Suitable Size of a Ping Pong Table Room

Before you intend to buy or build your own ping pong table, it is important that you already have an appropriate room for it. Your first priority is to make sure that the room must have enough spaces for the players to move around their playing corners. You have to know that an appropriate room makes the game a lot more enjoyable to play.

If it happens that you have an extra room such as an empty storage or garage room, you need to measure it if the table could fit inside the room with extra spaces for the players to move. Thus, you need to take the dimensional size of the table that you intend to buy or build (recognized official ping pong table dimensions is 9 feet length by 5 feet wide) then, layout an imaginary size of the table at the center of the room and check if there is sufficient space for the players movements. So if your garage or storage room doesn't have enough room then you might consider renovating it.

There is actually no official standard about the required playing space of ping pong. What's really important is that both competing players should be able to freely move around performing their movements without any restrictions.

Here are the following suggested measurements for the playing space of ping pong:

1. Playing Ping Pong just for Fun

If your purpose of owning a ping pong table is simply to have fun with your family and friends then an added extra space of 5 to 6 ft from both end-lines of the table is suggested. As for the sides, a space of at least 3 ft is already good enough. These suggested measurements is appropriate for two players only.

For a room to accommodate four players (doubles), you have to add at least 8 to 9 ft extra space from the end-lines of the table. And at the sides, the space must be at least 4 to 5 ft.

2. Robot Training

"Robot Training" is usually for single players only where they don't need any training partner.

Most ping pong tables manufactured today actually offers the feature where it can be folded into half. And to perform a robot training, the other half of the table can be folded vertically. This folded part of the table will act as the wall that causes the ball to bounce back into the player's corner.

A room intended for robot training requires a smaller size of room as compared to the setup mentioned above. For beginners, at least 2 meters space from the end-line of the table is suggested while for the intermediate and advance players (particularly defenders and loopers), the suggested space must be at least 4 to 5 meters.

3. Intermediate and Advance Players

According to the official stated rule of table tennis sport (rule 3.02.03.01), the suggested playing space or room for intermediate and advance players must be rectangular with the following dimensions:

a. 46 ft Long

b. 23 ft Wide

c. 16.4 High

If your room have more than enough space, you can setup a large net that takes the above dimensions.

Moreover, table tennis or ping pong is a fast-paced type of sport that requires movement behind the table's sides playing-corner. It's due to this reason why it's really important that the room must have enough space.

Play Table Tennis | Good Places in London

Did you know that according to some sources, the original inventor of table tennis were a group of British soldiers back in the 1800s? Despite of this rumored claim, table tennis in the UK is not really a quite popular type of sport. It's probably due to the reason that there are only few places in London that offers training facilities or playing ground to all interested players.

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A perfect room to play table tennis

In my searches, I came across several good places in London to play table tennis. Check them out on this following list:

1. Bounce - 121 Holborn, EC1N2TD

In order for you to play table tennis or ping pong at "Bounce", it is required to book your group consisting of at least 6 (minimum) individuals during peak hours. If you have a smaller number of group (less than 6 individuals), you are allowed to book your schedule during the off-peak hours only.

What makes Bounce one of the best place to play table tennis is that, they always have free tables for the purpose of serving them to any walk-in guests or players.

Prices:

Off-Peak L10.00 (30 mins) and L18.00 (60 mins)

On-Peak L13.00 (30 mins) and L26.00 (60 mins)

Schedule:

Monday to Saturday before 6 PM. Sunday off-peak all day! (12 PM to 11 PM).

Official Website:

http://www.bouncepingpong.com/

2. Ping - 180-184 Earl's Court Rd, SW5 9QG

"Ping" is an interesting place to play table tennis along with your family or friends because it offers a perfect game room with kitchen and bar. In short, it's a good place to have some fun, relax and unwind.

Official Website:

http://www.weloveping.com/

3. Pongathon - Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, E1 6LA

"Pongathon" is actually a social playground that is dedicated to all ping pong lovers. What makes Pongathon unique is that, it they feature surprising events. Some of these events include Tournament Play, Private Play, Challenge Pongbot, Record Attempts, Mini Challenge and Pro Players.

Official Website:

http://www.pongathon.com/

Cheap Places in London to Play Table Tennis

You may find the above lists quite expensive from your pocket but on this following list offers alternative places with cheaper prices.

