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Table Tennis

As the name suggests, it's tennis... on a table. You can play singles or doubles and use bats to hit a light ball over the net and onto their opponents side of the table.

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An Overview of Table Tennis

Players must allow a ball played towards them only one bounce on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opponent's side. It demands lightening fast reactions! The sport is played for fund and competitively across the world. There are opportunities to play in clubs, sports venues and youth centres across the country.

Table tennis is suitable for every age and fitness level, and it's easy to find a place to play - with tables everywhere from parks to leisure centres, bars and shopping centres. You can even play at home - all you need is a ball, bats and a table.

Benefits

One of the main benefits of playing table tennis is that it is non-contact. It is also one of the few competitive sports that requires players to move at speed without straining the muscles or joints through stretching or using heavy equipment. For people returning from injury or the elderly, table tennis tennis can be the perfect sport to sustain fitness levels. The action of having to hit a fast-moving ball with a bat several times a second means table tennis also improves reflexes, eye-to-hand coordination, mental alertness and speed of movement.

Costs

Table tennis is a cheap and accessible sport played. Table tennis equipment, such as bats and ping-pong balls, can be relatively inexpensive to buy, with some leisure centres and clubs also offering a rental service. Hourly rates for hiring a court often begin at approximately £5 per session, although membership deals can create a lower cost per game.

Adaptations and Equipment

Table tennis bats and ping-pong balls

Facts

  • Egyptian table tennis fanatic Ibrahim Hamato lost both arms in an accident when he was 10, but he carried on playing by improvising with his mouth.
  • The first World Championships were held in London in 1926, but it did not become an Olympic sport until 1988 in Seoul.

Find Table Tennis Clubs/Groups Near You

Use the search below to find local organisations near you.

National Governing Bodies

Table Tennis England

Contact Name
General Information
Contact Email
help@tabletennisengland.co.uk
Contact Telephone
01908 208860
Ash Green Sports Centre

Ash Green Sports Centre

Sports Centre for the community provided by Ash-cum-Ridley Parish Council offering a gym, yoga, gentle exercise, circuit training, badminton, racket ball, squash, tennis and table tennis

Sevenoaks Sport & Wellbeing

Sevenoaks Sport & Wellbeing

Sevenoaks Sport & Wellbeing is a free magazine in the Sevenoaks District in Kent which hosts an annual Showcase Event for local sports clubs.

Table Tennis

Hockley Table Tennis Club

Hockley TTC offers social and competitive table tennis to adults and juniors at all levels. We run teams in the Southend and Basildon Table Tennis Leagues and offer coaching for juniors. We have been running for 11 years and have almost 80 members.

Fusion Lifestyle

Fusion Lifestyle

BRITISH UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES SPORT

BRITISH UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES SPORT

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, a membership organisation, and a company limited by guarantee with charitable status, and our vision is simple, to enhance the student e

Special Olympics Great Britain

Special Olympics Great Britain

Special Olympics offers a lifetime of learning through sport and benefits individuals of all ages and ability levels – from those with low motor abilities to highly skilled athletes.

UK Sport

UK Sport

UK Sport provides strategic investment to enable Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to achieve their full medal winning potential.

Charlie Childs Coaching Grant – Table Tennis

Charlie Childs Coaching Grant – Table Tennis

Coaching grant to increase and/or retain the number of young people (age range up to U25) participating in table tennis and/or increase equality in the sport – by increasing the number of women and girls, disabled people or those from ethnically diverse communities participating.