Predicting domain-specific actions in expert table tennis players activates the semantic brain network.

Motor expertise acquired during long-term training in sports enables top athletes to predict the outcomes of domain-specific actions better than nonexperts do. However, whether expert players encode actions, in addition to the concrete sensorimotor level, also at a more abstract, conceptual level, remains unclear. The present study manipulated the congruence between body kinematics and the subsequent ball trajectory in videos of an expert player performing table tennis serves. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the brain activity was evaluated in expert and nonexpert table tennis players during their predictions on the fate of the ball trajectory in congruent versus incongruent videos. Compared with novices, expert players showed greater activation in the sensorimotor areas (right precentral and postcentral gyri) in the comparison between incongruent vs. congruent videos. They also showed greater activation in areas related to semantic processing: the posterior inferior parietal lobe (angular gyrus), middle temporal gyrus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings indicate that action anticipation in expert table tennis players engages both semantic and sensorimotor regions and suggests that skilled action observation in sports utilizes predictions both at motor-kinematic and conceptual levels.

Notational Analysis of Wheelchair Paralympic Table Tennis Matches.

Paralympic table tennis is the third largest paralympic sport for the number of players. Performance analysis was conducted for the rally duration and interval and impact of serve, whilst none investigated the shots distribution among classes of physical impairment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct a notational analysis of international competitions in relation to the wheelchair classes. Five matches for each wheelchair class (C1-to-C5) were evaluated from 20 elite male right-handed players. Both players for each match were analyzed for the following performance indicators: strokes type, the area of ball bouncing, and the shots outcome. Backhand shots were the most used technique for all classes. The most used strokes for C1 players were backhand and forehand drive and backhand lob, while for C5 players they were backhand and forehand push and backhand topspin. Similar shots distribution was registered for C2-to-C5 players. The central and far-from-the-net zone was mainly reached by the serve for all classes. Errors shots were similar in all classes, whilst winning shots were more frequent in C1. The current notational analysis provided a meaningful performance modelling of indicators for coaches and athletes that can be used to design training programs for each class.

The Lateralization of Spatial Cognition in Table Tennis Players: Neuroplasticity in the Dominant Hemisphere.

Spatial cognition facilitates the successful completion of specific cognitive tasks through lateral processing and neuroplasticity. Long-term training in table tennis induces neural processing efficiency in the visuospatial cognitive processing cortex of athletes. However, the lateralization characteristics and neural mechanisms of visual−spatial cognitive processing in table tennis players in non-sport domains are unclear. This study utilized event-related potentials to investigate differences in the spatial cognition abilities of regular college students (controls) and table tennis players. A total of 48 participants (28 controls; 20 s-level national table tennis players) completed spatial cognitive tasks while electroencephalography data were recorded. Task performance was better in the table tennis group than in the control group (reaction time: P < 0.001; correct number/sec: P = 0.043), P3 amplitude was greater in the table tennis group (P = 0.040), spatial cognition showed obvious lateralization characteristics (P < 0.001), table tennis players showed a more obvious right-hemisphere advantage, and the P3 amplitude in the right hemisphere was significantly greater in table tennis athletes than in the control group. (P = 0.044). Our findings demonstrate a right-hemisphere advantage in spatial cognition. Long-term training strengthened the visual−spatial processing ability of table tennis players, and this advantage effect was reflected in the neuroplasticity of the right hemisphere (the dominant hemisphere for spatial processing).

The superior response speed of table tennis players is associated with proactive inhibitory control.

Objective: To explore the mechanism behind the faster volitional reaction time (RT) of open skill sports athletes from the perspective of proactive inhibitory control, with the hypothesis that the superior response speed of athletes from open skill sports is related to their enhanced capacity for releasing inhibition. Methods: Participants were divided into two groups, an experimental group of 27 table tennis players and a control group of 27 non-athletes. By manipulating cue-target onset asynchrony (CTOA) in a simple cue-target detection task, the timing of target presentation occurred in different phases of the disinhibition process. The time needed for disinhibition were compared between groups. Results: For the experimental group, RT varied with CTOA at delays less than 200 ms; for CTOAs greater than 200 ms, RTs were not significantly different. For the control group, RT varied with CTOA for delays as long as 300 ms. Conclusions: Table tennis players took less time (200 ms) than non-athletes (300 ms) to complete the disinhibition process, which might partly explain their rapid response speed measured in unpredictable contexts. Significance: The study provided evidence for disinhibition speed as a new index to assess the capacity of proactive inhibitory control, and provided a new perspective to explore the superior RT of athletes from open skill sports. We also offered support for the fundamental cognitive benefits of table tennis training.

Correlation analysis of national elite Chinese male table tennis players' shoulder proprioception and muscle strength.

BACKGROUND: Shoulder is the most injured part in table tennis players, and it takes multiple roles in transmitting power and striking the center of the ball during the stroke. Proprioception is strongly correlated with high level of athletic performance. It is customary to assume that there is a correlation between proprioception and muscle strength and therefore proprioceptive assessment and rehabilitation is often neglected. AIM: To investigate the correlation between isokinetic muscle strength and proprioception in the internal and external rotation muscle groups of elite Chinese male table tennis players, to provide reference for physical training and rehabilitation of elite table tennis players. METHODS: A total of 19 national elite table tennis players from the Chinese National Table Tennis Team were recruited in this research. All of them had more than 10 years training experience and had participated major competitions such as the National Games and World Youth Championships. IsoMed 2000 was used to test the peak torque of internal and external rotation isokinetic concentric contraction of the athletes' bilateral shoulder joints at low speed (60°/s) and high speed (180°/s) respectively; IsoMed 2000 was used to conduct the Joint Position Reproduction test to evaluate the athletes' proprioceptive ability capacity at low speed (60°/s) and high speed (180°/s) respectively. If the data satisfied the normal distribution, the correlation between the differences in peak torque s and angles in different directions was analyzed using a Pearson simple linear model; otherwise, Spearman correlation analysis was used. The comparison of proprioceptive ability between the table tennis racket-holding hand and non-racket-holding hands was performed using independent samples t-test if the data satisfied a normal distribution; otherwise, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. RESULTS: There was no direct linear correlation between the strength and proprioceptive correlation analysis at slow speed (60°/s) and fast speed (180°/s) in the racket-holding hand; At the slow speed (60°/s) and fast speed (180°/s), there was no correlation between muscle strength and proprioception in the non-racket-holding hand except for the internal rotation variable error (VE) and external rotation relative peak torque, which showed a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.477, P < 0.05), (r = 0.554, P < 0.05). The internal rotation's constant error (CE) and VE were 1.06 ± 3.99 and 2.94 ± 2.16, respectively, for the racket-holding hand, and -3.36 ± 2.39 and 1.22 ± 0.93, respectively, for the non-racket-holding hand; the internal rotation's CE, VE of the racket-holding hand was lower than that of the non-racket-holding hand, and there was a highly significant difference (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: There was no correlation between muscle strength and proprioceptive function in the internal and external rotation of the racket-holding hand's shoulder in elite Chinese male table tennis players. These results may be useful for interventions for shoulder injuries and for the inclusion of proprioceptive training in rehabilitation programs.