This is the quick and simple table tennis laws in 3 minutes. I’ve also explained:
- the full rules and regulations,
- the serving rules,
- commonly confused situations during a real match
- and the unwritten Fairplay rules in table tennis.
Basic Rules
∎ Page Contents ∎
Goal
- The goal of table tennis is simple, like tennis.
- Hit the ball over the net and land on the opponent’s side.
- If they miss the ball, you win +1 point, and your opponent wins 0 points!
Scoring
- The winner of a game is the first to 11 points.
- If both players reach 10-10, you need to win 2 points in a row to finish the game.
- To win a match you need to reach Best-of-5 of best-of-7 game.

Service Rules
- Unlike tennis, in a ping-pong: the ball must touch your side.
- You must throw the ball at least 16 cm upward
- If the ball touches the net, serve again
Double Rule
- Service must be diagonal.
- Always from your right haft table to the right half table of the opponent.
- In doubles, the server must be rotated.
- You serve 2 points, and the next time, it’s your friend will serve.
Summary in 3 minutes
Here is the quick recap of the basic rules in table tennis in 3 minutes.
Real examples
Here is an example of the table tennis rules. Even at the high level, the umpire is wrong! Who gets the point?
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jerrson gets the point
I think he (Croatia) may have touched the table with his finger (reaching for the dropped racket with his left hand) before Persson hit the ball in the net. See 1:58. However, he was also touching the racket at this point, so maybe it counts as “racket hand below the wrist?”