DESIGNING A DIGITAL-BASED INSTRUMENT OF FOREHAND SERVICE BALL PLACEMENT ACCURACY FOR TABLE TENNIS

The application of technology in the world of sports is able to support athletes' efforts from an early age, so that achievements of athletes can be improved faster, and it will be more efficient. The aim of this research is to design a digital-based instrument of forehand service ball placement accuracy for table tennis. The traditional instrument of ball placement accuracy has several weaknesses, so athletes and coaches find it difficult to observe the accuracy of the ball carefully, and are impractical. This was a Research and Development (R&D) study which adopting 7 steps, namely: (1) potential and problems; (2) information collection; (3) product design; (4) design validation; (5) design improvements; (6) product testing, and (7) product revision. The product produced is a digital-based instrument of ball placement accuracy for table tennis by using an electrical circuit automatically arranged when the ball touches the instrument, producing an output data in the form of an automatic count in accordance with the number of balls that touch the tool. Results of output data will be displayed on the LCD display, so that users can immediately record the data when the ball touches the accuracy instrument