Effects of Different Ball Size and Ability on Table Tennis Backhand Block Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different ball size and ability on table tennis backhand block learning and rate of progress in students. In this study, experimental group adopted the teaching method with 44 mm ball, while control group adopted the traditional teaching method with 40 mm ball. Both groups followed the same procedures of pre-test, experiment and post-test. The data were examined by the paired samples t-test, two-way ANCOVA and two-way ANOVA. The results were as follows: (1) The students' backhand block learning have significant improvement in addition to the higher ability students of the control group. (2) Comparing the ball size, the experimental group showed better backhand block learning skill than the control group. However, no significant differences were noticed on different abilities of students learning. For the rate of progress, the performance of students with lower ability is better than those with average ability, and the performance of students with average ability is better than those with higher ability in both experimental and control groups. In conclusion, students could effectively gain the skills of backhand block from the college table tennis classes by the teaching of tennis with 44 mm table tennis ball. This study suggested that it is a good teaching method in basic motor learning on table tennis backhand block with 44 mm ball to enhance the student's ability.