Vibration effect on ball score test in international vs. national level table tennis

Luca P Ardigò; Antonio Dello Iacono; Alessandro M Zagatto; Nicola L Bragazzi; Goran Kuvacic; Marianna Bellafiore; Johnny Padulo

doi:10.5114/biolsport.2018.78051

Vibration effect on ball score test in international vs. national level table tennis

Biol Sport. 2018 Dec;35(4):329-334. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2018.78051. Epub 2018 Aug 31.

Authors

Luca P Ardigò¹, Antonio Dello Iacono^{2

3}, Alessandro M Zagatto⁴, Nicola L Bragazzi^{5

6}, Goran Kuvacic⁷, Marianna Bellafiore⁸, Johnny Padulo^{7

9}

Affiliations

¹ School of Exercise and Sport Science, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
² Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel.
³ Institute of Clinical Exercise and Health Science, School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Hamilton, UK.
⁴ Laboratory of Physiology and Sport Performance (LAFIDE), Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physical Education, Univ Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Bauru - SP, Brazil.
⁵ School of Public Health, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Genoa University, Genoa, Italy.
⁶ Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Section of Psychiatry, Genoa University, Genoa, Italy.
⁷ Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split, Croatia.
⁸ Sport and Exercise Science Research Unit, Department of Psychological, Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
⁹ University eCampus, Novedrate, Italy.

Abstract

In table tennis, motor skills are crucial for discriminating player level. However, there is a dearth of studies exploring the impact of a vibrational stimulus on performance. Thirty-four male players (age 25±2 years; body mass index, BMI 23.4±1.2 kg·m ^-2 ) participated in the study. Seventeen played at international level (IL), while the remaining 17 played at national level (NL). The participants underwent a ball-handling test, the ball score, before (PRE) and after (POST) a vibrational stimulus. Intra-class correlation (ICC) for the ball score result showed good reliability (ICC 0.87 for IL and 0.80 for NL). Repeated measures ANOVA showed differences between groups for ball score (p=0.000) and a significant group×time interaction (p=0.004). Better performances were observed for the IL group than for the NL group, significantly only for POST. Vibration produced positive and negative effects in IL and NL groups, respectively.

Keywords: Fatigued conditions; Motor control; Muscle activity; Reaction time.