Biomechanical principles of a tennis serve

  This blog as examined the biomechanical principles within the tennis serve. Through this blog the optimal movement stages within the tennis serve to increase velocity have been explored and include information about injury prevention. The three movement stages that have been noted as the optimal movement stages to increase the velocity of the serve, including preparation stage, acceleration stage and the follow through stage. Through each stage there are multiple phases with biomechanical principles have been analysed. These include; throughout the preparation stage establishing a stable centre of mass will allow for a good base support and a balanced serve. Athletes should utilise the kinetic chain to through the segments effortlessly as they utilise leg drive to produce and generate power into the acceleration stage. In the acceleration stage player shoulders are very important in producing fast and powerful serves. Angular velocity is a biomechanical principle that can he...

  Throughout the acceleration stage the shoulder joint plays an important role of internal rotation in the upper arm. The internal rotator musculature must accelerate the upper arm in the swing to impact before the external rotators contract to decelerate this rotation during the follow through phase of the action ( Escamilla & Andrews, 2009). To increase the velocity of the ball in the serve there are multiple biomechanical principals that can be utilised. One of them being angular velocity, which is an objects rotational velocity about an axis. This biomechanical principle is useful in understanding how to increase serve velocity as measuring the angular velocity as the greater the objects angular velocity, the faster it will move around its axis. When examining angular velocity in a tennis serve, we will specifically be looking at the athletes shoulder rotation in the acceleration phase before contact. Angular velocity can be calculated following the below equation. Equati...

  The follow through happens immediately after then ball is contacted. It is the most vigorous stage of the serve as it requires deceleration eccentric loads in both upper and lower body. The follow through stage is important for the athletes recovery of the contact with the ball as well as preparing them for receiving the ball after the serve. The quicker an athlete can decelerate after contact, the more enhance the transitory momentum. The declaration of the athlete is influenced by their potential momentum. Momentum ( p ) = mass ( m ) x velocity ( v ) Therefore, to increase velocity throughout serve motion, they can increase the rate at which they decelerate to allow a quick transition of play and smooth finish to the serving motion. The landing is the final stage of the follow through, this does not impact the over all serve, however it is still important as it is here the majority of lower body/core eccentric loading occurs (Kovacs & Ellenbecker, 2011).   Figu...

  The stance is essential for the serve as it provides the athletes with stability and helps maintain balance throughout the service sequence. To achieve optimal balance throughout the serve the athlete must maintain a centre of mass lies within the base of support​ . If the centre of mass moves outside the bass support, the athletes balance will become unstable hence balance will not be obtained ( Blazevich, 2017). Following a stable stance, the athlete utilises kinetic chain to ensure a steady transfer of momentum. Kinetic chain refers to a series of interrelated links or segments ( Ellenbecker & Aoki, 2020). In terms of tennis this refers to the athletes stance which then moves into generating momentum through their lower limbs to produce upward forsumation through their trunk. The force of the legs and trunk are found to produce 54% of force generation, compared to only 25% from the elbow and wrist ( Ellenbecker & Aoki, 2020). Furthermore, the kinetic chain continue...

  The serve is an essential part of tennis as it can set the tone for the point. The serve can contribute to a players score as a powerful serve can be difficult for an opponent to return consequently scoring a point. Weather the game is played on grass or clay, the serve still remains a crucial part of the game. The serve is a closed skill and is one of the only strokes the player has complete control over ( Elliott et al., 1986). The serve is complex as it requires multiple limbs to produce multifaceted patterns and rhythm to execute the serve. To begin the serve the athletes must use their upper limb to slowly push the ball in the air to an optimal hitting height while the other upper limb and the racket hit the ball with both power and control resulting in an accurate and effective serve ( Elliott et al., 1986). This blog will go through three of the most significant to of the serve including the preparation, acceleration and the follow through. With the understanding of th...