Tennis Strokes Research Articles

Exercises to improve the head position in tennis strokes

Tennis is an opposition sport in which we hit the ball with the racket whilst in movement, attempting to place it as far away from our opponent as possible but within the court. It is also a high-speed interception sport, and the speed increases with the level of the players. This article presents different specific on-court exercises to help players to improve their capacity to adapt to changing tennis dynamics.

The Effects of Differential Learning Method on the Tennis Ground Stroke Accuracy and Mobility

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different learning methods on learning tennis stroke skills, retention of learned skills and mobility time compared to traditional learning methods. Twenty-four (12 boys, 12 girls) high school students who have just started tennis education in a high school in Istanbul participated in this study voluntarily (Age: 15.00 ± 0.00 years, weight: 63.46 ± 10.64 kg, height: 1.65 ± 0.06 m, and body mass index 23.26 ± 2.91 kg/m2). Subjects were divided into two homogeneous groups of 12, each with equal numbers of boys (6 girls, 6 boys) according to the pre-test results. One of the groups was named control group, and the other group was named differential learning group. The training sessions were held 3 days a week for 10 weeks and each training lasted 90 minutes. The International Tennis Number (ITN) test was applied to determine the tennis ground stroke accuracy and mobility time. A modified version of the ITN mobility test was applied using the Fitlight TrainerTM device. Repeated Measures Anova test was used to examine the difference between pre-test, post-test and retention test of the same group. One Way Anova was used for the interaction between groups, measurement (pre-test, post-test, retention test) means. p < 0.05 was accepted for the significance level in the interpretation of statistical procedures. As a consequence; It can be said that the differential learning method is more effective than traditional training methods in the accuracy of tennis ground hits, but there is no significant difference between the two groups in retention of learning. Moreover, no significant difference was found in mean differences between groups and from pre-test to post-test and retention test within groups.

The Effect of Part and Overall Learning Methods on the Results of the Tennis Forehand Stroke

Tennis is a sport that is taught at PKO FKIP UTP Surakarta. Therefore, PKO students are required to be able to do tennis properly. The research objective was to determine how much influence the part and whole learning method had on the results of the Forehand tennis hit on male students in the fifth semester of UTP Surakarta. This study used an experimental method through part and whole learning methods on the results of the Forehand tennis stroke. The research results were obtained (1). There is a difference in the effect of plyometric training and weighted on the ability of the forehand thit 3.07, while the significance level of ttable is 1.72. (2) Exercise has a better effect on improving the ability of forehand strokes in UTP Surakarta students. group 1 had an increase of 40.1%. Meanwhile, group 2 had an increase of 36.85%. Based on these results, it can be concluded that group 1 has a greater percentage of improvement in the ability of tennis forehand strokes than in group 2.

IMU gyroscopes are a valid alternative to 3D optical motion capture system for angular kinematics analysis in tennis

Whereas 3D optical motion capture (OMC) systems are considered the gold standard for kinematic assessment in sport science, they present some drawbacks that limit its use in the field. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) incorporating gyroscopes have been considered as a more practical alternative. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate the level of agreement for angular velocity between IMU gyroscopes and an OMC system for varying tennis strokes and intensities. In total, 240 signals of angular velocity from different body segments and types of strokes (forehand, backhand and service) were recorded from four players (two competition players and two beginners). The angular velocity of the IMU gyroscopes was compared to the angular velocity from the OMC system. Level of agreement was evaluated by correlation coefficients, magnitudes of errors in absolute and relative values and Bland-Altman plots. Differences between both systems were highly consistent within players’ skill (i.e. along the broad range of velocities) and axes ( x, y, z). Correlations ranged from 0.951 to 0.993, indicating a very strong relationship and concordance. The magnitude of the differences ranged from 4.4 to 35.4 deg·s−1. The difference relative to the maximum angular velocity achieved was less than 5.0%. The study concluded that IMUs and OMC systems showed comparable values. Thus, IMUs seem to be a valid alternative to detect meaningful differences in angular velocity during tennis groundstrokes in field-based experimentation.

Estimating the GRF under one foot knowing the other one during table tennis strokes: a preliminary study

Sport research is a key to improve performance and to prevent the risk of injury. In table tennis, many injuries are located at the upper limbs, but also at the hip joint (Nguyen et al. 2016). To i...

Repetitive Traumatic Discopathy in the Modern-Era Tennis Player.

