Ph.D., Associate Professor E.V. Kudryashov
Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Perm

Keywords: table tennis, female players, modeling, technical competency

Introduction. Modern competitive sports set high requirements to the fitness levels of the athletes. The growing competition on the global sport arena forces the sport communities to take persistent efforts to improve the training process quality, make adjustments to the training process content and revise the training system toolkits including the basics of the applied methods and practices. The modern long-term training systems have to be designed in such a way to ensure every element of fitness being perfected on a systemic basis [4].

Rated among the top priority elements of the above efforts are the initiatives to identify and prioritize the most efficient training systems focused on the female players’ skills improvement based on the key fitness elements modeling tools. Modeling being used as a scientific research method helps screen out a specific set of the most important parameters from numerous features and elements of the subject process.  

It should be mentioned in this context that for the last few years sport science has accumulated significant theoretical and experimental data bases on the sport modeling process specifications, with a variety of different tools being used to obtain these background data. Since the modeling method has been increasingly applied in sport science, model design is now considered a key control tool applicable to the complex system control processes [3].

Furthermore, modeling is viewed as an important element of the athlete's training system design and planning processes for the reason that it gives the means to forecast the desired level of individual accomplishments in the process and, consequently, adequately formulate interim goals, apply the most efficient training tools and clearly visualize the ways to attain the objectives.

To ensure the sport reserve training system being controlled in an optimal format, the researchers need to assess, on a systemic basis, variations in the functional conditions and fitness levels to check whether or not the training workloads are designed in harmony with the athletes’ adaptation potentials throughout the training period [3].

Attempts have been made in sport science to obtain some key modeling data for a variety of sport disciplines, with different aspects of athlete's fitness being addressed in the studies, including the physical, technical, game control fitness elements etc. These studies, however, have never offered an integrated approach to neither of the sports, including table tennis as one of the game sport disciplines.

It is a matter of common knowledge today that great accomplishments in competitions are normally achieved by the female tennis players who are well-developed physically, confident and skillful in the attacking and defensive actions, have strong willpower to win, and at the same time know how to use their own best play qualities and the opponent’s disadvantages in a most prudential and reasonable manner. Game technique means the set of special skills that need to be mastered by the female players to be successful in the game. At every stage of its development, the game technique will provide the due means for the competitive contest for the player being able to attain, within the frame of the game rules, the specific practical goals in different game situations. When the technique is effective enough, its quality may be substantiated by the highest skill performance coordination, stability and efficiency criteria to be sure that it gives the means to the female player to be successful in the upcoming competitions.

One of the top priority goals of the sport technical training system is to shape up excellent competitive abilities and skills to help the table tennis player use her competitive qualities in a most efficient way during the events and secure her technical skills and qualities being persistently perfected in the long-term table tennis training and skills conditioning process [1; 2].

In view of the above, we would summarize that the female table tennis player’s technical fitness modeling must be rated among the top priorities of the table tennis mastering system, and this is the reason why it was selected as an important subject for the present study.

The objective of the study was to design and analyze, on a comparative basis, a technical fitness model in application to highly skilled female table tennis players.

Materials and methods.

The study was designed based on the following methods: analysis of the available scientific, methodological and special literature; summaries of the best practical experiences of table tennis specialists and practitioners; educational surveys of the competitive activity and training processes; different tests; and mathematical methods of statistics. 20 female table tennis players (Candidates for Master of Sport and Masters of Sport) were subject to the study.

Study results and discussion.

Analysis of the available reference literature on the subject give reasons to believe that any sport technical fitness model will be designed with due account of the relations and interactions of the model components. An objective of the model design will be to build up a well-arranged model structure that gives the means to assess the female table tennis players’ capabilities in every aspect of their technical mastership, i.e. their skills, qualities and abilities.

To obtain a basis for assessment of the above fitness parameters, we assumed that techniques of a highly-skilled female table tennis player may be listed and tested as follows:

- Topspin right-to-right diagonal strokes;

- Topspin left-to-left diagonal strokes;

- Topspin left-to-right straight strokes;

- Topspin right-to-left straight strokes;

- Topspin triangle strokes;

- Topspin figure-of-eight diagonal strokes;

- Topspin figure-of-eight straight strokes; and

- Serves from different points to different zones of the table [5].

Diagonal in the above context means the ball direction from one table corner to the opposed cross corner.

Straight line means herein the ball direction that goes in parallel with the side of the table.

Triangle means herein the combination of two cross strokes made from the same position.

Figure-of-eight means herein the combination of strokes directed by the opponents to the corners of the table so that one player makes straight strokes and the other makes diagonal strokes.

