Published online Aug 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i24.8514
Peer-review started: February 22, 2022
First decision: March 23, 2022
Revised: March 28, 2022
Accepted: July 18, 2022
Article in press: July 18, 2022
Published online: August 26, 2022
With the constant change of the rules of table tennis, more and more table tennis players emerge, which puts forward higher requirements for the awareness of landing point and the coordination of hitting. The sense of motion and position in proprioception is of great significance to the control of limbs and the judgment of landing points, so the proprioception of table tennis players is evaluated and tested.
Shoulders are the most injured part in table tennis players because the joint has 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 are often neglected.
This study was performed 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.
The subjects were elite players from the Chinese National Table Tennis Team. All of them had > 10 years’ training experience and had participated in 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). IsoMed 2000 was used to conduct the Joint Position Reproduction test to evaluate the athletes’ proprioceptive capacity at low speed (60°/s) and high speed (180°/s).
At slow speed and fast speed, there is no direct linear relationship between hand strength and proprioceptive correlation analysis. At slow speed and fast speed, there is a moderate positive correlation except for internal spin variable error (VE) and external spin relative peak torque. The internal rotation constant errors (CE) and VE were 1.06 ± 3.99 and 2.94 ± 2.16 for handgrip, and -3.36 ± 2.39 and 1.22 ± 0.93 for non-handgrip. The internal rotation CE and VE of handgrip were significantly lower than those of non-handgrip (P < 0.01).
There was no correlation between muscle strength and proprioceptive function in the internal and external rotation of the shoulder of the racket-holding hand 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.
Proprioception is a complex concept, and this study only explored the sense of position and movement, but did not study the sense of speed and force. It also links proprioception to specific tests, such as hitting points, which can help improve performance.