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How Table Tennis Tables Became A Part Of Startup Culture

Golf is a thing in the executive world, and it just always will be, but it’s not what it used to be. In Silicon Valley, golf is for businesses that don’t depend on selling the thrill of instant gratification.

In tech startups, golf is replaced by ping pong in a way that brings a new company spirit to the table. This sport, referred to as the brain sport by many, offers versatility and social experience at work and in the off-time as well.

Ping pong in tech has become so popular that when sales of ping pong tables began to fall, the business reporters paid attention, and it made headlines.

A table like a mothership known as the STIGA table in the breakroom for a tech startup is almost more exciting for employees than winning a new laptop as a performance bonus. Learn about this phenomenon of ping pong and tech startups here.

How Did Ping Pong Happen In Tech?

Ping pong has been around with tech startups since the 1990s, but it hasn’t always been the phenomenon that it is today. There was a day when a table was simply brought into the break room in order to add something else to do at work during the off-time between program developing, innovating, or marketing the innovations.

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When ping pong first came into the corporate world, nobody expected it to become the phenomenon that it is today. Now, it is called a brain sport that stimulates the mind before going back to work after lunch or a coffee break.

It is also something that can be done every day at work, as opposed to golf, that needs to be scheduled for weekends and vacation days.

By 2011, the word “brain sport” had been coined by psychologists and human resource experts. This was a sport that was going to stay.

It offered more benefits to tech startups than almost any other employee program that could be implemented in the office.

Now, the ping pong table and what it can do for a company has gone from being a sport during off time to a culture that includes company ping pong tracking apps, conferences, conventions, tournaments, and a conversation piece in tech that makes you one of the cool geeks.

Why Ping Pong Works At Work

There are obvious physical benefits to ping pong working at work, but there is so much more to it than that. For the company that is looking for an activity that all employees can participate in if they want to, the ping pong table is there. It is also a more versatile sport than, say, golf, that is specialized for a very specific athlete.

With ping pong, your employees don’t need exclusive benefits or blocks of vacation time to commit to company activity. The equipment is affordable, and anyone can play.

At the same time, this is a game that offers a mental way to escape from an intense and high-pressure world. This is a world where innovation is king and competition is fierce. Being at the top of one’s game is enhanced with some ping pong.

Ping pong is also working because this is an all-ages game where any skill level can join in. Everybody loves to win something, and ping pong gives opportunities in work where tech employees may otherwise not have them due to the competition.

For the startup that is eager to include everyone in the benefits of social interaction outside of the tech day, ping pong works at work because it is a one-size solution that fits anyone that wants to do it. It’s a brain sport, and in tech, that is not ever going to be a loss.

Start Playing Ping Pong

When you want to add a little more energy to your workplace that stimulates productivity and also stimulates the social scene at work, a ping pong table is an ideal choice. In the tech startup world, it is not just an activity that builds teamwork, but it is also one that enhances the individual game, on and off the table.

Bring ping pong into your startup atmosphere, and you won’t regret it. The changes in your employee morale and work ethic will begin to feel different almost instantly.

Start playing ping pong at work, and see the difference in your workday. You may just start to enjoy going to work again, and that is never bad for business.

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