There is no rush to upgrade the tennis racket in young intermediate competitive players: The effects of scaling racket on serve biomechanics and performance

Abstract

IntroductionScaling the equipment of young athletes is justified by the constraints-led approach introduced in motor learning. The aim of the present study is to analyze the effect of racket scaling on the serve biomechanics and performance parameters for young tennis players (between 8 and 11 years-old).MethodsNine young intermediate competitive tennis players (age: 9.9 ± 1.0 years) performed maximal effort flat serves with three different rackets (scaled 23 inches, scaled 25 inches and full-size 27 inches) in a randomized order. A radar measured ball speed while shoulder and elbow kinetics and upper and lower limb kinematics were calculated with a 20-camera optical motion capture system. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to analyze the effect of the three rackets on ball speed, percentage of serve in, serve kinematics and kinetics.ResultsNo significant differences in ball speed, maximal racket head velocity and percentage of serve in were observed between the three rackets. The lowest maximal upper limb kinetics and the highest upper limb maximal angular velocities were obtained with the scaled 23 inches racket.DiscussionUsing scaled rackets has the advantage to decrease shoulder and elbow loadings without reducing serve performance. Consequently, the present results incite tennis coaches and parents to not upgrade too soon the size of the racket in young intermediate tennis players to avoid overuse injury risks in the long term. Our results showed that the full-size 27 inches racket induced higher lower limb kinematics. As a consequence, occasionally serving with a fullsize racket can be a sparingly interesting intervention to help young tennis players to intuitively and immediately increase their leg drive action, allowing a more functional representation of the elite junior serve.

Kinematics of the Tennis Serve Using an Optoelectronic Motion Capture System: Are There Correlations between Joint Angles and Racket Velocity?

“…Zappala et al showed a posture-cuing shirt effect (control condition: 765.18 • /s vs. posture-cuing condition: 900.54 • /s) [18]. An effect of serve type was also shown by Abrams et [20] or as a function of racket size, as did Touzard et al (23-inch: 1126 ± 392 • /s and 25-inch: 1128 ± 299 • /s; and 27-inch: 1050 ± 283 • /s) [24]. For the trunk, Fleisig et al [20] and Wagner et al [19] described the flexion velocity during flat serve (280 ± 40 • /s and 910 ± 130 • /s, respectively).…”

“…Fett et al measured values for both service sides (ad: 1546.5 ± 303.1°/s; deuce: 1563.6 ± 327.0°/s) [ 15 ]. Fleisig et al quantified this parameter unconditionally (1510 ± 310°/s) [ 20 ] or as a function of racket size, as did Touzard et al (23-inch: 1126 ± 392°/s and 25-inch: 1128 ± 299°/s; and 27-inch: 1050 ± 283°/s) [ 24 ]. For the trunk, Fleisig et al [ 20 ] and Wagner et al [ 19 ] described the flexion velocity during flat serve (280 ± 40°/s and 910 ± 130°/s, respectively).…”

“…For the trunk, Fleisig et al [ 20 ] and Wagner et al [ 19 ] described the flexion velocity during flat serve (280 ± 40°/s and 910 ± 130°/s, respectively). No effect of service side (ad: 506.7 ± 69.0°/s vs. deuce: 493.2 ± 71.2°/s, [ 15 ]) or racket size (23-inch: 263 ± 79°/s; 25-inch: 266 ± 59°/s; and 27-inch: 275 ± 58°/s, [ 24 ]) was observed for trunk flexion velocity during the acceleration phase. Lower limb velocities have also been studied in the performance of the tennis serve.…”

“…In another study, the same authors showed that there was no effect on front and rear knee extension velocities between a normal serve and an arabesque serve (normal serve: 633.5 ± 71.1°/s vs. arabesque serve: 688.4 ± 69.7°/s) [ 17 ]. Touzard et al observed an effect of racket size on back ankle extension velocity, with greater values with the largest racket (23-inch: 452 ± 120°/s; 25-inch: 503 ± 135°/s; and 27-inch: 530 ± 110°/s) [ 24 ].…”

“…In another study, the same authors showed that there was no effect on front and rear knee extension velocities between a normal serve and an arabesque serve (normal serve: 633.5 ± 71. /s) [24].…”