The quick version
Let the ball bounce once on your side of the curved table, then return it in at most three body touches without hands or arms. Do not use the same body part on consecutive touches or on your own consecutive returns within a rally. First to twelve wins this single-set house game.
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Get the game ready
Find a proper TEQ table; a flat table-tennis table does not produce the same game. Check its stability and the venue’s clearance. Mark service lines 2 m behind the table ends. Stand within the imaginary extensions of the table’s side edges to serve. Agree that all shots will be controlled, with no smashes, overhead kicks or jumps toward the table.
Toss for first serve; the other player chooses an end. Change server after every two points, independent of who scores. Play one set to twelve with no two-point margin. That single-set finish is a house choice rather than the full best-of-three match.
Play the first game
Serve from behind the line
Wait for readiness. Toss from your hands and strike once from the air, without hands or arms, so the ball lands directly on the opponent’s table surface without touching the net. Keep a grounded foot behind the service line. You have two attempts; the second cannot use either foot, so choose a gentle thigh or another legal body part. Two faults lose one point.
Control and return
Allow exactly one table bounce before touching. Use up to three touches to send the ball over the net onto the far surface. No hands, arms, catching, trapping or consecutive touches with the same body part. Left and right feet are different body parts. Do not let the ball hit the ground before returning.
Change your finishing touch
Within a rally, your next return cannot use the same body part as your previous return. A right-foot return therefore calls for a left foot, thigh or other legal finish next time. The serve does not count as a return. Keep this memory separately from the three-touch count.
Score and replay
A missed table, ground bounce, illegal touch, table contact or contact with the opponent loses the rally for one point. A net touch during a rally may continue if the ball lands legally on the far surface. Replay an edgeball using the same server and the same first- or second-service status. For this house introduction, all uncertain edges are replayed; two consecutive edge serves use up that service attempt.
One set to twelve
First to twelve wins, even 12–11. Swap ends for a rematch and give the other player first serve. If a person or loose ball interrupts, stop and replay without changing the score or serve position. Leave the table still; do not lean or climb on it.
Help everyone get started
Start by demonstrating one thigh-to-foot return and one legal second serve. New players may find the serve harder than the rally; use the catch-assisted variation if repeated starts are frustrating. Do not copy acrobatic competition shots during a first session. The venue’s staff can confirm clearances and table access.
Already know the game?
Ideas & Twists
Choose a variation together before you start.
Teqball · See main rules
Suggested house variationFour-touch allowance
Allow up to four touches per return while keeping the body-part restrictions. Keep normal serving and the one-set finish. The extra control touch allows a recovery without removing the need to select a different finishing body part.
Teqball · See main rules
Suggested house variationCatch and restart control
After the required table bounce, allow one hand catch per possession. From a stationary position, release the ball onto your thigh or foot and use up to three legal body touches to return it. The catch itself does not count. Still alternate finishing body parts and score to twelve. This is a clear house teaching game.
Teqball · See main rules
Suggested house variationPartners must connect
Use four people in two pairs. A pair has three total touches and both partners must touch before the return. Rotate the server through A1, B1, A2, B2 every two points, and designate one receiver for each service block. Keep the body-part restriction across the team’s consecutive returns. Play to twelve.
Teqball · See main rules
Suggested house variationFinish with the called side
Before each service block, each player names left or right. Their first return in each rally must use the named foot; later returns follow the usual body-part alternation. A wrong first finish loses the point. Keep two-point service blocks and play to twelve.
About this guide
The single-set finish, no-smash rule and five variations are editorial house formats. The published 2026 rules were opened, avoiding older four-point serving advice. Singapore’s access page is an example; confirm local table access directly.
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