Degenerative disc disease is more prevalent among athletes than the general population. Repetitive traumatic discopathy is a pattern of injury that has been described in athletes participating in sports that impart repetitive mechanical forces on the lumbar spine. Hence, tennis players may be particularly susceptible to repetitive traumatic discopathy due to the fast-paced nature of the modern tennis match. Recent biomechanical studies have identified the lumbar spine as the focal point of motion during tennis strokes, and the lumbar spine is notably the most frequent location of injury observed in tennis players. In this comprehensive review, we examine current evidence and discuss the epidemiology, pathophysiology, biomechanics, diagnosis, and treatment of repetitive traumatic discopathy in tennis players. Additionally, we outline considerations for rehabilitation and return to the tennis court after operative management.

English

The objective of the study is to assess the effects of Differential Learning (DL) approach on learning the tennis stroke techniques, retention of skills, and improving the mobility time of young tennis player candidates in comparison with the traditional teaching methods and, accordingly, to present the teaching methods that are suitable for a more effective development in tennis education. It is thought to be one of few studies on tennis education and determining the retention, although there are studies on DL. Twenty-four (12 girls-12 boys) volunteers doing high school-level tennis courses in A°stanbul province were involved in this study (15.00±0.00 years, 1.65±0.06 m, 63.46±10.64 kg and body mass index 23.26±2.91 kg/m2). One of the groups was named DL group, whereas the other group was named control group (6 girls and 6 boys in each). In both groups, 90-min trainings (three days/week) were performed for 10 weeks. In the present study, the International Tennis Number (ITN) test was used in determining the ITN scores and mobility times. The mobility test of ITN was modified using the Fitlight TrainerTM device according to the expert opinion. According to the results of the study, it was determined that, while the DL method is more effective than traditional training methods in learning tennis strokes and retention of learning, no statistically significant difference was observed in mobility time for both groups. Key words: Differential learning, traditional learning, tennis skill, mobility.

硬式テニスにおけるグランドストロークの指導法に関する試論 －「慣習的な指導」では「出来ない者」を対象にして－

硬式テニスにおけるグランドストロークの指導法に関する試論 －「慣習的な指導」では「出来ない者」を対象にして－

Energetic Profile in Forehand Loop Drive Practice with Well-Trained, Young Table Tennis Players.

The forehand loop drive is one of the primary attacking techniques in table tennis and is practiced at a large volume during training. The aim of this study was to investigate the energetic profile of the high-repetition forehand loop drive practice in table tennis. Twenty-six well-trained, young table tennis players performed a treadmill graded exercise test to determine their peak oxygen uptake as a measure of overall cardiorespiratory fitness and an incremental table tennis stroke test with 3-min intervals during the forehand loop drive with a ball-throwing robot at a frequency of 35 to 85 strokes∙min−1. Pulmonary and blood parameters were measured and analyzed with a portable spirometry system and a blood lactate analyzer. Energy contributions were calculated from aerobic, anaerobic lactic, and anaerobic alactic pathways for each stroke frequency. Energy cost was defined as the amount of energy expended above resting levels for one stroke. Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) with the stroke frequency (35,45,55,65,75, or 85 strokes/min−1) as a within-subject factor were performed for the dependent variables. A Power regression was performed for the energy cost as a function of the stroke frequency. Findings demonstrated a function of Y = 91.566·x−0.601 where Y is the energy cost and x is the stroke frequency, R2 = 0.9538. The energy cost decreased at higher stroke frequencies. The energy contributions from aerobic, anaerobic lactic, and anaerobic alactic pathways at each stroke frequency ranged from 79.4%–85.2%, 0.6%–2.1%, and 12.9%–20.0%, respectively. In conclusion, the energy cost of the forehand loop drive decreased at higher stroke frequencies. The high-repetition forehand loop drive practice was aerobic dominant and the anaerobic alactic system played a vital role.

Research on the specific movement of the head in tennis strokes

Technique is one of the aspects that has the most relevant influence on tennis player performance. Searching for more efficient and effective technique, by means of the application of biomechanical laws, is a constant among coaches and researchers. This article deals with a very concrete subject in tennis technique: the position of the head during the impact phase of tennis strokes. Biomechanical aspects of the strokes will also be considered, as well as other relevant aspects such as fixing the gaze during the stroke and the stretching-shortening cycle.

