Biomechanics References on Tennis Strokes

[Chas Tennis]

I recently found some references mostly by tennis biomechanics researcher Bruce Elliott and associates. I found them very interesting.

If you have some similar references please reply.

1) Two minute interview with Bruce Elliott on biomechanics, tennis, and coaching. Refers to the book

Technique Development in Tennis Stroke Production(2009), B. Elliott, M. Reid & M. Crespo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0qJjqzWaDA

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. all list it as ‘out of stock’. No wonder I had not heard of this 2009 biomechanics book on tennis stroke techniques. I found it for sale at the ITF Store. $20.

2) Paper - Biomechanics and Tennis, Elliott (internal shoulder rotation on the serve)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2577481/

3) An Australian tennis website includes video discussions-

http://www.tennis.com.au/coaches/resources

Instructional videos from a coach development workshop including 2 part Bruce Elliott & M. Reid video on the forehand. The first part is 56 minutes long and the first minutes are about foot work. Most stroke swing information starts at about 30 minutes.

(Note at the top of the webpage is a code to view the videos.)

http://www.tennis.com.au/coaches/resources/video

4) ITF paper on coaching the serve

bad link

5) Paper on the serve - Where do High Speed Tennis Serves come from? G. Noffal

http://www.coachesinfo.com/index.ph...e&catid=95:tennis-general-articles&Itemid=173

6) Early 1995 paper on the serve and internal shoulder rotation - Contributions of Upper Limb Segment Rotations During the Power Serve in Tennis, B. Elliott et al.

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/media/unive...alexeter/documents/iss/Elliot_et_al__1995.pdf

7) Paper - A Review of Tennis Serve Biomechanics, M. Seeley

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...CJoEXa&sig=AHIEtbSKWk23XrCHsTrmCj18xcY0hmI2pQ

8.) Biomechanical Principles of Tennis Technique, D. Knudson. Includes several insightful discussions.

9) ITF Biomechanics Stroke Power Point presentations, 2007

http://www.itftennis.com/coaching/publications/powerpoints/english/biomechanics.asp

10) Paper - The Use of Technology in Tennis Biomechanics Research

http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/pdf/original/IO_36639_original.PDF

11) Available ITF Publications

http://www.itftennis.com/coaching/sportsscience/finder/topic.asp

12) Paper - Shoulder joint loading in the high performance flat and kick tennis serves.(2007) Reid M, Elliott B, Alderson J.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2658985/?tool=pubmed

13) Elastic Energy in Tennis -presentation B. Elliott

http://www.itfcoaching.com/elastic-energy-in-tennis/player.html

14) Paper - Key Factors and Timing Patterns in the Tennis Forehand of Different Skill Levels
Johannes Landlinger, Stefan Lindinger, Thomas Stöggl, Herbert Wagner and Erich Müller . Timing diagrams of joint angular velocities before & after impact.
http://www.jssm.org/vol9/n4/15/v9n4-15pdf.pdf

15) ITF Introducing Biomechanics (added 12/2/13)
http://www.itftennis.com/media/114008/114008.pdf

16) When viewing PubMed.gov abstracts of many publications may be available free. To view the free paper look for an icon in the upper right side of the webpage with the abstract. Usually indicates 'view free text' somewhere but that phrase is not a link. For example, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17513331 show abstract and link for paper #12.

Free full NCBI research papers on biomechanical and medical subjects. PMC = free full publications
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=tennis

(I thought that an ISBS biomechanics conference in July 2012 was to have a session on tennis and a special ITF tennis publication. But just learned that there’s no special session on tennis and, I guess ?, no special issue on the latest tennis research.)

 

[connico]

Fantastic post, I went to one of these conferences a few years back. Was educational!

 

[Chas Tennis]

Just received reference Technique Development in Tennis Stroke Production

This afternoon I received the IFT book Technique Development in Tennis Stroke Production(2009), B. Elliott, M. Reid and M. Crespo

Suppliers Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. all list it as ‘out of stock’. No wonder I had not heard of this 2009 biomechanics book on tennis stroke techniques. I found it for sale at the ITF Store. $20 + $8 shipping. (ITF, get some book retailers!)

https://store.itftennis.com/category.asp?cid=12&lid=3&previousscript=/category.asp

Chapter titles:

1 Talent Development: A Progressive Approach
2 Biomechanical and Anatomical Principles
3 'Heaviness' in Stroke Production
4 Variability an Integral Feature of Stroke Development
5 Service Mechanics
6 Forehand Mechanics (including return of serve)
7 Backhand Mechanics
8 Net Play Mechanics
9 Contemporary Coaching of Technique

Includes a section identifying the joint motions. Very readable. Overall and detailed perspectives. Extensive references for each chapter.

Best tennis book I've seen, a great reference book!

 

[Chas Tennis]

Biomechanics Course

"The goal of BME 473 is to teach the fundamental concepts of movement biomechanics with an emphasis on how muscles produce movement."

http://rrg.utk.edu/resources/BME473/lectures.html#Lecture11

The interesting question for tennis is - How are the fastest muscle shortening velocities produced?

 

[Chas Tennis]

Titin - Some new research on muscle stretch.

I may have misunderstood this picture of new research related to the stretch-shortening cycle on the microscopic scale.

The Hill Muscle Model shows the functional components of a muscle on the smallest scale. It provides a way to visualize what is going on and to think about how active muscle components (actin & myosin) and passive muscle stretch component (recently also the Titin protein molecule) might function.

Recently, new research has emphasized the role played by passive Titin, the largest protein molecule, also located within the sacomere in parallel with the active Actin and Myosin structures. Recently it has been considered that Titin in each muscle cell provides the main stretch capability of the muscle. An older theory views stretch as an overall muscle stretch to include tendons.

