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College Fraturday
College Fraturday

Good friends. Bad ideas. Great Saturdays.

Shopping guide

The Ultimate Pong Setup

Every house has a table. Yours should be the one people talk about on Monday.

Tables, beer baseball, cups, racks and everything that makes the backyard a stadium.

Pick the table for the space you have

The commonly cited tournament table is 8 feet long and 2 feet wide, at about normal table height. That takes real yard. A 6-foot folding table works fine for casual games, and a portable folding pong table packs flat for the closet or the car. A solid table feels better to play on but needs a permanent home.

Plan the space around it

Most setup problems are about the area, not the table.

  • Leave 3 to 4 feet of clear space behind each end so throwers aren't backed into a wall or a crowd.
  • Use flat, level ground. Grass is fine; a slope isn't.
  • Keep the table away from doorways, stairs and the grill.
  • Add light for night games and a towel and rinse cup on each side.

Cups, racks and balls

Ten cups a side in a triangle is the common format. Racks make resets take seconds instead of minutes. Buy more balls than you think you need: they roll under porches and never come back.

House rules, written down

Settle re-racks, bounce shots, elbows and rebuttals before the first game, not during it. Where alcohol is involved it's 21+ and your local laws and campus rules apply. Water pong is the same game, and nobody plays who doesn't want to.

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