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In addition to the popular traditional sport of table tennis (also widely known as ping pong), there are quite a few sports that are closely related. Of course, there is lawn tennis which you could argue that table tennis is based on, but many other sports are variations of table tennis or have some similarities to that sport.

Different Athletes

For athletes with a physical or intellectual disability disability, there are Para Table Tennis events which is essentially the same as table tennis, but with some adjustment to the serving rule if needed. Wheelchair users also play table tennis but a few more rule differences to account for their more limited mobility. For visually impaired athletes, there is the table tennis type of sport called Swish. Instead of hitting a ball over a net, in swish, a ball with bells inside is hit under a net and must travel along the surface of the table. Another table tennis version for athletes with a disability is Polybat, played with a ball on a long modified table with raised edges to keep the ball in play.

Different Rackets

Instead of the modern bats with rubber and sponge-based covers, there is Hardbat Table Tennis, a variation of table tennis using traditional hard paddles. There is also Sandpaper Table Tennis, another table tennis variation using sandpaper-covered paddles, which slows the game and changes spin dynamics.

No Rackets

Blo-Ball is essentially table tennis without the paddles. Players compete by blowing the ping-pong ball back and forth, and score a point by shooting the ball past his/her opponent. 

Football Skills

There are a couple of sports that are a combination of football (soccer) and table tennis, like Headis, in which players use their heads to hit a soccer ball across the table tennis table and net. Similarly, in Teqball, you can use kicking and heading skills to hit the football across the net on a curved table.

Different Table

Also using the Teqball table, you can play with table tennis bats and balls the sport of Teqpong. The curved sports equipment makes the game more challenging creating more variation of bounces. Similar sounding and also with a curved table is Tipong, where players use paddles to hit the lightweight ball back and forth following the curvature of the table and under a net.

The newly invented sport of Ring Rong also has changed the table shape, using a warped playing field in the shape of a ring.

Using Walls

There are a couple of uncommon versions of table tennis that use the surrounding walls to bounce the ball off. In Table Squash, the table sits against the wall and the ball is bounced off the wall every rally. In Padel Ping Pong, any of the four walls surrounding the table can be used during play.

No Table

Some table-tennis-type sports are not played on a table at all. The sport of Road Tennis is played on a small court with paddles and a low wooden net, like a giant version of table tennis. Another newly invented sport, Floor Pong, is similar to table tennis but played on the floor, and Pong Ball is a bit like soccer, though it is played with table tennis rackets and a table tennis ball on a basketball-sized court.

Fun Variations

Pingpongo is ping pong with obstacles. The social game of Round the Table (Rundlauf) is a fun, informal game where multiple players run around the table, taking turns hitting the ball. Even more fun is the party game of Beer Pong, in which you attempt to throw a table tennis ball into a cup, plus the variant Slam Pong in which the players use table tennis rackets to hit the ball into the cup of beer.

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Related Pages

• Racketlon, a combination sport where players compete in the sports of table tennis, tennis, squash, and badminton, and the results are combined.
• Air Hockey — A tabletop game where players hit a puck back and forth, similar in speed and reaction time to table tennis.
• Table Tennis Rules
• More about Table Tennis
• Table Tennis Tournament Calendar
• Table Tennis at the Olympics
• Table Tennis at the Paralympics
• Complete list of sports