Baizewick guide

Table tennis rules: scoring, serving and doubles

A game goes to 11 points and must be won by two clear points. Service changes every two points. Most home arguments are about the serve, so start there.

Scoring

You win a point when your opponent fails to make a good return. A game is won by the first player to 11 points, unless the score reaches 10–10. Then the game continues until one player leads by two points.

A match is usually the best of three, five or seven games. Players change ends after each game, and in the deciding game when the first player reaches 5 points.

Serving

1. Rest the ball on your open, flat palm, behind your end line and above the level of the table.
2. Toss it nearly straight up so it rises at least 16 cm.
3. Strike it as it falls, so that it bounces once on your side and then once on your opponent’s side.
4. Keep the ball visible to your opponent throughout. Do not hide it with your body or free arm.

When serve changes

Each player serves two points in turn. From 10–10, each player serves one point in turn until the game is won. The player who served first in one game receives first in the next.

Lets

A let is replayed with no point scored. The most common let is a serve that touches the net and then lands correctly on the receiver’s side. A rally can also be stopped for a let if something outside the players’ control interrupts it, such as a ball rolling onto the court.

Ways to lose a point

• Missing the ball, or letting it bounce twice on your side.
• Hitting the ball before it has bounced on your side. In table tennis you cannot volley.
• Hitting the ball off the table or into the net.
• Moving the table, or touching the playing surface with your free hand.
• Touching the net or its posts.

Doubles

In doubles, the serve must go from the server’s right half court to the receiver’s right half court, diagonally. Partners must then hit the ball alternately.

The order of serving and receiving rotates every two points, so every player serves to and receives from both opponents. Doubles needs a longer and wider area, so check the space with our table tennis space guide.

House rules for small rooms

Common mistakes

• Serving from a ball held in the fingers or tossed sideways.
• Serving the ball straight onto the opponent’s side without a bounce on your own.
• Forgetting to change serve every two points.
• Leaning on the table with the free hand during a rally.

Questions

By the Baizewick team · Updated 9 November 2026 · How we write our guides