Table Tennis Blog

There are currently 3 leading table tennis makes for professional and recreational use, they are in no particular order, Cornilleau, Kettler and Butterfly (Ransome Sporting Goods). Sadly these ranges do not have any rubbers or glues up for offer however they do have some top of the range tables and a few recreational use bats and balls.

Who’s the most attractive - I’m surprised at how odd that opener sounded

Personally my favorite Tables are the butterfly ultimate outdoor table tennis table mainly because of its unique look, it has an 18mm think top and has an ITTF anti flare top and heavy duty galvanized steel net and post set. My second favorite Table is the Cornilleau Proline 510 Outdoor Table Tennis Table because of its awesome looking curved stands and its metal grill like net, it has a Panel Laminated Resin 7mm and a steel net, it also features an Anti-glare treatment mat top. Unfortunately this table can set you back a bit but personally I think it is excellent value for money

The Ultimate Make

My personal ultimate make would have to be Cornilleau as they have more to offer and a vaster range of products, as well as interesting designs and they are on the ball

When it comes to selecting the perfect ball for table tennis there are 2 main brands which you should look at.

Butterfly
Cornilleau
From my experiance i have found that Butterfly branded balls are supperior, They crack less, and are more durable and have a perfect even surface.

Soon to hit TableTennisTableShop’s Market is a range of Blades, Glues, Balls, Bat Cases, Bags, Rubbers, Shoes and Socks these will be released soon and the shop will be going pro. We have been looking around at our competitors and now exactly what we need to keep up with the ever growing sport of Table Tennis.

If you have any suggestions on products or brands please leave a comment to this article and we will get back to you.

Table tennis became a medal Olympic sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

Table tennis was banned in the Soviet Union from ca 1930 to 1950. The sport was believed to be harmful to the eyes.

Early table tennis paddles were normally made of cork, cardboard, or wood, and covered with cloth, leather or sandpaper.

Table tennis is the most popular racquet sport in the world and ranked second overall in terms of participation. Over 10 million players compete in sanctioned tournaments each year.

A modern table tennis match at the elite level lasts on the average about 30 minutes. Top players often smash the ball at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

How many balls can two players hit back and forth in 60 seconds? The current record is 173 set by Jackie Bellinger and Lisa Lomas in 1993.

A modern table is 9 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 2.5 feet high. The net is 6 inches high.

China, Sweden and South Korea are currently the world powers in table tennis

Table Tennis Tables - TableTennisTableShop is a very handy shopping website as not only does it just have the products it has a lot of information, I especially like the page making the right choice it helps you pick out the table you need. They also have a page on Table Tennis Tips which are very useful and they also have a lot of information on diets and players

Table Tennis Forum - One site I did find very useful was the mytabletennis.net forum website as people are very active on the website and are always willing to chat and give you tips. The people on the forum seem very up to date and seem to know what they are talking about however the downside is that I found the website to be very cluttered and hard to move around as there was a lot of flashing things going on.

Table Tennis News - The English Table Tennis Association website has a very useful news letter which they update daily and have interesting facts about table tennis

About.com Table Tennis Blog - Greg’s Table Tennis Blog was a very useful Table Tennis blog as it had a lot of interesting information on it and had some useful table tennis tips

PTTF names team for CW Youth Games KARACHI, Sept 25: PTTF (The Pakistan Table Tennis Federation) on Thursday announced a new two-member team for the upcoming third Commonwealth Youth Games being held in Pune, India, from Oct 12-18. The team comprising Salman Ahmed Tahir Virk and Ayesha Khan was picked after trials held at the PSB Coaching Centre here under the supervision of two visiting North Korean coaches. The foreign experts were assisted by veteran international Arif Nakhuda and secretary Sindh Table Tennis Association, Saleem Ahmed. The ITTF course conductor Arif Khan will accompany the team as official. Both Salman and Ayesha who are currently undergoing training in the camp, have recently featured in the ITTF Indian Open world junior circuit at the same venue. Besides table tennis, Pakistan has decided to field sportspersons in four other disciplines — athletics, swimming, weightlifting and wrestling. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s 21-member squad including three women and five officials will fly to Mumbai from Karachi on Oct 9 by PK 274 on way to Pune. The size of the contingent would be athletics (two men, one official), swimming (two men, two women, and one official), table tennis (one man, one woman, and one official), weightlifting (four men and one official), and wrestling (four men and one official).

Heres a couple of tips to improve your game.

1. Holding the bat

Holding the bat correctly gives you more control over the speed and angel which you hit the ball.

The main way to hold the bat is the Shakehand Grip.

Using a light grip place your index finger on one side of the bat and your thumb on the other. wrap your other fingers around the handle.

2. How to serve

Follow these rules to create the perfect serve.

Before Serve:

• Feet must be 45 degrees to endline of table.
• keep legs slightly apart and knees bent. Relax.
• The playing elbow must be bent at 90 degrees, Hold the free hand slightly in front of the bat.
• Throw the ball vertically - not at an angle.

After throwing the ball

• Once the ball is thrown and at is highest point the bat must be in the middle of the swing (furthest point away from table).
• Focus on the ball.

Hitting the ball with the bat

• When just about to hit the ball the bat must be vertical.
• Slightly lean your body forward from the waist.
• Move the ball downwards and forwards to hit the ball.

After hitting the ball

• Continue watching the ball
• Just after hitting the ball move your bat upwards and forewards to create topspin.

These are the official World Ranking of both male and female table tennis players form Sept 2008:

Women Top 10:

1. ZHANG Yining CHN
2. GUO Yue CHN
3. LI Xiaoxia CHN
4. WANG Nan CHN
5. GUO Yan CHN
6. LI Jia Wei SIN
7. WANG Yue Gu SIN
8. JIANG Huajun HKG
9. FENG Tianwei SIN
10. TIE Yana HKG

Men Top 10

1. WANG Hao CHN
2. MA Lin CHN
3. MA Long CHN
4. WANG Liqin CHN
5. SAMSONOV Vladimir BLR
6. CHEN Qi CHN
7. BOLL Timo GER
8. RYU Seung Min KOR
9. JOO Se Hyuk KOR
10. OH Sang Eun KOR

Yining Zhang has been number 1 since January 2003 and shows no signs of slowing. The same can be said for Hao Wang who from October will have held the male number 1 title for one year. Two bright stars to watch out for are Long Ma and Yue Guo both from China. They have been working hard the last year perfecting their game and now show signs of extraordinary talent.

However people look at Table Tennis it has changed a lot since its former state as an after dinner lawn game in the 1890’s. Today there is big money involved as players buy and play with high-tech rackets and volley the ball at awesome speeds reaching up to 160 kilometers per hour. Table Tennis has now become one of the world’s top sports with schools teaching pupils how to play and the sport being held in the Olympic Games like the recent Beijing Olympics. With over 40 million players worldwide and thousands of millions playing casually, table tennis has reached an all time best. Table Tennis first hit the Olympic seems in 1988 at Seoul, where people used cigar-box lids for rackets and a carved champagne cork for a ball. Today players use unique rubber coated, fibre-glass bats, and a celluloid ball. The table tennis equipment industry is becoming more and more powerful, some glues are even banned from the Olympics, as they make the ball travel to fast