This change in the coordinated use of the kinetic chain suggests that the loading and injury risk to major segments of the body may have changed in tennis (11). Ultra-heavy topspin drivers like Rafael Nadal as well as flatter power hitters like Novak Djokovic took the tennis world by storm. One of the keys to his teachings are the swings or, in other words, applying the principle of the pendulum to your groundstrokes. Modern tactics dictate that the forehand be hit with varying degrees of topspin. Most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting. Make sure that you hit the ball on the top of the ball to get it to move forward. This movement is then repeated on the way back to the starting position focused on developing deceleration ability in this same plane of motion. Place your wrist against the handle. Whatever the technique adopted, the strength and conditioning professional should work with the tennis coach to customize training programs for the specific techniques used by players. In general, there are 2 styles of coordination in 2-handed backhands. Laird E, Rhodes J, Kenny RA. How to Hit a Tennis Forehand (with Pictures) - wikiHow Open Stance. It was during this period when players were first taught to develop a swing that incorporates the tennis forehand wrist position to create a whipping heavy topspin effect. The old coaching program for the basic table tennis techniques is outdated! Medicine ball wall open stance groundstroke drill. In addition, every time you hit a forehand or backhand, you work your abdominal muscles, especially the obliques, which run down the sides your torso. Footwork, or movement, is another important biomechanical attribute. The 6 basic "strokes" are the fundamental movements a player performs to hit a tennis ball. The right non-dominant arm movement is to either move it parallel to the hitting arm throughout the stroke or to tuck it in a bit in the follow-through. Despite these differences, skilled players can create similar levels of racket speed at impact in 1- and 2-handed backhands (19). (We hardly ever get any unsubscriptions though, so we must be doing something right!). Figure 10a demonstrates a forearm pronation movement, and Figure 10b demonstrates a forearm supination movement. This strategy places extra stress on the player's body that strength and conditioning professionals should consider in designing training programs. These are the open and neutral stance. Reid M and Elliott B. Balls hit off these forehands were faster and more heavily spun than ever before. kinetic chain;; tennis-specific training; technique analysis. This involves having control over the racket head and swinging the racket with optimal speed. Once again, it looked as if there was a precisely timed snap of the wrist for this kind of tennis forehand. Some of the energy stored in this leg is converted to predominantly upward (vertical linear) momentum but also forward (horizontal linear) momentum. In: 19. Which Muscles of the Body Are Used While Playing Tennis - SportsRec Grip 2. Unless you are very weak, you are not going to find a bigger FH in the gym. What Muscles Does Table Tennis Train (Full Guide) Broadly considered, human musclelike the muscles of all vertebratesis often divided into striated muscle (or skeletal muscle), smooth muscle, and cardiac muscle. From this loading position (Figure 7 demonstrates an open stance loading position), the athlete forcefully rotates the hip and upper body to release the MB as hard as possible against the wall. 18. If impact is viewed as the most important part of a tennis stroke, and it is accepted that there are several backswings and follow-throughs a player could use, then the next step is to identify the other important attributes of sound stroke production. If we get into the details of the movement, tennis is a complex sport that is made up of intricate movements. Modern players often hit aggressive high-speed groundstrokes to overpower their opponent.

Branislav Grujic is a USPTA Professional 1, tester and USPTA Sports Science Specialist. Work these muscles on and off the court and youll have Wimbledon-level tennis abilities in no time. The rotations of the upper arm, forearm and hand account for the remaining 80 percent of racket speed. 