1. Barnet - BTTC

"BTTC" (Barnet Table Tennis Club) is open to any adult players with learning disabilities. What makes them an interesting table tennis club is that they have partnership with the Special Olympics Barnet.

For more information about BTTC, contact Lindsay Wilson at Barnet Mencap (020-8349-3842).

2. Bromley - Kemnal Table Tennis Club

Bromley's Kemnal Table Tennis Club is open to all ages including individuals with disabilities. The exact location of the club is at the Sports Hall, Kemnal Technology College, Sevenoaks Way, Sidcup DA14 5AA.

For more information, contact Len Pilfold (0208-850-3910).

3. Croydon - Monks Hill Table Tennis Club

For more information about Croydon's Monks Hill Table Tennis Club, contact Mr. Lan Moir (020-8657-1457).

4. Kingston - Graham Spicer Table Tennis Club

For more information about Kingston's Graham Spicer Table Tennis Club, contact Jane Barella (0202-8287-9346).

5. Islington - Finsbury Table Tennis Club

Islinton's Finsbury Table Tennis Club also offer Junior Coaching.

For more information about Finsbury Table Tennis Club, contact Sanket Shah (020-7253-2346).

6. Enfield - Ellenborough Table Tennis Club

For more information about Enfield's Ellenborough Table Tennis Club, contact Sylvia Tyler (01673-8435655).

If it happens that you know some other good places to play table tennis in London that has not been mentioned on the list above, feel free to suggest them on the Comment Form provided below.

Common Table Tennis Injuries

Unlike most popular sports such as basketball and soccer, table tennis is a "non-contact" type of sport. This means that players don't have to physically touch, push or hold one another. But despite of no physical contact involve, injuries may still occur.

Here are some of the common injuries that may happen while playing table tennis:

1. Slipping Down on the Floor

Table tennis or ping pong is a fast-paced type of sport which involve quick body movement. With such speed, try to imagine yourself that you suddenly slipped down on the floor. You will surely suffer a painful impact on the floor's hard surface. And depending on how you land on the floor, the consequence can be severe.

Most slippage accidents actually results in dislocations of joints. In some rare cases are head-cuts. It's because there are some instances that when a certain player slipped, his or her head will land on the table. Chances are, the player's head might hit the corner-edge of the table which results into a cut.

Some common reason why slipping accidents occur are drops of water, sweats (from previous players) and any other liquids that are unnoticed on the floor. Thus, before you intend to play, always make sure that the floor is thoroughly cleaned before using it.

2. Unstable Table

Most common manufactured tables these days are those with rollers which allows you to move it around without any help from another individual. Other than the roller, the table can also be folded inwards for storage so that it does not take too much space. There's actually a threat with this two features of the table.

First, there are some instances that the person who setup the table may fail to properly lock the roller-brakes. The accident occur when players begins to play. Their movements (especially jumping) can cause the roller-breaks to be released. And as a result, the table could hit one of the players in such a bad way.

Second, there are really some players who have the bad habit of sitting or leaning on the table. So if it happens that the table is the foldable-type and it isn't properly locked, the table won't be able to support the weight of the sitting or leaning individual which will most likely collapse.

3. Cracked Blade

There was one of my experience about a cracked blade incident that I couldn't forget. It was when one fellow member of our table tennis club had forgot to bring his own paddle. Unfortunately, none of us had an extra paddle to lend it to him. The only available paddle was the old paddle with a small crack on its blade laying around the storage room.

Being too lazy to go back home, he took and used the old paddle.

After playing for about 15 minutes, the blade suddenly snapped and it went flying up into the ceiling and landed right onto the head of one of the spectators from the bleachers. Thus, the moral lesson is not to use broken or cracked blade.

4. Stepping on the Balls

Some players may be training themselves with "Multi-Balls". These is a type of training where the player receives multiple served balls to improve their counter shot skill. As a result, some of the balls that fell may roll under nearby tables with other unaware players playing on it.

An accident occur when one of the player from the nearby tables will step on the ball resulting into slippage.

5. Collision with another Individual

You have to know that when a certain player is playing or practicing, he is fully concentrated on his front view but isn't aware on his back. However, the common accident that usually happens is that, there are some individuals who choose to walk or pass behind a busy player. If it happens that the player aggressively move backward at the same time that another person is passing behind, the collision between the two could result into a potential serious injury.

