Table Tennis Rules: Serve, Scoring, Doubles and the Expedite System

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It happens at every family table: someone serves a low, spinning ball straight out of their hand, someone else says “that’s illegal,” and nobody is quite sure who is right. The official table tennis rules, or ping pong rules if that’s what you call them at home, come from the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), whose Laws of Table Tennis apply to everything from a local league to the Olympics. They didn’t change for 2026. Here’s the plain-English version: the table and ball, the serve, scoring to 11, doubles, the expedite system and the rules about rackets.

New to the sport? Start at our table tennis hub for the big picture.

The table, net and ball

Table	2.74 m long × 1.525 m wide (about 9 × 5 feet), playing surface 76 cm (about 30 inches) above the floor. Dark, matt top with 2 cm white side and end lines.
Bounce	A standard ball dropped from 30 cm should bounce about 23 cm, evenly across the table.
Doubles line	A 3 mm white center line splits each side into two half-courts for doubles. The line counts as part of the right half-court.
Net	15.25 cm (6 inches) high along its whole length, with posts 15.25 cm outside the side lines.
Ball	40 mm diameter, 2.7 g, plastic, white or orange, matt.

One detail settles a lot of arguments: the sides of the tabletop are not part of the playing surface. A ball that clips the top edge is good; a ball that hits the side of the table is not.

How to serve legally

The serve law (Law 2.6) is the one most casual players break. In order:

1. Open palm. The ball rests freely on the open palm of your free hand, and that hand is still.
2. Toss it up at least 16 cm (about 6 inches), nearly vertically, without putting spin on it. It must fall without touching anything before you hit it.
3. Hit it on the way down so it bounces first on your side, then directly on your opponent’s side.
4. Behind the end line and above the table. From the start of the serve until you strike it, the ball must stay above the level of the playing surface and behind your end line.
5. No hiding it. The ball can’t be hidden from the receiver by you, your partner or anything you wear or carry. As soon as you toss, your free arm and hand must get out of the space between the ball and the net.
6. It’s on you. The server must serve so the umpire can see it’s legal. The first time an umpire isn’t sure, they can warn you; after that, any serve that isn’t clearly legal is a fault.

In doubles, the serve must bounce in the server’s right half-court and then the receiver’s right half-court, a diagonal. For players with a physical disability, the umpire can relax the serve requirements when the disability prevents them.

Scoring: games to 11

• A game goes to the first player or pair to reach 11 points. At 10-all, you need to win by 2 (12-10, 13-11 and so on).
• A match is the best of any odd number of games, for example best of three, five or seven.
• Serving order: a coin toss or similar draw decides who chooses; the winner picks to serve, receive or pick an end, and the other side gets the other choice. Serve changes after every 2 points. From 10-all (or once the expedite system is on), it changes after every point.
• Next game: whoever served first in one game receives first in the next.
• Ends: players change ends after each game, and in the last possible game of a match (game 5 of a best-of-five, for example) they change ends when the first player reaches 5 points.

If someone serves or receives out of turn, or you forget to change ends, play stops as soon as anyone notices and continues in the correct order from the current score. All points already played still count. Older players may remember games to 21 with five serves each; the ITTF changed to 11 points and two serves in 2001.

Lets: when the point is replayed

A let is a rally that doesn’t count. The main ones: the serve touches the net assembly but is otherwise legal (a “net serve”); you serve before the receiver is ready and they don’t try to return it; something outside the players’ control disturbs the rally (a ball rolling in from the next table is the classic); or the umpire stops play, for example to fix the serving order or start the expedite system. A ball that touches the net during a rally, not on the serve, is simply in play if it lands on the other side.

How you lose a point

• You miss the serve or the return, or your shot goes past the end line or misses the table without touching your opponent’s side.
• Your shot goes through the net, or between the net and the post or table.
• You volley the ball: touch it before it bounces on your side, while it’s above or heading toward your court. That’s called obstruction, and it’s a point for your opponent.
• You deliberately hit the ball twice in a row.
• You or anything you wear or carry moves the table or touches the net assembly.
• Your free hand touches the playing surface. Leaning on the table with your racket hand isn’t covered by this rule; resting your free hand on it is.
• In doubles, a player hits out of turn.

You can legally hit the ball with your racket hand below the wrist, for example off your fingers while holding the racket. And a return that goes around the outside of the net post, rather than over it, still counts if it lands on the table.

