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The purpose of the study was to identify the relationships between segmental angular momentum and ball velocity between the following events: ball toss, maximal elbow flexion (MEF), racket lowest point (RLP), maximal shoulder external rotation (MER), and ball impact (BI). Ten tennis players performed serves recorded with a real-time motion capture....
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... serve was divided into four meaningful phases between the five following events: BT, instant of MEF of the racket arm, instant when the racket reached its RLP, instant of MER of the racket-arm shoulder, and ball impact (BI). BT and BI were determined by direct observation of the recorded data and the times of the other events were calculated from kinematic data (Figure 3). ...
Context 2
... player expressed in a right-handed inertial reference frame the origin of which is located at the centre of the baseline. The x -axis was parallel to the baseline with the y -axis pointing forward and z -axis being vertically upward ( Figure 1). Post-impact ball velocity was measured using a radar gun (Stalker Professional Sports Radar, Plano, TX, USA; accuracy 1⁄4 ^ 1 mph; frequency 1⁄4 34.7 GHz; target acquisition time 1⁄4 0.01 s) fixed on a 2.5 m height tripod located at 2 m behind the players with the axis aligned in the direction of the serve. The serve was divided into four meaningful phases between the five following events: BT, instant of MEF of the racket arm, instant when the racket reached its RLP, instant of MER of the racket-arm shoulder, and ball impact (BI). BT and BI were determined by direct observation of the recorded data and the times of the other events were calculated from kinematic data (Figure 3). To evaluate the relationships between segmental angular momentum and ball velocity, mean angular momentums of the trunk and the dominant upper limb segments (upper arm, forearm, and hand-racket) about the transverse axis ( x -axis of the inertial reference frame parallel to the baseline; also called the somersault axis by tennis coaches) and the anteroposterior axis ( y -axis of the inertial reference frame normal to the baseline and pointing towards the net; shoulder-over-shoulder axis) (Figure 1): only the segmental angular momentums about these two axes were used because the longitudinal ...
Similar publications
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of rotation axes during a tennis serve. A motion capture system was used to evaluate the contribution of the potential axes of rotation (minimum inertia axis, shoulder-centre of mass axis and the shoulder-elbow axis) during the four discrete tennis serve phases (loading, cocking, acceleration and f...
Citations
... Players who possess the skill to execute a high serve speed can launch a powerful attack, apply pressure on their opponents, and reduce their reaction time, resulting in difficulties for their opponents to return the serve as intended. The efficient production of high-speed shots, particularly on the serve, is a crucial factor in the success of tennis players [7]. A significant correlation between the match-winning probability and the serve speed has been established in a previous study [8]. ...
In tennis, the serve plays a key role in determining the success of a player. The speed of a serve is influenced by a multitude of interconnected skills and abilities. The objective of this study was to establish the correlation between the explosive strength of the throwing type, the grip strength and flexibility of the arms, and the shoulder girdle with the serve speed in young female tennis players. Additionally, the study aimed to develop a regression model that accurately predicts the serve speed by analyzing the interplay among these variables. The study was carried out on a group of 20 tennis players, who had an average age of 13.10 ± 0.74 years. Additionally, their height was recorded as 165.70 ± 4.90 cm, and their body mass was measured at 51.45 ± 5.84 kg. To assess the motor abilities of the upper extremities, four tests were used that aimed to measure the explosive strength of the throwing type; one test was for the strength of the hand and forearm muscles, and one test was for the flexibility of the arms and shoulder girdle. Of all the variables examined, the medicine ball throw shot put (MBTSP) (r = 0.75), overhead medicine ball throw (OMBT) (r = 0.70), and grip strength (GS) (r = 0.71) displayed a notable correlation with serve speed (p < 0.05). The results obtained from the multiple regression analysis indicate that the combination of selected predictors (MBTSP—medicine ball throw shot put, OMBT—overhead medicine ball throw and GS—grip strength) explained 75% of the variability in serve speed. Significantly, MBTSP surfaced as the predominant predictor, autonomously elucidating 51% of the variability in serve speed. The importance of improving the analyzed motor skills of young female tennis players to enhance their serve in terms of speed is emphasized by the findings of this research.
