• As much as possible, avoid playing this game in an outdoor setting where wind can off-track your ball. This may a bit annoying as the ball may not land on a spot where you have expected it. You may choose to play inside a gym or a large room where no wind can ruin the game.

• Some recreational players alter the rules so that the serve must travel off the end of the table (as opposed to the side) in order to be legal. Another common “basement rule” is that if your serve bounces twice on your opponent’s side of the table, your opponent scores the point. These rule changes can be useful to make the serve less of a factor in the game so that you can get more practice rallying.
• Practice hitting it off the table. It will freak out the opponents
• Professional players generally stand a little farther back from the table, and as you begin to get into faster rallies, you may find this is a good technique as well.
• There are a wide variety of ping-pong paddles available, and while the cheap ones at your local sporting discount store are just fine for beginners, as you get more advanced you may want to get your own custom paddle.
• There are two commonly-used styles of gripping the paddle: the pen grip (penhold) and the shakehand grip. With the pen grip, you essentially hold your paddle just as you would hold a pen, and with the shakehand grip you place your hand on the paddle’s handle as though you are shaking hands with it, and then wrap your fingers loosely around it. Regardless of how you grip the paddle, it’s important to hold it loosely to allow your wrist to move freely. If your fist is clenched around the handle, most of your force for returns will come from your arm, not your wrist, and you won’t be as accurate.
• Putting the table against a wall can help you play by yourself. The wall will return the ball (hopefully a concrete one), giving you a bit more strength in your throw.
• When hitting hard, hit it so the path of the ball travel in a diagonal. This will result in more distance, but enough force is still there to make a decent hit.

Stiga Aerotech Table Tennis Table  available from esportsonline.com

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