Stroke Volume During Practice and Match Play in Junior Tennis Players
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Sophomore
Major
Human Health Sciences
Minor
Business
Institution
University of Kentucky
KY House District #
NA
KY Senate District #
NA
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Tim Uhl; Natalie Myers
Department
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
Abstract
Context: It is not uncommon for junior tennis players to compete in year-round competition exposing players to rigorous workloads. Previous tennis work has used hitting volume as a measure of workload, with methods requiring video analysis that incorporated manual counting of strokes. While the manual counting of stokes may be accurate the demands of such a task are time intensive. Therefore, other avenues of measuring workload must be explored. The Sony Smart Tennis Sensor (SSTS) is a new device that may be capable of measuring hitting volume and stroke type.
Purpose: To determine if the sensor is capable of tracking daily training loads over time and to investigative the criterion validity of the SSTS and in a group of tennis players.
Methods: Ten high school players (16 ± 1 age, 9 males, 1 female) were recruited to participate. Each player’s hitting volume and stroke type were tracked prospectively for 6 weeks using the SSTS. The sensor attaches to the end of the racket handle. Criterion validity was established comparing video data of two practices to SSTS data on 4 tennis players in order to determine the measurement accuracy of the Sony sensor. Stokes were categorized into forehand swings, backhand swings, overhead swings, and total volume.
Results: The SSTS is able to measure hitting volume across time. On average, the daily practice and match total volume was 533 and 234 strokes, respectively. Regardless of practice or match play approximately 54% of the total volume of strokes were forehand swings. The measurement accuracy of the SSTS was above 90% for all measured stokes.
Conclusions: The SSTS is an accurate way of measuring hitting volume in tennis and can be used to track practice and match volume overtime. Monitoring workloads overtime can help prepare players for rigorous competition schedules.
Stroke Volume During Practice and Match Play in Junior Tennis Players
Context: It is not uncommon for junior tennis players to compete in year-round competition exposing players to rigorous workloads. Previous tennis work has used hitting volume as a measure of workload, with methods requiring video analysis that incorporated manual counting of strokes. While the manual counting of stokes may be accurate the demands of such a task are time intensive. Therefore, other avenues of measuring workload must be explored. The Sony Smart Tennis Sensor (SSTS) is a new device that may be capable of measuring hitting volume and stroke type.
Purpose: To determine if the sensor is capable of tracking daily training loads over time and to investigative the criterion validity of the SSTS and in a group of tennis players.
Methods: Ten high school players (16 ± 1 age, 9 males, 1 female) were recruited to participate. Each player’s hitting volume and stroke type were tracked prospectively for 6 weeks using the SSTS. The sensor attaches to the end of the racket handle. Criterion validity was established comparing video data of two practices to SSTS data on 4 tennis players in order to determine the measurement accuracy of the Sony sensor. Stokes were categorized into forehand swings, backhand swings, overhead swings, and total volume.
Results: The SSTS is able to measure hitting volume across time. On average, the daily practice and match total volume was 533 and 234 strokes, respectively. Regardless of practice or match play approximately 54% of the total volume of strokes were forehand swings. The measurement accuracy of the SSTS was above 90% for all measured stokes.
Conclusions: The SSTS is an accurate way of measuring hitting volume in tennis and can be used to track practice and match volume overtime. Monitoring workloads overtime can help prepare players for rigorous competition schedules.