We are now moving into the season where our Table Tennis Table sales pick up and customers are starting to plan well in advance. We are often asked, how big does my room need to be to play table tennis at home? So we thought it would be a great idea to put together this useful blog post to take you through table tennis table dimensions and the space you need around the table to be able to play.
Before we start we need to first understand what size table tennis tables are available.
What size room do I need for a Table Tennis Table?
The size of a full-size table tennis table is 2.74m in length (8ft 9”). The width is 1.525m (5ft). This will give you an idea of how much space you require around the table itself. Obviously the more room the better for moving around.
Regulation Table Tennis Table Size and Room Allowance
Competition play rules by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) state:
3.02.03.01 The playing space shall be rectangular and not less than 14m long, 7m wide and 5m high, but the 4 corners may be covered by surrounds of not more than 1.5m length.
This seems like a huge amount of space at almost 50ft in length but the thing to understand is these measurements are for professional players who are playing a lot of byline shots and play most of the game away from the table tennis table. For a hobby player like 70% of our customers, this is in no way indicative of the amount of space you will need.
Read: The Health Benefits of Playing Table Tennis
Photo Above: A professional match played on a full size table tennis table - precison and power in one shot.
Standard Table Tennis Table Size and Room Allowance
For hobby players, such as 70% of our customers, this is in no way indicative of the amount of space you will need. Average full-size table tennis tables dimensions are 9ft by 5ft - Table Tennis Tables are large pieces of games room equipment!
To get a good idea of how a Table Tennis Table will fit in your space, we recommend our customers first use making tape to outline the size on the floor or carpet to truly comprehend how large a full-size Table Tennis Table really is.
Our advice would be that for hobby and beginner play that the ideal room size for any of our full size table tennis tables would be around 22ft x 11ft. This seems like a fairly large sized room, but this will give you enough room at the byline to play some more challenging shots. You will always need a room that is at least 11ft wide in our opinion to house a full-size table tennis table, this is not really something that can be compromised.
The length however is something you can be more flexible with depending on what type of players you are or plan to be. Certainly, for children and beginners it is extremely unlikely that they will play away from the table tennis table at the byline. When you are first starting out, many players tend to play up close to the table tennis table as it is easier to control your play and develop as a player therefore 22ft might not be entirely necessary.
Minimum Space Required to Play Table Tennis at Home
We would recommend the minimum room size you could possibly get away with would be 17-18ft. Anything less than this would start to seriously affect play and you would struggle with some shots as you develop as a player. Of course, a 18ft room is going to be tight and you will not be able to swing back on certain shots or develop your byline play but for children, it would be sufficient to play at a hobby level without many skill shots.
Above: Table Tennis can be played at any age, indoors or outdoors - it's a great way to keep active.
We would not recommend purchasing a table tennis table if your room is any less that 17ft x 11ft; unless you were going to mostly be playing with your table tennis table in a playback position on your own. A full-size table tennis table is 9ft and you will need at the very least 3.5ft at each end of the table 9 + 5 + 5 = 18ft. The width of a table is 5ft and you will need a bare minimum of 3ft on either side meaning 5 + 3 + 3 = 11ft.
Recommended Room Size for Doubles Games
If you we’re planning on playing a lot of doubles games on your table tennis table, if you had a big family or your friends were often over at your home then you would be looking at an ideal space of 24ft x 14ft, bare minimum for doubles play would be something along the lines of 19ft x 11ft but again, this would be a tight squeeze and only recommended for younger players. The last thing you want is children playing doubles in a room too small to end up hitting each other with the bats when swinging for the ball.
Doubles play is not something we would recommend for players until they had developed their game and are able to have some control over the ball and where they are swinging as it may cause them to damage the table tennis table, the surrounding walls or even worse, each other!
Outdoor Table Tennis Tables
If you’re stuck for space indoors and have plenty of space outdoors, we stock a great range of outdoor table tennis tables, the best you can buy in the UK today.
I know it’s not a cut and dry answer with regards to the room size you need for a full size table tennis table as there are many variables to take into consideration, but hopefully this guide will have given you something to think about before placing your order.