Miroslav, Smajić, Slobodan, Suvajdžin, Željko, Krneta, Nebojša, Čokorilo, Valdemar, Štajer, Branko, Đukić
In the course of a systematic training process of table tennis players, the basis of planning and programming training is an analysis of competitive activity and monitoring the psychomotor level of players. On the basis of this analysis, significant guidelines are identified for initial and stage-developed selection in table tennis, as well as the information on the basis of which it is possible to plan and program the training process. Assessment of morphological characteristics and motor abilities can help the development of talented tennis players. The aim of this research was to determine differences in morphological characteristics and motor abilities of cadet table tennis players and children of pupils non-athletes. Research is performed on the sample of 49 male adolescent examinees from AP Vojvodina, 24 of whom are table tennis players belonging to five clubs, whereas 25 are 7th-grade students of elementary school OŠ "Sveti Sava" from Kikinda. For assessment of morphological characteristics three measures are applied, whilst nine tests are used to determine motor abilities. The occurrence of statistically significant differences is determined by means of multivariant and univariant analysis of variance for motor abilities, and the t-test for morphological characteristics. Based on the analysis of the results of differences in anthropometric variables using an independent t test, a similar level of growth of long tubular bones, state of nutrition and body weight of two analyzed subunits can be noted (p> .05). No statistically significant differences were found in the three analyzed anthropometric variables: body height, body mass, BMI. Based on Wilks λ values, it is concluded that there is a statistically significant difference (P = 0.00) between the table tennis players of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and boys from Kikinda who are not engaged in sports in terms of their motor abilities, taking into account the whole system of applied variables. Table tennis players tend to be different from non-athletes in terms of significantly better coordination, explosive strength, and the speed of individual movements, as well as the static strength of arms and shoulder girdle and repetitive strength of trunk, which could be correlated with the structure of table tennis play and transformations attributable to the effects of systematic training and every-day engagement in sports activities.
