Friday, October 30, 2009

Ping Pong Table Nets


What is a ping pong table without a net? Not much more than a table! When it comes to ping pong, the net is perhaps the most important part. In fact the object of the game revolves around it. But when you consider the net on a ping pong table, there is more that you might imagine to look at.

The dimensions of all regulation ping pong table nets is the same. However there are many variations to material that makes up the net. Quality and long lasting function are usually linked to price. The higher the price of the net the higher the quality. The two main type of nets are synthetic, such as nylon, or plastic and fabric, which are mostly cotton. The colors vary, but green with a white border on the top is the most common.

Synthetic nets are very light weight. They have a distinct advantage in the fact that they can be drawn very tight to maximize the level at the top of the ping pong table net. This makes for a uniform obstacle which is highly desirable. The tension needed for a synthetic net is much lower than that of a cotton net. This is one of the reasons they are so prevalent in the market. They last a long time and are cheap to make.

Cotton nets on the other hand are more expensive to make and require much more tension to create a uniform height. However the fact is that cotton nets are more desirable when considering top notch playing. The high quality material is painstakingly put together in a web of intricate patterns. These nets are strong and some can even last the entire life of the ping pong table.

So when push comes to shove it really does not make that much difference what type of net you use on your ping pong table as long as it works.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Killer Ping Pong Tables


As you can see by the video above, ping pong tables are for hard core players as well as your friends and family. Not how hard the players hit the ball, but also note that one player will really smash the ball and the other player will pop it up very high on the return. The composition of the ping pong table does have a lot to do with that.

Most ping pong tables that are made today have a heavy 1/2" plus thickness on their tops. This is by design. There heavy ping pong table tops provide the backing needed to help create the fantastic rebound that you see in the video above. You can only imagine the rebound if the table was made of some thin and very light material. The ball would probably not bounce very well at all. That is why most quality tables are made in such a way.

There is one exception to this rule, at least in my experience, and that is the mini ping pong table. A much smaller than normal ping pong table that comes with special foam paddles. This is to keep the ball from playing beyond the realm of the table. However unlike it's full-size cousin, the mini ping pong table is light weight and can be carried from place to place. I suppose that the rebound for this type of table is not really as important, considering the guys in the video.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Ping Pong Tables and Cats


Who would ever think that a ping pong table could become the favorite playground for a cat!

Cats are very playful, and we all know that, but did you know that a ping pong table has several special characteristics that make them attractive to cats? The net provides the needed "cover" to make the cat feel protected and unseen. It is hard to attack if you are in the wide open spaces. The second is the height. Being that the ping pong table is off of the ground, it seems like the cat is in a tree, working to get an angle on its prey. Last but not least is action. When that cat sees the ball fly across the ping pong table it drives him crazy. They want nothing more than to bat that ball.

It is fun to watch a cat try to play with the ball. Trough my searches I have found many variations of that play. Some cats attack the ball and run off with it. Other just like to lay down and watch the ball wiz past. However there are some cats who seem to get into the game. I have seem a cat sit at the net of a ping pong table and bat back every single ball that was hit her way. Though I could not find that video, check out the one posted at the top of this blog. It shows a cat that has made up his own version of ping pong.

So if you have a cat and a ping pong table, you might want to spend that rainy afternoon seeing just how good of a ping pong player your cat really is!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Table Tennis Tables by Butterfly - They have you covered!


Butterfly table tennis tables have been around for a long long time. The name has become synonymous with high quality table tennis equipment. But what you probobly do not know is that Butterfly make some of the best accessories in the world. Perhaps their most popular item is their table tennis table cover.
helps the ball "stick" to the table and produce nice spins and firm ball returns.

Now it would not seem like something that would be all that important, but a table tennis table cover is one of the most critical accessories that you can buy for your new or even old table. You see, when table tennis tables are manufactured, they are given a very special coating on the surface of the table top. This special surface helps the ball "stick" to the table and produce nice spins and firm ball returns. The problem with this surface is that it is matte in finish, making it very susceptible to all kinds of infiltration. Dust and moisture are the most common enemies.

Dust would not seem like it would pose much of a problem, but it does. Common dust can have hundreds of contaminates and chemicals in it, some of which can damage your table tennis table. If you add that threat to the ever present danger of water and air-borne moisture, you would not even consider having an indoor table tennis table without a Butterfly ping pong table cover as a protective barrier to throw over it while it is not in use.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Ping Pong Table Storage


As you can see by the picture, one of the things most often considered when buying a ping pong table is if it can be folded up and store in a smaller area. The idea behind this desire is fairly easy to see, if you have a ping pong table that is taking up a lot of room in your living room or basement, you would like to have the ability to fold it up and store it out of the way for later use. Being that ping pong tables take up so much room, this is not an unreasonable request. However, not all ping pong tables are created equal when it comes to the ability to fold up and store away.

