Mind Control Ping Pong Rules

I. Meta Rules

  1. These rules are loosely based on the USATT rules, found here. http://www.usatt.org/rules/
  2. These rules supersede the USATT rules. Other than that, the USATT rules should be considered to be in effect.
  3. [USATT: Where these rules differ from the USATT, the USATT rules will be noted in brackets like this].
  4. Possibly controversial rules, by company standards, are bolded.
  5. The game must always be referred to as “Ping Pong” and not “Table Tennis.”

II. Rally for Serve

Players can decide who serves first any way they can agree to. If player’s agree to “rally for serve” that means the following.

  1. Play a separate game of ping pong to 1 point, with whoever is holding the game ball serving.
  2. A (rally for serve) is not valid unless the ball passed over the net 4 times before it was scored. (This is usually tracked by saying the letters P-O-N-G for the 4 crossings of the net.)
  3. The winner serves in the real game.

III. Serve

  1. Players alternate serves every 5 points. [USATT: Players alternate serves every 2 points, until the score is 10-10, after which they alternate every 1 point.]
  2. In order for your serve to be good:
    The ball must start in your non-paddle hand, above the table.
    The ball must not be spinning when it leaves your hand.
    After you hit the ball with your paddle, the ball must hit the table on your side, then on the receiver’s side, without hitting the net assembly or any other object.
    The “either or” rule: The ball must cross either your edge of the table or your opponent’s. So if you serve from in front of your own edge of the table, your serve must cross your opponent’s edge. If it starts behind your own end line, then it doesn’t have to. [USATT: The ball must start behind the server’s end line.]

  3. Other USATT requirements for good service are not enforced, but flagrantly exploiting their non-enforcement is considered bad sportsmanship.
  4. A bad serve is called a “fault,” and is a do-over. If the server commits two faults without the score changing, it’s a “double fault” and the receiver scores a point. [USATT: All bad serves are worth a point, except for a “let” which is a serve where the ball touches the net and goes over. A let is a do-over without penalty.]

IV. Scoring

You score a point when:

  1. Your opponent’s shot hits anything other than the net, or your side of the table, or,
  2. Your shot hits the opponent’s side of the table twice, or,
  3. Your opponent’s shot crosses your end line without having hit your side of the table, regardless of whether your paddle touches it, or,
  4. Preceding conditions not being true, your opponent hits the ball before it touches the table.

V. Game Over

You win when:

  1. You have at least 11 points, and,
  2. Your score is at least two points more than your opponent’s.

VI. Miscellaneous Optional Rules

This is a collection of the various optional rules that some people like to play with. People who play with these rules generally only play with one or two of them. These rules are not in effect unless both players agree.

Serve it, Loser: In sets of multiple games, the loser gets the first serve for the next game. The winner offers the loser the serve by saying “Serve it, Loser!”

Serve into Game Point: When the game reaches “game point” (i.e. the next point he wins will win him the game), the losing player gains the serve, and keeps it until he gains the advantage. Whenever the advantage changes, the disadvantaged player becomes the server.

No faulting out: A player cannot lose the game through a double fault. In a “game point” situation with the losing player serving, all bad serves are “done over” without penalty.