Comparison of Kinetic Characteristics of Footwork during Stroke in Table Tennis: Cross-Step and Chasse Step

Summary

This study presents a protocol to investigate the ground reaction force characteristics between cross-step and chasse step during stroke in table tennis.

Abstract

The cross-step and chasse step are the basic steps of table tennis. This study presents a protocol to investigate the ground reaction force characteristics between cross-step and chasse step during stroke in table tennis. Sixteen healthy male national level 1 table tennis players (Age: 20.75 ± 2.06 years) volunteered to participate in the experiment after understanding the purpose and details of the experiment. All participants were asked to hit the ball into the target zone by cross-step and chasse step, respectively. The ground reaction force in the anterior-posterior, medial-lateral, and vertical directions of the participant was measured by a force platform. The key finding of this study was that: the posterior ground reaction force of cross-step footwork (0.89 ± 0.21) was significantly large (P = 0.014) than the chasse step footwork (0.82 ± 0.18). However, the lateral ground reaction force of cross-step footwork (-0.38 ± 0.21) was significantly lower (P < 0.001) than chasse step footwork (-0.46 ± 0.29) as well as the vertical ground reaction force of cross-step footwork (1.73 ± 0.19) was significantly lower (P < 0.001) than chasse step footwork (1.9 ± 0.33). Based on the mechanism of the kinetic chain, the better lower limb dynamic performance of sliding stroke may be conducive to energy transmission and thus bring gain to the swing speed. Beginners should start from the chasse step to hit the ball technically, and then practice the skill of cross-step.

Introduction

Table tennis has developed continuously in sports training and competition practice for more than 100 years¹. With economic globalization and cultural exchanges, table tennis has developed rapidly in various countries^2,3. In Croatia, for example, table tennis is not only played in clubs, but also in universities, schools, and even in dormitories⁴. For athletes, the establishment of sports analysis is helpful for training and competition⁵. In table tennis competitions, players need good strategies to try to win the match^6<....

Protocol

This study was approved by The Human Ethics Committee of Ningbo University, China. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects after they were told about the goal, details, requirements, and experimental procedures of the table tennis experimental.

1. Laboratory preparation for table tennis

1. Insert the USB dongle into the PC's parallel port and open the motion-capture infrared cameras and analog-to-digital converter.
   NOTE: In this laboratory, the force platform (sampling frequency of 1000 Hz) is used together with the motion acquisition system, and the data collected by the force platform was displayed and ....

Results

As shown in Figure 2 and Table 2, the posterior ground reaction force of the cross-step footwork (0.89 ± 0.21) was significantly larger (P = 0.014) compared with the chasse step footwork (0.82 ± 0.18). However, the lateral ground reaction force of cross-step footwork (-0.38 ± 0.21) was significantly lower (P < 0.001) than the chasse step footwork (-0.46 ± 0.29). Additionlly, the vertical ground reaction force of cross-step footwork (1.73 ± 0.19) .......

Discussion

The aim of this study is to investigate the ground reaction force characteristics between cross-step and chasse steps during stroke in table tennis. The key findings of this study are stated here. The anterior ground reaction force of cross-step footwork was significantly larger than the chasse step footwork. The lateral ground reaction force of cross-step footwork was significantly lower than the chasse step footwork. The vertical ground reaction force of cross-step footwork was significantly lower than the chasse step .......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
14 mm Diameter Passive Retro-reflective Marker	Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK		n=22
Double Adhesive Tape	Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK		For fixing markers to skin
Force Platform	Advanced Mechanical Technology, Inc.		Measure ground reaction force
Motion Tracking Cameras	Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK		n= 8
T-Frame	Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK		-
Valid Dongle	Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK		Vicon Nexus 1.4.116
Vicon Datastation ADC	Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK		-