One of the few and lingering fun sports to play is Ping Pong. The first thing that comes to someone's mind is a little plastic ball. Most people don't even consider ping pong a sport, but rather, a commodity or hobby. However, I prefer to differ. Ping Pong is actually a sport of strategy and quick reflexes. Not only can you affect the movement of the ball based on the angle of the strike, but you can also affect the bounce based on spin, speed, drop, and roll. If anything, ping pong can be an extremely hard sport for a professional baseball player. In a sense, ping pong requires you to be patient and predict where your opponent is going to hit the ball.

Table Tennis was originally invented around the 1900s in England with the invention of the celluloid ball. It became very popular and eventually around the 1940s, all the countries in the world decided to make a Table Tennis International Championship. It would be held every two years and over 140 countries participate in it. During the 60s-80s, China held the international title for most of the time. However, as of recently, countries like Sweden, Norway, and Finland have been capturing the title as well. If you ever saw the movie, Forest Gump, then you'd know that Forest was an international Ping Pong champion. In a sense, the Table Tennis Championship is like the Olympics of the Ping Pong players.

The rules of Ping Pong, or Table Tennis, are similar to that of regular tennis. Each person must serve the ball by bouncing it once on his side and having it bounce once on the opponent's side. If the server successfully wins the serve, he is scored a point. Otherwise, the serve is then given to the opponent who must do the same thing. The basic priority is to hit the ball to the opponent's side without it touching your side. Official matches end with 15 points and the winner must win by 2. The ball must not touch the net on the serve, and must bounce on the opponent's side before it can be hit. There are no real boundaries since the entire table is the playing arena. Any ball that misses the table is ruled out. If a ball bounces twice on one side, it is ruled out.

Your basic setting and equipment involved with Ping Pong includes an official table, two paddles, and a celluloid ball. There is also a net in the center and there are lines on the table to seperate sides for doubles competition.

Personally, I have always found Ping Pong to be a sport I excel at. For the past year or so, I use to train every single day during the winter on my oval-shaped dinner table with a clamped net in the middle. I would face parents, relatives, friends, and whoever would challenge me. Training is the key to becoming good. After I had practiced, it became very easy for me to beat people at school. I will be posting techniques, pictures, and methods of increasing your success at the game in my spare time.

Current Record:
15-2 (8 games won without a point scored against)

Lost my championship to one of the premiere athletes in class. Also lost to a kid I beat before. The premiere athlete had one of the best overspin serves I've seen in quite some time.

Titles Held:
Lehman Household Championship (Miniature-Size Table)
Birk Household Championship (Official-Size Table)

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