6. Body Pain due to Stress

Some players are putting too much effort into their practice where they often ignore stress or body pain. You have to know that everyone has its own limits. If you choose to exceed the limitation of your body, this could result into some serious life-time body pain conditions.

Such body pains are the following:

a. Lower back pain
b. Knee joint pain
c. Wrist joint pain
d. Shoulder joint pain
e. Ankle joint pain

Table Tennis Training Camp

Are you serious about playing table tennis sport? If you do then you might want to consider enrolling at a training camp because it's the best place to develop and improve your playing skills. You have to know that there are a lot of things that you can really learn from a training camp rather than relying on your own.

Training on your own does offers you the comfort of staying at your home. However, there is a very high tendency that your attention will be distracted or diverted into other forms of activities around your house. One common example of such diversion is when you close friend or friendly neighbor suddenly pays you a surprising visit. So instead of being able to practice, you end up chatting with your friends.

At the training camp, there are trainers who are supervising the members of players on their practice. They ensure that their concentration are never to be distraction. The trainers are also professional coaches who can teach their members the basics and proper way of playing table tennis.

What do Training Camps Offer?

All training camps has only one goal. This is to help the members develop their skills at the top level of their performances. Thus, it is actually where all players begin their journey towards becoming a pro.

Here are the following features that a good training camp offers to their members:

1. Stretching

Table tennis is a fast paced type of sport which requires speedy movements. Due to this reason, it is important for players to have good flexibility. Why? It is to reduce possible injuries into your joints such as spraining your ankles. All training camps actually requires players to perform physical "stretches" to Warm-Up (or Cool-Down) before starting their proper training.

2. Physical Condition

"Physical Condition" has something to do with stamina and endurance. You have to know that no matter how good you are at playing table tennis but you lack the required stamina and endurance, you end up being defeated in the long run. In fact, this is a very common issue to all new players.

At first, a certain player may perform quite well on his match from the start. But assuming that he lacks the necessary stamina and endurance, his performance will start to degrade reducing down his speed which affects body movement and footwork.

Through training camps, couches ensures proper physical training that can greatly improve both stamina and endurance. Some of these training includes jogging, swimming, bicycling, country skiing and etc...

3. Training Schedule

Everyone has their own other important activities that they need to attend aside from playing table tennis. It's for this reason why training camps will help you establish a weekly schedule of your training. You have to know that it is important for you to follow your schedule while keeping a monthly or weekly logs about the improvement of your training.

4. Drills

The main purpose of a "drill" is to help you improve your footwork and placement. Footwork refers to your steps on how you move around the corner (or court) of your table. As for placement, it refers to how you carry and position yourself at the proper spot.

Beginners will be taught by trainers the drills but they have to start by doing it slow. As they progress, they have to perform the drills at a faster rate until to their limits.

5. Multi-Balls

Most training camps offers "Multi-balls". This is a type of training where you get to deal with multiple set of balls. According to the experts, this method of training can greatly improve multiple skills such as service return, speed and control.

Robots as Multi-Ball Partners

The traditional way of multi-ball training is that you need a partner who will be serving the balls. Thanks to our technology today that robots has been invented in which they serve as an excellent multi-ball training partner. Most training camps already do have these kinds of robots.

Overall, training camp is a good stepping-stone towards becoming a professional table tennis player.

Table Tennis Shoes | Buying Tips

Players wearing appropriate table tennis shoes gets to show their top or best performances on their matches. You have to know that this athletic sport type of game do involve a lot of sudden fast-pace movements. It is for this reason why shoe manufacturers had genuinely designed perfect table tennis shoes especially for the serious players of the game.

So if you think that you are getting good at playing table tennis and you are becoming serious about it, you should consider buying your own special table tennis shoes.

Although, a table tennis shoe is actually optional to a player. It's because there are some people who already find themselves at the best comfort of their own ordinary sneakers. But even though, it is highly suggestible that you should at least own one pair of real table-tennis shoes. 

This is for you to allow yourself to experience playing on a real ping-pong shoes which lets you determine if you still want to stick with your old pair of shoes.

