Table tennis practice reduces gender gap in eye–hand response time: A cross-sectional study

Gender difference in response time (RT) is well known, however, whether table tennis (TT) practice is capable of reducing the gap in RT between men and women is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the eye–hand RT among collegiate TT athletes (n=62) and non-athletes (n=108) of both gender. The FITLIGHT Trainer™ System was used to measure static eye–hand RT of both hands in five conditions: simple RT at zero distance; simple RT at shoulder distance; choice RT at zero distance; choice RT at shoulder distance; and choice RT at random distance. Results showed that RTs increased from simple to choice trials and from zero to random and then to shoulder-distance trials. There was no significant gender difference in all RTs among TT athletes (p>0.05). Female TT athletes responded significantly faster than did female non-athletes in choice at zero and at shoulder distance for both hands (p<0.05). No significant difference in RT was observed among male TT athletes and non-athletes. In conclusion, male and female TT athletes have similar eye–hand RT, suggesting that TT practice reduces gender difference in eye–hand RT. The better RT in athletes than non-athletes was only seen among women, but not among men.