Table Tennis History - The Evolution of Table Tennis in Europe

Needs to be General PA'd for KW stuffing in the RB - these are the exact same terms the author uses in the KW box.
The sport of table tennis has a long and storied history. It was most likely derived from a game known as "Royal Tennis" that was played in Europe during medieval times around the 12th century AD. In the 1880's a form of the game was frequently played by members of England's upper class as an after dinner social activity. Dinner tables would be turned into playing surfaces, with piles of books being used as the "net" and household items acting as rackets. In 1890, an indoor gaming set was created by David Foster and patented in England. It included table versions of tennis, cricket, and football. In 1891, John Jacques of London released a game called "Gossima", a game that included paddles, a web-wrapped cork ball, and a net.

ping pong paddles

The discovery of hollow celluloid balls in England in 1900 by James Gibb ushered in a new era in the tabletop sport's history. This new type of ball was reported to be the catalyst for the name "Ping Pong" because of the sound it made when it came into contact with the drum paddles in use at the time. In 1901 the name "Ping Pong" was registered as a trade name in England. Popularity of the game was high during this time. The Table Tennis Association and the Ping Pong Association were both formed in England in December of 1901.

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As game competition increased, players began to experiment with materials and equipment trying to make the game faster and more entertaining. E.C. Goode from England is credited with placing pebbled rubber on his blade in 1902, the result was more spin on the ball. This small change had the consequence of speeding game-play dramatically. This discovery was the inspiration for the pimpled rubber racket, which was the primary type of table tennis racket used until 1952.

After a few years of intense popularity, the game began to fade away in the vast majority of Europe. A few clusters of die-hard fans remained intact in Eastern Europe. After more than a decade long decline a revival took place in the early 1920's. During this time the first set of standardized laws for the game were established in England. The International Table Tennis Federation was formed in Berlin in1926 with representatives from Germany, Hungary, England, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, India, Sweden, and Wales as founding members. The ITTF adopted England's standardized laws for international play. The first international tournament was held in 1926 in Berlin. The ITTF continues to be the governing body of the sport today.

The 1920's through the 1950's are known as the Classic Hard Bat Era. This was a time of European Dominance. From 1926 through 1931 Maria Mednyanszky from Hungary was the World Champion for five consecutive years. From 1930 through 1935 Victor Barna of Hungary was the World Champion five times, losing only once, in 1931 to his countryman Miklos Szabadoz. European players dominated the field until 1952 when Jiroji Satoh of Japan, with his sponge-covered racket, became the first non-European player to win a championship. In 1958 the first European Championships were held in Budapest Hungary. The USSR made their first appearance at an international tournament during this time.

The year 1971 started a decade-long reign for Swedish players and the beginning of the end of European Dominance. This era produced such Swedish greats as Stellan Bengtsson, Jan-Ove Waldner, Jörgen Persson, and Peter Karlsson, to name a few. In 1977, the ITTF received official recognition by the International Olympic Committee, enabling them to pursue adding the tabletop sport to the Olympic Program. The ITTF chose not to do so at the time. It would be another eleven years before the game debuted as an Olympic Sport. As it continued to gain popularity around the globe, China began to dominate international competitions and stole the championship reigns from their European counterparts. Their reign at the top of the world rankings has remained consistent to this day.

Table Tennis History - The Evolution of Table Tennis in Europe

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Did You Know? Interesting Facts About the History of Table Tennis

With humble roots beginning in the 12th century, table tennis has gone through tremendous changes, in both equipment and in official rule guidelines, evolving into one of the most popular competitive sporting games played in several different countries.

ping pong net

Around 1880, British soldiers stationed abroad would often play "Royal Tennis", using cigar lids as paddles, and corks or webbed wrapped devices as a table tennis ball. The exciting game became very popular with the soldiers since the game was a quick and highly mobile entertainment vehicle to pass idle time.

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In the Victorian Era, upper class women and men enthusiastically played table tennis, better known as "Wiff-Waff" or "Gossima", as an indoor recreational game. Using a large surface as a table, the opponents would hit rounded objects, sometimes a golf ball or ball made from string, with another book, passing the "ball" over a net erected out of additional propped up books. "Wiff-Waff" became extremely popular and newly manufactured materials allowed for the reengineering of the first official paddle made out simple framing material with parchment paper stretched end to end. Soon after, a celluloid ball was introduced to the game and, and a creative J. Jaques & Sons officially deemed the game "Ping Pong". Around 1901, Jaques & Sons sold the copyrighted the "Ping Pong" game name to the ever so popular United States game manufacturer, Parker Brothers. Hoping to increase popularity in the United States, Parker Brothers began marketing Ping Pong sets complete with paddles, balls, and nets.

Searching for a way to add spin to the ping-pong ball, Englishman E.C. Goode redesigned the ping-pong paddle in 1902. His designed the paddle out of thin wood and he covered the wood with a pebbled rubber. Until 1952, his ingenious design dominated Ping Pong paddle sales around the world.

