Ping pong is fun sport that can be played both indoors and outdoors. It is great for improving you mentally and physically while providing you with a happy family time with a competitive factor.
The best thing about ping pong as a game is even if the weather conditions outside are not cooperative you can always opt for an indoor game.
While space is not as much an issue while buying the ping pong table for outdoors. It is definitely of utmost priority while buying table tennis for indoors.
In this guide, we’ll provide you the answers for how much space do you need for a ping pong table.
As we know, ping pong table can take up a good bit of space. Besides, you need room at each end to volley the ball back and forth. For instance, let’s take a full size ping pong table that is 9 feet long and 5 feet wide. Then the clear space of at least 19 feet long and 11 feet wide is required to ensure that you can play without feeling too cramped.
General Rule
With that in mind, here’s the general rules to make out the space you’ll need in a nutshell-
- The 5 feet of clearance at each end of the table and 3 feet on each side is considered to be ideal as this amount of space allows room to move freely for an unobstructed game.
- However for experienced or aggressive players, more playing space will be required so that they can stand farther if they wish to.
- Thirdly, the position of the table within the room in relation to lighting can also have an impact as a low-hanging fixture above the table may be prone to whacks from the ball.
How Much Space Do You Need For A Ping Pong Table?
How Big is a Table Tennis Table?
The professional table tennis table is 9″ long and 5″ wide while most nets extend up to 6″ either side of the table.
Do you need a regulation size table though?
You don’t really need a regulation sized table if you’re only ever going to play for fun. You can do for a mini or small table that will be easier to store and can fit into smaller rooms. However, if you have any ambitions of improving your game, a full-size table is necessary as these table can tend to create a bad habit of hitting the ball slowly.
How Big Should the Room Be?
You may or may not know that international tournaments have a huge playing area of 46’x23‘. This is because there are professional players who stand away from the table.
But you won’t need anywhere near that for an indoor ping pong table. If you’re a beginner or a recreational player you’ll need to play close to the table for developing control. Thus, you won’t actually require a mansion to be playing table tennis.
Complete Breakdown For The Space Required- On The Basis Of Skill
It is important to note that in this guide, if you don’t have enough space for your skill level, you can always. So, let’s get started.
- Beginners and recreational players – The bare minimum size of playing space for such players is 17’x11′
- Keen players or those improving their game – For those trying to improve on their game, more space is required to execute your shots. A 22’x15′ would be ideal.
- For coaching or serious practice – When you start taking the game more seriously, a room size of 28’x13′ is best as it won’t limit you while practicing.
- Tournament play – You won’t require that much space but just in case you want to know, local tournaments have a playing space of around of 30’x16′ while national tournament have a playing space of around 40’x20′.
Conclusion
Space required is the most necessary factor to decide the ideal size of ping pong table you want to buy or whether you should go for it or not let alone the size. Because you would not want to invest in something and later compromise with the play.
To conclude, a room size of 19’x11′ is enough for casual games. Having 5′ either end of the table is enough to avoid feeling cramped, although you’ll need to make sure there’s no furniture in the way. For serious practice, a bigger room is required
