It has been proposed that internal rotation isokinetic strength may contribute to ball velocity during the tennis serve. However, despite this, no previous study has reported a significant positive correlation between internal rotation peak torque and ball velocity. Procedural limitations such as the use of large unvalidated angular velocities and a range of motion that is not representative of the tennis serve may explain why no relationship has been seen. Additionally, no previous study has investigated this relationship within University team tennis players. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between tennis serve velocity and internal rotation concentric peak torque at three different angular velocities. Sixteen male University competitive team tennis players (mean ± SD; age: 20.4 ± 1.5 years; stature: 173.2 ± 4.8 cm; body mass: 69.0 ± 3.6 kg; years of tennis experience: 7.25 ± 1.3 years) conducted testing for internal rotation isokinetic concentric peak torque at 90 deg · s-1, 150 deg · s-1 and 180 deg · s-1 using an isokinetic dynamometer, and performed testing of ball velocity during the flat tennis serve using a radar speed gun. Ball velocity was significantly, strongly and positively correlated with peak torque at 90 deg · s-1, r(14) = .76, p = .001, 150 deg · s-1, r(14) = .78, p = .001, and 180 deg · s-1, r(14) = .76, p = .001. These findings demonstrate a strong positive correlation between tennis serve velocity and glenohumeral internal rotation concentric peak torque, however, further investigation within elite players with a larger sample size are needed to confirm these results and provide evidence for practical applications.
Due to pandemic-related data collection restrictions, some of the data in this project may have been simulated.
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