Ping Pong Rules
The game of ping pong is actually called table tennis, but the name ping pong is appropriate given the sounds you hear when the ball bounces and gets hit by the paddles used in the game. The object of the game is to score 11 points before your opponent does. However, you must win the game by at least two points.
Therefore if you have 10 point and the opposing team has 9 you will have to continue playing even when you score your 11th point. The game can be played with one person on each side of the net or two people on each side. Each player has a ping pong paddle to hit the ball with.
Each team has two turns to start the ball into play. If the team that serves the ping pong ball is successful at getting it over the net and the other team doesn’t return it they get a point. If the other team does return the ball and the serving team fails to send it back then no one scores a point on that round of play.
There are plenty of illegal moves that can’t be used to gain points in a game of ping pong. The ball can’t be touched by the hands, only the paddle. In addition, the person can only hit the ping pong ball one time. If the game is being played by doubles then one person on the same side can hit it, the team mate can hit it, and then the first person can hit it again all before it goes back over the net to the other team.
You also have to carefully want the boundaries on the ping pong table. Regulation tables will have them clearly marked. If the ball hits the net, goes off the table, or any other illegal act is performed the play is over and the ping pong ball has to be served again. It is a game with very simple rules that can provide hours of fun. You will find that different people play different variations of the game, and that is fine as long as everyone in the game agrees to the rules before the game starts.
