title: Physiological Responses of Young Tennis Players to Training Drills and Simulated Match Play.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the responses of young tennis players during 5 different training drills and to compare the responses between drills. Ten (17.0 ± 1.2 years) male tennis players participated in this study. Each athlete completed 5 total training drills. Drills 1-4 consisted of each player returning balls from a ball-serving machine and were stroke/time-controlled over 6 points. The fifth drill was a simulated match (SM) play, between 2 opposing players, and also lasted 6 points. The 4 stroke/time-controlled drills had the following strokes/time for each point: drill 1: 2 strokes/∼4 seconds, drill 2: 4 strokes/∼8 seconds, drill 3: 7 strokes/∼14 seconds, drill 4: 10 strokes/∼20 seconds. Peak heart rate (HR), blood lactate concentration (LA), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured after the first, third, and sixth point of each drill. Drills were performed in a randomized crossover design; a 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used with significance set at p ≤ 0.05. All dependent variables (HR, LA, and RPE) significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) as strokes, and time per rally increased in each drill. Furthermore, all variables were elevated to a greater magnitude (p ≤ 0.05) during the 7 and 10 stroke drills after the first, third, and sixth points when compared with the SM and the 2 and 4 stroke drills at the corresponding time points. These results suggest that the physiological responses to tennis training drills were stroke/time-dependent. Therefore, because of the intense intermittent nature of tennis, stroke/time-controlled drills, which require significant physiological demands, should be incorporated along with technically focused shorter drills to fully mimic the conditions of competitive match play.
authors.affiliation: 1School of Physical Education and Sport, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 2School of Applied Sciences, University of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 3Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida; 4School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; and 5Sports Research Centre, Miguel Hernandez University, Elche, Spain.
authors.forename: Rodrigo V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Vivian C R
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Zourdos
authors.forename: Marcelo S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Fernandez
authors.forename: Caroline D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Capitani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000379:methods* / Q000502:physiology*; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011897:Random Allocation; D013715:Tennis / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid