Doubles is played on the same table, with the same ball and the same scoring as singles. Three things change. The serve must go diagonally from your right half of the table to the receiver's right half. Partners must hit the ball alternately, so you never play two shots in a row. And the server and receiver rotate in a fixed order, so every player serves to, and receives from, a set opponent. Get those right and you can play or follow any doubles match.
The rules here come from the Laws of Table Tennis, written by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and published in England by Table Tennis England. For points, games and deuce, see our guide to scoring.
The table and the diagonal serve
For doubles, each half of the table is split lengthways by a white centre line, 3mm wide. Each side therefore has a right half court and a left half court, seen from the player's own end. The centre line counts as part of each right half court.
The serve must bounce first in the server's right half court and then in the receiver's right half court. A serve that lands in the left half on either side is a fault, and the point goes to the receivers. The ball landing on the centre line is good.
Every other part of the serve law applies as in singles. The ball must be tossed at least 16cm from an open palm and stay in view of the receiver, and the server's partner must not hide it either. What makes a serve legal has the details.
Only the serve is restricted. Once the receiver has returned it, the ball can go anywhere on the other side of the table.
Hitting in turn
In doubles the server serves, the receiver returns, then the server's partner returns, then the receiver's partner, and so on in that sequence until the rally ends. If a player hits the ball out of that sequence, their pair loses the point.
This is what makes doubles a different game. After every shot you have to get out of your partner's way, and they need to get out of yours. Moving in and out of the table, and reading where your partner will stand, matters as much as the shot itself.
Who serves and receives first
Before the match, the right to choose is decided by lot, such as a coin toss. The winner chooses to serve, to receive, or to start at a particular end, and the other pair gets the remaining choice.
In each game, the pair serving first decides which of its players will serve. In the first game of the match, the receiving pair then decides which of its players will receive first.
The rotation
Serve changes every two points, as in singles. At each change, the player who has just received becomes the server, and the partner of the player who has just served becomes the receiver.
Call the two pairs A and B, with players A1, A2, B1 and B2. If A1 serves first to B1, the rotation over the game runs:
A1 serves to B1, then B1 serves to A2, then A2 serves to B2, then B2 serves to A1, and then it starts again with A1 serving to B1.
Each player therefore serves to one opponent and receives from the other. From 10-10, the order stays the same but each player serves only one point before it moves on.
The next game
The pair that served first in a game receives first in the next. That pair chooses which of its players serves first, and the first receiver is then fixed: it is the player who served to that server in the previous game. In the example, if B1 serves first in game two, A1 receives, because A1 served to B1 in game one. So over a match, each player gets to serve to both opponents.
The deciding game
In the last possible game of a match, the fifth in a best-of-five or the seventh in a best-of-seven, two things happen when the first pair reaches 5 points. The pairs change ends, as in singles. And the pair due to receive next changes its order of receiving, so the next server faces the other opponent. The serving order carries on from there.
If a pair serves or receives out of turn by mistake, the umpire stops play when the error is found and play continues with the correct server and receiver at the score reached. Points already played count.
Wheelchair doubles and long games
When at least one player in a pair uses a wheelchair because of a physical disability, the serve and first return follow the normal order, but after that either player of that pair may make the returns.
The expedite rule works in doubles as in singles. If a game lasts 10 minutes without 18 points being scored, each player serves one point in turn, and the receiving pair wins the point after 13 good returns. The order of serving and receiving does not change.
Doubles at the top level
Doubles is part of most major events, including the individual World Championships and the WTT Grand Smashes listed on our events page. Mixed doubles made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where Japan's Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito beat Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen of China 4-3 in the final. At Los Angeles 2028 men's and women's doubles return to the Olympic programme alongside mixed doubles. Many team matches include a doubles rubber too.
If you're starting out, doubles is a good way into club table tennis: you share the pressure, you learn the rhythm of moving off the table, and you get twice as many partners to learn from. Our guide to starting to play as an adult explains how to find a session.