Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze plantar pressure during the open stance forehand (OSF) in female tennis players. Methods: Seven female players executed the tennis forehand technique with open stance in the biomechanical laboratory. A portable pressure insole system was adopted to collect mean pressure (MP), peak pressure (PP), force (F), pressure-time integral (PTI) and contact area (CA) in 7 regions of the feet. Independent sample T-test was used to analyze the difference among these parameters. Results: F, PP in the first phalangeal region (BT) and the remaining four toe regions (OT) of the right foot (RF) were both larger than the left foot (LF); F in the fourth and fifth metatarsophalangeal joint (M4-5), the middle foot region (MF), hind foot region（HF）and PP in M4-5 of LF were significantly greater than the same region in RF; MP in BT and OT of RF showed significantly higher pressure than LF. While MP among areas of M4-5 and HF of LF was significantly greater than RF; PTI, CA in OT, M4-5 and MF of RF were significantly higher than LF while M1, M2-3, M4-5 and MF of LF showed significant smaller. Conclusion: RF role was to generate the power and LF role was to stabilize the balance of the body during the OFS. However, long-term and repeated open stance was likely to lead to the overuse injuries in the regions of M1 and HF of both feet.
Highlights
With the specialization and refinement of tennis training, Chinese female tennis players have achieved excellent results in the international top tennis events (Sterzing et al 2014)
The M4-5, middle foot region (MF) and hind foot region (HF) in the left foot were significantly higher than the right foot
It was found that there were significant differences between right and the left feet; (1) the F, peak pressure (PP) and mean pressure (MP) of the right foot in BT and OT were greater than the left foot, while the F, PP and MP of the left foot in M4-5, MF and HF were greater than the right foot; (2) the contact area (CA) of the right foot was larger in OT than the left foot, while the CA of the left foot in M1, M2-3, M4-5 and MF were larger than the right foot
Summary
With the specialization and refinement of tennis training, Chinese female tennis players have achieved excellent results in the international top tennis events (Sterzing et al 2014). Forehand shot (FS) is one of the most frequently used among various skills of Tennis. The open stance forehand, which was considered a useless skill, is recommended by tennis experts. With the increasing speed in modern tennis, more players have been adopted with the open stance forehand skill compared to the traditional square stance skill. Johnson and McHugh (2006) carried out a study about the movement analysis of the world’s elite tennis players by video observation, found that the forehand shot with open stance has the trait of large footstep movement range and fast return speed, which contributes significantly to high-intensity confrontation and large-angle save. The OFS has been used widely, even for professional tennis players
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