... 5,[11][12][13]27,29,33 Sport-specific adaptations in flexibility and strength of the glenohumeral joint may also result in shoulder pain in tennis players, due to the unilateral and repetitive nature of tennis, biomechanically overloading the upper extremity. 20,21 Furthermore, tennis players with a history of shoulder pain have decreased bilateral IR and total ROM, 26 but there might not be an association between shoulder ROM and risk of injury. 32 Finally, understanding the musculoskeletal shoulder ROM could assist in the development of injury prevention programs and advance the development of conditioning and rehabilitation programs. ...
Background
To compare shoulder range of motion (ROM) in dominant vs. nondominant shoulder of competitive tennis players, and to determine whether shoulder ROM is different between younger and older players, or males and females.
Methods
A search was performed on PubMed, Embase, and Epistemonikos on December 18, 2023. This study conforms to the principles of the Cochrane Collaboration and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines. Clinical studies or case reports on shoulder ROM including external rotation (ER; shoulder at 90° of abduction) and internal rotation (IR) in competitive, elite, or professional tennis players.
Results
We found 25 eligible studies that reported on a total of 18,534 tennis players, of which 20 studies reported the ROM for the dominant and nondominant side. Comparing dominant vs. nondominant shoulders revealed that dominant shoulders had significantly smaller IR (53.0° vs. 62.6°; P < .001). Comparing adults vs. children revealed that adults have significantly smaller IR (44.5° vs. 57.1°; P < .001) and ER (95.3° vs. 110.3°; P < .001). Comparing females vs. males revealed no significant differences in ER (113.4° vs. 104.9°; P = .360) or IR (54.3° vs. 56.4°; P = .710).
Conclusion
IR in shoulders of tennis players is significantly smaller in dominant vs. nondominant sides (53.0° vs. 62.6°, P < .001), and significantly smaller in adults vs. children (44.5° vs. 57.1°, P < .001). These findings could be relevant in the context of physical preparation and training of tennis players, to monitor evolution of IR as a result of their sport and/or as they transition from childhood to adulthood.
... Muscle activation can directly affect angular momentum [13]. A correlation between angular momentum and distal velocity was found in previous tennis research [14]. ...
To win a taekwondo competition, more points must be scored, and the key to scoring points is to improve the motor performance of the kick. The wing kick is an offensive and defensive maneuver. Core stability appears to be important for improving athletic performance, but the specific relationship and effect of core stability on athletic performance in the aerial phase of taekwondo is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between core stability and athletic performance in taekwondo in order to provide appropriate theoretical support for training and to help coaches and athletes to improve athletic performance. A total of 16 subjects (height: 167.34±9.2 cm; weight: 61±8.96 kg; age: 24.7±3.25 years) were studied. Data were captured using 13 infrared cameras at 120Hz, kinematic and kinetic data were captured using a motivated motion capture system, and the data were exported to Visual3D in order to calculate the execution time of the aerial phase, the angular momentum of the left lower extremity, and MVC analysis of the EMG using EMG works. The core stability level of the subjects were measured using the Sahrmann Core Stability Test (SCST) to correlate with the other data, and then the subjects were grouped according to their core stability levels and the data from both groups were analyzed with t-tests. Results During the double fly lifting of aerial segments, SCST levels showed a very strong negative correlation with execution time (r= -0.739) and there was a statistically significant difference in execution time between high and low SCST levels (p < 0.001), and the desired negative correlation was also seen in lower limb angular momentum X-axis (thigh r= -0.6294, shank r= -0.536, foot r= -0.6175), especially in the X-axis. The left rectus femoris (LRF) data had greater activation in the low SCST group(p=0.0019*). Through this experiment, we found that athletes with high core stability had faster execution times, lower angular momentum, and higher core muscle activation. Therefore, we conclude that incorporating core stability training into taekwondo training has the potential to improve kicking performance.
