We just got a ping pong table at work. Can you help me on my journey to becoming office champion?

This sounds like an episode of the office lol

maybe you could find people or a club or the sort as to practice outside of work.

I think you should be able to go to your local rec center, and they can give you some pointers.
Or you could watch the footage from the Beijing Olympics, and grab some ideas.

Knees bent. The knee is key.

Watch Forrest Gump. Or practice.

Umm… What company do you work for…..and where do I sign up? You will need good hand eye coordination and quick wrists.

Oh man. I love pingpong. I’ve had “ping pong champ” moments myself at my current school. Really I can’t give much advice over the interwebz. What I would recommend is to buy your own paddle and don’t stand too close to the table. You need to be a bit loose if you know what I mean. You don’t want to be moving all over the place, stand on the balls of your toes, bend your knees a bit, practice (!!!!) and just have fun. Additionally, when you hit backhand, the side of the paddle that hits when it is forehand should be facing you. Does that make sense? What I am trying to say is flip the sides for backhand.

Another important thing is to see how your opponent plays, and change your play accordingly. Those who play it safe and soft, you have to be very aggressive and on the offense with them. Just hit back hard and fast, etc. I now feel slightly pathetic that I’ve thought so hard about this game.

Also, wear short shorts and a headband just to complete the image. Your opponents won’t be able to keep a straight face and so you are sure to win!

Holy shit phoenyx.. I know where you work and you spend my 5$ per month playing ping pong. Fix the OS X client first.

Don’t ping when you should pong or vice versa!
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What you need to know to play a fun game of ping-pong

Sometimes all you want to know are the basic rules to play a friendly match of ping pong. This section is for you. If you want more offical rules, read the section below.

In singles, the center lines serve no purpose, so ignore them.
Scoring
A match is played best 3 of 5 games (or 4/7 or 5/9). For each game, the first player to reach 11 points wins that game, however a game must be won by at least a two point margin.

A point is scored after each ball is put into play (not just when the server wins the point as in volleyball).

The edges of the table are part of the legal table surface, but not the sides.
Flow of the Match
Each player serves two points in a row and then switch server. However, if a score of 10–10 is reached in any game, then each server serves only one point and then the server is switched. After each game, the players switch side of the table. In the final game (ie 5th game), the players switch side again after either player reaches 5 points. Legal Service
The ball must rest on an open hand palm. Then it must be tossed up at least 6 inches and struck so the ball first bounces on the server’s side and then the opponent’s side.

If the serve is legal except that it touches the net, it is called a let serve. Let serves are not scored and are reserved.
Equipment
The paddle should have a red and a black side. The ball should be either orange or white and 40 mm in size. The table should be 2.74 meters long, 1.525 m wide, and 0.76 m high.

and follow the rules!

Ben and I are both quite respectable at table tennis.

Practice. Obviously.

Get your own paddle.

Practice YOUR SERVES.

Get your spin shot down, especially countering topspin.

Practice placement. This is the most important. Divide the table into sixes, FR FC FL RR RC RL. Practice returning and serving balls into those areas.

On your serves, it helps to have two really good ones. Off timing shots are good too.

Don’t worry about smashes until you have everything else mastered.

Spin is in the wrist, but the shots are in the the hips and arms.

You’re going to need balls of fury. So lets hope you’ve got a pair.

When playing, concentrate on nothing but the ball. That is the only way to win.

First concentrate on just hitting the ball back and trying to aim your shots at specific parts of the table. Once you have this mastered, then move on to the spin. Begin with learning to apply both top-spin and back-spin to the ball with both back-hand and fore-hand shots. This will lead to greater control of both the ball and your opponent.

Your stance should be something that you are comfortable with, arch your back slightly and keep those knees slightly bent. Try to stay towards the middle of the table, when you venture either side your opponent will take note of this and just kill you for it.

Practice makes perfect. Watching professionals will, at this point, scare the sh*t out of you.

Oh, and call it Table Tennis. Look down on those that call it Ping Pong. Elitism is everything in sport.