ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2019 May;59(5):760-6

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.18.08518-3

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Does stroke performance in amateur tennis players depend on functional power generating capacity?

Gabriel DELGADO-GARCÍA ^{1, 2} ✉, Jos VANRENTERGHEM ³, Alejandro MUÑOZ-GARCÍA ^{1, 2}, Alejandro MOLINA-MOLINA ^{1, 2}, Víctor M. SOTO-HERMOSO ^{1, 2}

¹ Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; ² Sport and Health Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; ³ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

BACKGROUND: Physical preparation is becoming more important in amateur tennis player training programs. Yet, when studying stroke performance in these players, there is a lack of evidence on the role of functional power generating capacity. The aim of the study was therefore to determine whether functional power generating capacity correlates with speed and accuracy of forehand and backhand groundstrokes in amateur players. We also studied the correlation with handgrip strength as a more classical measurement of general muscle strength.
METHODS: A total of 21 male amateur players, aged 33.7±4.6 with 17.1±6.7 years of play, were tested. They performed a medicine ball side throw test, a handgrip dynamometer test, and a stroke performance test.
RESULTS: Distance of the medicine ball throw on the dominant side positively correlated to the speed of the fastest forehand (r=0.52; P=0.017) and backhand accuracy (r=0.49; P=0.024). There was also a correlation between the handgrip strength on the dominant side and the speed of the fastest forehand (r=0.52, P=0.019).
CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that groundstroke performance in amateur tennis players depends on functional power generating capacity, but that it is not the principal contributing factor.

KEY WORDS: Athletic performance - Physical fitness - Tennis - Racquet sport