Rules Of The Game
- The right to serve or receive in the first game of each
match is determined by a toss. If the winner of the toss chooses
to be the server or receiver, his/her opponent has the choice
of the court, or vice versa. The player who serves at the beginning
of the first game receives at the beginning of the second game.
At the end of each game the players change places at the end of
the table.
- The server stands behind his/her end of the table and
hits the ball with his/her paddle so that it bounces from the
table on his/her side of the net, and bounces upon any portion
of the table on the receiver's side. The server having made a
good service, the receiver attempts to make a good return, and
thereafter the server and the receiver alternately hit the ball
back and forth until a point is scored. A player scores when the
opponent fails to return the ball.
- Throughout the game, except when the score is tied at
twenty points, the server becomes the receiver and the receiver
becomes the server after each five serves.
- If a served ball touches the top of the net and falls
on the opponents side of the table, it is called a "let ball."
This does not count as a point or as a serve, and the server serves
again.
- A player wins a point when:
- Their opponent fails to make a good serve
- Their opponent or their opponent's paddle touches
the net while the ball is in play
- Their opponent fails to return a good ball
- Their opponent hits a ball before it has dropped
on the table.
- The first player to reach twenty-one points is the winner.
If both players make twenty points each, one player must win two
points in succession to win the game.
ADDITIONAL RULES FOR DOUBLES PLAY
- The service is the same as in singles, except that the
ball must hit the table within the right hand half of the server's
court before going over the net, and the ball must land in the
right hand half of the receivers court and must not touch the
center line on either side of the net. If the ball touches the
center line other than the service, it is a good ball. All serves
are made and received in the right hand courts. After serving
five balls, the server changes places with their partner. They
then become the receiving pair. Thus each server serves to the
same person throughout the game. This order of service continues
until the end of the game, or until the score is tied at twenty
points, in which case each server shall have only one serve until
one pair of players has scored two points in succession to win
the game.
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Last Updated July 15, 2005
