A topspin rate exceeding 110 rps reduces the ball time of arrival to the opponent: a table tennis rally study

This study experimentally investigated the factors affecting the time a table tennis ball with topspin takes to reach the opponent. Six skilled young players and one coach performed topspin forehand strokes under the observation of three high-speed cameras. As the distribution of the participants' measurements was uneven, additional data were collected using a launching machine that could control the ball speed and spin. To verify the effect of the spin rate on speed decay by drag, the translational speed was measured at 0.15 s after passing the baseline (23 m/s); the balls with topspin ≥110 rps, close to participants' average (117 ± 29 rps) were 1.4 m/s faster than those with topspin ≤80 rps. The horizontal ball speed changed in the range of -3.1 to 2.6 m/s owing to table bounce. At topspins ≥110 rps the ball reached a point 1 m past the end line (estimated receiving position) 27 ± 5 ms faster than at topspins ≤80 rps, for the same initial speed. The relationship between spin rate and travel time was non-linear with boundaries at 80 and 110 rps. Therefore, maintaining a spin rate of ≥ 110 rps along with a high initial speed is an effective strategy for reducing the opponent's preparation time.