... The true hand position is also unknown, and this necessitates a way to reconstruct it jointly with the unknown ball position. We expect specific use cases that are already active areas of research beyond our application to juggling, such as the study of the relation between a pro tennis player's serve and ball velocity [15] or between elbow stress and ball trajectory [16]. These are all scenarios in which information about either object kinematics or body kinematics is not sufficient. ...
Full-body motion capture is essential for the study of body movement. Video-based, markerless, mocap systems are, in some cases, replacing marker-based systems, but hybrid systems are less explored. We develop methods for coregistration between 2D video and 3D marker positions when precise spatial relationships are not known a priori. We illustrate these methods on three-ball cascade juggling in which it was not possible to use marker-based tracking of the balls, and no tracking of the hands was possible due to occlusion. Using recorded video and motion capture, we aimed to transform 2D ball coordinates into 3D body space as well as recover details of hand motion. We proposed four linear coregistration methods that differ in how they optimize ball-motion constraints during hold and flight phases, using an initial estimate of hand position based on arm and wrist markers. We found that minimizing the error between ball and hand estimate was globally suboptimal, distorting ball flight trajectories. The best-performing method used gravitational constraints to transform vertical coordinates and ball-hold constraints to transform lateral coordinates. This method enabled an accurate description of ball flight as well as a reconstruction of wrist movements. We discuss these findings in the broader context of video/motion capture coregistration.
... Ball toss kinematics are characterized by the position of the ball relative to the player and the court at three main events/points during the serve delivery: release, peak vertical height, and impact with the strings/racket. To represent the ball's position at the moment of impact (one frame prior to a racket-ball contact), the term ball impact (BI) is used [12][13][14][15]. The BI location is calculated in the global coordinate system relative to the origin on the x-axis (mediolateral), y-axis (anterior-posterior), and z-axis (vertical). ...
... The position of the BI location was determined in the global coordinate system with the origin of the player's front foot metatarsophalangeal joint ( Figure 1). The distance of the ball impact location from the origin was analyzed in the planes where (x-axis) represented mediolateral direction, (y-axis) represented anteroposterior direction, and (z-axis) represented vertical direction [13]. ...
... Concerning the position of the BI, the junior men performed the BI less upwards from the origin on the z-axis by 15% than professional men ( Figure 6A). However, the disparity of the BI location in the vertical position of the professional and junior men may relate to more leftward BI from the origin on the x-axis to impart more spin [13] and different knee flexion during the preparation phase within the FS in junior players [34]. ...
Since the flat serve (FS) minimizes the ball spin and kick serve (KS) combined topspin and sidespin, this systematic review aimed to explore the ball impact location (BI) within the FS and KS at the professional men, junior men, and women tennis players. The PRISMA guideline was used, and the original articles were searched in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. The means and standard deviations computed from the distance of BI from the origin within the FS and KS on the x, y, and z axes (global coordinate system) were normalized by the participants' height and weighted by the number of participants in one-way ANOVA. Ten articles with a pooled sample of 133 males and 51 females aged 11-25 were included. The professional men had more stable BI on the x-axis within the FS by 56% (p < 0.001), within the KS by 58% (p < 0.001), and on the y-axis within the KS by 90% (p < 0.001) than junior men. The professional and junior men had the BI more leftwards from the origin on the x-axis within the KS by 188% (p < 0.001) and 88% (p < 0.001), respectively than within the FS.
... Considered as the most important stroke in adult skilled tennis players (Johnson et al., 2006), the serve involves a proximo-distal sequence that allows the transfer of energy from the lower to the upper body (Martin et al., 2013a(Martin et al., , 2014a and may induce excessive joint loadings leading to overuse injuries (Martin et al., 2014b;Touzard et al., 2019). Tennis coaches spend considerable time designing specific interventions or testing different equipment constraints to improve serve biomechanics (Whiteside et al., 2014;Reid and Giblin, 2015;Fadier et al., 2022) because it is a complex and hard to control stroke, especially for young players. ...