Diagnosis in Tennis Serving Technique

Tennis is a sport with a very complex technique. Amateur tennis players have trainers and/or coaches, but are not usually accompanied by them to championships. Curiously, in this sport, the result of many matches can be changed by a small hint like ‘hit the ball a little higher when serving’. However, the biomechanical of a tennis stroke is only clear to an expert. We, therefore, developed a prototype of a rule-based expert system (RBES) aimed at an amateur competition player that is not accompanied by his/her coach to a championship and is not serving as usual (the RBES is so far restricted to serving). The player has to answer a set of questions about how he/she is serving that day and his/her usual serving technique and the RBES obtains a diagnosis using logic inference about the possible reasons (according of the logic rules that have been previously given to the RBES). A certain knowledge of the tennis terminology and technique is required from the player, but that is something known at this level. The underlying logic is Boolean and the inference engine is algebraic (it uses Groebner bases).

Fine grained sport action recognition with Twin spatio-temporal convolutional neural networks

Human action recognition in video is one of the key problems in visual data interpretation. Despite intensive research, the recognition of actions with low inter-class variability remains a challenge. This paper presents a new Twin Spatio-Temporal Convolutional Neural Network (TSTCNN) for this purpose. When applied to table tennis, it is possible to detect and recognize 20 table tennis strokes. The model has been trained on a specific dataset, so called TTStroke-21, recorded in natural conditions at the Faculty of Sports of the University of Bordeaux. Our model takes as inputs an RGB image sequence and its computed Optical Flow. The proposed Twin architecture is a two stream network both comprising 3 spatio-temporal convolutional layers, followed by a fully connected layer where data are fused. Our method reaches an accuracy of 91.4% against 43.1% for our baseline, a Two-Stream Inflated 3D ConvNet (I3D).

Influence of Strength, Power, and Muscular Stiffness on Stroke Velocity in Junior Tennis Players.

ObjectiveThe main aim of this study was to establish the relationship between strength, power characteristics, individual muscle stiffness, international tennis number (ITN), and stroke velocity (StV) in junior tennis players.MethodsTwenty one junior male tennis players (mean ± SD; age, 17.0 ± 0.8 years; height, 1.8 ± 0.1 m; body mass, 72.3 ± 5.8 kg; BMI 22.1 ± 1.5 kg/m2), with an ITN ranging from 2 to 4, performed measurements regarding muscle stiffness of selected muscles involved in tennis strokes. StV (serve, forehand, and backhand), strength (maximum isometric strength) and power (medicine ball throws, squat jump, countermovement jump, and bench press) measurements were also performed (ICC = 0.803–0.998; CV = 0.3–6.4).Results Moderate inverse correlations were found between serve velocity (SV) and ITN (r = −0.43; p = 0.05), and large positive correlations were observed between pectoralis majoris stiffness (PMStiff) (r = 0.53; p = 0.01), isometric wrist flexion (r = 0.58; p = 0.006) and ITN, respectively. PMStiff was moderately inversely correlated to forehand velocity (FV) (r = −0.45; p = 0.03) and gastrocnemius (GStiff) and infraspinatus stiffness (IStiff) positively to SV (r = 0.45; p = 0.04; r = 0.42; p = 0.05). No significant correlations were found regarding strength and power measurements.ConclusionGreater stiffness values may enhance StV, especially when transferring power from lower to upper body. On the other hand, high scores could interfere in technical parameters that are key for velocity production in complex tennis strokes. Strength and power values proved to correlate poorly to StV in this particular sample of junior tennis players, possibly due to the multifactorial nature of tennis strokes and the possibility that they become more important as age and level increase.

Exploring the Importance of Players’ Characteristics and Performance on Serve and Return of Serve in Winning the Women’s Singles Grand Slam Tennis Tournaments

Sports analytics has become very popular in recent years. Many researchers have been using the tools and technique to study tennis player performance in various aspects during matches. However, much of the studies were performed on male players while much less attention were made on female players. This study explores the female players’ characteristics and serve performance that leads to winning matches in women’s singles 2018 Grand Slam tennis tournaments. Using data provided by the official website of the Women Tennis Association (WTA), 1016 single matches in all four 2018 Grand Slam Tournaments were analysed to evaluate winning traits in tennis specifically looking at the two most important strokes in tennis which are the serve and return of serve. Additionally, other personal player characteristics that would influence the match outcomes were also evaluated. To achieve the objectives of the study, odds ratio and chi-square test were used to compare between the match winner and match loser. The study revealed that percentage of first serve return won (PFSRW) has the highest odds ratio value (OR=1.263) followed by the percentage of first serve won (PFSW) with odds ratio equal to 1.244. These showed that having a good first serve, plays an important factor in increasing the winning odds as compared to second serve either in serve or in return of serve. This study also reveals that a taller player had the advantage over a shorter player for faster serve speed (p-value<0.05).

