Among some British college students, an indoor game very similar to table tennis is popular, called "Goossime" or "Flim Flam". There is no uniform rule, there are 10 points, 20 points for a game and 50 points for a game.
Or 100 for one game. When serving, you can serve the ball directly to the opponent's table, or you can serve the ball to your own table first and then jump to the opponent's table. The equipment used is also very different from today's. The racket is hollow, made of parchment, oval in shape and has a long handle.
In order not to damage furniture, rubber or cork solid balls are usually wrapped with a layer of light and strong wool. Sometimes, set up a net to fight at the dinner table; Sometimes two chairs are used as pillars on the floor and a net is hung in the middle to play. Although the fight was not very fierce, it was not fun.
About 1890 An Englishman named James Gibb came across a hollow toy ball made of celluloid when he was traveling to the United States. It had strong bouncing ability. So, he made a little improvement on the ball and gradually spread it in Britain and even the whole world. Perhaps because the ball bounced on the table and made a ping-pong sound, a British sporting goods company first used the word "ping-pong" as an advertising name. In this way, table tennis began to have a phonetic name.
The first world war forced table tennis, which had developed well in Europe, to stop for a period of time. After the 1920s, with the promotion of montague and others, table tennis, which was once neglected, became active again in Britain, and some table tennis competitions were organized all over Britain. 1926, because the word "Ping-Pong" was found to be a commercial registered name and the former British Table Tennis Association lacked representativeness, the original organization was dissolved and the Table Tennis Association was re-established. This name has been used for decades, and ITTF still uses this name. China table tennis is named after its sound, but when translated into English, it is still "table tennis".
From the first World Table Tennis Championships, the development of world table tennis can be divided into four periods.
(1) The heyday of table tennis in Europe (1926- 195 1 year)
During these 25 years, * * * held 18 games, which were held in Britain, Sweden, Hungary, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, France, Britain, Egypt, France, Britain, Sweden, Hungary and Austria. Only the 13 competition was held in Egypt, Africa, and the rest 17 competitions were held in Europe.
Among the seven official events, there are 1 17 champions (because there is no champion in the 11th women's singles, it is 1 18 minus 1). Except for the American, who won eight championships, all the others were won by European players, accounting for 93. 1% of all gold medals.
In addition, the countries participating in the competition are mainly Europe. For the above three reasons, it is called the heyday of Europe.
In terms of technical play, although Jacoby, the first in men's singles, and Mei Dengyang, the top five in women's singles, are both attacking.
Method, but later world champions are mainly based on cutting or cutting and attacking. So generally speaking, the dominant style of play in this period is chopping, and the guiding ideology is "make fewer mistakes yourself and let the other side make mistakes."
There are four reasons for the great development and good results of chopping in this period:
First, the role of weapons. Most athletes use rubber particle glue, which is characterized by small elasticity, easy to master and certain friction, which can make the ball rotate. Obviously, this racket is characterized by defense as attack. When using it to attack, although it is more stable, its speed and strength are insufficient; When defending with it, it is steady and rotating.
Second, the restrictions of the rules. At that time, the table was relatively narrow, 146.4 cm (now 152.5 cm), the net 17 cm (now 15.25 cm), and the ball was relatively soft. These conditions are conducive to defense and not to attack.
Third, the role of role models. In the second World Table Tennis Championships, the men's singles title was contested by Meshlowitz and Belak of Hungary. Barak had won two games before, leading by 20-0/8 in the third game, but just because he was eager to attack, he not only lost the game, but also lost the whole game. This game had a great influence on the technical development direction of Europe at that time, which made them more convinced that only a sound defense was the best way to win. Therefore, the technical direction of table tennis at that time developed in the direction of stability and defense. Fourth, table tennis at that time was still in the primary stage, and advanced or difficult techniques could not be mastered. There are fewer chop mistakes and more attack mistakes, especially the heavyweight smash, which is more technically difficult. As an athlete at that time, it would naturally become easier to take refuge.
Before the 1 1 World Table Tennis Championships, there were many marathon table tennis competitions because there was no time limit. Take the tenth session as an example: 1 minute takes at most 2 hours and 20 minutes, and a men's singles game takes 7 and a half hours; Christian Dior
The men's team final against Romania actually took 3 1 hour. The 1 1 women's singles final has been played for 1 hour for 45 minutes, but the two sides are still neck and neck. Most of the audience have left one after another, and a few even dozed off. Finally, the referee asked them to draw lots to decide the result. Because of the persistence of two women, the throne of the women's singles champion is empty. Obviously, this long and boring game is not good for the development of table tennis. After the 1 1 World Table Tennis Championships, ITTF revised the rules of the game: the table was widened to 152.5cm, the net was reduced to 15.25m, and the game was changed to a hard ball; Game time is limited. The best of five games should not exceed 1 hour for 45 minutes, and the best of three games should not exceed 1 hour. In addition, an American Knuckk-style serve method is made, and it is forbidden to spin the ball with your fingers before serving. These reforms have created favorable conditions for attacking the ball. Not only the combination of cutting and attacking began to develop, but also some offensive players appeared. However, due to the limited time, the offensive skills at that time could not reach the level of defeating chopping.
