The Rules of Table Tennis

The first thing I'd like to talk about is the basic rules of the game.
The table
is rectangular with
a length of 2.74 meters or 9 feet, a width of 1.525 meters or 5 feet, and 76 cm or 2.5 feet above
the floor. The sides of the table are not in play although the ball may land on a corner which
is on the legal playing surface. Here is something that is very important; the playing surface
may be made of any material but a standard ball must bounce at least 23 cm or 9 in from a 30 cm or 12 in height when it is dropped vertically. The playing surface may be uniformly dark
colored. Usually the surface is green or blue. The surface is divided into two equal parts
by a vertical net which is parallel to the end lines and must cover the entire width of the table.
The table also has a 2 cm wide white line that covers the outside of the 2.74 m edge and a
2 cm wide white line that covers the 1.525 m edge. For doubles the table has a 3 mm wide
center line which is parallel to the side lines. The center line shall be regarded as part of the
right half court.
The net
shall consist of its supporting posts, its extension and the clamps that hold it to the
table. These parts of the table may come into play but very rarely. The net shall be supported
by a cord running parallel to the end lines and shall be 15.25 cm high. The outer supports will
be 15.25 cm outside the side line. The top of the net over its whole length will be 15.25 cm or
6 in above the table. The lower part of the net shall be as close to the table as possible.
The ball
shall be spherical, with a diameter of 40 mm. There may be some of you who used the
36 mm ball, but they are no longer used in tournaments and also ball return machines have
started to use the 40 mm balls. The ball shall weigh 2.7 g or approximately .1 oz. The ball shall be made of celluloid or similar plastics and shall be either orange or white.