Flat serve success in the relationship to the serve toss and racket-ball impact of competitive and hobby tennis players: A case study
Abstract
The flat serve is characterized by its speed. When successfully executed, the serving player can gain a direct point from the serve or an advantageous situation for the following rally. The aim is to investigate the relationship of ball toss to the success rate of the flat serve of tennis players. We observed 2 hobby and 8 competitive tennis players who served 40 flat serves. They were videotaped on a high-speed camera (200Hz) from a side view. Based on the 2D kinematic analysis, we evaluated the racket-ball contact of the serves:
1) in (good serves)
2) into the net
3) fault-long
4) fault-wide. Hobby players contacted the balls 13 cm lower and reached 43 kph slower serve compared to competitive players. In addition, the toss variability was bigger for the hobby players. Toss training is very important for players, especially in relation to their own coordination for hitting, so it is important to pay a lot of attention to the toss and its practice.