Table Tennis Rules

Governing Rules

The rules of the USA Table Tennis Association will apply in all cases except where a special Oregon State University Intramurals rule applies.

Eligibility

All participants must be either students registered at Oregon State University or Faculty/Staff/Affiliate with a Recreational Sports Membership. For more information on eligibility, consult the Intramurals Handbook.

Uniforms and Equipment

  • No jewelry (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, etc.) will be allowed at any time. Players will need to remove items immediately or leave the game.
  • Athletic, closed-toe shoes are required.

Pre-Event

  • All participants will need to bring their ID card to enter the facility.
  • Participants are asked to show up at least 15 minutes early in order to check in.
  • Late registrations will be accepted if accommodations can be made at the event.

Event Structure

  • Game time listed on the schedule is the official game time.
  • Tournament structure will be decided upon by the sport coordinator.
  • Participants are guaranteed at least three matches.

Event Definitions

Service

  1. The server must project the ball upwards before contacting the ball for service.
  2. The server shall strike the ball such that it touches first their own court and then, passing directly over the net, touches the receiver’s court.
  3. If, in an attempt to serve, a player fails to strike the ball, they shall lose a point.
  4. When the ball is struck in service, it shall be behind the end line of the server’s court or an imaginary extension thereof, but not farther back than the part of the server’s body, other than their arm, head, or leg, which is farthest from the court.

Good Return

  1. The ball, having been served and returned in play, shall be struck so that it passes directly over the net and its supports and touches the opponent’s court, except that if the ball, in passing over or around the net, touches the net or its supports, it shall be considered to have passed directly over the net.

Ball in Play

The ball shall be in play from the moment it is served until:

  1. It touches anything other than the playing surface, the net assembly, or the racket hand.
  2. The rally is otherwise decided as a let or a point.

Scoring

Unless the rally is a let, a player shall win a point if:

  1. The opponent fails to make a good service.
  2. The opponent fails to make a good return.
  3. The opponent, or anything they are wearing or carrying, moves the playing surface or touches the net or its support while the ball is in play.
  4. The opponent strikes the ball twice successively.
  5. The ball touches the opponent’s court twice successively.

Game

A game shall be won by the first player scoring 15 points.

  1. Games must be decided by at least 2 points.
  2. Players serve two serves each, alternating. A player does not have to win specifically off their own serve in order to win a point.

The choice of ends and the right to serve or receive first in a match shall be decided by a coin toss.

After two points, the receiver shall become the server, and so on, until the end of the game or the score 15-15.

  • From the score 15-15, the sequence of serving and receiving shall be the same, but each player shall deliver only one service in turn until the end of the game.

Conduct

The Intramurals program promotes positive sportsmanship at all contests and activities. Unsportsmanlike conduct includes actions which are unbecoming to an ethical, fair, and honorable individual. It consists of acts of deceit, disrespect, or vulgarity and includes taunting.

Ejections

Any player ejected from a game will be immediately suspended from participating in all Intramurals activities. The ejected player must then make an appointment with the Coordinator of Intramurals and Sport Coordinator to determine the length of suspension and any other sanctions. The following actions can result in ejections from Intramurals:

  1. Improper language
  2. Unsporting conduct

Doubles Modifications

Players

  • Each team will consist of two (2) players.

Scoring

  • Scoring will be the same as in singles play.

Serving

  • Serving will be the same with the exception that the team will switch servers each time it is their side’s turn to serve.

Play

  • Players on the same side must alternate who plays the ball each turn.

Other

  • All other Intramurals policies and Table Tennis rules will apply.

Contact: Sports and Special Programs Office, (541) 737-4083, 111 Dixon Recreation Center

Revised: 10/23/2023