4. I guess it depends on the person? The program conditions for speed the muscles used in all of the following: One handed forehand; Two handed forehand; One handed backhand; Two handed backhand; Tennis . Much of the power in the volleys comes from this step. The purpose was to increase grip strength and endurance via forearm flexion and extension (Figure 9). Tennis volleys require smaller muscle and joint movements than either groundstrokes or serves. The modern forehand and even the backhand (particularly the 2-handed backhand) are more often hit from an open stance using sequential coordination of the body. Join our mailing list to receive tips, analysis, handy guides and more - direct to your inbox. In Figure 5, the athlete is demonstrating a closed stance catching position. The tennis stroke: an EMG analysis of selected muscles with - PubMed Vitamin D for health: a global perspective. Harvard Health Publishing. Concentrate on allowing your arm to swing through the service motion loosely and bring it up for contact. Iino Y and Kojima T. Role of knee flexion and extension for rotating the trunk in a tennis forehand stroke. Human muscle system | Functions, Diagram, & Facts | Britannica In order to move well, players need to efficiently coordinate their upper and lower body to enhance movement and footwork. Updated April 30, 2020. Position 3. While theres a lot of emphasis on your lower body and core in a game of tennis, your upper body, arms, shoulders, and chest are key components, too, says Frayna. It involves efficiency of movement and effectiveness in performing at the highest level, i.e., (by hitting the serve harder, or the approach shot deeper). http://www.researchgate.net/publicaination_and_forehand_drive_velocity_in_tennis, http://www.cpaqv.org/cinesiologia/artigos/muscle_coordination_tennis.pdf, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25123001, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25120197, http://www.citeulike.org/user/tboats/author/Stossel:TP. Forward movement of the upper arm is a key feature of forehand mechanics, producing 30% of the racket speed. Coach the player to initiate the first movement with the upper body and not the legs. Its not every day you think about the forearm muscles, but they come in clutch when playing tennis. And whats even better is you dont have to be a pro like Serena Williams to give it a try. Akutagawa S and Kojima T. Trunk rotation torques through the hip joints during the one-and two-handed backhand tennis strokes. People think that 90% of the swing comes from hips/legs/core, but the arm is still swinging fast. Can the Open Stance Forehand Increase the Risk of Hip Injuries in Pro players today use the tennis forehand wrist position to accentuate the movement of a "whip." This type of swing is utilized by modern tennis players such as Federer, Nadal, Justine Henin and the majority of the top pro tennis players in the game today. Assuming we're talking about a modern fh, I will respectfully disagree with this post. In the modern tennis forehand, pro players today are hitting the ball with much more power and topspin than ever before. Back in the day of wooden rackets when grass courts ruled and most professional players used eastern forehand grips or even continental grips, it was unheard of to be taught that you should use your wrist during the forehand swing, with good reason. tennisinstruction.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Temple University. The backswing, commencing with flexion of the lower legs and irrespective of style, is characterized by a loop, which has shown to increase racket speed (as opposed to the straight backswing which provides control), and a large rotation of shoulders and trunk. Keep a loose wrist so when you make contact it meets it dead on. your express consent. (Pdf) Analysis of Hitting Method and Wrist Strength of Student Tennis 2. I guess what I'm asking is what muscle I should be working out in the gym, so I can get more pace on the ball. At impact the racket shoulder moves more toward the net than the topspin stroke. torpantennis Legend Apr 20, 2015 #9 Bendex said: Legs are the most important muscles for tennis in general, but very powerful and controlled forehands can be hit without much leg involvement. The Differences Between Tennis & Badminton. We promise to protect your privacy, never to spam you, and you are free to unsubscribe at any time. Spend as much time as your practice time allows developing movement. You must log in or register to reply here. Your racquet face naturally opens up (tilts upward) as you swing forward. It was being revealed that the wrist wasnt at all moving at contact. Exercise for Your Bone Health. I guess that muscles aren't everything. But as proven by video analysis, this is not part of the hit or contact and it is not strictly the reason why so much spin and ball speed can be produced by the pros. All they do is hold the racket and snap the wrist I think. The purpose was to train the athlete to move forward and in a balanced fashion transfer energy from the lower extremities (open or square stance) to weight transfer and hip/trunk rotation for more effective stroke production (Figure 5). Keyword Highlighting Bjorn Borg, who would win five consecutive Wimbledon titles, revolutionized tennis by using a western grip to produce heavy but still fast topspin forehand drives. Moreover, in the upper back . Muscles Used in The Tennis