What are the Rules for Serving in Ping Pong?

Every game has rules and regulations that have to follow for playing the fair game. Some of the rules are easy to follow, some are very much restricted and hard to maintain. Like other games, ping pong has some rules too. In our topic, we will know about the rules for serving the ping pong ball.

What are the Rules for Serving in Ping Pong?

Ping pong is a very popular game all over the world. This game is played by either single or in a team with 2 people. The player serves the ball from one court of the table to the opponent. The person with the highest score wins the game. It is a very simple and enjoyable game. Let’s discuss the serving rules of the ping pong game.

The serve rule of the ping pong game is very sensitive. Because if the serve will not be done perfectly, the game will not start. The player has to serve the ball in total 3 attempts. If the player fails to make a perfect serve in 3 attempts, the opponent team will get one point as a penalty.

Serving Rules for Single

For doing the serve in a ping pong game,

• First of all, put the ball in hand with the palm open
• As the palm will stay open, the player will not get the chance to spin the ball.
• Throw the ball in the vertical direction for not more than 20c.m
• Whenever the ball will be thrown, it should stay outside and above the table. If you stay close to the table while serving, there is a chance of doing bad serve because the distance can create various angles in serving. Even the opponent will not get a fair ball to return
• When the player delivers a good ball to the opponent, it is good to stay backward after serving. It will allow the opponent to return the ball and play well

These are the general rules of serving for the ping pong game. But the rules are different according to the category. As we all know that, ping pong games can be played in two different categories. One is the single game and the other one is the team. The serving process that is given above is the general serving process for the game. But there is a little bit of change in the dual game.

Serving Rules for Doubles

As we all know that, the doubles game for ping pong is played by 2 players, there is some difference in the rules. Let’s know about the rules below

First of all, the basic rules for the serve remain the same to both. Such as the holding process of the ball, throwing the ball in the air, and serve it, which are the basic rules of the game. Let us know about the other factors below:

• As it is a doubles game, the players have to stay between their lines
• When the player serves the ball, the ball has to drop at both right boards of the players. Both for the server and the receiver
• The ball can’t go to the other side or corner of the board, if it happens, the opponent will get a point
• The player has to go backward after the service. It will help his teammate to catch the ball if it gets returned
• The serve will not be counted if the ball touches the net while serving. If the ball touches the net while serving, that will be called ‘fit’. There is no point in the fit. But if it happens 3 times continuously, the opponent will get a point

So these are the basic serving rules for the ping pong game.

Rules for Serving in Ping Pong

Ping Pong Basic Rules

As we were talking about the serving rules of the game, now we will talk about the total basic rules of ping pong games. Knowing the serving rules only will not become helpful for the new beginners.

The scoring rule: The scoring rules have been explained in short at the beginning of the topic. The scoring system is very easy to describe. In short, the player has to score a point by hitting the ball at the opponent’s board. For a single game, it is very to make the point and even the serve. Because there are no restrictions or binding in the single player game to serve from a specific direction. But in the doubles game, the serves have to do from the right court of the server to the right court of the opponent. The server doesn’t have permission to serve the ball in any direction of the ping pong table.

The Scoring Process

There are a lot of ways that are counted as the point of the game. The winning point of this game is 11. Each of the players gets two serves to do. The game can be called a draw if both teams score 10-10. If this happens, they will have to go for another round where each 4 of the players have to serve the ball individually until they get the point. The team with the point first wins the draw. There is no limitation of the drawn match rounds as there is a certain rule of the game. The players have to play the rounds until they don’t get the point. It is the same process for a single team too. In doubles, the server gets switched after his/her serving gets to end. He has to switch his opponent to the right side. The opponent will serve the ball to the opponent. The serving and switching system will stay the same for both teams.

How it Scores

The scores are dependant on some terms and facts. They are given below:

• If the server serves the ball and the ball fall without touching the board
• If the player serves the ball in the wrong direction in the doubles game
• The player smash the ball into the opponent’s table and the opponent can’t return it
• When the ball bounces more than once on the opponent’s table after serving
• The ball touches the edges of the table and the opponent can’t receive it

So these are the simple rules that can score a point. Remember that, if a player serves the ball and the ball touches the net and bounces on the opponent’s table, there will be no scoring and that will be called fit or fresh. It allows the server to serve again 2 times more. If the player fails to serve perfectly even in 3 attempts, the opponent will get a score. There is a different scoring method too. If the server touches the board or the table while playing, there is a rule and the player will automatically get one point.

Olympic Ping Pong Serving Rules

The ping pong game has great demand at the Olympic level too. There is not much difference between the Olympic level game and the normal game. The players of the Olympic Games follow the same procedure of serving and pointing. But the only difference is the Olympic level ping pong game is played for 7 rounds and it scores to 15 sometimes. The team with the most winning rounds wins the game. The rules are very strictly followed in the game as it is an international level gaming

Spinning the Ball

Spinning the ball while playing is a very unique and advanced technique to dominate the opponent. As there is no allowance for the player to spin the ball through the hand, they can use the racket for making spins. Sometimes, the balls spin too much that the opponent can even touch the ball after it hits the table. The spin of the ball can be done by applying any kind of angled hitting on the ball. For example, if the ball has a shot at a 90-degree angle by the racket, the ball will have a good spin. There are some videos available on YouTube that will help to teach the proper spinning system of the ball.

Serving the ball is a very easy thing if you know the rules. Learn the rules, apply them in your game and defeat your opponent.