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SUMMARY
THE DESIGN OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING PROGRAMS SPECIFIC TO TENNIS HAS RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT ATTENTION, PARTICULARLY OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS. MUCH OF THE AVAILABLE RESEARCH IS BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL DEMANDS OF TENNIS. LESS IS KNOWN ABOUT THE LINK BETWEEN THE ACTUAL STROKES (SERVES, FOREHANDS, AND" BACKHANDS) AND THE SPECIFIC TRAINING METHODS NEEDED FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE OF THESE STROKES. IN FACT, MOST OF THE BIOMECHANICS LITERATURE SPECIFIC TO TENNIS HAS FOCUSED ON THE AREAS OF PERFORMANCE, PHYSICAL STRESS, AND EQUIPMENT DESIGN. THIS REVIEW WILL FOCUS ON THE GAME'S MOST IMPORTANT STROKE, THE SERVE, AND RECOMMEND SPECIFIC STRENGTH TRAINING EXERCISES TO HELP OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE OF THIS STROKE.
KEY WORDS:
biomechanics; tennis; serve
INTRODUCTION
Although tennis-specific literature is available related to biomechanics and tennis performance (13,15,16,26,30) as well as the sport's physiological demands (3,17,19,27) and strength and conditioning program design (4,5,20,21,29,31,32), articles blending these areas are not as readily available. This article focuses on the design of tennis-specific exercises based on the physical demands of the tennis serve.
SERVICE
The technique of the tennis serve has received more attention in the literature than the other strokes, probably because it is the easiest stroke to study, as it is initiated from a stationary position, and the only stroke over which the player has total control. As can be seen in Figure 1, the serve involves a summation of forces sequenced in a largely proximal to distal (legs, trunk, and arm/racquet) fashion. This requires a coordinated sequence of movements with proper timing of each segment (11).
KNEE FLEXION/EXTENSION
Figures 1b-c feature the knee flexion required to initiate the ground reaction forces, representing the first stage of the stroke's kinetic link. A growing body of research is available on the ground reaction forces produced by tennis players (2,13,37). For example, Girard et al. (15) recently measured the lower limb electromyogram and ground reaction force profiles characterizing the tennis serve and found that more refined neuromuscular coordination patterns distinguished the serves of elite players from those of their lower level counterparts. Indeed, the importance of knee flexion to the serve has been consistently advocated by researchers and coaches such that 110 to 120° of flexion has become a commonly referenced norm. Contemporary work has also...