PING-PONG BALLS
Ping-pong or table-tennis was probably first played in England, somewhere at the
end of the 19th century. Like badminton and modern tennis, it is originating
from medieval tennis. Table-tennis was very popular. In 1884, an English patent
was already granted for a "Miniature Indoor Tennis Game". it
was played with a small air-filled latex ball. In 1880, the celluloid ball was
invented by English engineer James Gibb. The game was mostly played in special
clubs and cafes. In 1899 the Berliner Tennis und PingPong Gesellschaft
founded in Berlin.
The word Ping-Pong came into the world because of the sound the new
celluloid ball made. Early pallets were made of cork, cardboard or wood
covered with cloth, velvet or sandpaper. In 1900 Jacques&Son
from England patented a "Ping-Pong" game. The game wasn't seen
as a sport yet, smashing was considered as unsportsmanlike...
In 1902 a mr. Good started using rubber to cover the wooden pallets.
A modern official table-tennis ball used to have a diameter of 38 mm, but
nowadays 40mm, and weighs 2.5 gr.
It has to be made of celluloid or a similar synthetic material, and has to be
white, yellow or orange. The pallet can have any size, form or weight, but the
top has to be flat and not flexible. At least 85% of the thickness of the top
should be of natural wood. The pallet has to be mat, bright red at one side and
black on the other. The players can hit the ball with the pallet of even with
their hand. The table is a rectangle of 2.74 x 1.525 m and the top of the table
has to be at 76 cm from the floor. It can be made of any material but has to
have an equal bouncing capabitily: a standard ping-pong ball falling down from a
height of 30 cm should bounce back at least 23 cm.
The playing surface has to be equally dark and bordered by a white line of 2
cm wide. For doubles, the surface must be divided by a middle line of 3cm
wide. Last but no least, the table is divided in the middle by a net.
Thanks to Herwig Loenders for pointing out the correct offiial ball size.
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