The effect of caffeine consumption on some skill indicators and motor fitness of elite table tennis players

The caffeine, as a psychoactive supplement, is widely used by the athletes, however the effectiveness of its consumption in different periods of training and sports was not understood. The purpose of present study was to determine the effect of caffeine consumption on some skill indicators and motor fitness in elite table tennis players of Sabzevar. Fourteen male elite table tennis players (mean age 29±11.6 years, height 175±7.79 cm and weight 77.07±15.26 kg) volunteered for the research. The study design was crossover, in which the subjects placed in 3 different conditions of control (Con), caffeine consumption [(C), 5 mg/kg], and placebo consumption (Starch powder as capsule), with a period of one day between the conditions. In each session, subjects performed forehand, backhand, and service techniques, and also agility and reaction time tests. The data were analyzed by the ANOVA repeated measures and Bonferoni post hoc tests and the level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. The results showed that caffeine consumption had no significant effect on the physical fitness and skill indicators (p>0.05). Consumption of 5 mg/kg caffeine has no effect on improvement of skill indicators and motor fitness of elite table tennis players.