THE EFFECTS OF KiNESiO TAPING APPLIED TO THE FOOT AREA ON THE SPEED, AGILITY AND BALANCE PERFORMANCE OF TABLE TENNIS ATHLETES

This study aims to reveal the effect of kinezio taping applied to the foot area of athletes interested in active table tennis sport on speed, agility and balance performance. Fifteen male individuals who practice table tennis for at least 4 days a week and have an average age of 11.13 +/- 0.83 (years), a mean body weight of 42.53 +/- 3.11 (kg), and a mean height of 149.60 +/- 6.95 (cm) were included in the study. Measurements were limited to the Proagility agility test, 5-10-15m speed test and balance test. Each parameter measurement was applied 2 times by applying kinesio tape (KT) and as a colored tape to create a placebo effect (PT). The age, height and body weight values of the participants in the study were given as mean and standard deviation. Whether the data showed normal distribution was tested by the Shapiro-Wilks test. Paired Samples Test was used to determine the difference between the measurement averages of dependent groups. The significance level was accepted as 0.05. After PT and KT applications of the participants; A significant difference was found between the agility test PT and KT (t = 4.97; p = 0.00), between 5m PT and KT applications (t = 5.79; p = 0.00), and between 10m PT and KT applications (t = 3.63; p = 0.00). No significant difference was found between 15m PT and KT applications (t = 1.10; p = 0.28). On the other hand in the mean balance error scores, a statistically significant difference was detected between Eyes Open Balance Error Score (EOBES) and PT and KT applications (t = 4.00; p = 0.00) and between Eyes Closed Balance Error Score (ECBES) and PT and KT applications (t = 4.25; p = 0.00). The study showed that kinesio taping improved agility, speed, and balance performances in table tennis players. Researchers are recommended to conduct studies in different age groups, including other motor skill tests.