Serve - AthleticQuickness O ne of the characteristics for the tennis evolution over the past decade is a preferential use of the forehand drive in the construction of the point (15) that appears as a key stroke of the modern game . This movement can also be performed using an open stance catching position. Grip (tennis) In tennis, a grip is a way of holding the racquet in order to hit shots during a match. The smooth acceleration and the slinging (or whipping) action is where all the power and spin comes from. Legs add a great deal to the FH, but to call them the most influential muscle group to the FH isn't correct. Movement Analysis: Tennis Forehand by Arianna Robin - Prezi As you rotate your hand around those bevels, you will end up with your hands in a new position or grip. Forward swing to impact requires more trunk rotation of the hitting shoulder. E. Paul Roetertis Managing Director of Coaching Education and Sport Science at the United States Tennis Association. All aspects of your upper body are engaged when swinging in tennis.. As the ball left the racket, only then did the wrist start straightening out and the forearm start pronating. These players nonetheless evidently thrived with this instruction. When I was actively on gym, the legs responded by far the best for training. Elite tennis always had these 2 styles of groundstrokes (1), but since that time, there has been a reversal from primarily simultaneous to sequential groundstroke technique. Examples are described for forehands (right-handed players), but they should also be performed on the opposing side to mimic movements required for backhand strokes. Its this stance that enables you to change directions and sprint across the court. Pinckard K, Baskin KK, Stanford KI. The muscles used when playing tennis are: In the lower body: calves, hamstrings, quads, and glutes. Power can come from pushing off the ground, but can also come from other sources. Can I Keep Playing Tennis With My Shoulder Pain? For example: Some players have a hitch in their service motion. A final aspect of inefficiency takes place when the kinetic chain is not properly synchronized. The pain is caused by damage to the tendons that bend the wrist toward the palm. Keep in mind that: the function of the racket is to enhance the function of the player. For the forehand specifically, the core and forearms are most important. Big forehands use the whole kinetic chain, from the feet up to the hand, so you're going to need to do overall strengthening. Aerobic exercise alone results in clinically significant weight loss for men and women: midwest exercise trial 2. In todays modern tennis forehand that has changed. The backhand backswing is similar to the forehand with the exception of the loop. Furthermore, there is peak activity of the gastroc and quadriceps towards the end of this phase. Hit the back of the ball if you want to lift it to get the forehand high loop. A second form of inefficient stroke production occurs when all of the body parts are used but not employed correctly. The muscle that is contracting is called the agonist and the muscle that is relaxing or lengthening is called the antagonist. Tennis Grips: The Ultimate Guide (with Photos) - My Tennis HQ I'm pretty sure I can do double Maria Sharapova's best in any exercise. Legs are the most important muscles for tennis in general, but very powerful and controlled forehands can be hit without much leg involvement. But that's not always the case. Youll feel it when serving, doing forehand or backhand swings, and whenever you make quick movements around the court. Pickleball: Ouch, my elbow hurts! Solutions to tennis elbow (PDF) MUSCLE ACTIVATION DURING FOREHAND AND BACKHAND - ResearchGate J Epidemiol. Turn Your Shoulders Early. The arm is one of the weaker parts of the body. Coaches felt that these new forehand stroking styles were just a continuation of the evolution of the stroke from the 80s. Forehand Swing: Anterior deltoid, pectorals, shoulder internal rotators, elbow flexors (biceps), serratus anterior Muscles Used In The One-Handed Backhand Volley And Drive: Push-Off: Soleus, gastrocnemius, quadriceps, gluteals If we want to fire the muscles as fast as possible, we need to first stretch the muscles and as soon as they're stretched Elite Tennis Players Simply playing. What about buggy-whip (nadal) forehands? One essentially involves straight arms and 4 major kinetic chain elements (hips, trunk, shoulder, and wrist), while the other adds rotations at the forearm (7,19). Shoulder and arm just mostly transfer that energy forward into the racquet and the ball. In a split step the feet should be shoulder width apart, with legs flexed, the upper body leaning slightly forward and the weight on the balls of the feet. Concentrate on relaxing. Inclusion of these key training exercises in a tennis player's . 