The effect of using core stability exercises on dynamic balance, some physical and skill variables for table tennis players

Introduction

Karate Table tennis is distinguished from other sports by a great demand for its practice, as it is an interesting game that brings together many public and private advantages and benefits, which are not available in many other sports, which makes it at the top of friendly sports that are easy to practice to achieve various sporting and educational goals and purposes and this is evident. (12:9)

Basic Skills consider the backbone of table tennis, as they are the core of performance for this activity. They also help the player in attack and defense to score points and win the match, Although the basic skills in table tennis seem easy to perform, they require great effort in learning and mastering them due to the difficulty of implementing them due to the small size of the table, the racket, and the ball, as its practice requires the player to have a high concentration of concentration as well as a high skill, physical, tactical and psychological ability to suit the nature of this sport. (23:33) (7:12)

It is known and scientifically proven that the mastery of basic skills is that the player training on them from a young age and continues to train on them in every training unit throughout his sporting life in the sports field, and it is clear that the player does not rise to the national level or the global level in his country unless these sports skills are fully mastered. (9:36) (22)

Also, preparing the player physically to meet the requirements of the sporting activity is considered one of the main duties of the sports training process, which leads to the progression of the training state of the player to reach the higher levels in the practiced activity especially in table tennis. (23:50)

And It is known in advance that skill performance is closely related to special physical and motor abilities, as the mastery of skill performance depends on the extent to which the requirements for this performance are developed in terms of special physical and movement capabilities such as ( reaction speed - muscle power-  flexibility - agility - etc.) and often evaluates the level of performance Skills utilizing the extent of the individual's acquisition of these special physical and movement variables. (8:165)

The muscles of the core are the main physical and muscular center for the distribution of movement in the body, and for example, if the player moves the arms or legs, then he feels the movement of the core muscles and feels his physical and muscular center and leads to ease of movement control. Therefore, centering is the basis of movement performance and it is scientifically proven that the stability of the trunk is the group of muscles that work the stability of the abdomen, back, and thigh to perform the skill efficiently. (17:23) (2:61) (1)

Numerous researches have proven the importance and extent of the stability and rigidity of the lower part of the core in mastering human movements in general, as well as the increase in the efficiency of force production and the generation of more associated power and the movement of the limbs and control of their movements and the economy in the effort as a result of the stability and stability of the lower core area And surrounding muscles as a study by Sammson MK (2005)(20), Kibler (2006)(11), Willardson (2007)(24), Sata (2009)(19), Cissik, J.M. (2011)(6), Ali Hasoona (2012)(3), Sameh Tantawi, Sami Aker (2014)(18), Adel Muhammad (2017)(1).

Mohamed Sobhi (2004) believes that balance is an important physical ability that highlights its importance in daily life in general and in the field of physical education in particular, as it is an important component in the performance of motor skills, whether basic or complex skills. (16: 431)

 And the researcher believes that all the general and special physical characteristics required for the player to be possessed must be developed, in addition to the stability training of the trunk, which plays an important role in maintaining the balance of the body during movement, as the positioning is the basis of good motor performance, which is reflected in the skillful performance of the player, which helps to prepare the players physically. To be able to fulfill the requirements of the game's performance (physically, skillfully, and strategically) and to achieve the best possible level of achievement.

In light of the above and through the researcher's work as a table tennis trainer in addition to teaching table tennis at the Faculty of Physical Education at Sadat University, he sees the need to pay attention to the development of some important elements of physical fitness, which is reflected in the level of skill performance, and this is what prompted the researcher to design a program for trunk stability exercises and know its effect On the motor balance and the level of performance of some motor skills in table tennis.

Aims of the research:

To design a proposed program for core stability exercises for table tennis players, in an attempt to find out:

1. The effect of the proposed program on the Dynamicbalance for thesample under study.

2. The effect of the proposed program on the level of some physical variablesfor thesample under study.

3. The effect of the proposed program on the level of some skill variablesfor thesample under study.

Terminology of research:

CoreStability: Theabilityofthemusclesoftheabdomen, back, andthightocontrolthemovementperformed. (21:31)

Dynamic Balance: Theabilitytomaintainbodybalancewhilemoving. (15:334)

Methodology:

The researcher used the empirical approach because it is suitable for the nature of this study where it relied on the experimental design of the measurements (pre-, tracer, and Post) of one experimental group.