Actin, Myosin Animation (no Titin) - Active Muscle Shortening
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sit...ter10/animation__myofilament_contraction.html

Sarcomere with Titin Illustrations
https://www.google.com/search?q=sar...AJOHU0gHN_oCwAg&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1312&bih=703

Actin, Myosin & Titin Illustrations
https://www.google.com/search?q=act...HGebX0QGSioG4Bw&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1312&bih=703

Report on Stretch Shortening Training with Biopsied Human Muscle Measurements. Added 2/5/2013
http://jap.physiology.org/content/100/3/771.full

Powerpoint presentation Stretch Shortening Cycle including Titin. Added 2/5/2013
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...O1i33i9XhSjyCASvJKt7-IA&bvm=bv.41867550,d.dmQ

New research on Titin
http://www.umag.ca/issue/spring-2012/article/clash-titin

This report in Figure 7 proposes a new way that Titin might be interacting with Actin to provide stretch functions.
http://ajpcell.physiology.org/content/299/1/C14.full

I don't understand this last research but maybe it implies that a stretch can be deliberately activated at various lengths of the muscle.

This new research might be especially important along with other research that indicates muscle shortening might be faster if 'passive' stretch is employed instead of active muscle shortening. (the Actin -Myosin animation above even looks slow).

In Biomechanics of Advanced Tennis (2003). Elliott said

"10-20% of additional racket head speed is achieved following a stretch shortening cycle."

(This publication is now 10 years old so there may be different views in 2013.)

Is that a simple addition to racket head speed or is passive stretch derived muscle shortening the only mode that can shorten that fast with control and reproducibility? Main principle of athletic movement?

See also
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=441023

Added 10/8/2014
Titin-based contribution to shortening velocity of rabbit skeletal myofibrils
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290211/

Added 4/7/2015
University of Manchester (2010) Proc Physiol Soc 19, SA12

Research Symposium
History dependence of muscle force production: structural non-uniformities, cross-bridge action or something altogether different?

W. Herzog1

1. Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Medline articles by:

Herzog, W

Figure 1: Mean (

When a muscle is actively stretched (shortened) its steady-state force following the stretch (shortening) is increased (decreased) relative to the purely isometric force at the same length. This history dependence of muscle force production was first described systematically more than half a century ago (1), but cannot be explained by the reigning paradigm of muscle contraction: the cross-bridge theory (2, 3). For the past three decades, history dependence had been explained with structural non-uniformities; specifically the development of sarcomere length non-uniformities when muscles were stretched (shortened) actively on the “unstable” descending limb of the force-length relationship (4, 5). The sarcomere length non-uniformity theory allowed for precise predictions, including that force enhancement following an active stretch cannot occur on the ascending part of the force-length relationship and that the enhanced forces can never exceed the maximal isometric forces at obtained on the plateau of the force-length relationship. However, these two basic predictions were shown to be not satisfied in a series of experiments from different laboratories (e.g. 1, 6). Recently, we discovered that passive forces following an active stretch of muscles, fibres and myofibrils were increased (7). When eliminating titin from isolated myofibril preparations, this passive force enhancement was abolished indicating that titin might play a force regulatory role. Stretching troponin C depleted myofibrils (to inhibit cross-bridge connections between the contractile proteins actin and myosin) in solutions of increasing calcium concentration resulted in an increase in passive forces, suggesting that titin is a molecular spring whose stiffness can be modulated by calcium (e.g., 7). Unfortunately, the increase in force associated with titin’s calcium sensitivity only accounted for a few percent of the observed increases in passive force with active muscle stretching. When stretching single myofibrils passively (low calcium concentration) and actively (high calcium concentration) beyond actin-myosin filament overlap, forces in the actively stretched condition were 3-4 times greater at lengths where cross-bridge forces were absent, and these differences reached values approximately 2-3 times the maximum active isometric force at the plateau of the force-length relationship. How can such high forces be explained in the absence of actin-myosin based cross-bridges forces? When eliminating titin, these force difference are abolished. Calcium activation alone (when cross-bridge attachments are inhibited) merely accounts for a tiny amount of the observed force increases. However, when myofibrils are actively stretched from different parts of the descending limb of the force-length relationship, and thus from different force levels, the increase in force beyond actin-myosin filament overlap is proportional to that force (Figure 1). From these results we conclude that titin is a strong regulator of force in skeletal muscle and becomes particularly important at long sarcomere lengths. Titin’s force regulation depends on the amount of active force, but is essentially independent of calcium concentration. We tentatively suggest that titin’s force regulation is caused by a force-dependent interaction of titin with actin which causes the free spring length of titin to become smaller thereby increasing its stiffness, and thus force upon stretching.

Added 4/10/2015
http://www.researchgate.net/publica...nhanced_in_actively_stretched_skeletal_muscle

Titin force is enhanced in actively stretched skeletal muscle

Krysta Powers, Gudrun Schappacher-Tilp, Azim Jinha, Tim Leonard, Kiisa Nishikawa, Walter Herzog

Journal of Experimental Biology (Impact Factor: 3). 08/2014; 217(20). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.105361
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT The sliding filament theory of muscle contraction is widely accepted as the means by which muscles generate force during activation. Within the constraints of this theory, isometric, steady-state force produced during muscle activation is proportional to the amount of filament overlap. Previous studies from our laboratory demonstrated enhanced titin-based force in myofibrils that were actively stretched to lengths which exceeded filament overlap. This observation cannot be explained by the sliding filament theory. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the enhanced state of titin during active stretch. Specifically, we confirm that this enhanced state of force is observed in a mouse model and quantify the contribution of calcium to this force. Titin-based force was increased by up to four times that of passive force during active stretch of isolated myofibrils. Enhanced titin-based force has now been demonstrated in two distinct animal models, suggesting that modulation of titin-based force during active stretch is an inherent property of skeletal muscle. Our results also demonstrated that 15% of titin's enhanced state can be attributed to direct calcium effects on the protein, presumably a stiffening of the protein upon calcium binding to the E-rich region of the PEVK segment and selected Ig domain segments. We suggest that the remaining unexplained 85% of this extra force results from titin binding to the thin filament. With this enhanced force confirmed in the mouse model, future studies will aim to elucidate the proposed titin-thin filament interaction in actively stretched sarcomeres.