The trend with manufacturing has been to build tables that do fold up. However there have been road-blocks. The most dogging has been safety. Early ping pong tables that offered the ability to be folded and stored, had a design flaw. They would not stay secured in the folded position. When moved one half of the ping pong table came crashing down on top of the person trying to move the table.

To address this problem, manufacturers started to add safety catches to all of their folding ping pong tables. This one action prevented acidental injury due to the table becoming un-folded. However one problem remained.

Even though the ping pong tables were staying folded, when one would try to move it, it tended to fall over in its entirety. The folded ping pong tables were top heavy with narrow bases, providing a very unstable platform to roll around. The fix for this problem was to simply widen the base and the wheel span while lowering the center of gravity. Manufactures also added larger wheel, which rolled better on different surfaces such as carpeting.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Ping Pong Tables Halloween Style


Well it is that spooky time of year. When the leaves start to turn and the wind blows cold, you can bet that Halloween is almost here. We tend to be home-bodies and with that in mind we turn to alternative activities to celebrate good times and holidays. We like to use our ping pong table to center some of our more social activities around.

Most people enjoy ping pong tables and the hours of fun that they provide. This year we did something a bit different and unusual. Normally the top of our ping pong table is green, like most. However we wanted to add a little spice to our Halloween party this year. So as a center piece for are get-together we centered our ping pong table in the room and painted the table with water soluble paint.

What a great idea! The ping pong table looked like something out of a Steven King book! There was plenty of room on the ping pong table top to have a witch, several pumpkins, a black cat, a giant spider, a mummy, a vampire and a ghost. What a sight, color everywhere. I was worried about the ability to play on the ping pong table, but my mind was put at ease the second we began to play. The ball was flying around the spooks and colorful images we had placed on the table. Everyone was trilled to participate and the ping pong table was the talk of the party!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Ping Pong Tables - Who's Your Paddle?



When you talk about ping pong tables you have to mention ping pong paddles. It is like frick & frack, they just go together.

It is strange to think, but there are so many different types of table tennis paddles that it can be as confusing as looking at all of the ping pong tables options. So let's take a look at a few and see if we can't sort it out. First of all, there is one "one right paddle". That is to say that everyone is different and they all have certain requirements based on preference and ability. Ability seems like an odd criteria. But if you think about it different materials have different effects on the ball. That is one of the reasons there has been a standardization of ping pong table top finishes. This provides a very predictable baseline to develop new paddles that have unique playing characteristics.

The very first paddles were made simply from wood, a common base for most paddles today. However it was soon discovered that it was difficult to introduce spin on the ball with a flat smooth surface. Spin by the way is just that, making the ball "spin" in a defined direction. The idea being the more spin, the less predictable the action, at least to the opponent, of the ball when it hits the ping pong table. To create the ability to produce ball spin, different materials are used to cover the face of the paddle. The first was sandpaper.

With its rough surface, sandpaper provides the grip needed to grab the ball and cause it to spin. A great innovation to say the least. However there was still a level of control needed. You see sandpaper provided great spin, but the hard surface left only the most skilled players wit the ability to control that spin. Enter, rubber.

Rubber pads on the paddle provided a similar ability to generate spin but with the added benefit of a cushioning effect as well. This made it much easier for a novice to create spin on the ball without the risk of over shooting the ping pong table.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Ping Pong Tables for Tournament Play


There are many ways to have a good time with your ping pong table. Family and friends getting together to have a good time, a church, school or at home. One of the questions that always comes up when everyone gets together is what do we do? How are we all going to play and compete?

The answer is inevitably, "we will have a tournament". We that is great but setting up a tournament is hardly common knowlege. So here are some tips to help you next time everyone is standing around the ping pong table looking far a way to get started.

What is the time frame? How much time is available to play? Determine the start time and desired finish time for the tournament. In our example, you will have 13 total games. Most games will go to 21. Most games should last about 20-minutes and you should be able to start a game every hour. This will give you a good amount of playing time.

Step
2
Give each team with a number from one to eight. Try to set up teams based on skill level by placing weak players with strong ones.

Step
3
Divide the teams to form the prelimary round. The first four teams would be in "Pool A". The second four teams would be in "Pool B." The winner from each pool that will advance to the final game.

Step
4
The teams in the first group are to play each other once.

Step
5
The teams in the second group are to play each other once.

