Biomechanical Analysis of Table Tennis Racket Performance Using Makassar Ebony Veneer: A Comparative Study

Authors

  • Wachid Sugiharto Wahid Universitas Negeri Surabaya

Keywords:

Biomechanical Analysis, Tennis Racket, Performance, Makassar Ebony Veneer

Abstract

Background of study: Sports equipment such as table tennis rackets have developed rapidly where the bounce factor related to the speed and control of the table tennis racket plays an important role in determining the victory of athletes. A bad racket bounce can interfere with the game strategy. Therefore, developing a table tennis racket that improves speed and control is essential.

Aims and scope of paper: The main objective of this research is to analyze the biomechanical performance of a table tennis racket blade constructed with Makassar ebony veneer and to compare its attributes specifically speed and control with those of a high-end commercial racket.

Methods: This study applies a comparative design by comparing two types of rackets in the sport of table tennis. Two-dimensional kinematics analysis was also conducted using Kinovea software.

Result: Based on the results of the t-test with a non-parametric path, all variables showed a very significant difference with a p value of 0.00 (Sig < 0.05). However, there was one variable that did not show a significant difference, namely the velocity variable, with a p value of 0.05 (Sig < 0.05). If examined from the average value, the speed variable has a slight difference, namely only a difference of 0.5. The average speed data, shows that the macassar ebony wood veneer racket has better speed.

Conclusion: Based on the results of biomechanical analysis, the reflection of the Makassar ebony wood veneer racket makes a good contribution to the speed and control of the table tennis racket. This finding has practical implications for designing an effective table tennis athlete smash and block game by utilizing the speed and control of a table tennis racket using Makassar ebony wood veneer.

References

Bańkosz, Z., & Winiarski, S. (2018). Correlations between Angular Velocities in Selected Joints and Velocity of Table Tennis Racket during Topspin Forehand and Backhand. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 17(2), 330. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5950751/

Bao, W., Tan, Y., Ying, Z., Xue, R., Xu, X., Duan, S., Lin, H., & Chen, H. (2025). An Investigation of the Mechanical Properties of Ti Films Reinforced with Wood Composites by Growing Ti Particles on a Wood Substrate. Polymers, 17(5), 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/POLYM17050583/S1

Brich, Q., Casals, M., Crespo, M., Reid, M., & Baiget, E. (2024). Quantifying Hitting Load in Racket Sports: A Scoping Review of Key Technologies. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 19(6), 519–532. https://doi.org/10.1123/IJSPP.2023-0385

Buragohain, M. K. (2017). Composite structures: Design, mechanics, analysis, manufacturing, and testing. Composite Structures: Design, Mechanics, Analysis, Manufacturing, and Testing, 1–732. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315268057/COMPOSITE-STRUCTURES-MANOJ-KUMAR-BURAGOHAIN/RIGHTS-AND-PERMISSIONS

Chou, C. Y., Chen, Z. H., Sheu, Y. H., Chen, H. H., Sun, M. Te, & Wu, S. K. (2025). TTSwing: a Dataset for Table Tennis Swing and Racket Kinematics Analysis. Scientific Data , 12(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/S41597-025-04680-Y;SUBJMETA=166,639,692,700;KWRD=ENGINEERING,HEALTH+CARE

Deng, J., Wei, X., Zhou, H., Wang, G., & Zhang, S. (2020). Inspiration from table tennis racket: Preparation of rubber-wood-bamboo laminated composite (RWBLC) and its response characteristics to cyclic perpendicular compressive load. Composite Structures, 241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.112135

Han, L. (2022). A Table Tennis Motion Correction System Based on Human Motion Feature Recognition. Security and Communication Networks, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/7049429

Iino, Y., & Kojima, T. (2016). Effect of the racket mass and the rate of strokes on kinematics and kinetics in the table tennis topspin backhand. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(8), 721–729. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2015.1069377,

Jia, M., Sun, B., Jia, M., Liu, Y., & Zhang, D. (2025). Comparative study on the performance of different table tennis rubbers. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1177/17543371241310338;CSUBTYPE:STRING:AHEAD

Kumamoto, R., Loh, P. Y., He, Y., Ferlinghetti, E., Lancini, M., & Uno, T. (2025). Impacts of Racket Handle Design on Table Tennis Topspin Forehand Rally Performance Among Beginner Players. Sports 2025, Vol. 13, Page 22, 13(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/SPORTS13010022

Langitan, F. W. (2018). The Influence of Training Strategy and Physical Condition toward Forehand Drive Ability in Table Tennis. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 306(1), 012043. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/306/1/012043

Lanzoni, I. M., Bartolomei, S., Michele, R. Di, Gu, Y., Baker, J. S., Fantozzi, S., & Cortesi, M. (2021). Kinematic Analysis of the Racket Position during the Table Tennis Top Spin Forehand Stroke. Applied Sciences 2021, Vol. 11, Page 5178, 11(11), 5178. https://doi.org/10.3390/APP11115178

Lees, A. (2003). Science and the major racket sports: A review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 21(9). https://doi.org/10.1080/0264041031000140275

Li, W., Liu, X., An, K., Qin, C., & Cheng, Y. (2023). Table Tennis Track Detection Based on Temporal Feature Multiplexing Network. Sensors, 23(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/s23031726

Li, X. Y. (2022). Study on The Performance of Table Tennis Racket Made of Carbon Fiber By Numerical Simulation. Journal of Technology, 37(3).

