Kinematics of table tennis topspin forehands: effects of performance level and ball spin

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether performance level and ball spin affect arm and racket kinematics of the table tennis topspin forehand. Nine advanced and eight intermediate male table tennis players hit topspin forehands against light and heavy backspins. Five high-speed video cameras were used to record their strokes at 200 fps. Contributions of joint rotations to the racket speed, the racket kinematics at ball impact, the time required for racket acceleration and the maximum slope of the racket speed-time curve (s(max)) were determined. The advanced players showed a significantly larger contribution of lower trunk axial rotation to the racket speed at impact and a significantly larger value of s(max), and tended to require a less time for racket acceleration than the intermediate players. The racket speed at impact was not significantly different between the two player groups. The players adjusted the racket face angle rather than the inclination of the racket path at impact to the different ball spins. The results suggest that the ability to accelerate the racket in less time in the topspin forehand against backspin balls may be an important factor that affects the performance level.

Kinetics of the upper limb during table tennis topspin forehands in advanced and intermediate players

“…Data reported in this study were obtained from a previous study (Iino & Kojima, 2009) Each player used his own shake-hands grip racket with an inverted rubber sheet on the forehand side. The participants provided written informed consent before participating in the study.…”

“…The coordinate systems fixed to the upper trunk, the upper arm, forearm, and the hand of the racket arm were defined according to a previous study (Iino & Kojima, 2009). The joint coordinate systems of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist were also defined to decompose the joint angular velocities and joint torques into anatomically interpretable components such as shoulder internal rotation velocity and shoulder internal rotation torque.…”

“…Reflective markers of 20 mm in diameter were attached to the racket arm, shoulders, and pelvis of each participant (Iino & Kojima, 2009). Three reflective markers of 30 mm in diameter were also attached to the lateral aspects of the racket.…”

“…Several studies have investigated the kinematics of table tennis forehands (Neal, 1991;Kasai & Mori, 1998;Lee & Xie, 2004;Iino & Kojima, 2009). Neal (1991) investigated upperlimb kinematics of the forehand loop and smash shots in four international-level Chinese players and four Australian junior players.…”

“…Thus, how table tennis players can generate a high racket speed during forehand strokes remains unclear. Iino and Kojima (2009) investigated the kinematics of the upper limb during table tennis topspin forehands in collegiate advanced and intermediate players. They found that lower trunk axial rotation, upper trunk axial rotation relative to the lower trunk, shoulder flexion, and shoulder internal rotation were the major contributors to the racket speed at ball impact for both the groups of players.…”