Article Details

Construction of a Skill Test for Table Tennis Players | Original Article

Pushpendra Purashwani*, in International Journal of Physical Education & Sports Sciences | Physical Education, Health, Fitness & Sports

ABSTRACT:

The purpose of this study was to construct a skill test for Table Tennis players. The subjects were forty male state and national level Table Tennis players. They were from different districts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The Skill Test for Table Tennis Players consisted of four items namely, Push Stroke Test- 1) Fore Hand Cross Court Push Test, 2) Back Hand Cross Court Push Test, 3) Alternate Push Test {at left hand and right hand corner for right handed and left handed players respectively}, Fore Hand High Toss (Back Spin/Side Spin or Combination) Service Test- 1) Short Service Test, 2) Extreme Side Service Test, 3) Target Service Test, Counter Stroke Test- 1) Fore Hand Cross Court Counter Test, 2) Back Hand Cross Court Counter Test, 3) Alternate Test {at left hand and right hand corner for right handed and left handed players respectively} and Drive on Target Test- 1) Fore Hand Drive on Fore Hand Push, 2) Back Hand Drive on Back Hand Push, 3) Fore Hand Drive with foot movement after playing Back Hand Push on the left/right half of the table for right/left handed players. Thus, each test item consisted of three sub tests. The scientific authenticity of the test was established by computing reliability, objectivity and validity. Reliability of the tests were obtained by using Test-retest method, objectivity was established by computing Product Moment Correlation between the marks given on each test item by two experts on the basis of their independent judgment. Validity of the test was obtained by correlating scores of each subject on the test items with the scores on playing ability of the subject as rated by a panel of three qualified Table-Tennis Experts. Keeping scientific authenticity coefficient of different test items in mind, the investigators selected a battery of four skill tests, namely, Alternate Push Test (at left and right hand corner for right and left handed players), Target Service Test, Alternate Counter Test (at left and right hand corner for right and left handed players), Fore Hand Drive Test with foot movement after playing backhand push on left/right half of the table for right/left handed players. The validity of the battery of Table-Tennis Skill Test for Table-Tennis players was obtained by correlating the scores obtained by the 40 subjects in all selected test items with the playing ability of the subjects rated by the panel of three Table-Tennis Experts. The validity co-efficient of correlation obtained was 0.8715.