Guide to Basement and Family Ping-Pong

Table tennis is a sport that a large number of people around the world have played at one time or another - and usually had a lot of fun doing so! But what most of these dabblers don't know is that table tennis is also one of the very few sports that has two very distinct versions - you have the basement game which is played and loved by millions of people all over the world, and you have the serious sport which is played by only a small fraction of that player base - I'd guess maybe 5% of overall players?

Unlike sports like tennis, which pretty much looks like tennis regardless of what level you play at, the sport of table tennis played at the basement level is completely different to the sport that is played at an advanced level - mainly due to the magic of spin.

Strangely enough, most of what is written on the Internet about table tennis caters for that small percentage of serious players, and the vast majority of basement or family ping-pong players are left out in the cold. There is very little good advice on the Internet about how to play better ping-pong without spending a fortune on custom bats, expensive coaching, or attending training camps. Most information that you will find that is aimed at complete beginners is either written by other beginners (which results in some strange advice!), or is written in the expectation that the new player is planning to start playing with expensive custom equipment and become a serious table tennis player as soon as possible.

But what about those ping-pong players who simply want to play for fun in their garage, family room or workplace, using their trusty Wal-Mart bats, but who would also like to play a bit better and beat their buddies more often?

If you are one of these players, then this Guide to Basement Ping-Pong is for you. This guide is written by an advanced table tennis player for the ping-pong player who has only ever played for fun, who doesn't know the real difference between basement ping-pong and advanced table tennis (and who probably doesn't care!), but who still wants to improve his game and win more matches against his family, friends and work mates.

In the weeks to come, I'm going to walk you through the basics of basement ping-pong. We'll cover everything a basement player needs to know, including:

• What is basement ping-pong?
• Is it OK to be a basement player?
• Should you start with basement ping-pong or serious table tennis?
• How do you tell the difference between a basement bat and a custom table tennis racket?
• If you are a basement player who wants to get serious about table tennis, how do you know when you are ready?
• What are the basic table tennis grips? Which should you choose? Does it matter how you hold the racket?
• What are the basic strokes of table tennis, and how do you play them with a cheap basement bat? Are there any strokes that you shouldn't try to play?
• What are the basic rules of table tennis that you should know?
• What are some simple tactics and strategies you can use to win more points?
• Should you use the ping-pong table playback feature to practice?

Stick with me, and you'll discover that you don't have to spend a fortune on a custom racket in order to play better ping-pong. And if you get bitten by the table tennis bug (watch out!), you'll have a good grounding in the basics so that you will be ready to step up to advanced play more easily - and don't worry, I have a wealth of information already on the website for serious players!