1. The way to hit a proper forehand back then was to take the racket back with a relaxed but relatively straight arm and only a slightly laid back wrist. Wolters Kluwer Health Medial epicondylitis is also known as golfer's elbow, baseball elbow, suitcase elbow, or forehand tennis elbow. So wrapping this up, your contention is that the muscles in the forearm are a significant source of power on a modern fh. I understand the theory, but in the real world, the forearm muscles get a hell of a workout in high end tennis. To understand how your players develop coordinated skills, control, consistency, placement and power, it is important to consider the idea of a linked system of body segments. Several reviews of the biomechanics of tennis are available for interested readers (5,15,18). Fast forward to the late 70s and early 80s when wood started giving way to graphite and the majority of courts started changing from slick grass to higher bouncing asphalt and slow clay, players began adapting by moving to stronger eastern and semi-western grips. Harinarayan CV, Holick MF, Prasad UV, Vani PS, HImabindu G. Vitamin D status and sun exposure in India. This phase involves the trunk muscle to make the adequate momentum and cancelation. . The flexible racket has been shown to dampen the shock better. Lauer L. United States Tennis Association. 10. Polyester strings were more durable and it allowed Kuerten to stroke the ball with as much racket head speed as he could possibly generate. And it does this without feeling like a workout. Jack Groppelis co-founder of the Human Performance Institute. Your message has been successfully sent to your colleague. It does not matter how great the stroke is if the player is not in the right place at the right time. In: 2. The purpose was to train the athlete to move efficiently to deep balls behind the baseline and to be able to produce greater energy transfer from open stance position that will translate into greater weight transfer, trunk rotation, and more effective stroke production from deep in the court (Figure 4). Results The experimental group's stability increased significantly, from 1.78 0.67 to 2.25 1.34 before training, and backstroke strength increased significantly, from 6.21 to 10.21; total . Therefore, in a way, the coaches are correct to teach such a technique. 2019;6:69. doi:10.3389/fcvm.2019.00069, Oja P, Kelly P, Pedisic Z, et al. Wrap your fingers around your racquet's grip at the butt end. The athlete takes 3 to 5 steps from the machine to increase the tension and lowers the body into a quarter squat position. What Muscles Does Tennis Work? A Rundown Of The Sport - Bustle Muscle activation during the tennis volley - PubMed Yes, I am inclined to believe that power mainly comes from the core rotation, as I don't really incorporate my knees (due to injury) and still generate power. You use the muscles of your lower body to twist into your swing to put more force behind the ball. What kind of muscles are used to hit the tennis ball? Section 01 - The Forehand Forward Swing Explained - FTP Tennis Takahashi K, Elliott B, and Noffal G. The role of upper limb segment rotations in the development of spin in the tennis forehand. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy. It's all about technique. The player's weight transfer from his right leg to his left leg (he is left handed) shows the horizontal linear momentum used to preload the left leg for a stretch-shortening cycle action to initiate the stroke. For one, tennis is a great way to get your cardio in, says Ajay Pant, the senior director of racquet sports at Life Time gyms. Wellness Massachusetts recommends doing seated rows, overhead presses, bench presses and lat pull-downs. If the analysis of inefficient movements is followed, it can be of great assistance in locating a problem in stroke production. ; eccentric: An isotonic contraction where the muscle lengthens. 13. Although the movement begins in your legs and travels up through the core, your upper body is responsible for the final execution and follow through on the shot. Muscles of Tennis Forehand - YouTube Does Mode of Contact with Different Types of Social Relationships Predict Depression in Older Adults? They did this by whipping the racket steeply upward and way over the head using a very fast action of the shoulder, arm and wrist. The forehand can be an aggressive and powerful attack shot that is used to return an opponent's shot and, when executed correctly, will manoeuvre an opponent around the court or win a point.. It hones in on the larger muscle groups listed below. The forearm muscles are most important to grip strength and a stronger grip allows for more power to be exerted in the swing, he explains. Players were taught to use the windshield wiper forehand with the wrist brushing the ball at contact and they were getting results.