Introduction
Scaling the equipment of young athletes is justified by the constraints-led approach introduced in motor learning. The aim of the present study is to analyze the effect of racket scaling on the serve biomechanics and performance parameters for young tennis players (between 8 and 11 years-old).
Methods
Nine young intermediate competitive tennis players (age: 9.9 ± 1.0 years) performed maximal effort flat serves with three different rackets (scaled 23 inches, scaled 25 inches and full-size 27 inches) in a randomized order. A radar measured ball speed while shoulder and elbow kinetics and upper and lower limb kinematics were calculated with a 20-camera optical motion capture system. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to analyze the effect of the three rackets on ball speed, percentage of serve in, serve kinematics and kinetics.
Results
No significant differences in ball speed, maximal racket head velocity and percentage of serve in were observed between the three rackets. The lowest maximal upper limb kinetics and the highest upper limb maximal angular velocities were obtained with the scaled 23 inches racket.
Discussion
Using scaled rackets has the advantage to decrease shoulder and elbow loadings without reducing serve performance. Consequently, the present results incite tennis coaches and parents to not upgrade too soon the size of the racket in young intermediate tennis players to avoid overuse injury risks in the long term. Our results showed that the full-size 27 inches racket induced higher lower limb kinematics. As a consequence, occasionally serving with a fullsize racket can be a sparingly interesting intervention to help young tennis players to intuitively and immediately increase their leg drive action, allowing a more functional representation of the elite junior serve.
... Trunk rotation, elbow extension, shoulder internal rotation, and hand flexion are the main contributors to momentum in this phase. 11,12,31,34,35 During contact, the best kinematic models indicate that the shoulder should be slightly abducted and the elbow, wrist, and lead knee somewhat flexed (24°[14°]). 11 It is suggested that optimal impact point should happen at 110°angle of elevation between the upper arm and trunk. ...
Purpose:
To review the main physical aspects that could positively or negatively influence serve velocity (SV).
Methods:
An examination of existing literature including studies analyzing positive (biomechanical aspects, anthropometrics, range of motion, strength, and power) and negative (competition-induced fatigue) associations to SV are summarized in this review.
Results:
Aspects such as lower-leg drive, hip and trunk rotations, upper-arm extension, and internal rotation seem to be the major contributors to racquet and ball speed. Favorable anthropometric characteristics, such as body height, arm length, and a greater lean body mass, seem to positively influence SV. Also, strength indicators such as maximal isometric strength and rate of force development in specific joint positions involved in the kinetic chain alongside upper-body power seem to be related to faster serves. On the other hand, the effects of prolonged or repetitive match play may impair the aforementioned factors and negatively influence SV.
Conclusions:
Following specific serving models that seem to enhance velocity production and efficient motion is highly recommended. Moreover, achieving a higher impact point, alongside shifting body composition toward a greater lean body mass, will most likely aid toward faster serves. Programs aiming at improving maximal isometric strength and rate of force development in specific positions involved in the kinetic chain including stretch-shortening cycle predominance and the mimicking of the serve motion seem of great interest to potentially increase SV. Effective recovery and monitoring of these variables appear to be essential to avoid impairments produced by continued or repetitive competition loads.
... A previous tennis serve study that used the continental grip reported that the timing of racket low point, maximal shoulder external rotation and ball impact were strongly correlated with ball velocity, upper arm and forearm momentum transfer (r > 0.70; p < .001; Martin et al., 2013), emphasising the importance of well-timed upper limb joint rotations for racket head velocity. The remaining similarity between kinematic variables and conditions suggests that temporal order is unaffected between upper limb segments irrespective of the grip type; however, there may be a delay in the contribution of the dominant limb whilst completing the forward swing when using a non-preferred grip position. ...
