Energetic And Neuromuscular Characteristics Of Table Tennis Multi-ball Practice

Multi-ball training, commonly used in daily practice, involves variations in ball displacement, speed, spin. Despite this intensive training, the energetic and neuromuscular characteristics of table tennis training are not well-understood. PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the physiological and neuromuscular consequences of using different footwork techniques during table tennis forehand loop multi-ball training at low (LF), middle (MF) and high (HF) ball serving frequencies. METHODS: Ten Chinese National-level male table tennis players (Height: 179.30 + 4.60 cm, Body Mass: 70.65 + 7.62 kg) performed forehand loops with No Step (NS), Chasse Step (CS), Side Step (SS), and Cross Step (CRS). Balls were severed by a robot, and frequencies set for NS, CS and SS were 24, 36 and 48 balls.minute-1, while for CRS, frequencies were 12, 24 and 36 balls.minute-1. We calculated per stroke energy cost of each stage (Es, J.kg-1.Stroke-1). Plantar pressure data was collected using instrumented insoles. RESULTS: Es decreased at higher frequencies, as did the peak plantar pressure across the whole foot. CRS showed higher ES and neuromuscular load than the rest three footworks. CONCLUSION: High frequency multi-ball practice significantly increased physiology and neuromuscular load but not ES. The decreasing trend in energy cost may be due to reduced force production in the lower limbs at higher frequencies. Table 1. - Energy cost of table multi-ball training with different frequency and footwork. LF MF HF Frequency Footwork Interaction F P η2 F P η2 F P η2 E s (J.kg -1 .Stroke -1 ) NS 15.26 ± 5.03 11.22 ± 3.37b 9.12 ± 2.67b 56.90 < 0.001 0.76 35.88 < 0.001 0.74 5.45 < 0.001 0.31 CS 31.94 ± 6.79* 23.94 ± 3.25b* 19.44 ± 4.00bc* SS 35.77 ± 6.69* 23.79 ± 3.62b* 20.52 ± 3.07bc* CRS 27.94 ± 5.81*# 21.38 ± 6.96b* 19.94 ± 4.65b* Figure 1.: Peak plantar pressure (RPP) and heat map of one representative player.