Technical skills of the subject female players were valued as provided by the test data given in Table 1 hereunder. Considering the test data, we would make the following findings: the topspin right-to-right diagonal strokes made by the Candidates for Masters of Sport were rated [in numbers of shots per time intervals] lower than that made by the Masters of Sport by 3.0 for 15 s; and by 7.4 for 30 s. The topspin left-to-left diagonal strokes were rated very differently for the female players of the above two qualifications in terms of stroke numbers: they were higher for Masters of Sport by 3.2 for 15 s; and by 9.0 for 30 s. The topspin left-to-right straight strokes were rated higher for the Masters of Sport by 5.1 for 15 s; and by 10.1 for 30 s. The topspin right-to-left straight stroke rates per time intervals of 15 and 30 seconds were rated higher for the Masters of Sport by 4.7 and 10.7, respectively. The topspin triangle strokes (both straight and diagonal strokes made on the move) were rated lower for the Candidates for Masters of Sport (by 11.0) compared to the Masters of Sport. The topspin figure-of-eight diagonal and straight strokes were rated higher for the Masters of Sport by 9.5 and 9.2, respectively.

The study results presented hereunder in Table 2 demonstrate the differences of the technical fitness test rates being reliable for the female table tennis players qualified Candidate for Masters of Sport vs. Masters of Sport.

As demonstrated by the analyzed reference literature and practical experience, serving technique will be considered among the top priority techniques of table tennis game since the game result quite often depends directly on the serve quality. This is due to the serve being a specific element of the game technique for it is the only element of the game where the player if free of the opponent’s actions and counteractions and performs this game technique from static position.

The study results give the means to rate the serve efficiency and accuracy with breakdown by the table zones the serve was pointed in, for the highly skilled female table tennis players. The mathematical statistics method applied to the test data gives the serve efficiency rates for the Candidates for Masters of Sport and Masters of Sport estimated at 78.5% and 93.4%, respectively. 

 Table 1. Technical fitness model indicators for highly skilled female table tennis players 

Tests

Masters of Sport

Candidates for Masters of Sport

for 15 s

for 30 s

for 15 s

for 30 s

1

Topspin right-to-right diagonal strokes

19,6

37,6

16,6

30,2

2

Topspin left-to-left diagonal strokes

19,7

37,3

16,5

28,3

3

19,2

36,7

14,1

26,6

4

19,1

37,6

14,5

26,9

5

-

37,9

-

26,9

6

-

36,6

-

27,4

7

-

36,8

-

27,3

 Table 2. Difference reliability indices of technical fitness data for female table tennis players of different skill levels

Tests

Masters of Sport (n=10)

Candidates for Masters of Sport (n=10)

Difference reliability indices

t

P

1. Topspin right-to-right diagonal strokes

37,6

30,2

7,349

<0,05

2. Topspin left-to-left diagonal strokes

37,3

28,3

10,636

<0,05

36,7

26,6

10,328

<0,05

37,6

26,9

14,338

<0,05

37,9

26,9

12,923

<0,05

36,6

27,4

11,999

<0,05

36,8

27,3

14,277

<0,05

1. The study gives the background data to design the technical fitness model in application to the highly skilled female table tennis players.

2. The study results may be used for benchmarking analysis of the individual technical skill levels at the training process planning stage and for the purposes of the interim technical fitness ratings.

3. The study included the benchmarking analysis of the test results for the female table tennis players qualified Candidates for Masters of Sport vs. Masters of Sport, with the resultant data giving the means to explore some key aspects of the female players’ fitness improvement methods.

References

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2. Barchukova, G.V. Teoriya i metodika nastol'nogo tennisa: uchebnik dlya stud. vyssh. ucheb. zavedeniy (Theory and methodology of table tennis: textbook for students of higher educ. institutions) / G.V. Barchukova, V.M. Bogushas, O.V. Matytsin / Ed. by G.V. Barchukova. – Moscow: Akademiya, 2006. – 528 P.
3. Kudryashov, E.V. Pokazateli razvitiya silovykh kachestv u basketbolistok massovykh razryadov (Indicators of development of strength qualities of basketball players of mass categories) / E.V. Kudryashov, V.D. Panachev, Yu.A. Korepanov / Mater. Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. konf.(Proc. of Intern. theoret. and practical. conf.), 26-27 February 2015 - Naberezhnye Chelny: Publishing House of Volga region State Academy of Phys. Cult., Sport and Tourism, 2015. – P. 192–194.
4. Kudryashov, E.V. Postroenie i kontrol' trenirovochnogo protsessa v voleybole: monografiya (Organization and control of training process in volleyball: monograph) / E.V. Kudryashov. – Lugansk, 2005. – 254 P.
5. Landik, V.I. Metodologiya sportivnoy podgotovki: nastol'ny tennis (Methodology of Sports Training: Table Tennis) / V.I. Landik, Yu.T. Pokholenchuk, G.N. Arzyutov. – Donetsk: NORD – PRESS, 2005. – 612 P.

Corresponding author: kudryashov-e-v@mail.ru