Return to search

Loading and velocity generation in the high performance tennis serve

[Truncated abstract] Shoulder injuries rank among the most prevalent and debilitating sustained by professional tennis players. The loads, or magnitude, location, direction, duration, frequency, variability and rate of force application, endured by tissues of the shoulder during stroke production, and more particularly the serve, are commonly implicated in shoulder joint injury (Chandler et al., 1992; McCann and Bigliani, 1994; Kibler, 1995). Indeed, past evidence points to these loads increasing along with serve velocity, as well as with varied segment use (Elliott et al., 2003). This dissertation therefore aimed to quantify hypothesised relationships between certain serve types and techniques, and shoulder joint loading among high performance able-bodied and wheelchair players. . . Of final note is that prospective 3D biomechanical examinations of shoulder joint motion in the tennis serve should consider placement of humeral triads distal to the biceps and/or triceps muscle belly. In comparison to markers placed at the mid-point of the humerus (i.e. as used in this thesis), these more distal triad positions appear to alleviate the spurious effects of soft tissue artefact thereby enhancing the accuracy of estimated long-axis rotation of the upper arm. Although the current representation of 3D humeral motion did not confound the comparisons made between serve types or techniques, it is likely that upper arm triads located just above the epicondyles of the humerus could have offered more insightful absolute comparisons to the literature. Further, the elaboration of a joint coordinate system at the shoulder to provide for the more meaningful and functional expression and interpretation of shoulder joint kinetic and kinematic data should also be central to all future, related investigative efforts.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/221294
Date January 2006
CreatorsReid, Machar
PublisherUniversity of Western Australia. School of Human Movement and Exercise Science
Source SetsAustraliasian Digital Theses Program
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
RightsCopyright Machar Reid, http://www.itpo.uwa.edu.au/UWA-Computer-And-Software-Use-Regulations.html

Page generated in 0.0069 seconds