With the game becoming popular and increase demand for regulations and serious competition, two organizations, "The Ping Pong Association" in the United States and "The Table Tennis Association" in England, were formed in 1903. Popularity and desire to compete on an international level called for the creation of a new organization to regulate international Ping Pong rules and competition. In 1926, a meeting between several countries interested in participating took place in Berlin and The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) officially formed, holding the first official World Championship competition in London in 1927. Over the years, the ITTF has changed the table tennis surface many times, lowered the net, and introduced standardized paddle rules for competition.

Players from Hungary began fiercely competing in ITTF competitions and held the World Championship Women's Singles championship from 1926-1931 and help the Men's Singles Championship from 1930-1935.

Today, many countries compete in Championship Table Tennis games around the world. Although the equipment has changed over the years, the enthusiasm, popularity, and serious competition have never truly wavered. For a game to start so humbly as a simply way to pass time, to a highly competitive Olympic Sport game, Table Tennis has truly arose from little to become a passionate game played on the International level.

Did You Know? Interesting Facts About the History of Table Tennis

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Table Tennis - A Brief History

In spite of the fact that there are actually table tennis tournaments all over the world, especially in China where table tennis is a major sport, the game itself isn't really taken seriously by many people. We could debate on the why of this until our sun goes nova but we'll leave that debate for another time.

ping pong rackets

Table tennis, or what we affectionately refer to as "ping pong", began as a mild diversion. It was viewed with the same lack of seriousness as lawn tennis and badminton. It became popular in England in the late 19th century. It was known under its present name of table tennis and ping pong as well as gossima and whiff-whaff. The name ping pong was introduced by J. Jaques and Sons. The game was named ping pong because of the sound that the ball made when striking the table when hit. At the time ping pong paddles were not yet invented. Instead they used vellum bats. In a very short time the game became a very fashionable craze. During the period, there were many paintings made of people playing table tennis, usually in a home setting.

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By the early 1900s, table tennis had already started to take on many of the characteristics of the game that we know and love today. However, it was still seen by most people as after dinner entertainment rather than as a serious sport. During this period publications found it necessary to warn people about what kind of attire they should wear when playing this game, such as not to wear tight fitting clothing. These were obviously meant as satire because of the fact that nobody took the game seriously.

Between 1905 and 1910 the game became very popular in Europe until it finally made its way to Japan, China and Korea where table tennis has become a way of life. Today, more than 4 million people in China alone play table tennis and it is seen as a very serious and competitive sport.

In the meantime, after finding its way to the Asian countries, table tennis started to fade from the European scene but in the early 1920s it was again revived in England. By that time the name "ping pong" had actually become a registered trademark of the game. However, the term table tennis was still retained for the more serious organizations where table tennis was actually played for sport.

Over the next 60 years table tennis actually developed into a world wide sport but never really got the recognition that other major sports had gotten during the time except in the Asian countries. The game itself has remained relatively the same since the early days with the exception of the vellum bats being replaced by what we call ping pong paddles. The paddles themselves have gone through a few modifications as far as materials they are made out of but for the most part have remained unchanged from their early days.

Table tennis may never get the respect that some say it deserves, but most people who play it do admit that it is a lot of fun, and also very hard.

Table Tennis - A Brief History

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Table Tennis History - Table Tennis Vs Ping Pong

Table Tennis or Ping Pong (referred to as t-term and p-term, respectively, throughout this article so as to avoid excessive keyword phrase use): which is the correct term to describe the Olympic sport loved by many around the world? Depending upon whom you ask, you will probably get a different answer. Some people believe the t-term is the proper name to use when referring to a more serious level of play. Athletes who train for hours each day train to play table tennis, not ping pong - according to some.

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The p-term is a more relaxed term used to describe the recreational player. The group of kids playing in the basement or garage are playing ping pong - again, the opinion of some. This logic is shared by many around the world, the exception is China were the p-term is still an honorable title for a sport which they dominate. The truth is that the sport and the game were once considered to be one in the same, and the terms are still used interchangeably by many.

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The t-term was first used in 1887 on a board game created by J.H. Singer in New York. The p-term was not registered as a trade name until 1901 by John Jacques in England. He later sold the rights to the American gaming company Parker Brothers. This was a time of intense popularity for the game, and it was known by both names. At the height of its popularity, in December 1901, "The Table Tennis Association" and "The Ping-Pong Association" were formed in England. The two associations merged in 1903 to form "The United Table Tennis and Ping Pong Association". This would seem to indicate that, at the time, the two terms were used to describe the same activity.

As interest in the game began to diminish, the association became defunct in 1904. When interest in the sport began to revive in the 1920s, it became referred to more often using the t-term simply to avoid trademark disputes with Parker Brothers'. The company was extremely aggressive in protecting their rights to the p-term and threatened legal action when necessary. This fear of trademark infringement might explain why the governing body of the sport, the ITTF, uses the t-term instead of the p-term in its title.

Without question, a major divide was created when manufacturers were no longer able to use the p-term when describing equipment they manufactured for the sport. Manufacturers began to label their items with the t-term. At that time there was not a difference between the equipment other than the branding. Parker Brothers' simple act of trademarking and prohibiting use of the p-term created two camps of players.

In 1935, as pockets of players began to form around the United States, The American Ping Pong Association, whose members could afford to use the more expensive Parker Brothers' equipment, the US Amateur Table Tennis Association, and the National Table Tennis Association merged to form the USATT [http://www.usatt.org/]. The hope was that one association would be more effective in setting guidelines and meeting expectations for the sport. People continued then, and continue to this day to use both terms to describe the sport.

Whichever term you choose to use, just continue to play and encourage others to join you. Promotion of the sport, using whichever name you choose, is more important than a fight over the name.

Table Tennis History - Table Tennis Vs Ping Pong

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History of Beer Pong

Beirut also commonly known as 'Beer Pong' is the most popular drinking game among college students today. Roughly twenty years ago the game emerged into society and caught on like wild fire. Beirut evolved as a "paddle-less" version of Beer Pong, a similar game that used paddles to propel the ping pong instead of throwing the ping pong by hand. According to Wikipedia there are two stories of where Beirut originated from. The first story explains that the game was popularized in 1983 after a student from Lehigh University observed a game at Bucknell University. The other story goes on to say that the game was developed in 1986. This is when a fraternity at Lehigh University created the game after all ping pong paddles were broken for regular Beer Pong. True Beirut .com supports the first story due to extent research in this area and finding many "old timers" who have claimed to play the game before 1986.

ping pong net

Anyhow, the reason the game is called Beirut instead of 'Beer Pong' is because of an interesting history fact. Since the name Beer Pong had already been assigned to the game with paddles, a name for the game without paddles was in need. What ended up coming to these student's mind oddly enough is the 70's. To be exact they saw throwing the ping pong balls into the opposite cups symbolizing the "bombings" from East Beirut to West Beirut while they were at war in the 70's (In Lebanon)

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The game of Beirut spread very fast across the nation picking up a bunch of different variations of the game as it went. Although the game is called Beirut, it is often referred to as Beer Pong in many areas. It has been agreed among most people that calling the game Beirut or Beer Pong is acceptable and can be used interchangeably when referring to the game. Tendencies show that more people from the north refer to it as Beirut and more people from the south refer to it either as Beirut or Beer Pong. Simply it is argued that 'Beer Pong' is easier to remember and makes more sense to the novice player. But most serious players call it 'Beirut'.

I personally believe the game started in the 70's but did not get popular until the 80's and has been spreading ever since. There is now not 1 university or college in the US that does not have a few hardcore Beirut players.

History of Beer Pong

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A History of Table Tennis

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!

ping pong table

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.

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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

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History and Evolution of Ping Pong

Definition

ping pong tables for sale

Table tennis or ping pong is a game played with two or four players by hitting a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using rackets, this game played on a hard table with a net that divides the table to two halves.

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History

Ping Pong was inspired by the traditional tennis game. It appeared in Britain during the 19th century as a parlour game played by the gentry after the dinner meal.

At first, ping pong was called by multi names such as wiff-waff, flim-flam etc. These names cames from the sound made when players hit the ball and the fall of the ball on the ping pong table.

In 1901, the popularity of ping pong was increased. That which encouraged British Manufacturer J.Jacques & Sons Ltd. to trademark the game as "ping pong." and sold the rights of it to "Parker Brothers" American company

In 1921, the Table Tennis Association (TTA) was founded in Britain. In 1926, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) was founded in Berlin to be the Official organization for Table Tennis games around the globe. In 1933, the United States Table Tennis Association (USATT) was established.

The first championship was held in 1902 as unofficial. The first official World Championships was hosted in London in 1926. The first appearance of Table Tennis in the Olympic Games was in the Seoul Olympiad in 1988.

Evolution of ping pong equipments

In the beginning, the British were played the game with Dining table with a row of books placed on the middle of the table as a net. And they used two books as rackets. Over time, Table tennis rackets made from Cigar packs lids, and the balls were made from corks of champagne bottles or made from thread.

In 1900, James Gibb invented celluloid ball which was better than its predecessors. In 1901, E.C. Goode was innovated new rackets made from lightweight wood covered with a sheet of rubber. In 1936 the rise of the net has become 15.25cm instead of 30cm which making the game easier and faster. In 2000 the older 38 mm ball was replaced by 40 mm balls which increased the ball's air resistance significantly

It remains to recall that ping pong game is one of the most popular sports in the world.

History and Evolution of Ping Pong

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