DIRECTIONAL CONTROL IN TENNIS SERVES PERFORMED BY ELITE PLAYERS

Abstract

This study quantified the pre-and post-impact 3-D kinematics of the ball and racquet during the serves that landed at different locations performed by five male and four female professional tennis players. Data were collected during competition using two high-speed cameras (200 Hz). Two first serves .-one landed near the center line and the other near the side line --were analyzed for each subject. A 2 x 2 ANOVA (0 < .05) was performed for each parameter. The results indicate that the males had significantly greater post-impact ball and racquet velocities than their female counterparts. Though not statistically significant, the ball tended to travel to the left less during the toss and have lower post-impact velocity for serves that landed near the side line. Altering the toss might be one of the strategies used by players to control ball direction in the serve.