The art of tennis had its birth in the late 19th century. The game was first created by European monks, purely for entertainment purposes during religious ceremonies (historyoftennis. net). Once it became recognized more popular with the upper-class population of the United Kingdom. Today, the sport has spread all around the world, including all levels of society.
There are four major tournaments played every year in the professional circuit: the Australian Open (played in January), French Open (May to June), U. S. Open (June to July), and Wimbledon (August to September). Since the beginning of the sport, the foundation of the rules has consistently been the same with a few exceptions, one of which is the topic for this paper: the serve of the tennis ball. There are five descriptive stages to this movement: stance, toss, preparatory, swing and follow-through. The most recent revision that has been incorporated to the sport is that the athlete must keep at least one foot on the ground at all times during the serve.
This movement and the muscles most involved with a right hand dominant person in will be explained in the following paragraphs. . All sport movements can be broken down into various phases. The number of phases, usually three to five, will vary, depending on the skill (Floyd). The tennis serve has been broken down into five phases. The first of these phases is the stance phase. This phase allows the athlete to prepare to get ready to perform the action by being in the appropriate stance with proper foot placement and body alignment.
The second stage is the toss stage. In this phase, the athlete will be performing the first actions of the movement, in which include a change in the posture and alignment. The third stage is the preparatory phase in which the athlete will be performing the actions necessary to allow for a proper connection between the racket and the ball in the next phase. The fourth phase is considered the swing or swinging phase. This phase occurs when the athlete initiates contact between the racket and the ball at just the right time to be able to serve the ball over the net.
The fifth and final stage of the serve is the follow-through phase. In this stage, the athlete will be returning to a relaxed or defensive stance, depending on if they score off the serve or if the opponent returned the serve back over the net. For the purposes of this paper, the athlete will be returning to a relaxed stance or posture. As mentioned previously, the first stage of the movement is the stance phase. In this phase, there are no movements occurring at any of the joints.
The legs are approximately shoulders’ width apart, with the hips slightly flexed by the muscle action of the hip flexors: rectus femoris, pectineus, iliacus and psoas; the knees are slightly flexed the knee flexors: biceps femoris, popliteus, semimembranosis, and semitendinosus (all of these make of the hamstrings muscle group); ankles slightly dorsiflexed by the action of the dorsiflexors: peroneus tertious, extensor digitorum longus, extensor hallucis longus, and tibialis anterior (the dorsiflexion is controlled by the gastrocnemius/soleus complex), and the toes remain in neutral.
The torso is also in neutral, maintaining an erect position with the help of the rectus abdominis, external and internal obliques (all on the anterior portion of the trunk), and erector spinae (located parallel to the vertebral column). “The Right shoulder girdle is abducted with isometric contraction of serratus anterior and pectoralis minor. Left shoulder girdle is in upward rotation with isometric contraction of middle and lower fibers of trapezius and serratus anterior”().
The left shoulder is in a neutral position with gravity pulling it down; the elbow slightly flexed with the help of the biceps brachii, brachioradialis and brachialis; the wrist is in a neutral position by way of the flexor carpi radialis, palmaris longus, flexor carpi ulnaris, flexor digitorum superficialis and profundus, and flexor policis longus; and the fingers flex around the ball because of the action of the flexor digitorum superficialis, flexor digitorum profundus, flexor policis longus.
The right arm will be holding the racket with joints in the following positions: shoulder slightly flexed with the help of the anterior deltoid and upper pectoralis major; elbow flexed to about 90 degrees with the help of the biceps brachii, brachioradialis and brachialis; wrist slightly ulnarly deviated with the help of the flexor carpi ulnaris and extensor carpi ulnaris, and the fingers are flexed around the handle of the racket using the same muscles as the ones used to grip the ball.
The neck is in a neutral position by the actions of the sternocleidomastoid and erector spinae muscles. All of these muscles are contracting isometrically to allow the athlete to hold the position. The next stage of the tennis serve is the preparatory phase. In this phase, the athlete will be preparing to toss the ball into the air and begin to swing the racket. The toes, back, and neck will remain in neutral and the left elbow, wrist and fingers, as well as the whole right arm will stay in the same positions as in the stance phase.
