THE VARIATION IN SPINS PRODUCED BY SINGAPORE ELITE TABLE TENNIS PLAYERS ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF SERVICE

Authors

  • K. T. Lee
  • W. Xie

Keywords:

table tennis, topspin, backspin

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to measure the topspin and sidespin produced by five elite players of Singapore after the change in service rules by the ITTF so as to ascertain their variation in ball spin on different techniques. The balls were painted half black to facilitate the calculation of spin from high speed (200Hz) video playback. The percentage reduction on ball spin after hitting the table twice was also considered in order to find out the spin that could be delivered to the opponent. The results showed that different players excel in different techniques and the ball spin increases after ball contact with the table for long distance side topspin balls. Lastly, using data for certain service techniques done in 2000 (Xie & Qin 2001), an experimental comparison was carried out to examine the possible influence of the new rules on player performance.

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Published

2008-03-25

Issue

Section

Coaching and Sports Activities