Table tennis rules for casual play

A game of table tennis is the first to 11 points with a margin of two. 11-9 wins, 11-10 does not, and at 10-10 play carries on until someone leads by two. There is no cap, so 14-12 and 18-16 are both full games.

Games went to 21 until 2001, with the serve changing every five points. The switch to 11 made games quicker and the score easier to follow. Some clubs still play to 21, and FinalPoint lets a group choose either target.

Rest the ball on an open, flat palm, toss it at least 16 centimetres straight up, and strike it on the way down so it bounces once on your side of the table and then on your opponent's. Your opponent must be able to see the ball the whole time, so it cannot be hidden behind a hand or body.

The serve changes every two points. From 10-10 it changes every point until the game ends. A serve that touches the net and still lands on the other side is a let: replay the point, and it does not count against anyone.

Casual play often relaxes the toss and the open palm, and that is fine as long as both players agree before the first point. The one rule worth keeping is the bounce on your own side first.

Most club and league matches are the best of five games, so the first to three. International singles matches are the best of seven, the first to four. Players change ends after every game, and in the deciding game when one player reaches five points.

For a casual session the best of three is common, and a single game to 11 is enough to settle an argument. Agree the format before you start, because 2-1 in a best of five is not a finished match.

In doubles the serve goes diagonally, from the server's right half of the table to the receiver's right half. Partners then take turns to hit the ball, strictly one after the other, for the rest of the rally. Hitting out of turn loses the point.

After every two points the serve passes on, and the player who was receiving becomes the server. Over a game each player serves to each opponent in turn.

FinalPoint records each game as its own result under one match record. A match that went 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6 keeps all four scores and shows who won, and a deuce game that ran to 14-12 is saved just as it happened.

A group can fix its target at 11 or 21 and its format from a single game up to the best of seven, and the record form follows it. Any score saves: a game cut short is kept as played, marked "Not a full game, saved as played".

Singles is the default for table tennis. Doubles is there too, and all four players get the result on their record and their table tennis EVO moves with it.