 

[Chas Tennis]

ITF Coaching and Sports Science Review (1993-Present)

ITF Coaching and Sports Science Review - 3 publications per year 1993-present. Short articles on tennis subjects including biomechanics.

http://www.daviscup.com/coaching-sport-science-review/article-finder/articles-by-issue.aspx

http://www.daviscup.com/coaching-sport-science-review/issue-archive.aspx

 

[Chas Tennis]

National Center for Biotechnolgy Information

National Center for Biotechnolgy Information (NCBI)

NCBI data bases under “Literature”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/guide/literature/

Sample search NCBI database for “biomechanics tennis”- See "PubMed" abstracts and "PubMed Central" for full free publications.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gquery/?term=Biomechanics+tennis

Full text free publications- search
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

Full text free publications related to tennis -
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=tennis

Figures from tennis publications with links to the publications.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=tennis&report=imagesdocsum

 

[HughJars]

I was lucky to have Bruce Elliott as my lecturer at The University of Western Australia for my undergrad degree

 

[TimeSpiral]

Damn that's a massive OP ... Will check back later.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Researchgate - Bruce Elliott et Al Publications

Bruce Elliott publications available on Researchgate.
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bruce_Elliott/publications

Examples,
1) "Ball spin in the tennis serve: spin rate and axis of rotation." Shinji Sakurai, Machar Reid, Bruce Elliott
http://www.researchgate.net/publica...e_tennis_serve_spin_rate_and_axis_of_rotation

2) "A kinematic comparison of successful and unsuccessful tennis serves across the elite development pathway."
David Whiteside, Bruce Elliott, Brendan Lay and Machar Reid

Download of report
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...=RdmR2tZsL9hocT1kLFFU0w&bvm=bv.78677474,d.cGU

See Figure 4.

"5. Conclusions

Players of all ages appear to prepare their bodies and generate racquet velocity similarly in both
successful and unsuccessful serves. The similarity in discrete body kinematics suggests that service
faults cannot be attributed to a single source of mechanical error. However, service faults are characterized
by projection angles significantly further below the horizontal, suggesting that this parameter
is a determinant of serve outcome. Similar to other dexterous skills, compensatory variability in the
distal (elbow and wrist) joints immediately prior to impact appears critical to the regulation of projection
angle, as it allows players to adjust to the variable impact location. Given that the impact location
cannot be predetermined, perceptual feedback may play an important role in the compensation
process. For this reason, coordination of the distal degrees of freedom and a refined perception-action
coupling appear more important to success than any single kinematic component of the service action.
With this in mind, the development of a highly adaptable movement system may be more beneficial to
improving serve performance than traditional approaches that decompose and accentuate consistency
in the service action. Explicitly, coaches may command varying service performance (speed, spin, location),
scale the court dimensions, or administer stochastic perturbations of the ball toss early in development
to foster the mechanical and/or perceptual proficiency required in the tennis serve."

3) "Long-axis rotation: the missing link in proximal-to-distal segmental sequencing." R. N. Marshall and B. C. Elliott
http://www.researchgate.net/publica...nk_in_proximal-to-distal_segmental_sequencing

One of the most informative graphs on the tennis serve showing contributions from various joint motions and their timing. Compare internal shoulder rotation and pronation on Figure 1.

 

[Chas Tennis]

FYI - Biomechanical analysis of baseball pitching.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445080/

The study of baseball pitching is useful for understanding the tennis serve because the available research for baseball is considerable. Many of the same muscle stretches and joint motions, particularly the stretch shorten cycle for external shoulder rotation (ESR) and internal shoulder rotation (ISR), are used for both motions. This stretch shorten cycle makes use of the largest muscles attached to the arm, the lat and pec.

(Terms - In many countries, internal shoulder rotation is called medial shoulder rotation.)

Baseball pitch showing internal shoulder rotation.
http://www.hi-techtennis.com/high_speed/baseball.php?video=pitcher_foside_01_1000.swf

 

[julian]

FYI - Biomechanical analysis of baseball pitching.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445080/

The study of baseball pitching is useful for understanding the tennis serve because the available research for baseball is considerable. Many of the same muscle stretches and joint motions, particularly the stretch shorten cycle for external shoulder rotation (ESR) and internal shoulder rotation (ISR), are used for both motions. This stretch shorten cycle makes use of the largest muscles attached to the arm, the lat and pec.

(Terms - In many countries, internal shoulder rotation is called medial shoulder rotation.)

Baseball pitch showing internal shoulder rotation.
http://www.hi-techtennis.com/high_speed/baseball.php?video=pitcher_foside_01_1000.swf

See a paper by Elliot and Reid about backhand 2002
See the title from my thread about modern trends
Pl see the Stanford web site as well

 

[Chas Tennis]

Some Rod Cross publications on sports physics.
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cross/PHYSICS OF SPORT.htm

List of publications.
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cross/publications.html

 

[heninfan99]

I'll never forget in Sampras' book when he said "One day the serve was just there."