If you also play other sports such as tennis, badminton, basketball or volleyball and it happens that you own a shoe designed for any of these sports, then they are also suitable to be used for playing table tennis or ping-pong. But above all, a suitable shoe should meet your requirements.

Why Are Ordinary Rubber Shoes Not Good Enough?

Ordinary rubbers shoes are most likely designed with flashy style because they are intended to be worn as ordinary footwear and not really for any sport activities. Due to this reason, the majority of ordinary rubber shoes most likely results into injuries.

Here are the following possible injuries that you may suffer from wearing an ordinary rubber shoes from playing table tennis:

1. Accidentally Slide or Slip

When playing table tennis or ping pong table, being able to move fast is a very important factor to win the match. But, if you are wearing a shoe that doesn't properly stick on the floor, chances are, you will accidentally slide or slip around the court. The worst thing that could happen is when you slip and hit your head on the floor or on the table.

2. Heavy Shoe

Most ordinary rubber shoes are made of durable and heavy materials. As a result, wearing such shoe for just an hour of playing will make you start to feel that your shoe is getting heavier. This affects your performance particularly slowing your movements down.

3. Suffer an Aching Foot

Since ordinary rubber shoes are not really designed for fast and continuous movement, playing table tennis for a couple of hours could lead into an aching foot.

4. Spraining your Ankle

There were already several reported incidents about players spraining their ankles while playing table tennis especially for a long duration period of time. And the most common reason was that, they were wearing some random ordinary rubber shoes.

You have to know that special table tennis shoes are well designed to prevent every possible issues such as those mentioned above. Those issues can really hinder the performance of the player.

Important Qualities of a Table Tennis Shoe

There are a lot of competing table tennis shoe products out in the market today. However, it doesn't mean that they are all good products that you can just randomly grab and buy one of them. Still, there are qualities that you need to consider.

Here are the following tips about the qualities of a table tennis shoe that you should importantly consider before buying:

A Comfortable Shoe

As already stated above, table tennis or ping pong table involves a lot of fast-paced movement where you will be chasing the ball and hitting it with your paddle most of the time. It is for this reason why it is very important that you should always feel comfortable wearing your shoe.

To test a suitable and comfortable shoe that fits your foot, you have to wear it. Thus, it is suggested not to buy your table tennis shoe from an online store. It is still actually best to make an effort visiting an actual shop so that you can wear it allowing you to choose the right size for your feet.

Aside from the size, you also have to inspect the shoe's fabric material that it can provide the adequate ventilation for your feet to breath allowing the heat out.

Foot Support

Table tennis shoes comes in different designs especially when it comes to foot support. If you are the type of player that needs support on your ankle then you may choose a shoe with a low-cut design.

Shock Absorber

Most sport manufacturers focused in designing their shoe product to be as light as possible. Due to this reason, they disregard adding shock absorber. Anyway, a shock absorber isn't really important if you are playing on a nice wooden sprung floor. According to some experts, a shoe with a shock absorber is best recommended when you intend to play on a concrete ground-floor for a long duration period of time.

Playing on a hard surface-floor on a shoe with no shock absorber can result into a painful joint injury.

Unfortunately, all shoes with shock absorbing qualities do degrade in time. So if you do play a lot or regularly, you should consider replacing your shoe for at least every six months period. For occasional players, you can replace your shoes on a yearly basis.

Lightweight

Table tennis or ping pong also involves endurance and stamina. In order to prolong your endurance and stamina, you need to wear the lightest table tennis shoe as much as possible. But as stated above, most lightweight shoes does not offer any shock absorption.

Durability

Avoid buying those cheap imitations because they are most likely made of none durable materials. They won't last long enough where you will end up buying another shoe for replacement. Thus, only buy original products with recognized brand.

Grip

Nobody wants to get accidentally slip down on the floor because it could result into an injury. But, this usually happens especially when you play on a slippery floor. So when choosing a shoe, you should choose those with rubber soles to get a good grip on the floor.

Flashy Style

Anyone wants to wear a flashy shoe but always consider this as your last option. Don't ever sacrifice comfort or any of the other tips mentioned above just to wear a flashy table tennis shoe to impress the audience or anyone around as you play.

Overall, if you keep those tips in mind as you go around the store to buy your own table tennis shoe, it is for sure that you will be able to find the right and suitable shoe for you to wear.