Table tennis scoring rules: is ping pong played to 11 or 21?

Every rally scores a point for the player who wins it, whether or not they served. The first player or pair to reach 11 points wins the game, provided they lead by at least 2. At 10–10 play continues until one side is two points clear, so a game can end 12–10, 14–12 or even 21–19. There is no cap.

A match is the best of an odd number of games. The ITTF Laws allow any odd number, and you will meet three in practice:

Best of 3 suits a quick session, best of 5 is a standard match, and best of 7 is the long format you see in top-level singles.

Is ping pong played to 11 or 21?

It is played to 11. Until 2001 a game went to 21 points and the serve changed every 5 points. The ITTF switched to 11-point games and two serves each from 1 September 2001, to put more weight on every point. Some casual groups still play to 21 out of habit. That is fine if you agree it before the first serve, but it is not the official game, and everything below uses the current rules.

Each player serves two points in a row, then the serve passes to the opponent. A toss decides who chooses first. The winner can choose to serve, to receive, or which end to start at, and the other player gets the remaining choice.

Here is a scorekeeper's shortcut: the server changes whenever the combined score reaches an even number (2, 4, 6, 8 and so on). If Ana serves first, it runs like this:

The cycle carries on until the score reaches 10–10, which is 20 points played. From there each player serves one point at a time, in the same order, until someone leads by 2. The player who was next in the cycle serves first. In the example that is Ana, then Ben, then Ana again.

In the next game the order flips. The player who served first in a game receives first in the following game, and players swap ends after every game.

A legal serve is tossed from an open palm, rises at least 16 cm without spin, and is hit as it falls, from behind the end line where the receiver can see it. The ITTF Laws set these requirements:

• The ball rests freely on your open palm, and your free hand is still.
• You throw it near-vertically upwards, without spin, so that it rises at least 16 cm after leaving your palm and then falls without touching anything before you hit it.
• You hit it as it falls so that it bounces first on your side, then goes over or around the net and bounces on the receiver's side.
• From the start of the serve until you hit the ball, it stays above the level of the table and behind your end line. You, your doubles partner and anything you wear or carry must not hide it from the receiver.
• As soon as you have thrown the ball, your free arm and hand come out of the space between the ball and the net.

The umpire, or the assistant umpire, decides whether a serve is correct. The first time a serve is doubtful they may stop play and warn you. After that, any serve by that player or their doubles partner that is not clearly legal counts as a fault, and the opponent scores.

In a friendly with no umpire, talk through any doubtful serve before the match starts. It saves a lot of arguments later.

A let is a rally that is replayed and not scored. The usual let is a serve that touches the net on its way over, provided the serve is otherwise legal. A serve delivered before the receiver is ready is also a let, as long as the receiver makes no attempt to hit it. So is any rally ruined by something outside the players' control, such as a ball rolling onto the court. The Laws set no limit on lets.

You lose the point if you:

• serve illegally or miss the serve;
• miss the ball, or return it into the net or off the table;
• deliberately hit the ball twice in a row;
• touch the ball while it is above the table, or heading towards it, before it has bounced on your side (an obstruction);
• touch the net or its posts, or move the table, while the ball is in play;
• touch the top of the table with your free hand.

The playing surface is the top of the table only. A ball that clips the top edge is good. A ball that hits only the vertical side of the table is not.

In doubles the serve goes diagonally from the server's right half of the table to the receiver's right half, and partners must hit the ball in turn. A white centre line splits each side into two halves and counts as part of the right half.

The order inside a rally is fixed: the server, the receiver, the server's partner, the receiver's partner, then back to the server. A player who hits out of turn loses the point.

The order of serving is a fixed cycle too. The pair with the right to serve first chooses which partner serves, and in the first game the receiving pair chooses who receives. Every two points the previous receiver becomes the server, and the partner of the previous server becomes the receiver. With Ana and Bo against Cem and Dara, and Ana serving to Cem first, it runs like this:

At 10–10 the serve changes after every point, in the same order.

For the next game the pair that received first now serves first. They choose their server, and the first receiver is the opponent who served to that player in the previous game. In the last possible game of a match, when either pair reaches 5 points, everyone changes ends and the pair due to receive next swaps its receiving order.

Players change ends after every game. In the deciding game, the last one that can be played, they change ends again as soon as either player or pair reaches 5 points. If someone forgets, play stops, everyone goes to the right ends and the score stands.

The expedite rule stops a slow game from dragging on. It starts after 10 minutes of play in a game, or earlier if both players ask for it, unless at least 18 points have already been scored. From then on each player serves one point at a time, and if the receiver makes 13 correct returns in a rally, the receiver wins the point. Once it has started, it stays on for the rest of the match. It is mainly a tournament rule, but you can agree to use it in a friendly between two patient defenders.

If someone serves or receives out of turn, play is interrupted as soon as the mistake is noticed. It restarts with the right players serving and receiving at the score already reached, and the points scored before the mistake stay.

Here is a best-of-5 match, so you can check the rules against a real scoreline. Ana wins the toss and chooses to serve. She serves points 1 and 2, Ben serves points 3 and 4, and so on. Game 1 reaches 10–10, and Ana is next in the cycle. She serves the next point and wins it (11–10). Now the serve changes after every point, so Ben serves, and Ana wins that rally too: 12–10. The game ends because she leads by two.

Ana wins the match 3 games to 2. The first server alternates because the player who served first in one game receives first in the next. They swap ends after every game, and in game 5 they swap again when either player reaches 5 points. A scorer would write the result as 12–10, 9–11, 11–7, 8–11, 11–9.

Flobit's table tennis formats follow the rules in this guide. Pick singles (best of 3, 5 or 7 games) or doubles (best of 5), all to 11 and win by 2, then add each point as it is played. Live scoring keeps the game count for you, and a slip of the thumb is one tap to undo. Flobit is free, with no ads and no subscription.

• Start a game fast. A Quick Match is a lobby you share with an 8-character code, a QR code or a flobit.app/join link. Friends join as players or as the referee, and there is a built-in coin toss and a rematch button.
• Find a practice partner. Post an open match with the time and place. Players nearby can ask to join, and you approve who plays.
• Run a club night. A league (round robin) tournament gives everyone a game against everyone else. The round robin schedule guide and the round robin generator lay out the fixtures.

Flobit doesn't book tables or clubs. The venue map helps you find somewhere to play and gives directions. Table tennis is one of the eight sports live on Flobit; see the table tennis page for the rest.

Is ping pong played to 11 or 21?

How many serves does each player get in ping pong?

What happens at 10-10 in table tennis?

Who serves first in table tennis?

What is a legal table tennis serve?

What is a let in table tennis?

How does table tennis doubles serving work?

How many games are in a table tennis match?