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According to International Table Tennis Federation Laws and Regulations, a ping-pong table should measure nine feet by five feet, and should stand two feet, six inches off the ground. The surface can be made of any material, as long as it yields a "uniform bounce" of about 8 3/4 inches when a ball is dropped from a height of 12 inches. If you're into this kind of stuff, you'll find all manner of specifications regarding ball diameters, paddle-construction materials, net clamps, sideline widths, and pimpled-rubber thicknesses. You'll also find some examples of banned activities, including "abusive language, deliberately breaking the ball or hitting it out of the playing area,
kicking the table or surrounds or disrespect to match officials." And just in case you're wondering, the phrase ping-pong is actually trademarked by Parker Brothers, who wanted a huge sum of money from the American table tennis organization USATT. Rather than pay the money, the organization adopted the international term for the sport -- table tennis.
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