As the UK’s lockdown continues with no immediate end in sight, people are having to adapt to a new way of living. Many are trying hard to keep to a daily routine, heading outside for an hour-a-day exercise, and adhering to social distancing rules.

There has been an huge upturn in sales of home fitness equipment, including table tennis. Games supplier, Andy Beresford, told the BBC that he’d sold 124 table tennis tables in one week in March, compared with just 15 in the same week last year. Major retailers are rapidly selling out of bats, balls, rollnets and tables too.

A positive outcome of this huge upturn in home table tennis sales could be that many people, who haven’t previously played the sport, might develop a love of the game and continue to play when life gets back to normal.

To engage with this section of society, today Table Tennis England is launching a ‘Play at Home‘ page, specifically targeting people who have suddenly found themselves with time on their hands, some table tennis equipment, have realised what a great game it is, but need some help with the rules and basic skills.

The new page has links to the TT Kidz Play at Home website, as well as rules, games ideas, and as social media has been alive with funny and useful ways to play at home, a selection of these too.

Visitors can sign up to receive a weekly email containing a Ping Pong Pointers film, showing the basics such as forehand drive, backhand drive and, the tricky for beginners, doubles rotation.

Keely Armitt, Head of Mass Participation said

It’s great that people are using their lockdown to try table tennis; it’s such an easy game for the whole family to play at home and we hope that this webpage will help people to learn the basics and enjoy their first taste of table tennis. We’re asking all our members to help get this information to people by sharing the webpage address on their social media and through their networks