(2) The period when the Japanese team dominated the world table tennis (1952- 1959)
Japan Table Tennis Association joined ITTF as early as 1928, but it was not until 1952 that it participated in the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time. The Japanese team, with a sponge racket in hand, shocked the whole world table tennis world with a backhand attack, although only three men and two women participated. They beat many famous European defenders one after another and won the men's singles, men's doubles, women's team and women's doubles. Since then, the technical advantage of world table tennis has shifted from chopping in Europe to attacking in Asia. Attack and defense became the main contradiction of table tennis technology in the world at that time.
During this period, * * held seven World Table Tennis Championships (19-25) * * won 49 championships, and the Japanese team won 24, accounting for 49% of all gold medals, almost half. Especially in the 2nd1World Table Tennis Championships of 1954, the Japanese team won the men's and women's team championships. 1959 In the 25th World Table Tennis Championships, the Japanese team actually won six of the seven championships, which was really the pinnacle.
There are several reasons why Japanese players in the 1950s achieved such brilliant results:
First, be brave in innovation. Before 1950s, the world table tennis world was dominated by cross-grip chopping, but the Japanese team dared to be unique, and it was refreshing to adopt the far-table all-out attack method of direct shooting.
Sponge racket first appeared in the 8th World Table Tennis Championships in 195 1 and was used by an Austrian law student. It didn't attract much attention at that time. However, the Japanese players changed their rackets a little.
Softening sponge and combining it with one's traditional offensive play have achieved epoch-making success and pushed table tennis technology into the era of active attack.
Second, solid basic skills. Japanese players are very solid in basic skills, especially in forehand attack, with stable movements and great hitting power. When they have an opportunity, they can basically hit every shot. At the critical moment, they will naturally show the courage of "an artist is bold".
Third, tenacious will. When the game is smooth or temporarily behind, you can go all out and fight hard, and its momentum will often scare the other side.
Because of the appearance of sponge swatter, many people opposed it at that time and even demanded a ban. It was not until 1959 that ITTF adopted the decision on the standardization of the racket: the sponge of the racket must be coated with positive glue or reverse glue, and the total thickness of sponge and rubber should not exceed 4 mm, of which the thickness of rubber should not exceed 2 mm. It should be said that the innovation of the racket has improved the speed and rotation of table tennis and promoted the development of table tennis technology.
(c) The Rise of Table Tennis in China (1961-1969)
In the late 1950s, when the Japanese team was in full swing, Rong Guotuan of China won the first world championship for China at the 25th World Table Tennis Championships.
1961-1969, * * held the 5th World Table Tennis Championships. China only participated in the 26th, 27th and 28th competitions. There were 2 1 champions in the third * * *, and China won 1 1, accounting for 52% of all gold medals. Shen failed to participate in the 29th and 30th World Table Tennis Championships, but from the analysis of technical strength at that time, China still gained the upper hand. China's near-table fast attack style with the unique style of "fast, accurate, ruthless and changeable" and China's chopping style with the guiding ideology of "steady, low, turn and attack" have pushed the world table tennis to a new development stage.
In the early 1960s, Japanese athletes created a new technique, loop ball. Because it was still in the primary stage, although the rotation was strong, the arc was high and the speed was slow, which failed to give full play to its due power. But the loop ball has played a great role in promoting the development of table tennis technology in the world in the future.
(d) The revival of table tennis in Europe and the competition between Europe and Asia (197 1-)
In the 1970s, the world table tennis technology advanced by leaps and bounds. After nearly 20 years of hard work, European players have finally found a new way. Taking the advantages of China's fast break and Japanese loop ball, they created two new ways of playing loop ball combined with fast break and fast break combined with loop ball, thus embarking on the road of revival. Until the 34th World Table Tennis Championships in 1977, although European players made great progress, Asia still prevailed. From 3 1 to the 34th World Table Tennis Championships, only 32 European men's team champions were won by Sweden, and the other three were won by China: men's singles champions, two in Europe and Asia; The women's team and women's singles laurels have been non-Asians for four times.
From the thirty-fifth session 1979 to the thirty-ninth session 1987, in terms of men, Europe and Asia are evenly matched; As far as women are concerned, Asia is stronger than Europe. European players have shown great vitality since they embarked on the road of combining speed and rotation, but there are still some technical loopholes (such as insufficient backhand attack, inadequate handling of the ball in the table and insufficient strength of the first three crickets), so there has been no fundamental breakthrough. Until the late 1980 s, their shortcomings were finally made up, forming a veritable all-round offensive style. In-table, near-table and COSCO billiards can attack, forehand, backhand and sideways, backspin and topspin can attack, and low-high balls can attack. 1989 At the 40th World Table Tennis Championships, European players swept all the men's competitions in men's team, men's singles and men's doubles. At the 4th1World Table Tennis Championships, the top five men's teams, the top two men's singles and the men's doubles champions were all won by European players. In the 42nd men's team competition, Europe and Asia were equally divided, but the champion was still won by the European team, and the top four singles players were all European players.
The pattern of table tennis in the world has undergone new changes, and the European men's team has finally gained an advantage. In the 42nd women's team competition, women's singles competition and women's doubles competition, the top four players are all Asian players. So women's situation is still trying to be brave for Asia. In the 42nd men's singles final, the world table tennis technology showed a new trend of "all-round, close to the stage, fast, fierce and quick decision".