Performance indicators in table tennis: a review of the literature

In the recent scientific literature in the field of sport sciences, research branches on performance analysis are widely developing. Hughes and Bartlett (2002) stated that sport biomechanists and notational analysts are concerned with the analysis and improvement of sport performance. They analyzed the structure of sports, distinguishing: technical, tactical and biomechanical indicators. The aim of this study is to summarize the most important table tennis performance indicators proposed in the literature. The authors commonly divide the performance indicators in different categories: Player: gender, nationality, height, weight, use fo right or left hand, grip (pen holder/classic), style of play (allround, defensive, etc.), best ranking and current rangking, etc. Technique: strokes (service, push, top, top counter top, block, flick, drive, smash, lob, forehand or backhand) and steps (one step, chassè, slide, crossover and pivot). Tactic: impact position of the ball on the table (six areas), type of error, efficacy, time-out, play time (inter-serve times, rally time and inter-point time) and action outcome. Equipment, playing conditions and facilities: table, ball, net, floor, size of the gym, training hall, lightning, transports (jet lag), etc. Performance indicators provide a good tool from a technical and tactical point of view for coaches and performance analysts, to improve training and agonistic results. It is possible to have a full and correct analysis of the data by using a statistical software. However, a lot of problems cannot easily be solved by using statistics, as sport is the complex result of interactiong human behaviours.