IPingPong: A Real-time Performance Analyzer System for Table Tennis Stroke’s Movements

Abstract Assisting table tennis coaching using modern technologies is one of the most trending researches in the sports field. In this paper, we present a methodology to identify and recognize the wrong strokes executed by players to improve the training experience by the usage of an IR depth camera. The proposed system focuses mainly on the errors in table tennis player’s strokes and evaluating them efficiently and based on the analysis and classification of the data obtained from an IR depth camera using multiple algorithms. This paper is a continuation of our previous work [10], focusing more on identifying common wrong strokes in table tennis by utilizing IR depth camera classification algorithms. The classification of the mistakes that took place while playing can be classified based on each player dependently or independently for all players.

Online detection and classification of in-corrected played strokes in table tennis using IR depth camera

Abstract Table tennis is a complex sport with a distinctive style of play. Due to the rising interest in this sport the past years, attempts have been targeted towards enhancing the training experience and quality through various techniques. Technology has been used to support training sessions for table tennis players before, with a focus on players’ performance measures rather than technique. In this paper, we propose a methodology based on IR depth camera for detecting and classifying the efficiency of strokes performed by players in order to enhance the training experience. Our system is to based on analyzing depth data collected from IR depth camera and recognized using fastDTW algorithm. The results show an average accuracy of 88% - 100%. This is the first paper to address the usage of IR depth camera on the table tennis player to detect and classify the strokes played.

Detection of Tennis Activities with Wearable Sensors.

This paper aims to design and implement a system capable of distinguishing between different activities carried out during a tennis match. The goal is to achieve the correct classification of a set of tennis strokes. The system must exhibit robustness to the variability of the height, age or sex of any subject that performs the actions. A new database is developed to meet this objective. The system is based on two sensor nodes using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless technology to communicate with a PC that acts as a central device to collect the information received by the sensors. The data provided by these sensors are processed to calculate their spectrograms. Through the application of innovative deep learning techniques with semi-supervised training, it is possible to carry out the extraction of characteristics and the classification of activities. Preliminary results obtained with a data set of eight players, four women and four men have shown that our approach is able to address the problem of the diversity of human constitutions, weight and sex of different players, providing accuracy greater than 96.5% to recognize the tennis strokes of a new player never seen before by the system.

Contextual cue utilization in visual anticipation in tennis: On the role of an opponent’s on-court position and skill

In batting and racket sports, players rely on kinematic and contextual cues to anticipate an opponent’s action outcome. In tennis, an opponent’s on-court position has been found to be a contextual cue signaling stroke direction. Additionally, given the varying technical–tactical repertoire associated with an opponent’s skill, the latter may further influence prediction behavior. Here, we sought to replicate position dependency in visual anticipation and to test the hypothesized interaction between an opponent’s on-court position and skill upon stroke direction anticipation in tennis. To this end, skilled tennis players predicted shot direction of point-light animated forehand groundstrokes that were executed at different on-court positions and occluded at three different time points. In block 1, no skill information was given, whereas in blocks 2 and 3 participants were told to either face opponents from the Bundesliga or Kreisliga. In line with former evidence, shot outcome predictions varied as a function of an opponent’s on-court position. Also, participants’ reliance on position information was strongest when little kinematic information was available. However, knowledge of an opponent’s purported skill was not found to reliably affect prediction behavior. By contrast, post-experiment questionnaire data suggest that players explicitly assign different shot direction probabilities depending on an opponent’s skill and position. Collectively, our research supports especially the role of on-court position for tennis stroke outcome anticipation. The conflicting findings on the potential role of knowledge of an opponent’s skill call for further empirical verification.

Effect of Developing Core Strength and Dynamic Flexibility on Accuracy and Velocity of Performance of some Essential Skills in Tennis

