Did you know that table tennis has been around for a really long time? Table tennis began as a hobby in England in the end of the 1800s. Dining room tables were used as the top part of the table and cork was used as the balls for the earlier equipment. The names that they used to call it were gossima, flim-flam, or ping pong. Soon the balls and paddles were getting better after the turn of the century. Now look where we are today.