Unlike often claimed, the ball may be placed anywhere in singles. There is no rule as to whether you must play the ball forehand or backhand. It must hit the top or at least the edge of the tabletop.

It does not count if the ball only touches the side of the table. Interesting: the ball does not necessarily have to be played over the net, but may also (with enough spin) go past the net. Then, it must first touch your own half of the table and then the opponent’s half. The ball must be hit above the table while falling down. Therefore, many players throw it up to 1-2 meters high to use the higher speed when it falls down for their serve. There are no upward limits to the ball when being tossed. In doing so, it must not touch anything before it is hit. 6.3 in) vertically and without spin in an upward direction. The ball must be tossed at least 16 centimeters (ca. Hand positions other than that are not allowed: The ball must be above the tabletop and behind the baseline during the entire serve and must not be covered. The serve begins with the ball resting on the open and flat hand. Let’s look into this in detail: The throw Extra spin on the toss or covering the ball is forbidden. Since there used to be some very contentious serving techniques, the way to serve is clearly regulated. Here the serve changes after every 5 points, then again after every point from a score of 20:20. For games up to 21Įven though games up to 21 are no longer officially played, many recreational players still choose this variation. There is an exception when the score is 10:10, from then on the serve changes after each point. If you ever forget if you have already served twice, this is always a good help. Thus, at all even scores (2:4, 3:1, 8:6, etc.) the serve must change. Thereby, the serve changes after every 2 points played. Since 2001, a set only goes to up to 11 points, not 21. The winner gets to decide whether he or his opponent serves first: Source: Olympics YouTube Channel During the game – change of serve

Officially, the decision is made by lot or, more precisely, by a coin toss. In official table tennis tournaments, on the other hand, the serve is determined differently: Whoever wins this point has serve and the match starts at 0:0. Here one of the players throws the ball with his hand first on his own side of the board and then on the opponent’s. In recreational matches, throwing in the ball has become common practice in this regard: Differences in serving Who serves? Start of gameīefore the match, of course, it must first be decided who may begin serving.In these cases, the serve must be repeated.

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