title: Association between body height and serve speed in elite tennis players.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the body height (BH) of elite tennis players and their serve speeds: SF (fastest serve in a match), S1 (average speed of the first serve in a match), and S2 (average speed of the second serve in a match). Data were collected from the world's best tennis players who participated in all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2008 (men, n = 78-84, BH = 1.85 +/- 0.07 m; women, n = 70-78, BH = 1.73 +/- 0.07 m). Statistically significant correlations (r) between BH and serve speed were found in all 24 statistical analyses (p < 0.01). The correlation coefficients were similar in men and women. The correlation coefficients of BH with SF and S1 ranged 0.48-0.64 for men and 0.48-0.59 for women. The correlations between BH and S2 were weaker and more variable (r = 0.20-0.50 for men and 0.24-0.42 for women). The BH of the men explained 27%, 30%, and 14% of the variance of SF, S1, and S2, respectively, with corresponding values for female players of 27%, 27%, and 12%.
authors.affiliation: Human Motion Diagnostic Center, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic. frantisek.vaverka@gmail.com
authors.forename: Frantisek
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vaverka
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cernosek
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013715:Tennis / Q000502:physiology*; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000502:physiology