How much space I need to play table tennis

Daniele A Asked 7 years ago

In the place where I work, we are talking about freeing a room for use in our spare time, and we are discussing the possibility of installing a table tennis table there. The problem is that most people have no idea how the game of table tennis looks like, so they want to put the table in a room where it barely fits, but with not enough room to move around it. To avoid this disaster (OK, it's not a disaster, but it's a missed opportunity) I would like to propose an alternative room. But I actually have no idea myself how much room is really needed! So before I look for an alternative room, I would like to know what I am looking for.

I see 3 levels of play where this question can be asked, for each one I hope you can give me precise measures (including the ceiling):

1) What do the official rules say? How much space is needed to play an official tournament match?

I think I will never find a room that big, so, let's try something smaller...

2) Forgetting about the official rules, how much space do you think it is needed for two good players to play a serious match?

I think this is also too big! The lobbing game (when one player smashes and the other lobs) takes really a lot of space (and probably the ceiling is not high enough anyway). So the final (and probably the useful) question is:

3) If I am willing to sacrifice the lobbing game, but I still wish to play decently at a short and mid-distance from the table, how much space do I need? 

Thank you in advance!

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Daniele,

At an international level the courts are 14 meters by 7 meters and 5 meters high.

However I think the space you are looking for is around 8 meters by 6 meters.  If you are getting fancy then probably 10 meters by 6 meters would be good.  The roof height for lobbing should be about 3 meters.

Happy hunting for a room.  You can always push a few desks out of the way...