Introduction
Table tennis may be one of the oldest sports around. Created in the 1800s, it is a mixture of racket sports, lawn tennis and badminton and has evolved in the decades since. As it is a popular game worldwide and as such, the standards and regulations of the balls used are of utmost importance.
The Purpose of Regulation Table Tennis Balls
The purpose of regulation table tennis balls is to ensure a consistent level of quality and performance among all balls used. The ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) has determined specific regulations for table tennis balls that are internationally standardized. Some of these regulations include size, weight, hardness, bounce, color and manufacturing materials.
Ball Quality Requirements
There is a strict set of requirements that table tennis balls need to meet in order to be approved by the ITTF. Balls must be 40mm in diameter – the only exception is for balls smaller than 40mm that are used in junior competition. All balls must also be of even weight, meaning they must weigh between 2.67 and 2.77 grams.
Balls must also be composed of a type of plastic that is usually celluloid (not less than 65% celluloid content), or a type of material that behaves in the same way when played. Furthermore, the bounce of the ball must not be higher than eleven meters per second, nor lower than nine meters per second. Regulations also dictate that balls must be either white or orange, depending on the type of competition being held.
Ball Quality Evaluation
Evaluation of the performance of a ball can be done by means of visual inspection as well as technical testing. For visual inspection, all balls are objectively analyzed by color, whether there are any air bubbles in the surface, any visible marks or scratches, and whether the seams connecting the two halves of the cell are tight enough.
Technical testing is done to determine the size and weight of a ball as well as its bounce. Measurements will be taken with a device called a table tennis ball testing machine that typically consists of a set of scales, a timer and a neon light flow meter.
Conclusion
Table tennis balls must meet strict requirements on size, weight, hardness, color, bounce and material composition in order to be approved by the ITTF. Evaluation and testing is made on each ball to ensure that they meet the required quality standard. The result of such stringent regulations is a more consistent level of performance among all balls used in table tennis competition, making the sport more enjoyable for everyone involved.
