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.

SASP Sport Welfare Officers Forum

A online meeting for Sports Club Welfare & Safeguarding Officers based in Somerset.

You're invited to attend our club welfare forum for anyone involved in sport and physical activity in Somerset, but in particular those in your clubs who hold the role of 'club welfare officer' or 'safeguarding lead'.

If you're the Safeguarding or Welfare Officer at your Sports Club, please join Tracey Sweetland, Somerset Sport Welfare Officer at SASP to learn about local support and opportunities to assist you in your volunteer role.

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.

Table Tennis

Table Tennis

An Overview of Table Tennis

Benefits

Costs

Adaptations and Equipment

Facts

National Governing Bodies

Table Tennis England

SASP Sport Welfare Officers Forum

Charlie Childs Coaching Grant – Table Tennis

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