Fastpong Table Tennis Training System
Introduction
Table tennis has been slower to adopt technology than many other sports. One major impediment was that there is little data readily available outside of match results. Fastpong Corp., a sports technology company based in S. Korea, launched a product on Table Tennis Day (23rd April) in 2022 designed to take advantage of the benefits of visual stimuli training, real-time feedback and performance tracking.
The initial system was composed of specialised hardware and software and a mobile app.
Three years later a second product was launched that integrated control of the ball-shooter (aka robot) into the system along with an updated mobile app and updated electronics although the tiles kept the same external format.
This is one of the few technologies that have been introduced into the sport in recent years.[1]
Hardware (Tiles & Robot)
The tiles are composed of 4 connecting boards, which are placed on one side of the table tennis table. Each board has 2 tiles, which light up to present targets for the player and sensors that detect when a ball strikes.
The blue acrylic tiles have bevelled edges, a sensor and each one is supported by nine springs to avoid any dead points. The connectors in the sides of the boards also contain magnets to keep the boards firmly attached to each other during usage. Each tile contains both blue and green LEDs which shine through the acrylic, indicating both the target and on which tile the ball has landed.
A ball sensor is attached to the ball-shooter to detect when each ball is launched to measure statistics, timings and synchronise changing the target to coincide with each new ball. The ball-shooter sends ball after ball to the other end of the table for the player to hit; this is known as multi-ball training.
Software
Full control of the device is via the Fastpong mobile application on android or ios although limited functionality is also possible by pressing the manual buttons on the side of the system.
The second generation of the system launched in April 2025 can connect directly to a ball-shooter and automatically configure them from the mobile application in conjunction with the targets.
The second generation of the mobile application supports a large variety of functions including
- group coaching
- sessions comprising many different exercises
- historical and aggregate statistics
- ranking and rating tests
Benefits
Visual Stimuli Training
Many sports are adopting devices for improving and tracking the performance of the players.[2] Visual stimuli training has been shown to improve cognitive motor skills.[3]
Performance Tracking
Data from training is gathered on the mobile application. The player is able to track their progress, and analyse their strengths and weaknesses as well as take tests to determine their local and global ranking.
Parkinson's Disease
There have been several studies regarding the benefits of table tennis training in Parkinson's Disease.[4][5] There is an annual World Parkinson's Table Tennis Championship[6] and the Fastpong system is in use in Parkinson's Centres around the world including the United States, Germany, Israel and Japan.
University Research
Several universities in Korea, Germany and Greece have begun using the Fastpong system in their research.
Adoption Worldwide
The system is already being used by Table Tennis Federations as well as at table tennis clubs and individuals in over 40 countries around the world. Samsung's professional team was an early adopter and used a beta unit in 2021 before it became available to the public.[7]
References
- ↑ Udomvirojsin, Chareerat; Vongsrangsap, Suppawan (June 2023). "Innovation and Technology in Table Tennis". ACPES Journal of Physical Education, Sport, and Health. 3 (1): 86–94. doi:10.15294/ajpesh.v3i1.
- ↑ Ghosh, Indrajeet; Ramasamy Ramamurthy, Sreenivasan; Chakma, Avijoy; Roy, Nirmalya (March 2023). "Sports analytics review: Artificial intelligence applications, emerging technologies, and algorithmic perspective". Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery. 13 (5). doi:10.1002/widm.1496. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Kamandi, Amir; Kim, SeonJin (November 2018). "Effect of Visual Stimuli Training on Reaction Time, Decision Making and Performance Accuracy of Table Tennis Player". Conference: 2018 Global Sport Science Conference. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.19917.59366.
- ↑ Inoue, Kenichi; Fujioka, Shinsuke; Nagaki, Koichi; Suenaga, Midori; Kimura, Kazuki; Yonekura, Yukiko; Yamaguchi, Yoshiki; Kitano, Kosuke; Imamura, Ritsuko; Uehara, Yoshinari; Kikuchi, Hitoshi; Matsunaga, Yoichi; Tsuboi, Yoshio (2021-01-01). "Table tennis for patients with Parkinson's disease: A single-center, prospective pilot study". Clinical Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. 4: 100086. doi:10.1016/j.prdoa.2020.100086. ISSN 2590-1125. PMC 8299968 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 34316664 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Olsson, Karin; Franzén, Erika; Johansson, Anders (2020-09-01). "A Pilot Study of the Feasibility and Effects of Table Tennis Training in Parkinson Disease". Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation. 2 (3). doi:10.1016/j.arrct.2020.100064. ISSN 2590-1095. PMC 7853352 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 33543090 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ "World Parkinson's TT Championships - ITTF Foundation". ittffoundation.org. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
- ↑ FastPong (2021-11-29). Samsung working out with the FastPong table tennis training system. Retrieved 2025-02-28 – via YouTube.
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