The purpose of this study was to compare the upper limb kinematic chain of tennis players using either an eastern or continental non-dominant grip position during the forward swing of the double-handed backhand stroke. Sixteen right-handed tennis players performed backhands using two non-dominant grip positions (eastern and continental), aiming for two cross-court zones (deep and short). Trajectory data were captured using sixty reflective markers attached to the upper limb and racket using a 12-camera Vicon motion capture system (250 Hz). Peak angular velocity was significantly greater for multiple joint rotations at the dominant shoulder and entire non-dominant limb in the eastern grip. Subsequently, greater peak racket head angular velocity and post-impact ball speed were generated by the eastern grip, while shot accuracy was similar between grip types. There was delayed dominant shoulder peak adduction angular velocity for the continental grip, possibly due to a lack of skill familiarity causing changes in coordinative patterns. Collectively, the non-dominant grip position appears to influence proximal and distal upper limb movement. Future research should explore upper limb segment coordination comparing preferred and non-preferred double-handed backhand techniques and complete inter-disciplinary investigations to understand what grip positions are most effective for individuals to learn double-handed backhands.
... These findings restate the importance of explosiveness in upper body internal rotational movements and therefore the relevance of neural drive and motor unit discharge rate towards effective force production in early phases of contraction, alongside ideal mechanical muscle characteristics and overall strength to ensure best functioning in the later stages (Andersen & Aagaard, 2006;Andersen et al., 2010). The capacity of producing force and being able to apply it to the rotational movement of the upper arm results in a faster angular momentum of the head of the racquet and the consequent increase in ball speed (Martin et al., 2013). In this line, IMP values showed consistent outcomes and relevant associations with SV in the majority of time intervals and positions tested. ...
This study aimed to investigate the associations between serve velocity (SV), maximal absolute and relative isometric voluntary contraction (MVC and RMVC), peak rate of force development (PRFD), rate of force development (RFD) and impulse (IMP) at different stages of contraction (≤200 ms). Sixteen players per- formed four maximum isometric tests in positions involved in the tennis serve motion. Variables tested included MVC, PRFD, RFD and IMP at 50, 100, 150 and 200 ms while performing a 90o shoulder internal rotation (SHIR), shoulder flexion (SHF), horizontal shoulder abduction (SHABD) and an isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP). Significant (p ≤ 0.05) moderate-to-very-large correlations were found between SV, MVC and PRFD. RFD at different time intervals showed positive associations with SV, except in the SHF0-200 ms and IMTP0-200 ms. Accordingly, IMP values positively correlated with SV in all positions except in the SHIR0-50 ms and the IMTP in late con- traction stages. Results indicate that the combination of maximum isometric strength in several body positions involved in the serve kinetic chain alongside RFD and IMP in short periods of time (≤200 ms) positively influences SV in young participants.
... Oleh karena itu bagi pemain profesional, kemampuan menghasilkan kecepatan bola yang tinggi menjadi elemen kunci dari permainan yang sukses karena menempatkan lawan di bawah tekanan dan dapat menghambat pengembaliannya (Martin, et al., 2013). Hal ini menunjukan bahwa kecepatan dan ketepatan serve menjadi kunci keberhasilan pada serve. ...
Serve tennis is the most important stroke in the game of tennis to determine the outcome of the match, which is done by means of the ball crossing the net into the opponent's service box diagonally with the desired speed and landing location. This study aims to explain the biomechanical analysis of first serve tennis which produces maximum ball speed. The research method is in the form of quantitative biomechanics with an inferential analysis approach in the form of correlation analysis. Twelve students of the Department of Sports Coaching, Faculty of Sport, made a first serve at the service box, the movements were recorded using a Canon EOS 1100D DSLR camera. The variables analyzed were flexion angle, extension angle, tilt angle, angular velocity, angular acceleration, time, momentum, force, impulse, power, and effort. Pearson Correlation is used to show how big the correlation between ball speed and the studied biomechanics variables. The results showed that there was a large, very large, and perfect correlation on the variables of momentum (r = 1,000), force (r = .663), impulse (r = 1,000), power (r = .844), effort (r = . 982), while the other variables show very small, small, and moderate correlations. So it can be concluded that first serve tennis can be seen as a coordinated and complex movement, involving the development and transfer of momentum, force, impulse, power, and effort to achieve maximum ball speed. This study implies that in doing first serve tennis, it is necessary to pay attention to momentum, force, impulse, power, and effort to produce maximum ball speed.