 

[Chas Tennis]

Active Stretch

During the stretch shorten cycle muscles that are being stretched can be activated for additional force enhancement. Activitating the muscles while they are lengthening is called 'active stretch'.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463830/

I will update with additional references on 'active stretch" as I find.

 

[bigservesofthands]

Active Stretch

During the stretch shorten cycle muscles that are being stretched can be activated for additional force enhancement. Activitating the muscles while they are lengthening is called 'active stretch'.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463830/

I will update with additional references on 'active stretch" as I find.

Thanks for that. Would be interesting to be able to place electrodes like they did to activate shoulders stretches with proper timing and sequence instead of thumb stretches.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Biomechanical study of throwing. Many of the same muscles and joints function in very similar ways for both the high level throw and tennis serve.

Upper body contributions to power generation during rapid, overhand throwing in humans
Neil T. Roach, Daniel E. Lieberman
Journal of Experimental Biology 2014 217: 2139-2149; doi: 10.1242/jeb.103275
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/217/12/2139

 

[Chas Tennis]

There is a need to understand the difference between the highest level tennis performance and the tennis practiced by lower level tennis players. This publication deals with this comparison in general for certain type sports, golf, in particular, is discussed.
Sample chapter from the
Routledge Handbook of Sports Coaching, 2015
Edited by Paul Potrac, Wade Gilbert and Jim Denison

See figure 8.2

EXPERTISE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF MULTI-ARTICULAR SPORTS ACTIONS
Paul S . Glazier , Machar M . Reid, and Kevin A . Ball
http://www.paulglazier.info/images/pdfs/glazier_et_al_15.pdf

 

[Chas Tennis]

Review article on the backhand.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306773/

Performance Factors Related to the Different Tennis Backhand Groundstrokes: A Review
Cyril Genevois,1,✉* Machar Reid,2,* Isabelle Rogowski,1,* and Miguel Crespo3,*
Author information ► Article notes ► Copyright and License information ►
This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.
Go to:
Abstract
The backhand is one of the two basic groundstrokes in tennis and can be played both with one or two hands, with topspin or backspin. Despite its variety of derivatives, the scientific literature describing the backhand groundstroke production has not been reviewed as extensively as with the serve and the forehand. The purpose of this article is to review the research describing the mechanics of one and two-handed backhands, with a critical focus on its application to clinicians and coaches. One hundred and thirty four articles satisfied a key word search (tennis, backhand) in relevant databases and manual search, with only 61 of those articles considered directly relevant to our review. The consensus of this research supports major differences between both the one- and two-handed strokes, chiefly about their respective contributions of trunk rotation and the role of the non-dominant upper extremity. Two-handed backhand strokes rely more on trunk rotation for the generation of racquet velocity, while the one-handed backhands utilize segmental rotations of the upper limb to develop comparable racquet speeds. There remains considerable scope for future research to examine expertise, age and/or gender-related kinematic differences to strengthen the practitioner’s understanding of the key mechanical considerations that may shape the development of proficient backhand strokes.

Key points

• One-and two-handed backhands require different motor coordination
• Two-handed backhand strokes rely more on trunk rotation for racquet velocity generation, whereas one-handed backhand strokes rely more on segmental rotations of the upper limb
• Players using a two-handed backhand should learn early a slice one-handed backhand because of the different co-ordination pattern involved
• Equipment scaling is a great tool for coaches to learn early proper one-handed backhand strokes
• Future research related to the interaction between backhand technique, gender and skill level is needed

 

[Chas Tennis]

1) Review article on the forehand.
http://www.jssm.org/mob/mobresearch.php?id=jssm-12-225.xml

Mechanics and Learning Practices Associated with the Tennis Forehand: A Review

Machar Reid1,2, Bruce Elliott2, Miguel Crespo3,

More Information

1Sport Science and Medicine Unit, Tennis Australia, Australia 2The University of Western Australia, Australia 3Development Department, International Tennis Federation, Spain


ABSTRACT
The forehand ranks closely behind the serve in importance in the sport of tennis. Yet, while the serve has been the focus of a litany of research reviews, the literature describing forehand stroke production has not been reviewed as extensively. The purposes of this article are therefore to review the research describing the mechanics of the forehand and then to appraise that research alongside the coach-led development of the stroke. The consensus of this research supports the importance of axial rotation of the pelvis, trunk, shoulder horizontal adduction and internal rotation as the primary contributors to the development of racket speed in the forehand. The relationship between grip style and racket velocity is similarly well established. However, it is also clear that there remains considerable scope for future research to longitudinally examine the inter-relationships between different teaching methodologies, equipment scaling and forehand mechanics.

Key words: Coaching, skill development, pedagogy, groundstrokes, methodology


2) Publication on forehand research using inertial sensors.
https://www.repository.utl.pt/bitstream/10400.5/9893/1/Tese definitiva.pdf

Kinematic Analysis and Upper Limb Contributions to Racket Head Velocity of Elite Tennis Players in Tennis Forehand Drive Winner

Abstract
The aim of the present study was to quantify and compare kinematic variables and their contributions to the racket head speed in tennis forehand winner, in the cross court and inside out direction. Mini inertial sensors (Xsens MVN) of motion capture, recorded kinematic data of six elite tennis players (ATP professionals). Linear velocity of the racket and ball were captured with a high speed video camera. Results indicate that the direction of the shot is influenced by the internal/external rotation of the upper arm and the abduction/adduction of the hand after the impact. Significant differences between the two directions were found in the end of the racket horizontal movement, where the players showed higher wrist abduction when playing in the inside out direction (cross court: 13.9 ± 17.2°; inside out: 16.9 ± 18.6°). Players presented a higher internal rotation of the shoulder in the inside out direction (cross court: 54.0 ±11.8°vs. inside out: 48.0 ± 11.0°) and demonstrated an increased racket linear velocity in the cross court direction (cross court: 32.0 ± 3.5m/s vs. Inside out: 30.3 ± 3.8m/s). Horizontal flexion/abduction of the upper arm and flexion/extension of the forearm were the major contributors for the racket’s head speed.