Sample

The research sample was been selected from players (Men) of the Alnasr sporting club in Oman. The sample of the research was (15) players, (10) players were selected to conduct exploratory studies, and (5) players for basic study, the researcher applied physical and skills abilities tests after that he applied for the training program thru core stability exercises throughout (10) weeks, then he performed measurements on physical and skills abilities test.

   Statistical characterization of the sample in the variables (Length, Weight, Age,and Training age) (N=10) (5 for exploratory studies & 10 for basic study)

Table (1) Shows the modality of the distribution of the sample in the variables (Length, Weight, Age, and Training Age) where the torsion coefficients

are limited to (±3) which makes it moderate in the distribution of the research sample in those variables.

Table (2)

   Statistical characterization of the sample in the physical and skill variables (N=10) (5 for exploratory studies & 5 for basic study)

Table (2) Shows the modality of the distribution of the sample in the physical and skill variables where the torsion coefficients are limited to (±3) which makes it moderate in the distribution of the research sample in those variables.

The proposed program for the Core Stability program:

According to the set goals of the program with its 3 stages and the degrees of training loads, the schedule was set for 10 weeks, at the rate of 3 units of core stability program every week. Thus, the proposed program included 30 units. The duration of each ranged from 90 – 120 minutes. Then, the researcher applied for the proposed Core stability program on the sample during the sports season 2018 / 2019 starting from Sunday 14 / 01 / 2018 to Thursday 22 / 03 / 2018. The program was applied under the supervision of the researcher and his assistants in special preparation period.

Methods of data collection:

Reference survey:

The researcher surveyed studies and scientific references in table tennis and sports training science that was available to the researcher to identify the global and professional variables in the operation of the research, as well as identify options in measuring these variables, as well as surveyed scientific references specialized in the sport of table tennis, defines basic skills in the sport of table tennis.

The tools used in the research:

The tape measure to measure the length "in centimeters" - the device for the thrower of the table tennis balls - a medical scale to measure the body weight "in kilograms" - table tennis - table tennis balls - cones - medical balls 1.5 kg weight - chalk - stopwatch - meter tape to measure distance - long ropes – Swedish ball – Bands - training mattresses.

Physical and skills tests used in the study:

- Passing test in (10) seconds ... to measure Motor speed.

- Passing accuracy test of movement ... to measure accuracy.

- The triangular jump test ... to measure agility.

- Numbered circuit test ... to measure coordination.

- Throwing a medical ball 1.5 kg test ... to measure Muscular Power.

- Fleishman Test … to measure flexibility.

- Ball ejected machine test ... to measure the speed of the striking hand's response.

-  Transition test between markers …to measure dynamic balance.

-Table test ... to measure performance endurance. (Edited by the researcher)

-Forehand counter drive test ... to measure Forehand counter drive.

-Backhand counter drive test ... to measure Backhand counter drive.

-Forehand Loop test ... to measure Forehand Loop drive.

-Backhand Loop test ... to measure Backhand Loop drive.

Scientific Transactions for Tests:

Validated Tests:

The validity of the tests was calculated by calculating the validity of differentiation by applying them to two groups of (5) players each. The first group represents AlNasr Sports Club players from the same research community and outside the research sample, and the participants in the League Table Tennis (Distinguished Group), while the second group represents the non-performance category from AlNasr Club players (Undistinguished group) on Sunday 7/1/2018, and the following table shows the significance of the differences between the two groups in all tests.

Table (3)

The significance of the differences between the two distinct and non-distinguishing groups in physical and skill tests (N1=N2=5)

“T” tabulated value at (0.05) = 2.306

Table (3) showing there are statistically significant differences between the (Distinct group/ non-distinguishing group) groups in the variables under study, which shows the difference between the two groups in these variables since the calculated “T” value is more than the tabulated “T” value. So that the tests can be used.

Stability for Tests:

 To find the stability of tests, the researcher applied the test and repeat it with a time interval of six days, and the researcher used Pearson’s simple correlation coefficient to find the correlation coefficient between the results of the first and second apply.

