I'm reading on the internet that ping pong and table tennis are different things and one is considered a sport and the other is not. I honestly don't know if people are just making jokes or if the distinction is that serious. Could someone explain?
3
-
A bit of Google seems to suggest they're two terms for the same thing, although connotations rather than definitions are the key factor in any difference. If one of the more TT-knowledgeable people doesn't get into this, I'll see what credible references I can find.– Nij ♦Oct 8, 2016 at 2:47
-
2Please quote the relevant text or include a link. What does your research show?– user10632Oct 8, 2016 at 5:19
-
1There appears to be an emotional argument that ping pong is somehow a derogatory name for table tennis or something. I don't quite understand, but I've seen a number of heated discussions about it, like this or this.– user1306322Oct 8, 2016 at 13:03
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
There is no difference. Ping pong is simply another name for table tennis. The two terms are used by the vast majority of people interchangably.
Historically, the name Ping Pong was a trademarked name owned by Jaques of London and by Parker Brothers in the U.S. Table tennis was the generic name for the sport, and is the official name as recognized by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the governing body of the sport. In practice, ping pong is now essentially a genericized trademark (although a company named Escalade Sports still claims to own the Ping Pong trademark).
There are table tennis enthusiasts that do not like the name "ping pong" because they think that name doesn't sound enough like a serious sport.
answered Oct 10, 2016 at 17:38
Ben Miller - Remember MonicaBen Miller - Remember Monica
8,5626 gold badges38 silver badges69 bronze badges
-
2
Up until recently, they did indeed refer to the same thing, and as noted by @BenMiller, some Table Tennis players regarded it as derogatory.
However recently, Ping Pong has been somewhat rebranded by the World Championship of Ping Pong tournament. In this tournament players play with identical bats which use sandpaper on both sides. They lack the speed and spin of regular table tennis bats leading to longer and more exciting rallies.
Whilst not yet hugely popular at grass roots level, the format is gaining popularity, with more tournaments and players participating every year.
Surprisingly, many players said that "ping pong" and table tennis" is the same. But when I searched on Google "table tennis vs ping pong", I found this:
Some players have posted on theguardian.com that “Table tennis and ping pong are exactly the same game”. But this is no longer true! Before 2011, “Ping Pong” or “Table Tennis” is the same sport. ... In general, Ping Pong relates to garage players, while Table Tennis is used by players that formally train in the sport.Nov 2, 2017
Ping Pong and table tennis are the different sports.
-
2The article gives only one difference, being that one refers to "serious" players and one refers to "casual" players. This is nowhere near sufficient to separate different sports, in fact, it only serves to show they are the exact same sport, as nowhere does the level of seriousness change the underlying rules and structure of the game.– Nij ♦Oct 2, 2018 at 19:51