Table Tennis Glossary
A bilingual English-Chinese glossary of table tennis terms: blade, tacky rubber, loop, banana flick, expedite system, Grand Slam. Gear, technique, rules and competition terms in one table — handy for reading Chinese gear listings and reviews.
Reading Chinese gear listings or watching matches with Chinese commentary, you keep running into the same terms under different names: what European reviews call “tacky” is what Chinese players call 粘, and the “banana flick” in English broadcasts is the same stroke Chinese players call 反手拧. This table maps the terms used across this site between English and Chinese, grouped into gear, technique, rules and competition. Use Ctrl+F to jump straight to a word.
Gear terms
| English | Chinese | Description |
|---|---|---|
| blade | 底板 | The laminated wood-and-fiber body of the racket; sets the base character of power and feel |
| rubber | 套胶 | The covering on the racket face; includes the top sheet and the sponge beneath it |
| sponge | 海绵 | The foam layer under the top sheet; its thickness and hardness shape speed and arc |
| tacky rubber | 粘性套胶 | A top sheet with a sticky surface; grips the ball for heavy spin, the mainstream Chinese route |
| grippy rubber | 涩性套胶 | A smooth but high-friction top sheet; faster off the bounce, the mainstream European route |
| inverted rubber | 反胶 | Pips facing inward, smooth surface; balanced spin and speed, the standard today |
| pips-out | 正胶 | Outward-facing short pips; fast and flat, suited to close-table speed play |
| short pips | 生胶 | Short, hard pips; produces a sinking ball that resists incoming spin, mostly on the backhand |
| long pips | 长胶 | Long, thin pips that reverse incoming spin and produce erratic trajectories; common in chopping and control styles |
| all-wood blade | 纯木底板 | Laminated wood only; longer dwell time and a clearer feel |
| carbon blade | 碳素底板 | Contains carbon fiber layers; stiffer and faster off the racket, popular with power players |
| arylate-carbon blade | 芳碳底板 | Arylate mixed with carbon; more flexible than pure carbon, feel closer to all-wood |
| shakehand grip | 横拍 | The handshake grip; smooth forehand-backhand transitions, dominant in Europe and among China’s younger generation |
| penhold grip | 直拍 | The pen-holding grip; agile over the table, backhand relies on reverse penhold or block |
Technique terms
| English | Chinese | Description |
|---|---|---|
| loop | 弧圈球 | A topspin-heavy attacking stroke built on friction; the backbone of modern attacking play |
| drive | 攻球 | A compact, fast attack built on impact; produces a low, flat arc |
| speed attack | 快攻 | A close-table system that pressures the opponent with pace and placement |
| chop | 削球 | Mid-to-far distance defensive play with heavy backspin, wearing the opponent down with spin and placement changes |
| backhand flick | 拧拉 | Attacking a short serve over the table with a backhand topspin stroke, also called the banana flick |
| flick | 挑打 | A direct attack on a short ball over the table, forehand or backhand |
| short push | 摆短 | Returning a short ball with a controlled short push so the opponent cannot open up |
| long push | 劈长 | Pushing long to the baseline, forcing the opponent to attack from a hurried position |
| fast counter-topspin | 快撕 | A quick friction stroke over the top of the ball in close-table rallies, fast and with spin |
| third-ball attack | 发球抢攻 | Serving followed by an attack on the third ball — the designed scoring pattern on one’s serve |
| receive | 接发球 | The full set of skills for handling serves: short push, long push and flick all belong here |
| rally | 相持 | The multi-ball exchange from mid-distance; stability and angle changes decide it |
| reverse penhold backhand | 直板横打 | Using the backhand side of a penhold racket for topspin play, patching the penhold backhand gap |
Rules terms
| English | Chinese | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 11-point scoring | 11 分制 | Adopted internationally in 2001; a game goes to 11 points with a two-point margin |
| expedite system | 轮换发球法 | Activated when a game runs past 10 minutes; thereafter points alternate and the game is decided on points won |
| edge ball | 擦边球 | A legal point when the ball clips the top edge of the table; side edge counts against the striker |
| let | 重发球 | A serve that grazes the net and lands legally — or outside interference — is replayed |
| toss | 抛球 | On serve the ball must be tossed vertically at least 16 cm without hiding it from the receiver |
Competition terms
| English | Chinese | Description |
|---|---|---|
| the three majors | 三大赛 | The Olympics, World Championships and World Cup singles titles, taken together |
| Grand Slam | 大满贯 | Winning singles at all three majors; the yardstick of individual achievement |
| World Championships | 世乒赛 | Run by the ITTF; singles and team events alternate every two years |
| ITTF | 国际乒联 | The International Table Tennis Federation; governs rules, rankings and the World Championships |
| WTT | World Table Tennis | The professional event structure operating since 2019, running the Grand Smash series and tours |
Terms are the key to reading further. This table collects the wording used across this site’s articles; if you run into a term we have not covered, drop us a line.