Table (4)

The Correlation coefficient between the results of the first and                     second apply of the tests under research N= (5)

It is evident from Table (4) that the value of correlation coefficients between the first and second apply for all variables ranged between (0.721 - 0.974), and these values ​​are statistically significant at a significance level (0.05), which indicates that they have high stability coefficients and the stability of the tests.

Statistical processing:

The researcher used the statistical program with the following statistical data: (Mean - Median - standard deviation - simple correlation coefficient Person – one way analysis of variance (Anova) - LSD test.

  The researcher took (0.05) to be statistically significant.

Results:

Table (5)

Statistical characterization of the pre-, tracer, and post for measurements          of the research sample in the study variables N=5

It is evident from Table (5), which indicates the homogeneity of the research sample and the possibility of processing it statistically.

Table (6)

One-way Anova of the pre-, tracer, and post for sample                    measurements in the variables under study N=5

“F” tabulated value at (0.05) = 3.880

Table (6) shows that there are statistically significant differences at a level of significance (0.05) between the measurements of the pre, tracer, and post research sample in all the variables under study, and to clarify the significance of the differences between these measurements ... The researcher will calculate the lowest significant difference using the LSD test.

Table (7)

The significance of the differences between the averages of the measurements of the pre, Tracer, and post for in all variables of the sample under study

Table (7) indicates that there are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.05) between the averages of the measurements of the pre, tracer and post research sample. In all variables in favor of the mean of the post measurement.

Discussion:

It is evident from the results of Table (6) that there are statistically significant differences at the level of significance between the measurements of the pre, tracer, and post research sample in the physical and skills variables, which are: ( Muscular power, Performance Endurance , Flexibility , Agility , coordination , Motor Speed , Reaction Speed , Precision ,  Static Balance , Dynamic Balance , Forehand counter drive , Backhand counter drive , Forehand   Loop,  Backhand  Loop ) of the sample under study.

To clarify the significance of the differences between these measurements, the researcher calculated the lowest meaning difference using the LSD test to determine the significance of the differences between these measurements, as Table (7) indicates that there are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.05) between the averages of the measurements of the pre, tracer and post research sample In the physical and skills variables in favor of the mean of the Post measurement.

The researcher attributes these incident differences to the construction of the training program using core stability exercises that were applied during the special preparation period and the preparation for competitions on table tennis players for the sample under study, which gives a positive indication of improvement in the level of physical and skills variables of the sample under study.

It is evident from Table (7) that showing there is statistically significant differences between the (pre, tracer, and post) measurements for the post measurement.

This is supported by Chabut (2009) that good and regular training of the core area leads to the cooperation between all the muscles in it and to perform the movements effectively and with more attractive force. (4)

This result is consistent with the results of the study of Cissik, JM.(2002)(5), Samson (2005)(20), Willardson(2007)(24), Kibler (2006)(11), Sata (2009)(19), Mohamed hamed ( 2013 )(14), Ihab ( 2013 )(10) Sameh & Sami(2014)(18), Mohamed Jamal ( 2016)(13), Adel Mohamed (2017)(1) indicate that Core stability exercises programs lead to an increase and improvement in Dynamic Balance, Physical and skill level.

       Through the above ... the researcher believes that the significance of the differences occurring between the averages of the research sample measurements is the subject of the research sample for the proposed core stability exercises program under consideration.

And which relied in its design on the scientific rules and foundations to develop and improve the level of physical and skill variables under study.

      This result verifies the validity of what was stated in the hypothesis, which states that “there are statistically significant differences between the averages of the pre-, tracer- and post-measurements in the level of some physical and skill variables under study in favor of the post-measurement.”

Conclusions:

According to the goals and nature of this study, and within the sample of the research and the methodology applied therein, as per the data collected by the researcher and the results of statistical analysis, the researcher reached the following conclusions:

1-    The Core Stability exercises program is effective in the improvement of Dynamic Balance for table tennis players.

2-    The Core Stability exercises program is effective in the improvement of Physical Variables for table tennis players.

3-    The Core Stability exercises program is effective in the improvement of some skills variables for table tennis players.

Reference