Liu, C., Hayakawa, Y., & Nakashima, A. (2012). Racket control and its experiments for robot playing table tennis. 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics, ROBIO 2012 - Conference Digest, 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBIO.2012.6490973

Liu, J. Q., Wang, B., Zhao, X., & Dou, Y. (2014). The Application of Rubber Materials on Table Tennis Racket. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 473, 116–120. https://doi.org/10.4028/WWW.SCIENTIFIC.NET/AMM.473.116

Lu, Y., Ren, J., Wang, J., & Wang, Y. (2024). Effect of table tennis balls with different materials and structures on the hardness and elasticity. PLOS ONE, 19(4), e0301560. https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0301560

Manin, L., Poggi, M., & Havard, N. (2012). Vibrations of table tennis racket composite wood blades: modeling and experiments. Procedia Engineering, 34, 694–699. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PROENG.2012.04.118

Miyazawa, Y., Hadano, A., & Tanaka, K. (2020). Effects of Pimple Height of a Table Tennis Rubber on Ball Rebound Behavior. Proceedings 2020, Vol. 49, Page 55, 49(1), 55. https://doi.org/10.3390/PROCEEDINGS2020049055

Mousset, K., Violette, L., & Épron, A. (2021). The ITTF and Olympic recognition of table tennis: from pure amateurism to the Asian markets (1926–1988). Sport in History, 41(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2021.1919187

Rinaldi, R. G., Manin, L., Moineau, S., & Havard, N. (2019). Table Tennis Ball Impacting Racket Polymeric Coatings: Experiments and Modeling of Key Performance Metrics. Applied Sciences 2019, Vol. 9, Page 158, 9(1), 158. https://doi.org/10.3390/APP9010158

Sun, W. M., Zhang, S. Q., & Hao, S. R. (2012). The Soleplate Materials and Performance of Table Tennis Bat with the Composite Properties of Materials in Material Engineering. Advanced Materials Research, 583, 232–235. https://doi.org/10.4028/WWW.SCIENTIFIC.NET/AMR.583.232

Tabrizi, S. S., Pashazadeh, S., & Javani, V. (2020). Data acquired by a single object sensor for the detection and quality evaluation of table tennis forehand strokes. Data in Brief, 33, 106504. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.DIB.2020.106504

Wang, J. (2012). Application of Composite Materials on Sports Equipments. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 155–156, 903–906. https://doi.org/10.4028/WWW.SCIENTIFIC.NET/AMM.155-156.903

Wong, D. W. C., Lee, W. C. C., & Lam, W. K. (2020). Biomechanics of Table Tennis: A Systematic Scoping Review of Playing Levels and Maneuvers. Applied Sciences 2020, Vol. 10, Page 5203, 10(15), 5203. https://doi.org/10.3390/APP10155203

Yin, T., Hao, L., Zhao, X., Fu, Z., Liu, C., & He, S. (2024). Dynamic characteristics and mechanisms of table tennis blades with the inclusion of special fiber laminates[含有特种纤维夹层的乒乓球拍底板动特性与机制]. Fuhe Cailiao Xuebao/Acta Materiae Compositae Sinica, 41(3), 1626–1632. https://doi.org/10.13801/j.cnki.fhclxb.20230703.002

Yıldızbaş, A., Özlüsoylu, İ., İstek, A., Tenisi Raket Tahtası Üretimi ve Özellikleri, M., Endüstri Mühendisliği Bölümü, O., Fakültesi, O., Üniversitesi, B., & Makale Tarihçesi, T. (2022). Table Tennis Blade Production and Features. Bartın Orman Fakültesi Dergisi, 24(2), 394–404. https://doi.org/10.24011/BAROFD.1085278

Zhou, X., Wang, L., Huang, D., Liang, Y., Shi, Q., Yaying, H., Zhang, M., Pu, H., Wen, W., & Wu, J. (2021). Smart Table Tennis Racket with Tunable Stiffness for Diverse Play Styles and Unconventional Technique Training (Adv. Mater. Technol. 10/2021). Advanced Materials Technologies, 6(10), 2170056. https://doi.org/10.1002/ADMT.202170056

Zhu, X., Zhang, M., Wang, X., Jia, C., & Zhang, Y. (2022). A Portable and Low-Cost Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Wheelchair Table Tennis Monitoring. Electronics (Switzerland), 11(24), 4189. https://doi.org/10.3390/ELECTRONICS11244189/S1

Downloads

Published

2025-08-22

How to Cite

Sugiharto Wahid, W. (2025). Biomechanical Analysis of Table Tennis Racket Performance Using Makassar Ebony Veneer: A Comparative Study. Proceeding of International Joint Conference on UNESA, 3(1), 189–204. Retrieved from https://proceeding.unesa.ac.id/index.php/pijcu/article/view/6246

Issue

Section

Articles