INFLUENCES OF STRENGTH TRAINING ON ATHLETES’ SKILLS IN TABLE TENNIS

ABSTRACT Introduction The progressive advance of table tennis athletes’ competitive level demands restructuring the traditional strength training program to readjust itself to the current athletic abilities. Objective Explore a strategy based on strength training to improve table tennis athletes’ physical capacity and hitting ability. Methods Thirty table tennis students from a physical education college were selected as research volunteers. A strength training protocol was added to the traditional protocol in the experimental group. The duration of the exercises in the experimental group and the control group was the same, with a frequency of 3 times a week, totaling 9 weeks. Results The optimization scheme of the strength training combination proposed in this paper revealed an improved effect on table tennis players’ performance of hitting skills and fitness. Its range of improvement was greater than the traditional strength training scheme of the control group. Conclusion The optimization scheme combining strength training proposed in this paper can be adjusted to the training according to the athletes’ situation and benefit the athletes’ training efficiency. It can also prevent repetitive injuries caused by the standard training mode in the long run, increasing the athletes’ enthusiasm. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.