Research article - (2013)12, 259 - 266
Joint Kinetics to Assess the Influence of the Racket on a Tennis Player’s Shoulder
Thomas Creveaux1,2, Raphaël Dumas1,3, Christophe Hautier1,2, Pierre Macé4, Laurence Chèze1,3, Isabelle Rogowski1,2,
1Université de Lyon, Lyon, France;
2Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport, Villeurbanne Cedex, France;
3Laboratoire de Biomécanique et Mécanique des Chocs, Villeurbanne Cedex, France;
4Babolat VS, Lyon, France

Isabelle Rogowski
✉ UCB Lyon 1 – UFRSTAPS – CRIS EA 647, 27-29, bd du 11 novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France.
Email: isabelle.rogowski@univ-lyon1.fr
Received: 31-08-2012 -- Accepted: 08-11-2012
Published (online): 01-06-2013

ABSTRACT

This study aimed at investigating the influence of three rackets on shoulder net joint moments, power and muscle activity during the flat tennis serve under field- conditions. A 6-camera Eagle® motion analysis system, operating at 256 Hz, captured racket and dominant upper limb kinematics of the serve in five tennis players under three racket conditions (A: low mass, high balance and polar moment, B: low three moments of inertia, and C: high mass, swingweight and twistweight). The electromyographic activity of six trunk and arm muscles was simultaneously recorded. Shoulder net joint moments and power were computed by 3D inverse dynamics. The results showed that greater shoulder joint power and internal/external rotation peak moments were found to accelerate and decelerate racket A in comparison with the racket C. Moreover, serving with the racket A resulted in less activity in latissimus dorsi muscle during the acceleration phase, and biceps brachii muscle during the follow-through phase when compared with racket C. These initial findings encourage studying the biomechanical measurements to quantify the loads on the body during play in order to reduce them, and then prevent shoulder injuries. Racket specifications may be a critical point for coaches who train players suffering from shoulder pain and chronic upper limb injuries should be considered in relation to the racket specifications of the players.

Key words: EMG, inverse dynamics, joint power, joint moment, tennis serve

Key Points
  • Light racket required more joint power than heavy one to achieve similar post impact ball velocity.
  • Serving with a light racket resulted in higher shoulder internal and external rotation moments than using a heavy one for similar performance.
  • Chronic shoulder pain should encourage coaches to check for potentially inappropriate racket specifications of their players.








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