Step
6
After all teams in each group have played each other (total of 12 games), the winner of each group is determined by which team has the most wins. If there is a tie, the winner is determined by which team won in head-to-head competition.
Step
7
The winners of each group advance to the championship game.

Step
8
The winner of the championship game is the tournament champion.

Of course the time to complete the tournament will be determined by the total of the individual games. If you have more than one ping pong table you will find that the progress will be much faster.

With the above information, there should be no reason not to be able to put your ping pong table to great use. Go forward and play till you drop!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Ping Pong Table Colors


Have you ever noticed that the colors used on ping pong table tops has started to grow? There are tops in just about every color under the rainbow. The traditional color of course has always been green, but why?

Funny you should ask. There is a very logical reason that the tops of ping pong tables have traditionally been green, tennis. Tennis? That's right tennis. You see ping pong or table tennis as it is known around the world is strikingly similar to...you guessed it tennis! Yes tennis which too has a traditional green court or playing surface, gets its color from grass. That is correct, green grass. You see in the old days before asphalt and concrete, tennis courts were made from grass. Hard lawns of very low cut green grass. So when people decided that having a tennis court in your back yard was too expensive and space intensive, table tennis tables or ping pong tables as they are better known here in the United States, were born. Now people could enjoy a nice game of tennis right in their very home.

But as we all know, status quo is rarely every good enough. So as is usual in the evolution of man, change enhancement and innovation lead to change, and in this case change in the color that is placed on ping pong tables. Now you can find blue, red and just about any color that you would like on a ping pong table. But as you might imagine this creates a whole new set of concerns, the main one being ball viability...a topic for another day.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Ping Pong Tables, Part of a Growing Tradition

It is a well know fact that ping pong has been growing as a popular recreational activity. If fact since the early 60's there has been no more popular recreational past-time than ping pong. The only exception would be the lingering effect that bowling had on the population here in the United States for the early part of the decade. Unlike bowling, ping pong did not require leaving one's home in order to participate and enjoy. Now families could stay at home and play til the early morning hours without having to worry about the cost.

Though it's popularity was on the rise, ping pong tables remained a bit on the pricey side for many families. A ping pong table was not considered a luxury item like a colored television set, but they were more expensive than a traditional toy for Christmas. In addition to the cost there was the space issue to consider. Homes that were built in the sixties and seventies were much smaller than the homes today. The average square footage was about 1500 square feet. Basements were not very common in most parts of the country excluding the Midwest. This factor alone did have an effect on the ability of some families to have a ping pong table, however it was indeed overcome by way of the carport and family room.

Early ping pong tables were simple but effective despite sparse designs. In fact it would take over two decades for ping pong tables to gain the attention to manufacturing details that would be required to meet with public demand. The sport of table tennis had much to do with this issue. The Chinese had a lot to do with ping pong as a sport. Perhaps any reason to legitimize the game was a welcomed endeavor. One would have to consider the effect of the very first video game as well. Pong as it was called, was a video version of the actual ping pong game. The concept was new, a ping pong game without a ping pong table! regardless of the path, ping pong has come a long way.

If you consider the simple paddle for instance. The very first paddles were not much more that a wooden paddle with sandpaper glued to each side. However it did not take long for the first innovation in the ping pong paddle to take place. The addition of a thin runner panel in place of the sandpaper helped to move ping pong into a more modern era. The ping pong table itself was another story. It took a lot of thinking outside of the traditional box to slowly create innovations dealing with the ping pong table itself. The first major test was with the thickness of the ping pong table top. The first commercially available ping pong tables were relatively thin, some as little as 3/8". Though it was hard to notice visually, playability certainly was left to chance. It was latter ascertained that thicker ping pong tables provided more stability and better bounce to to the greater mass. The fact that people tended to break their ping pong tables when making spectacular returns that left a wandering hand on the ping pong table with a bit too much force and weight. Being that most early, and even modern ping pong tables are made of particle board, the obvious progression would be to make the table tops thicker. Today the standard runs between 1/2" to 1". Typically the thicker the better. To address one of the very first problems with ping pong tables a unique approach was taken. The fact that many homes could not handle the size of a table within its walls, designers came up with ping pong tables made of specially coated materials and even aluminum so that they could be used outside. That is right, the thought was if the table is too big for the house just put it outside. Now any family could have a ping pong table even if their house was too small. These new ping pong tables could be left outside in the elements all year long without the risk of damage due to weather. However there is a downside to this approach and that is with respect to cost. These outdoor tables with their high tech tops simply cost more money to make. Perhaps a cost worth every penny, certainly to some!