Besides only your racket for table tennis, there are a few other vital pieces of equipment that are also necessary for playing a game of table tennis. If you want to be a good player in this game, then you need to learn about much other equipment used for this table tennis game.
If you have enough knowledge of various equipment needed for this game then it can help enhance your game. In this game, there are 4 four basic equipment pieces used:
- The racket
- The ball
- The table
- The net.
There are a few other requirements of basic table tennis equipment, which are the blade, clothing, rubber, and shoes. Let us try to know about this equipment a little more in this post.
- Racket
The racket is used for hitting the ball while playing back and forth. Although it may look similar to a long tennis racket it is much smaller and different materials are used for making such a racket.
The most common racket uses wood and rubber, which comes as separate part e.g. blade and the handle. The rubber used is very important in this game because it can influence the amount of spin needed for hitting the ball. Players must choose a customized racket at their convenience.
- Ball
The ball is the most crucial piece of equipment of this game. A ping pong ball is made of celluloid or certain plastic material. The celluloid will compose of camphor and nitrocellulose that is usually produced in a certain sheet and will be soaked within a hot solution of alcohol until it becomes easy and soft to play.
The weight of the ball is 2.7 grams having 0.89 to 0.92 as a coefficient of restitution and thus makes them a very light material for playing the game.
- Table
Without the table, this game will remain incomplete. Often this table is also called a ping-pong table. As per the International Table Tennis Federation, for any international league, a table size of 9’ X 5’ (Length and width) must be used. It must be installed at a height of 30” above the ground.
The playing surface or the table must be uniformly dark-colored with a matte finish and it is going to be divided into 2 halves by a certain net having a height of 15.25 cm or 6”. The color of the table can be blue, green, and black.
- Net and post
The net must be of high-quality material to ensure it lasts for years. The thickness of net and post must be 16 – 25 mm. In whichever form you may buy this net and post but ensure that it must be 6” long and 6” wide. It must also have white tape within 15 mm width so that the ball can move accurately across the table.
What is a ping pong paddle?
Another fun game is ping pong paddles that are played by people of all age groups. One can easily learn this game and its rules. All you need for playing this game is a little coordination, quick thinking, and quick reflexes.
