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Biomechanics of the Tennis Serve

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Tennis Medicine

Abstract

In the professional male game, the serve has been reported to be the most important stroke [1]. From a strategy and tactics perspective, the main keys to a successful serve are velocity, spin, and placement. Statistics from the 2009 US Open show that for the men’s draw, five of the top ten ranked players also had the highest serve speed [2]. Indeed, the ability for tennis players to produce highball velocity during the serve is a crucial element of a successful play because it puts the opponent under stress and may hinder its return. Consequently, if you ask tennis coaches what are their main priorities when teaching tennis serve, their responses could be “improving performance, especially ball velocity” but also “preventing injury.” Indeed, previous studies have associated the serve with overuse injuries in the upper limb and back joints [3–5], which are a common medical problem in all competitive levels in tennis [6, 7]. The purpose of this review is to assimilate all the available scientific research on tennis serve biomechanics related to performance and upper limb joint injuries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. M2S Laboratory “Movement, Sport, Health”, University of Rennes 2, Bruz Cedex, France

    Caroline Martin

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Correspondence to Caroline Martin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Orthopaedics and Trauma, Concordia Hospital, Rome, Italy

    Giovanni Di Giacomo

  2. ATP World Tour, Rehab Plus Sports Therapy Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

    Todd S. Ellenbecker

  3. Lexington Clinic Orthopedics, Lexington, KY, USA

    W. Ben Kibler

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Martin, C. (2018). Biomechanics of the Tennis Serve. In: Di Giacomo, G., Ellenbecker, T., Kibler, W. (eds) Tennis Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71498-1_1

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