis were the ball and the bat. Around 1901, the use celluloid balls became popular and in 1903 the use of the modern style bat became popular.

The Table Tennis Association was founded in England in 1921, and the International Table Tennis Federation was founded in 1926. London hosted the first official world championship in 1927. Table tennis was introduced as an Olympic sport at the Olympics in 1988.

There have been many changes to the game during the history of table tennis. Some of these were equipment changes such as changing the size of the balls to 40 mm. Other changes involved the materials that were allowed to be used as sheets for the bats. Each of these changes has had its opponents and proponents during the long history of table tennis.