Table Tennis Glossary

A smooth rubber that returns almost no spin, so whatever the opponent put on the ball comes back reversed or dead. Legal, but it must be a different colour from the other side of the blade.

Rotation that makes the ball hang back on the bounce. The basis of the push and the chop, and the reason a heavy defensive ball drops into the net if you attack it flat.

The wooden body of the racket, without the rubbers. At least 85 percent of its thickness must be natural wood.

A short, passive return of a loop or smash, taken early with the bat angled to absorb pace. The main defence against topspin at close range.

A heavy backspin return played from away from the table, usually below table height. The signature stroke of the classical defender.

A player whose game is built on chopping from distance and waiting for the attacker to make an error. The expedite system exists largely because of matches between two of them.

Answering an opponent's topspin with your own topspin rather than blocking it. Wins the point outright when it works and loses it immediately when it does not.

In table tennis usage, the state at 10-all where the game continues until one side leads by two. From that score the service also changes after every single point (Law 2.13.3).

The fixed sequence in which the four players strike: server, receiver, server's partner, receiver's partner, repeating for the whole rally. Taking two balls in a row loses the point.

A ball that hits the top edge of the playing surface. It is in play. A ball hitting the vertical side of the tabletop is not, because the playing surface does not include the sides (Law 2.1.2).

The white line, 2 cm wide, along each 1.525 m edge of the table. The serve must be struck from behind its indefinite extension.

The time rule: after ten minutes of a game with fewer than 18 points scored, each player serves one point in turn and the receiver wins the rally by making 13 correct returns. Once introduced it stays for the rest of the match.

An aggressive topspin attack against a short ball over the table, played with the wrist. The standard answer to a short serve at any decent standard.

The hand not holding the racket. During service the ball must rest on its open, stationary palm, and once the ball is thrown the free arm must leave the space between ball and net.

A game is won by the first player or pair to 11 points, unless both reach 10, when it goes to the first to lead by two. There is no upper limit on the score.

In doubles, one of the two halves of each court created by the white centre line. The serve must go from the server's right half-court to the receiver's right half-court.

The grip of the racket. Its covering may be any material; the blade behind it may not.

A service where the ball is obscured from the receiver by the server, the partner, or anything they wear. It is an illegal service under Law 2.6.4 and the most frequently argued call in the sport.

A rally replayed without a point being awarded — for example a service that touches the net and still lands correctly, or an interruption outside the players' control.

A rubber with long, flexible pimples that reverses incoming spin and produces awkward, floating returns. Legal and widely used by defenders, and the reason two-colour rubbers are mandatory.

A heavy topspin attack with a brushing contact, the dominant offensive stroke of the modern game. Against backspin it lifts; against topspin it drives.

The best of any odd number of games (Law 2.12.1). Best of five is the individual standard; best of seven appears in finals and team fixtures.

The net, its suspension cord and the two posts. The top of the net stands 15.25 cm above the playing surface along its whole length.

Touching the ball with anything other than the racket or the racket hand while it is over or heading towards the table, before it has bounced on your side. It loses the point.

A grip in which the racket is held like a pen, dominant in parts of Asia. Its backhand is played with the same face as the forehand, or with the reverse side in the modern reverse-penhold backhand.

The raised studs on a rubber sheet. Pimples-out rubbers put them on the playing surface; pimples-in rubbers put them against the sponge, giving the smooth surface that most attackers use.

The upper surface of the table, 2.74 m by 1.525 m, 76 cm above the floor. It does not include the vertical sides, which is why a side hit is out and an edge hit is in.

A short backspin return played over the table, the standard safe reply to a backspin serve. Passive by design, and the stroke a flick is meant to replace.

Every rally produces a point regardless of who served. Table tennis has scored this way since the change to 11-point games in 2001.

The player who returns the service. In doubles the receiver alternates within the pair according to a fixed cycle, and in the last possible game the receiving order changes at 5 points.

A backhand played with the reverse side of a penhold blade. It transformed the penhold game by giving it a backhand attack it had historically lacked.

The covering on each side of the blade. One side must be red and the other black or a distinctly different colour, so the opponent can see which surface struck the ball.

The stroke that starts the rally. The ball rests on an open palm, is thrown at least 16 cm near-vertically without spin, and is struck as it falls so it bounces once on each side.

The transfer of serve, which happens after every two points until 10-all, and after every single point from 10-all onwards.

Rotation about the vertical axis, which curves the ball in flight and kicks it sideways on the bounce. Most commonly seen on serves.

A flat, maximum-power attack against a high ball. Rarer in the modern game than the loop, because a looped ball is safer and only slightly slower.

The foam layer between blade and rubber topsheet. Its thickness, with the topsheet, may not exceed 4 mm and it governs how much the ball sinks in before it leaves the bat.

Under expedite, the umpire's count of the receiver's returns. Thirteen correct returns win the rally for the receiver.

The playing area, 2.74 m long, 1.525 m wide, 76 cm high, dark and matt, with 2 cm white lines along every edge and a 3 mm centre line for doubles.

One break of up to a minute per match, requested between rallies by the player, the pair or their designated adviser.

Forward rotation that drops the ball onto the table and makes it jump forward on the bounce. What makes a loop safe to hit hard.

The service throw. It must rise at least 16 cm from an open palm, near-vertically and without imparting spin, and umpires judge it by eye.

A short break after every six points from the start of a game, and at the change of ends in the last possible game. Umpires apply it strictly at 6, 12, 18 and so on.

Rotating the racket in the hand mid-rally so that a different rubber meets the ball. Legal, and the standard weapon of players with two very different surfaces.

The official who runs the match: calls the score, judges the service, enforces the intervals and introduces the expedite system. A second official, the assistant umpire, may also rule on service legality.

A ball played sharply across the table to pull the opponent off the end of it. The main geometric alternative to hitting harder.

Shorthand for a side of the body in stroke description — the forehand wing and the backhand wing — used when discussing footwork and coverage.