Ball Machine Usage in Tennis: Movement Initiation and Swing Timing While Returning Balls from a Ball Machine and from a Real Server
Jan Carboch, Vladimir Süss, Tomas Kocib
Author Information
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Praha, Czech Republic
Jan Carboch ✉ Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Department of Sport Games, Prague, Czech Republic Email: carboch@ftvs.cuni.cz
Publish Date
Received: 09-08-2012 Accepted: 13-12-2013 Published (online): 01-05-2014
Jan Carboch, Vladimir Süss, Tomas Kocib. (2014) Ball Machine Usage in Tennis: Movement Initiation and Swing Timing While Returning Balls from a Ball Machine and from a Real Server. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine(13), 304 - 308.
Jan Carboch, Vladimir Süss, Tomas Kocib. (2014) Ball Machine Usage in Tennis: Movement Initiation and Swing Timing While Returning Balls from a Ball Machine and from a Real Server. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine(13), 304 - 308.
Practicing with the use of a ball machine could handicap a player compared to playing against an actual opponent. Recent studies have shown some differences in swing timing and movement coordination, when a player faces a ball projection machine as opposed to a human opponent. We focused on the time of movement initiation and on stroke timing during returning tennis serves (simulated by a ball machine or by a real server). Receivers’ movements were measured on a tennis court. In spite of using a serving ball speed from 90 kph to 135 kph, results showed significant differences in movement initiation and backswing duration between serves received from a ball machine and serves received from a real server. Players had shorter movement initiation when they faced a ball machine. Backswing duration was longer for the group using a ball machine. That demonstrates different movement timing of tennis returns when players face a ball machine. Use of ball machines in tennis practice should be limited as it may disrupt stroke timing.
Key words:
Tennis, ball machine, server, return stroke, movement initiation
Key
Points
Players have shorter initial move time when they are facing the ball machine.
Using the ball machine results in different swing timing and movement coordination.
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