Effects of body mass index and full body kinematics on tennis serve speed

K. H. Francis WONG, H. K. Jackie KEUNG, Newman M. L. LAU, Kei Shing Douglas NG, Wai Yee Joanne CHUNG, Hung Kay Daniel CHOW

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Effective training to improve serve speed is important for competitive tennis players. The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of anthropometric factors and whole body kinematics of elite players on ball speed and to propose possible training strategies for improving the quality of tennis serves. Body and racket kinematics of tennis serves of 12 male elite Hong Kong players were investigated. The tennis serve was divided into four phases: I) Back-Swing Phase, II) Lead-Leg-Drive Phase, III) Forward-Swing Phase, and IV) Follow-Through Phase. It was shown that racket-side knee range of motion during phases II and III (r=0.705; p<0.05), racket-side knee peak extension velocity during phase II (r=0.751; p<0.01), racket-side hip peak extension velocity during phase II (r=0.657; p<0.05), racket-side shoulder range of motion in the coronal plane during phase III (r=0.616; p<0.05), racket-side elbow peak extension velocity during phase III (r=0.708; p<0.01) and body mass index (r=0.577; p<0.05) were significantly correlated with ball speed. Body mass index and the identified kinematic parameters that were significantly correlated with ball speed could be used as training guidelines for coaches and players to improve serve speed. Players should pay particular attention in training to increasing the extension velocity and range of motion of the identified joints. Copyright © 2014 Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)21-28
JournalJournal of Human Kinetics
Volume40
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2014

Citation

Wong, F. K. H., Keung, J. H. K., Lau, N. M., Ng, D. K. S., Chung, J. W. Y., & Chow, D. H. K. (2014). Effects of body mass index and full body kinematics on tennis serve speed. Journal of Human Kinetics, 40(1), 21-28.

Keywords

  • Tennis serve
  • Sport kinematics
  • Ball speed

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of body mass index and full body kinematics on tennis serve speed'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.