Abstract: The game of tennis has evolved from the wooden-racket era of long, crafty points based on style and finesse, to the current fast paced, explosive sport based on power, strength and speed, where 210 km/h serves are common. This evolution over the last 20 years has led to an increased interest in tennis research. Competitive tennis athletes need a mixture of anaerobic skills, such as speed, agility and power, combined with high aerobic capabilities. The work-to-rest ratios of competitive tennis athletes range between 1 : 3 and 1 : 5, and fatigue has been shown to greatly reduce the hitting accuracy. Competitive male tennis athletes maintain body fat <12% and have maximal oxygen uptake values >50 mL/kg/min, and as high as 70 mL/kg/min.
Results from lactate testing in tennis players are inconclusive as some studies have shown increased levels, whilst other studies have shown little or no change. Further investigation is required to determine the production and utilization effects of lactate from playing tennis. The average length of time to play a point in tennis is <10 seconds and this has declined substantially in the last 20 years. Further research is needed to investigate tournament performance and its effect on fatigue, recovery, hormonal and injury levels. As the game of tennis continues to change, the physiological parameters must be continually investigated to help provide athletes, coaches and trainers with information that will aid in the development of efficient and productive tennis performance and injury prevention programmes.
Implications for Tennis Coaches: In previous issues of Sports Speed Digest, we have covered almost every aspect of conditioning for tennis, including on-court speed improvement and repeated sprint ability with specific training to prepare players to execute repeated short on-court sprints throughout a tennis match with minimum slowing due to fatigue. For your continued reading, references to these areas and the issue where articles appeared follows:
Fastest professional tennis players, April 2017, 3-7
Ground reaction force requirements, July 2019, 13-15
High intensity and repeated sprint training, July 2019, 15
Serving speed, Sept. 08, 4-5
Speed improvement, July 09, 8-9 May 2016, 9-13
Speed on hard courts and clay, May, 2014, 12-13
Effects of training on the speed, power and strength of tennis players, April 2017, 8-9 April, 2022, 11
Intensity of match play, April 2017, 9-10
Source: Kovacs, Mark S. 2007. Tennis physiology: training the competitive athlete. Sports Medicine. 37, 189-98.