Keywords: Tennis Forehand, kinematic, racket speed, inertial sensors analysis, upper
limb contributions.

 

[Chas Tennis]

The stretch-shorten cycle depends on elastic forces that are produced by Titin, a giant protein molecule in the sarcomere.

This very advanced presentation by Walter Herzog discusses Titin and state-of-the-art research. One interesting issue is the effect of activating the Titin to increase the 'passive' force. The forces from Titin can be enhanced depending on 'activation' in a manner similar to that of EMG signals for activating active muscle forces. Both may depend on calcium ions released into the sarcomere. The quality of the stretch shorten cycle is related to this research.

I just viewed the long video. I'm a bit overwhelmed for now and don't have the background to follow much of the presentation. Later will pick a few times with some information that I think is interesting and might relate to the stretch shorten cycle on tennis strokes.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25122914

 

[Chas Tennis]

Reference book. 221 pages

This important reference now appears to be available free from Researchgate.

Biomechanics of Advanced Tennis, 2003, B.Elliott, M. Reid, M Crespo, edited with many tennis researchers contributing chapters.

Link gets a different tennis publication ??


Excellent material on the basic biomechanics of tennis strokes. The serve is well illustrated and the origin of Leg Thrust, Cartwheel, Somersault, Trunk Twist, etc I believe started at this time.

Stroke principles are mostly up to date but some stroke modifications such as the recent forehand variations need more recent descriptions.

Until about 4 or 5 years ago this book was $275.00.

I have often posted this reference for the last few years.

 

[vimavima]

Reference book. 221 pages

This important reference now appears to be available free from Researchgate.

Biomechanics of Advanced Tennis, 2003, B.Elliott, M. Reid, M Crespo, edited with many tennis researchers contributing chapters.
[link removed]

Excellent material on the basic biomechanics of tennis strokes. The serve is well illustrated and the origin of Leg Thrust, Cartwheel, Somersault, Trunk Twist, etc I believe started at this time.

Stroke principles are mostly up to date but some stroke modifications such as the recent forehand variations need more recent descriptions.

Until about 4 or 5 years ago this book was $275.00.

I have often posted this reference for the last few years.

I may be missing something, but the downloadable PDF seems to be only seven pages. Maybe it's a review or a synopsis?

 

[Chas Tennis]

I may be missing something, but the downloadable PDF seems to be only seven pages. Maybe it's a review or a synopsis?

The article downloaded was review article Biomechanics and Tennis and not the book The Biomechanics of Advanced Tennis. ??

I have the book and did not download the book pdf. I sent a message to Researchgate to check on the link.

Please edit your reply above to delete the link.

 

[vimavima]

Please edit your reply above to delete the link.

Done.

 

[Red Rick]

Subbed to very interesting bread thread

 

[Chas Tennis]

Active Stretch

During the stretch shorten cycle muscles that are being stretched can be activated for additional force enhancement. Activitating the muscles while they are lengthening is called 'active stretch'.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463830/

I will update with additional references on 'active stretch" as I find.

Tennis publications such as the book the Biomechanics of Advanced Tennis referred to activating stretched muscles before using them in the stretch shorten cycle. They referenced the publication below.

This simple experiment involves research into muscle activation ('active' nerve instructions) to stretched or stretching muscles just before those muscles shorten. There is a force enhancement (increase) to the muscle contraction when this is done. It was identified in the Biomechanics of Advanced Tennis as part of tennis strokes, page 33.

Early research, 1998
Stretch-shorten cycle compared with isometric preload: contributions to enhanced muscular performance
Andrew D. Walshe, Greg J. Wilson, Gertjan J. C. Ettema
http://jap.physiology.org/content/84/1/97

 

[ChaelAZ]

I have this on my desk as the bible of tennis bodies and motion. Well done guide.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ChaelAZ]

I will add, it is not a full kinetic sequence guide, but relates muscles used in stroke development to muscles and movement, and then breaks down training and conditioning to improve.

 

[Chas Tennis]

I have this on my desk as the bible of tennis bodies and motion. Well done guide.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have this book also. It is specific to tennis, illustrations for each stroke identifying muscles, an excellent book.

I use The Manual of Structural Kinesiology, Thompson & Floyd, a few times each week. It discusses each muscle and joint motion with clear illustrations. It lists the various joint motions that each muscle can do, options. For example, if your stretch ISR muscles in the ESR-ISR stretch shorten cycle, so important for the serve, you know from the book that each of these stretched muscles involved can also do other joint motions in addition to ISR. The lat, for example, can do ISR or extension or adduction and combinations of these joint motions. The lat can also move the upper arm forward by shoulder extension in the serve and probably is doing so. The book is a popular college text in about its 20th+ edition. The 15th edition (2004) probably costs under $10 used. With Tennis Anatomy to identify the main muscles for strokes and this book for muscle & joint detail, you cover a great deal of the motions that you encounter.

 

[Sirius Black]

I have this book. It is specific to tennis, illustrations for each stroke identifying muscles, an excellent book.

