Ping-Pong

Have you ever heard of a game including action packed battles fought out on rectangular tables? What about unmatched intensity between warriors armed with nothing more than wooden paddle? Ever heard of ping-pong? Also known as Table Tennis, ping-pong's invention came near the turn of the century as an after dinner activity in Central Europe. By 1910, the former Central European game changed into a popular sport in Japan, China, and Korea. Soon in 1926, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) emerged and over the next 60 years the game's popularity grew worldwide, becoming a Summer Olympic Sport in 1988. Presently, 30 million professionals compete in tournaments all over the world and hundreds of millions of more play for fun. To achieve success in ping-pong, one must obtain the highest degree of hand eye coordination, lightning-quick reactions, and muscular control. In addition, most players develop a playing style or technique in competition. Some of the most popular strategies include defensive, offensive, balanced, and spin. A defensive player's fundamental playing philosophy involves taking conservative shots and their scoring depends on the unforced errors of their opponent. An offensive player's basic style builds around constant attack and power shots with the goal of hitting winners. Comparatively, a balanced player owns a well rounded game that has no preference on offense or defense. A spin player tries to win points with a combination of over, under, and side spins with the intention of fooling the opponent. The interaction of these styles during a match epitomizes the internationally acclaimed game.

Recently, several advances in the equipment, specifically blades (the official name for paddles), add a new dimension to the game. Previously, ping-pong equipment retailers limited players to basic paddles, such as sand paper, rubber, light, and heavy. But near the turn of the century, new technology arose and the options for paddles exponentially broadened. The variety of blades include specialization in speed, spin, power, defensive, shakehand, penhold, smooth surfaces, firehand, and pimpled rubbers. These advancements and the obscurities of the game make it such an enjoyable sport for people all over the world.