Here are the basic rules of Ping-pong. Be sure to follow them to ensure a nice, clean win every time.

1. Use the right type of racket.

A Ping-pong racket should be equipped with a rubber mat on each side. It is possible to use a racket that has only one rubber side, but the player is not allowed to use that side to hit the ball. In competitions, players usually provide for their own racket to use. However, their racket needs to be inspected by the umpire first and should pass tournament standards.

2. The play starts with a toss coin.

In most sports, a simple toss coin decides who serves the ball first. Alternately, the referee can also hide the ball in one of his hands placed at his back. He would then ask a player to choose from either left or right. If he guessed correctly which hand holds the ball, he gets to serve the ball first.

3. To serve the ball, hit it six inches above the table in a downward direction.

If the ball hits your side of the table once, goes over the net, and lands on any spot on your opponent's table, then it is a legal serve. Your opponent then should hit the ball with his paddle and return it to you without touching the ball with his bare hands. Both of you should continue to volley the ball until one of you misses or hit the ball too hard it goes out of bounds without bouncing on the table first.

4. The winning player should ahead by two points.

Preliminary matches are usually decided with the player who won the most of five games. For championship games, it is commonly the best of nine games. In a rally point match, a player has to be ahead by at least two points to be declared a winner.

5. You lose the point when you?

Hit the ball before it touches the table's surface.
Touch or move the ball with your free hand while the ball is in play.
Touch either the post or the net during a rally.
Hit the ball twice in succession.

So if you want to be good in Ping-pong, better master this particular set of rules first. There are lots of others to learn, but you can deal with those later, as you are getting better playing it.