Few people playing table tennis stop to think about the origins of the game, but it has a long and rich past that starts in the 1800s. The following is just a brief overview of the history that started the game. Table tennis is now the world's most played paddle game!
According to many, the game started with Britain's upper-class society as "light" entertainment for after dinner. Others, however, state the game originated as far back as the 12th century, and actually was the spawn of another game known as court tennis in medieval times. Still others say it was a game that was started by bored British officers while stationed overseas. Many agree, however, that the game didn't become "fashionable" until England's upper-crust picked it up. At that time, the game was supposedly called "whiff-whaff" and was often times played with simple items on hand, such as wine corks and books, or cigar lids and golf balls.
PING PONG
In 1890, David Foster became the first man in England to patent the game of table tennis, and many others followed suit, including the well-known Parker Brothers. The game has gone through many name changes over the years, whiff-whaff became ping-pong, and others called it gossima. The basic idea of hitting a small ball over a net with two paddles remained the same however. James Gibb is usually the Englishman that has been said to have created the hollow balls that are the models for modern ping-pong today, while E.C Goode is said to be the one who first put rubber on the paddles. Unofficial titles and championships began early in the 1900s.
From the 1920's to the 1950's there was much competition and sport and it was often toted as the "hard bat era". In the 1960's-1970's, sponge rubber began to dominate the scene, which made the game much faster and the ball spin much more. The sport became much more aggressive and fast paced. In 1988, table tennis became on official sport of the Olympics.
In the 2000 era, changes were made so as to improve the sport for television enjoyment. The balls were made larger to slow them down so that they were more visible on television. The game was also brought to 11 points instead of 21, in order to keep viewer attention.
You now have a good starting knowledge to the game of ping-pong! Knowing the origins of the game does not necessarily make you a better player, but it does improve your basic understanding of certain elements of the game. This knowledge might help you predict the next big changes for the sport of table tennis. At the very least, you have exercised your gray matter. Now get out there and exercise that backswing!
A History of Table Tennis PING PONG
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