The ankles will dorsiflex with the peroneus tertius, extensor digitorum longus, extensor hallucis longus and tibialis anterior contracting concentrically; the knees and hips will flex using the same muscles listed in the stance phase. They will be contracting concentrically in this phase. “Right shoulder girldle is adducted with concentric contraction of middle and lower fibers of rhomboids and trapezius. This is then followed by upward rotation with concentric contraction of middle and lower fibers of trapezius and serratus anterior.
Left shoulder girdle undergoes upward rotation with concentric contraction of middle and lower fibers of trapezius and serratus anterior. ” The left shoulder will extend slightly with the lower fibers of the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi and the teres major contracting concentrically. The muscles located on the opposite sides of the joints all contract eccentrically, allowing for smooth, controlled movements. Third is the cocking phase, in which the athlete will toss the ball into the air and bring the racket up in preparation for hitting the ball.
The neck will extend using both the right and left splenius cervicis and both splenius capites and with some help of the erector spinae, all contracting concentrically, to allow the athlete to see the ball and connect the racket to it at the appropriate time. The back will extend slightly using the erector spinae muscles contracting concentrically to allow for more power behind the serve. The back will also rotate to the right with the left external oblique abdominal and the right internal oblique abdominal contracting concentrically.
The ankles will plantarflex using the gastrocnemius, soleus, tibialis posterior, flexor digitorum longus, flexor hallucis longus and the peroneus longus and brevis contracting concentrically and the toes will extend. The knees will extend using the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius (quadriceps muscle group); the hips extend using the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus (hamstring muscle group) and gluteus maximus; the back will extend using the erector spinae. All these muscles will contract concentrically.
As the athlete tosses the ball, the left shoulder will flex using the anterior deltoid and upper pectoralis major and the hand will relax letting the ball go into the air. The left elbow will flex slightly during the toss with the biceps brachii, brachioradialis and brachialis contracting concentrically. The right shoulder will flex to around 180° or more with the elbow still flexed. These motions will use the same muscles listed for the left arm. The shoulder will also externally rotate by way of the infraspinatus and the teres minor contracting concentrically.
The right wrist will radially deviate using the flexor carpi radialis, flexor pollicis longus, extensor carpi radialis brevis and longus contracting concentrically. The right hand will still be gripping the racket. The fourth stage is the swing phase, where the athlete will swing the racket through to make a connection with the ball to send it over the net. The athlete’s toes will remain in flexion and ankles will remain in plantar flexion using the muscles listed in the cocking phase.
The back will flex using the rectus abdominis, external oblique abdominals, internal oblique abdominis on both sides of the trunk contracting concentrically. The back will also rotate to the left using the right external oblique abdominal and the left internal oblique abdominal. The knees and hips will remain extended using the same muscles as in the cocking phase. Right shoulder girdle undergoes upward rotation with concentric contraction of middle and lower fibers of trapezius and serratus anterior.
Left shoulder girdle goes through downward rotation with concentric contraction rhomboids and pectoralis minor.. The left arm will go into a neutral position at the athlete’s side. The right shoulder will extend as well as the elbow using the same muscles as listed in the preparatory phase and also internally rotate with the latissimus dorsi, teres major, pectoralis major and subscapularis contracting concentrically. The wrist will go back into ulnar deviation by actions of flexor carpi ulnaris and extensor carpi ulnaris contracting concentrically.
The right hand is still gripping the racket. The fifth and final stage of the tennis serve is the follow-through stage, in which the main action is deceleration of the athlete’s body. The athlete’s toes will go into flexion to maintain athletes balance and the plantarflexors will contract eccentrically, allowing the ankles to move into controlled dorsiflexion. The knees and hips will flex using the same muscles as listed in the stance phase. The left arm will still be in a neutral position by the athlete’s side.
Right shoulder girdle undergoes downward rotation with eccentric contraction of middle and lower fibers of trapezius and serratus anterior. The right shoulder, which will be extending, begins to slow down. The elbow will be extended and the wrist ulnarly deviated using muscles listed in the preparatory phase. The shoulder will also continue to internally rotate until it is back to neutral using the same muscles as listed in the swing phase. The hand will still continue to grip the racket.