The Guide
Everything you need to follow and play table tennis, in order: start with the basics, then work out how the professional game fits together, then choose your kit.
Start here
The rules, the scoring and how to get playing.
Table tennis rules explained in five minutes
The laws of table tennis fit on a few pages. These are the ones that decide almost every point, in the order you'll meet them.
How scoring works: points, games, matches and deuce
Points, games and matches, who serves when, and how to read a scoreline like 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10).
What makes a serve legal?
Seven short laws govern every serve. Here is what each one asks of you, and what an umpire is watching for.
Doubles: the order of play and the extra rules
Doubles uses the same scoring as singles with three extra rules: serve diagonally, hit in turn, and follow a fixed rotation of server and receiver.
How to start playing table tennis as an adult
You don't need a bat, a partner or any experience to start. A free public table or a club's social session is enough, and a local league can follow within a season.
How to find a club and join a league in England
Search Table Tennis England's table finder, visit a club, then ask to join one of its league teams. Here is how each step works and what it costs.
How the pro game works
Who runs the sport, which events matter and how players qualify.
ITTF and WTT: who runs table tennis?
The ITTF is the sport's world governing body. WTT is the company it set up in 2019 to run the professional circuit. Here is who does what.
Grand Smash, Champions, Star Contender: the WTT events explained
WTT's tournaments form a pyramid. The higher the level, the stronger the field, the bigger the prize fund and the more ranking points for the winner.
How the world rankings work
A player's world ranking is the sum of their eight best results from the past year. Bigger events are worth more points, and the list changes every week.
The World Championships: singles years, team years and how players qualify
The World Championships are the oldest and most prestigious title in table tennis after the Olympics. Odd years are for individuals, even years for teams.
Table tennis at the Olympics: format and qualification
Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988. At Los Angeles 2028 the team events give way to doubles and a new mixed team competition, with 172 players taking part.
The World Cups and the WTT Finals
Three end-of-cycle events sit just below the World Championships: the singles World Cup in spring, the Mixed Team World Cup in late autumn and the WTT Finals in December.
How team matches work
A team match is a set of individual matches, and the first team to win a majority of them wins. The order of play, and whether doubles is included, changes from event to event.
The table tennis season, month by month
The international season runs from January to December, with a Grand Smash in roughly every third month. Club leagues run from late summer to spring, alongside it.
How to watch table tennis live in the UK
Most professional table tennis is free to watch in the UK on YouTube. The BBC covers the Olympics, and English and European events have their own streams.
Leagues and the club game
Where the professionals play between tournaments, and how the game is organised at home.
The professional leagues: Bundesliga, China Super League, T.League and more
Between WTT tournaments, most of the world's best players turn out for clubs. Each big league has its own season, its own team format and its own way of crowning a champion.
The European Champions League explained
The Champions League is where Europe's best table tennis clubs play each other. The men's and women's competitions run on different formats, and both end with a Final Four weekend.
How table tennis is run in England
Table Tennis England sits at the top of the domestic game, with county associations, local leagues and clubs below it. Above it, England plays as itself at the World Championships but as part of Great Britain at the Olympics.
Ratings and rankings for club players in England
Every match at a ranked event in England moves your points up or down, by more when the result is a surprise. Here is how the numbers work and where to find yours.
Equipment
Bats, blades, rubbers and balls, with what to buy at every stage.
What bat should a beginner buy?
A beginner needs a controllable ready-made bat with an allround blade and thin sponge. Here is what to look for, what to spend and when to upgrade.
Blades explained: wood, carbon, speed and handles
Rubbers explained: inverted, pimples and anti-spin
Sponge thickness and hardness: what the numbers mean
Chinese tacky against European tensor rubbers
Custom or ready-made: when to build your own bat
Approved rubbers, colours and the racket rules
Balls: 40mm plastic, stars and why the ball changed
Shoes, tables and the rest of the kit
Styles and tactics
What you're watching when two players meet, and how to start thinking like one.
Penhold or shakehand: the two grips
Attackers, defenders and blockers: the playing styles
Spin explained: topspin, backspin and sidespin
Why the serve and the return decide so many points
Glossary
The words commentators use, in plain English.
Table tennis glossary: from banana flick to chiquita