I use The Manual of Structural Kinesiology, Thompson & Floyd, a few times each week. It discusses each muscle and joint motion with clear illustrations. It lists the various joint motions that each muscle can do, options. For example, if your stretch ISR muscles in the ESR-ISR stretch shorten cycle, so important for the serve, you know from the book that each of these stretched muscles involved can also do other joint motions in addition to ISR. The lat, for example, can do ISR or extension or adduction and combinations of these joint motions. The upper arm also moves forward for shoulder extension in the serve. The book is a popular college text in about its 20th+ edition. The 15th edition (2004) probably costs under $10 used. With Tennis Anatomy to identify the main muscles for strokes and this book for muscle & joint detail, you cover a great deal of the motions that you encounter.

This is basic anatomy. If you know the origins and insertions of the muscles you can deduce their actions via the direction of their striations.

Pec major also internally rotates the humerus, adducts the humerus, plays a small role in flexion (clavicular head) and extension (sternal head)...

Teres major is anothe internal rotator. Subscapularis...it's not groundbreaking stuff

Meanwhile there is no perfect range or joint motion. Everybody has their own unique biomechanics based on their individual anatomies. Form follows function, and function follows form. So I know you like to analyze people's form and compare them to this proverbial perfect model, but you have to realize that the form people use may be the perfect form for them

 

[Red Rick]

This is basic anatomy. If you know the origins and insertions of the muscles you can deduce their actions via the direction of their striations.

Pec major also internally rotates the humerus, adducts the humerus, plays a small role in flexion (clavicular head) and extension (sternal head)...

Teres major is anothe internal rotator. Subscapularis...it's not groundbreaking stuff

Meanwhile there is no perfect range or joint motion. Everybody has their own unique biomechanics based on their individual anatomies. Form follows function, and function follows form. So I know you like to analyze people's form and compare them to this proverbial perfect model, but you have to realize that the form people use may be the perfect form for them

sooo mury forehand gmoat? (greatest mury forehand of all time)

 

[Chas Tennis]

Forehand review article (2013) with many references.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3761830/

Mechanics and Learning Practices Associated with the Tennis Forehand: A Review
Machar Reid,1,2,* Bruce Elliott,2,* and Miguel Crespo3,✉*
Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer
This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Go to:
Abstract
The forehand ranks closely behind the serve in importance in the sport of tennis. Yet, while the serve has been the focus of a litany of research reviews, the literature describing forehand stroke production has not been reviewed as extensively. The purposes of this article are therefore to review the research describing the mechanics of the forehand and then to appraise that research alongside the coach-led development of the stroke. The consensus of this research supports the importance of axial rotation of the pelvis, trunk, shoulder horizontal adduction and internal rotation as the primary contributors to the development of racket speed in the forehand. The relationship between grip style and racket velocity is similarly well established. However, it is also clear that there remains considerable scope for future research to longitudinally examine the inter-relationships between different teaching methodologies, equipment scaling and forehand mechanics.
.......................................................................
............................................. one section on the forehand grip
"Grip Style and Pressure
There are three broad classifications of forehand grip: eastern, semi-western and western. Each grip influences the kinematics of the swing and therefore the behaviour of the ball post-impact. Tagliafico et al., 2009 have also reported the type of forehand grip played a role in the wrist injury profile of non- professional players. Approximately 13% of 370 adult players monitored over a 20 month period reported injuries to the wrist that were related to the forehand grip. Injuries or pain on the ulnar and radial sides were associated with western/semi-western grips and eastern grips respectively. This fits with the data of Elliott et al., 1989 that associated increased ulnar wrist flexion with the western/semi-western grips and subsequently in the production of increased vertical racket speed. Grip position therefore needs to be considered in the diagnosis of wrist injuries as well as in any suggested remedial technique work following injury.
Historically, grip pressure was reported to have little effect on the rebound velocity of simulated forehands using a clamped racquet (e.g., Elliott, 1982). Intuitively, this fits with what is observed and encouraged by many coaches: to reduce a player’s grip pressure than vice versa. Players can be asked to reduce grip pressure during the swing up to impact, where a slightly ‘firmer grip’ may be applied. The extent to which this can be consciously controlled is unknown; however, Knudson and White, 1989 have shown that grip forces vary considerably on regions of the hand and throughout the forehand stroke, with gripping forces increasing in the 50 ms prior to impact. More recently, the idea that increases in grip pressure may be advantageous for shots not hit in the central area of the racket-head has received partial support through the study of Choppin et al., 2010, which linked a firm grip in the forehand with a reduction in the ball’s flight time and trajectory following impact. Further work is clearly needed to fully understand the interaction between grip pressure and forehand shot performance, particularly with vary racket technology in mind."

I would not call this a confident and clear final answer to the 'tight grip' vs 'loose grip' issue.

See the extensive list of references especially those mentioned in the grip section above. The links above take you to the references in the PMC online publication.

This National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website has a large collection of selected biomechanics and sports publications. Search the site for excellent publications. PMC are free online. PubMed are not free.

In general, to search for publications use Google Scholar. In a search list, links that appear up and on the right are free, available on line.

 

[Chas Tennis]

InternatIonal Journal of Performance analysIs In sPort, 2018https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2017.1419407

Which tool for a tennis serve evaluation?

