03.16
If you have a table tennis table, you’ll probably want to get a cover for it. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but since you have already spent money on the table itself, it is certainly a good idea to keep the table in good shape so it lasts you a long, long time.
Traditionally, there was no such thing as a table tennis cover. In fact, the game has its roots in 19th century Victorian England, where it was invented as a way to bring tennis to the indoors (and make it, of course, small enough to play on a standard table).
People would take books from a shelf and line them up vertically to create a net. They would tear the lid off of a cigar box to serve as the paddle. And for the ball, they would use a ball of string or, even more creatively, the round end of the cork that closed a bottle of champagne.
Of course, as they game became more popular, official equipment was manufactured and sold. Table tennis spread across Europe and across the ocean. It is now most popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan, but there are casual and competitive leagues in many countries and continents.
With at home play came the development of the folding table, which instead of coming as two tables that align to make a whole playing surface, is a table that folds in half and is easily wheeled to the side of the room. This allows people to save space by only having the ping pong table unfolded when they want to use it.
This is why a table tennis cover is now necessary. Folded tables are easily dented by other furniture, children’s toys, and other every day bumps and dents. To protect them, a table tennis cover is designed to fit over a folded table (or an unfolded table, and some covers will actually work for both).
This is a simple and relatively inexpensive way of ensuring the good condition of the purchase, allowing you and your family to play this game for years on end without ever needing to buy a new table.