Glossary of table tennis

Table tennis terminology is a set of English words and phrases used in the game of table tennis to describe the game, the play and the equipment. This article lists some of them.

• Alternation of ends – At the end of each set or in the final set when a player reaches five points, the players must swap ends
• Alternation of service – After every two points the service must change
• Antispin – A smooth rubber with very low surface friction, used to defend against strong spin or to confuse the opponent. This type of rubber is rarely (if at all) seen in modern top-level table tennis, but is popular with amateur and veteran players.
• Assistant umpire – Someone who assists the main umpire with decisions
• Attacker – A player who uses a large number of attacking shots, mainly using topspin and sidespin
• Backspin – A spin where the player hits underneath the ball
• Bat – What you use to hit the ball
• Blade – The wooden part of the paddle
• Block – A shot where the player puts his bat in front of the ball without a lot of force as the spin and speed is generated from the other player
• Blocker – A player who blocks the ball a majority of the time
• Chop – A heavy backspin shot used from far away from the table and hit late
• Chop block – A shot that uses sidespin and backspin. The player must hit diagonally downwards to generate the shot
• Chopper – A player who chops the ball the majority of the time
• Closed angle – A small bat angle where a large amount of spin is generated
• Counter – When a player topspins and topspin ball
• Counter-drive – A counter with little spin
• Counter-loop – A counter with a large amount of spin from both players
• Counter-smash – When both players smash the ball after each other
• Crosscourt – When a player hits the ball diagonally
• Crossover – The point where a player has to change from playing a forehand stroke to backhand stroke; often a target for attack, since it is difficult to return balls aimed at this area.
• Dead ball – When the ball either bounces twice on the table or hits the floor
• Deep – When a player is far away from the table
• Deuce – At 10-10 a player must win the set by two points such as 12-10, 13-11, 14-12 etc
• Double bounce – When the ball bounces twice on the same side of the table
• Doubles – Two players on each side of the table
• Down the line – When a player hits the ball straight down the line on one side of the table
• Drop shot – When a player gently hits a lob shot to double bounce on the opponents side
• Early – The rising part of a ball's bounce
• Expedite rule – A rule where a rally cannot go on from a certain amount of time or number of shots
• Extreme angle – A very small bat angle
• Falkenberg drill –
• Flat – A shot with no spin
• Flick – A short shot from over the table close to the net
• Flip – Similar to a flick
• Footwork – How you move across the table
• Forehand – A shot moving your arm from the side
• Free hand – Your hand that does not have the bat
• Game point – Who ever is with 10 points and wins the point, wins the game
• Grip – How the player holds the bat either shakehand or penhold
• Hard rubber – A rubber used mainly for speed which lacks spin
• Heavy – Used to describe strong spin
• High toss serve – When a player tosses their serve very high
• International Table Tennis Federation – The Table Tennis 'Headquarters'
• Inverted rubber – Rubber which contacts the ball with its smooth surface, and is glued to the rest of the bat with its pimpled surface. With a larger contact area this type of rubber generally produces more spin than pimpled rubber, although some rubbers are designed to have the opposite effect (see Antispin above).
• ITTF – International Table Tennis Federation
• Kill shot – A shot that wins the point
• Late – The falling part of a ball's bounce
• Let – When another ball enters the playing area and so play stops and the point is replayed
• Let serve – When the serve touches the net but still goes over. The serve is retaken
• Loaded – A shot with a very large amount of spin
• Lob – A shot where the player hits the ball high to give him time to recover
• Long – A shot that hits the back of the table
• Long pips – A bat with long pimples
• Loop – A strong topspin stroke that aims to overpower the spin of the oncoming ball (usually backspin)
• Looper –
• Loose – A return which is too high, too long, has insufficient spin or a combination of the above. Easy for the opponent to attack or kill (compare tight, below)
• Magnus effect –
• Match –
• Medium long serve –
• Mid long serve –
• Multiball – Training method minimizing wasted time by using many balls which are continuously fed to the player, either by another player or a ball robot
• No-spin serve –
• Obstruction –
• Open angle –
• Open racket –
• Penhold – Style of player who grips the paddle in a manner similar to holding a pen
• Pimples – Rubber which contacts the ball with its pimpled surface; produces different effects on the spin compared with inverted rubber, due to the reduced contact area and flexibility of the pimples
• Pips –
• Pips-in –
• Pips-out –
• Playing elbow –
• Playing surface –
• Push –
• Racket –
• Racket hand –
• Rally –
• Rating –
• Rating even –
• Receive –
• Referee –
• Reverse penhold backhand –
• Rubber –
• Rubber cleaner –
• Sandwich rubber – Inverted rubber, with sponge
• Seemiller grip –
• Service –
• Set –
• Shakehand – The most popular table-tennis grip; similar to a tennis grip, with the index finger extended over the paddle head perpendicular to the handle
• Short –
• Skunk –
• Smash –
• Smother kill –
• Speed glue – Glue used to attach rubber to the blade; contains a high percentage of volatile solvents, which soak into the sponge of a rubber and increase the speed and spin of a stroke
• Spin –
• Spin reversal –
• Sponge –
• Step around –
• Strike –
• Stroke –
• Sweet spot –
• Third ball – The stroke hit by the server after the opponent's return of the serve. Because the serve can be used to make attacking difficult for the opponent, the third ball is frequently the first strong attacking stroke in a table-tennis rally.
• Throw angle –
• Tight – A return which is difficult for the opponent to attack. Always a low ball, usually in combination with being short, having strong backspin or both^[1]
• Topspin –
• Twiddle –
• Twirl –
• Two step footwork –
• Two-winged looper –
• Umpire –
• Underspin –
• USATT –
• Volley –
• Wide angle –

See also

• Table tennis
• International Table Tennis Federation
• USA Table Tennis

References