A review F. Tubeza,b,c, C. Schwartza, J. Paulusa, J.-L. Croisiera,c, O. Brülsa,d, V. Denoëla,eand B. Forthommea,calaboratory of Human motion analysis (lamH), university of liège, liège, Belgium; bPhysiotherapy Department, Haute École robert schuman (Hers), libramont, Belgium; cDepartment of sport and rehabilitation sciences, university of liège, liège, Belgium; dDepartment of aerospace and mechanical engineering (ltas), university of liège, liège, Belgium; estructural engineering, Department arGenco, university of liège, liège, Belgium

ABSTRACT

For coaches, the most common and easiest way to analyse the tennis serve is to refer to their own vision. However, human vision is insufficient to observe high-speed motion with great precision. With the improvement of technology, it is now possible to study the gesture from a quantitative point of view. The quantitative evaluation of the tennis serve focuses on the kinematics and kinetics of the player but also on the stroke result, which includes the ball speed and the ball trajectory. This review aims to highlight the current tools available for players, coaches, medical staffs and biomechanical researchers, to evaluate the tennis serve. This overview will provide information to the player’s entourage in order to choose the right tools depending on their specific purposes. All of these tools can be applied in performance improvement and injury prevention.


https://www.researchgate.net/profil...ol-for-a-tennis-serve-evaluation-A-review.pdf

 

[Chas Tennis]

This 2018 publication deals with Titin research. Titin relates to tennis strokes through the stretch shorten cycle.

On these technical research publications, I usually read the Abstract, Introduction and the Conclusions at the end.

This paper has some interesting points - it assigns forces to 'Titin folding' at high tension and says that Titin folding may be large when Myosin forces are topped out. Note - Titin may use molecular 'folding' instead of elastic stretching as with a rubberband. It also has history on sarcomere & Titin research and many references.

The work of titin protein folding as a major driver in muscle contraction
Edward C. Eckels,1,2,* Rafael Tapia-Rojo,1 Jamie Andrés Rivas-Pardo,1 and Julio M. Fernández1,*

Abstract
Single molecule atomic force microscopy and magnetic tweezers experiments have demonstrated that titin Ig domains are capable of folding against a pulling force, generating mechanical work which exceeds that produced by a myosin motor. We hypothesize that upon muscle activation, formation of actomyosin crossbridges reduces the force on titin causing entropic recoil of the titin polymer and triggering the folding of the titin Ig domains. In the physiological force range of 4–15 pN under which titin operates in muscle, the folding contraction of a single Ig domain can generate 200% of the work of entropic recoil, and occurs at forces which exceed the maximum stalling force of single myosin motors. Thus titin operates like a mechanical battery storing elastic energy efficiently by unfolding Ig domains, and delivering the charge back by folding when the motors are activated during a contraction. We advance the hypothesis that titin folding and myosin activation act as inextricable partners during muscle contraction.
Keywords: Muscle contraction, titin, protein folding, polymer physics, single molecule, force spectroscopy

 

[Chas Tennis]

The most basic component of muscle and the source of force is the sarcomere. This reference discusses some basic characteristics of the sarcomere, such as its force capabilities vs its length. The body orients itself for a tennis stroke so that the muscles to be used can operate over favorable muscle lengths for the strokes. This references discusses the details of why on the sarcomere level. Sarcomeres are extremely small, just a few micrometers long.

4. Tutorials (supporting material)

Medical Year 1. Element 3.

Two important areas that need more information are
1) More recent research has covers Titin, now identified as the actor for elastic energy storage in the sarcomere.
2) The force available from the sarcomere vs the speed of contraction is a basic characteristic important for high speed tennis strokes. Elastic or 'passive' contractions involving Titin can supply forces at higher contracting speeds than 'active' muscle contractions involving Actin & Myosin. Stretch muscles for certain high speed motions.

Search also for sarcomere animations that show how active Actin & Myosin work. More difficult animations to find are those that include Titin.

Note- the use of the words 'active' and 'passive' have a defined use here. Often in tennis usage, the same terms are not used in the same defined way as in the reference.

 

[Chas Tennis]

European PMC collection of free online publications. This is similar to the NCBI PMC collection in the US.

About - Europe PMC

Discover more about the benefits and scope of Europe PMC.

europepmc.org

Europe PMC

Europe PMC is an archive of life sciences journal literature.

europepmc.org

 

[Chas Tennis]

The Kinetic Chain Concept

The Kinetic Chain Concept is frequently used in describing tennis strokes. I just found this reference by Todd Ellenbecker and Ryoki Aoki specifically mentioning throwing and tennis serving.

Step by Step Guide to Understanding the Kinetic Chain Concept in the Overhead Athlete

Download Citation | Step by Step Guide to Understanding the Kinetic Chain Concept in the Overhead Athlete | Purpose of review: The purpose of this review will be to provide both a historical and recent review of the role of the kinetic chain for the... | Find, read and cite all the research you...

www.researchgate.net

 

[Chas Tennis]

Video lectures on biomechanics.

https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/sportsbiomls

Bruce Elliott on Tennis Biomechanics. Posted on Youtube May, 2020.

Walter Herzog on muscle mechanics. Herzog is a researcher on Titin, the muscle structure that in central to the stretch shorten cycle.

I'm hoping that he will state that Titin still supplies forces at the fastest muscle shortening rates.

 

[Chas Tennis]

On tennis strokes and injuries.

Upper Extremity Injuries in Tennis Players: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management - PMC

Upper extremity tennis injuries are most commonly characterized as overuse injuries to the wrist, elbow and shoulder. The complex anatomy of these structures and their interaction with biomechanical properties of tennis strokes contributes to the ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

One Issue of interest for serving - shoulder injuries
Internal Shoulder Impingement vs Subacomial Impingement

Internal Shoulder Impingement

Subacromial Impingement

Subacromial Impingement | ShoulderDoc

We would next like to know the percentages of tennis servers that are injured by Internal Shoulder Impingement vs Subacromial Impingement.

 

[yossarian]

On tennis strokes and injuries.

Upper Extremity Injuries in Tennis Players: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management - PMC

Upper extremity tennis injuries are most commonly characterized as overuse injuries to the wrist, elbow and shoulder. The complex anatomy of these structures and their interaction with biomechanical properties of tennis strokes contributes to the ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Issue - shoulder injuries

Internal Shoulder Impingement vs Subacomial Impingement

Internal Shoulder Impingement

Subacomial Impingement

Subacromial Impingement | ShoulderDoc

Good article. And what do you know? Consistent with pretty much everything I've already said. Maybe you should trust me and my doctoral level education?