Modern athletic training depends on science as a basis to obtain better results so the teacher should follow everything new in the field of training constantly to be able to present the best thing in this field and to raise the level of skill performance. Core strength exercises are considered the best training technique as many and various exercises are used that help strengthen core muscles. The core area leads to increase the ability of girls to achieve workouts very well that represent the origin of motion. Nadler & Akuthota (2004)(16) stated that core muscles worked to carry the whole power resulted from the lower extremity through the trunk to the upper extremities and sometimes the tool held in the hand and consequently, the core muscles weakness would not lead to carry the dynamic power fully from the bottom to the top and the athletic performance would be worse as well as the possibility of occurring injuries. For this reason it is postulated that improving the core strength will necessarily lead to improve the athletic performance. Hence, core strength exercises are commonly used among couches in all athletic games (16: 68) Flexibility plays a great role in avoiding several injuries as it is characterized by a dynamic range in a joint different from the same in anther. The ability of a muscle or a set of muscles to extend is different from another muscle or a set of muscles. It is important to develop the flexibility trait as it is different from other physical fitness components that the insufficient level of flexibility and the extent of its shortage can lead to injuries; motor performance becomes more difficult and slow down the velocity of perfection of skills. Tennis is the most common sport spreading in the progressed world countries as it has enjoyment and excitement and it is suitable for all ages, moreover, attacking performances in tennis have a special nature because they depend on acts of legs and arms and coordination between them and tools used, hence, the strength of performance is associated with velocity that is different from position to another together with the agility in carrying out essential skills throughout the time of performance. The researcher noticed through teaching the subject of tennis to girls at Faculty of Physical Education for Girls that the level of skill performance in tennis was low in general and the level of performance of straight forehand and backhand strokes in girls in the 1st grade in particular. The researcher noticed that faults were existed in body hardening and action was not performed freely and individual differences among girls were wide as they had no idea about tennis, moreover, the 1st grade represents the start of studying tennis that required from their performers to be free, to carry his actions, to do some velocityacts, flexibility and power exerted. The girl could not master the skill performance in case of the lack of physical abilities. The abovementioned facts agreed with conclusions achieved by Marwan Ali (2003)(8) and Amr Saber (2008)(3)that training on the skill only was not enough to improve such skill and to obtain fruitful results as the improvement of the skill necessarily required improving dynamic abilities of the skill itself. Therefore, the researcher suggested conducting a workout to lay out core strength and dynamic flexibility exercises to help perform straight forehand and backhand strokes accurately and velocityin tennis. Research objective: To identify the effect of improving exercises of core strength and dynamic flexibility on accuracy and velocity of performance of straight forehand and backhand strokes in tennis in girls in the 1st grade. Terms and concepts: Core strength exercises: Previously were used in the name of core stability exercises in the field of physiotherapy widely until sports scientists have developed them and established training fundamentals for such exercises and finally they have been called core strength exercises to improve and to strengthen core muscles considered the origin of motion (24:198). Flexibility: The ability to perform movements to a wide range without lacerations in ligaments or muscles (9:74). Related studies: Studies related to core strength 1- Study of Justin Shinkle (2010)(22). 2- Study of Thomas et al. (2009)(32) 3-Study of Renee Zingaro (2008)(30) 4- Study of Stanton & Reabum (2004)(31) Studies related to dynamic flexibility: 5-Study of Darin Mostafa (2009)(4) 6- Study of Shirin Taha (2004)(15). 7-Study of Ahmed Anwar (2003)(1). 8- Study of Cohen et al. (2001)(18) Conclusions from the related studies: They focused on the effectiveness of core strength exercises programs and exercises for extension and flexibility and their role in improving physical and skill abilities. The researcher could outline how to make benefits from such studies to follow them in the current study.

A comparative biomechanical analysis of the performance level on chasse step in table tennis

Initial observations have indicated that each movement pattern or skill set has a fundamental mechanical structure. The purpose of this study was to examine biomechanical characteristics in the chasse step movement patterns between professional athletes (PA) and beginner players (BP). Large data sets were obtained for comparison by capturing kinematic and kinetic information of the dominant foot using the Oxford Foot Model (OFM) during table tennis strokes. Nine male PA and nine BP (all with dominant right feet) participated in a table tennis footwork test. A Vicon motion analysis system and a Novel Pedar insole plantar pressure measurement system were used to record kinematic and kinetic data, respectively. Findings from the study indicated that PA not only showed significantly larger forefoot and rear-foot dorsiflexion, but also demonstrated larger hallux plantarflexion. Also, PA showed significantly larger forefoot inversion and abduction at the forward-end of the step. Peak pressure values were higher under the lateral forefoot, and the medial and lateral rear-foot with faster changes in angular velocity recorded for PA during the chasse step phase. Greater peak pressures were also recorded under the other toes, and in the central and lateral forefoot during the forward swing phase when compared to BP. The results of the present study demonstrated that PA possessed greater foot drive technique. These findings may help coaches and beginners to comprehend the internal mechanisms of the chasse step technique and assist beginners in improving the mechanical efficiency of their performance.