Doubles rules

• Serve diagonally, right half-court to right half-court.
• Hit in turn: server, receiver, server’s partner, receiver’s partner, and round again. Hitting out of sequence loses the point.
• Rotation: at each change of service, the previous receiver becomes the server and the partner of the previous server becomes the receiver.
• Choosing the order: in each game the serving pair picks who serves first; in game one the receiving pair picks who receives first. In later games, the first receiver is the player who served to them in the previous game.
• Deciding game: when one pair reaches 5 points, the pair due to receive next switches their receiving order, and the pairs change ends.
• Wheelchair doubles: when at least one player of a pair is in a wheelchair, after the serve and return either player of that pair may return the ball.

The expedite system

Two very defensive players can push and chop for a long time, so the laws include a time limit. The expedite system starts after 10 minutes of play in a game, or at any time if both players or pairs ask for it, unless at least 18 points have already been scored in that game. Once it’s on:

• Players serve one point each in turn until the end of the game.
• If the receiver makes 13 correct returns in a rally, the receiver wins the point. So the server has to attack.
• It stays on for the rest of the match.

If the 10 minutes run out during a rally, the umpire stops play and the player who served that rally serves again; otherwise, the player who received the previous rally serves next.

Rackets: what’s legal

• Any size, shape or weight, but the blade must be flat and rigid, and at least 85% of its thickness natural wood. Carbon or other fiber layers are allowed within limits.
• Covering: any side you hit with needs ordinary pimpled rubber (pimples out, under 2.05 mm thick with glue) or sandwich rubber (sponge plus pimpled rubber, pimples in or out, under 4.05 mm with glue).
• Colors: one side black, the other a bright color clearly different from black and from the ball, both matt.
• Authorized rubber: in ITTF competitions, rubber must be on the ITTF’s authorized list and glued so the ITTF logo and brand name show near the handle. No treating the rubber, physically or chemically, and players must use glues without harmful volatile solvents.
• Show your racket to your opponent and the umpire before the match and whenever you change rackets. Big events test rackets at a racket control center.

For a first racket that meets these rules, a pre-made paddle with ITTF-approved rubber is the easy choice, like the Butterfly 603, which the maker builds with Wakaba rubber. Tournament balls are three-star balls such as JOOLA Prime 3-Star, sold as ITTF approved 40+ ABS balls. More in our table tennis gear guide.

Match time: warm-up, breaks, time-outs and coaching

• Warm-up: up to 2 minutes on the match table right before the match. Do your real warm-up beforehand (see our training page).
• Between games: up to 1 minute.
• Towel: brief breaks after every 6 points from the start of each game, and at the change of ends in the last game.
• Time-out: one per match, up to 1 minute, asked for between rallies with a “T” sign.
• Coaching: players may get advice at any time except during rallies, as long as it doesn’t delay play. In individual events, only one adviser named beforehand.
• Injury: the referee can allow a break of up to 10 minutes for an accident, such as a fall, but not for cramp or exhaustion. If anyone is bleeding, play stops until they’re treated and the blood is cleaned up.
• Clothing: a short-sleeved or sleeveless shirt with shorts or a skirt (or a one-piece outfit), socks and playing shoes; the main shirt color must be clearly different from the ball.

Staying healthy is covered on our table tennis injuries page; who runs the competitions is in leagues and associations.

Etiquette at the table

Club play mostly runs without umpires, so manners keep it fun: call your own edge balls honestly, don’t walk behind another court during a rally, hand the ball back instead of smashing it over, and shake hands at the end.

Table tennis rules FAQs

Can you volley in ping pong?

No. If you hit or touch the ball before it bounces on your side, while it’s over or heading toward your court, you lose the point. Once it has gone past the end line without touching your side, though, the point is already yours.

Does the serve have to go diagonal in table tennis?

Only in doubles, where it goes from the server’s right half-court to the receiver’s right half-court. In singles you can serve anywhere on the opponent’s side.

What happens if the serve hits the net?

If it’s otherwise legal and lands on the receiver’s side, it’s a let and you serve again, with no limit on how many times. If it hits the net and doesn’t land on the other side, it’s a point for the receiver.

Can you touch the table in table tennis?

Your free hand can’t touch the playing surface during a rally, and you can’t move the table or touch the net. Doing either loses the point.

How many serves do you get in table tennis?

Two in a row, then your opponent serves two. At 10-all, or once the expedite system is on, players alternate one serve each.

Does a paddle have to be red and black?

One side must be black; the other must be a bright color clearly different from black and the ball. Red is the classic, and other bright colors are allowed. Rubber used in ITTF competitions must also be on the authorized list.

Back to the table tennis hub, or see youth table tennis and gear. Play another racket sport too? Compare the tennis rules and pickleball rules.