 

[Red Rick]

Good article. And what do you know? Consistent with pretty much everything I've already said. Maybe you should trust me and my doctoral level education?

Are you seriously gatekeeping his own thread

 

[yossarian]

Are you seriously gatekeeping his own thread

I've had a back and forth with him for the past few days on this stuff, and pretty much every time I bring up a valid point he just refuses to acknowledge it. So forgive me for feeling vindicated when this article essentially reiterates everything I've been telling him

 

[Chas Tennis]

Good article. And what do you know? Consistent with pretty much everything I've already said. Maybe you should trust me and my doctoral level education?

The issue is whether 'shoulder injuries' for the tennis serve are dominated by Internal Shoulder Impingement or Subacromial Impingment. What percentage of shoulder injuries for each injury? I am uncertain until I see some more information for the tennis serve.

What field is your doctorate? Medical? Orthopaedic?

 

[yossarian]

The issue is whether 'shoulder injuries' for the tennis serve are dominated by Internal Shoulder Impingement or Subacromial Impingment. What percentage of shoulder injuries for each injury? I am uncertain until I see some more information for the tennis serve.

What field is you doctorate? Medical? Orthopaedic?

I would argue that internal impingement is more common seeing as 1) the mechanism of injury is consistent with the throwing motion 2) it is more prevalent in throwing athletes and 3) the article you cited specifically mentions it and does not mention SAIS

Clinically differentiating the two doesn't matter because you treat both in pretty much the exact same way. You don’t worry about fixing the pathoanatomy. You address the impairments contributing to the movement dysfunction

 

[Chas Tennis]

I would argue that internal impingement is more common seeing as 1) the mechanism of injury is consistent with the throwing motion 2) it is more prevalent in throwing athletes and 3) the article you cited specifically mentions it and does not mention SAIS

Clinically differentiating the two doesn't matter because you treat both in pretty much the exact same way. You don’t worry about fixing the pathoanatomy. You address the impairments contributing to the movement dysfunction

"and does not mention SAIS" this is not true.

See section "Rotator Cuff Injury". It talks about tendon injuries and might include SAIS.

Ellenbecker's video was called "Rotator Cuff Injury"

The tricky thing here is that Internal Shoulder Impingement might involve the same supraspinatus tendon as Subacromial Impingement, but on the opposite side of the tendon and also ISI involves more injured tissues. See details of these injuries.

This is an example of why I question poster's thoughts without some more evidence.

What field is your doctorate? Medical? Orthopaedic?

 

[yossarian]

"and does not mention SAIS" this is not true.

See section "Rotator Cuff Injury". It talks about tendon injuries and might include SAIS.

Ellenbecker's video was called "Rotator Cuff Injury"

The tricky thing here is that Internal Shoulder Impingement might involve the same supraspinatus tendon as Subacromial Impingement, but on the opposite side of the tendon and also ISI involves more injured tissues. See details of these injuries.

This is an example of why I question poster's thoughts without some more evidence.

What field is your doctorate? Medical? Orthopaedic?

I will have my doctor of physical therapy degree in a few months

Under "rotator cuff injuries" the article specifically mentions posterior internal impingement as the most common cause in overhead athletes and it also mentions scapular dyskinesis. It doesn't mention traditional SAIS. Again, differentiating the two from a clinical perspective is not all that important

"rotator cuff injury" is just a catch all term.

 

[Chas Tennis]

I will have my doctor of physical therapy degree in a few months

Under "rotator cuff injuries" the article specifically mentions posterior internal impingement as the most common cause in overhead athletes and it also mentions scapular dyskinesis. It doesn't mention traditional SAIS. Again, differentiating the two from a clinical perspective is not all that important

"rotator cuff injury" is just a catch all term.

Please quote the most common cause sentence or tell me what section it is in.

 

[Chas Tennis]

This publication looks interesting for shoulder injury information. Reading.

link

Rotator Cuff Injuries in Tennis Players - PMC

This review presents epidemiology, etiology, management, and surgical outcomes of rotator cuff injuries in tennis players. Rotator cuff injuries in tennis players are usually progressive overuse injuries ranging from partial-thickness articular- or ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

This publication has the information -

"Most injuries are partial-thickness articular-sided tears, while full-thickness tears tend to occur in older-aged players."

This indicates that Internal Shoulder Impingement (ISI) is a more common injury for tennis serves than Subacromial Impingement.

In other words, the Supraspinatus is torn on the inner tendon side at the Humerus ball and not on the outer tendon side under the Acromion.

Internal Impingement | ShoulderDoc

I had believed that is was probably Subacromial Impingement and had not heard of ISI until recently after Yossarian posted a comment.

 

[yossarian]

Please quote the most common cause sentence or tell me what section it is in.

I literally just told you it was in the rotator cuff section but here

“Rotator cuff injury is frequent in the general population, with a degenerative etiology seen mostly in older patients. However, these injuries are also prevalent in younger populations of overhead throwing athletes, occurring as a result of repetitive, high-energy loading of the shoulder joint. In energetic overhead motions, the muscles and tendons comprising the rotator cuff are the most important components of dynamic shoulder stabilization. In athletes, rotator cuff tendinopathy is most often associated with posterior internal impingement, which can cause fraying or tearing of the rotator cuff tendons with repetition. Additionally, scapular dyskinesis has been shown to contribute to rotator cuff pathology, as the rotator cuff muscles synchronicity is disrupted by abnormal scapular range of motion.”