The Role of the Racket in High-Speed Serves (Kotze et al., 2001)

Source file: Kotzeetal.2001Theroleoftheracketinhigh-speedserves.pdf.txt

Domain: biomechanics / serve-physics

Tier: reports/tier-1-high-value-gaps

Used in artifact: artifacts/reports/tier-1-high-value-gaps.md

Abstract

Study of how racket properties (swing weight, balance, string tension) influence high-speed tennis serves.

Key points

Racket design contributes meaningfully to serve speed beyond the player's own body kinematics.
Higher swing weight increases ball momentum transfer at impact.
String tension and racket stiffness affect dwell time.
Head-heavy rackets favour power; head-light favours control.
Trade-off between racket head speed and control.

Raw dump (first ~1000 words)

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229900966 The role of the racket in high-speed tennis serves Article in Sports Engineering � December 2001 DOI: 10.1046/j.1460-2687.2000.00050.x CITATIONS 27 3 authors: Johan Kotze HEAD Sport GmbH 7 PUBLICATIONS 47 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Steve Rothberg Loughborough University 111 PUBLICATIONS 1,740 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE READS 1,106 Sean R Mitchell Loughborough University 60 PUBLICATIONS 493 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: tennis View project Laser Doppler Vibrometry from Vibrating Platforms View project All content following this page was uploaded by Johan Kotze on 28 August 2018. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Loughborough University Institutional Repository The role of the racket in high-speed tennis serves This item was submitted to Loughborough University's Institutional Repository by the/an author. Citation: KOTZE, J., MITCHELL, S.R. and ROTHBERG, S.J., 2000. The role of the racket in high-speed tennis serves. Sports Engineering, 3 (2), pp.67-84 Additional Information: � This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Sports Engineering [ c 2000 Blackwell Science Ltd]. The denitive published version can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1460-2687.2000.00050.x Metadata Record: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/18306 Version: Accepted for publication Rights: This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BYNC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/ Please cite the published version. The role of the racket in high-speed tennis serves 1 of 32 The role of the racket in high-speed tennis serves J. KOTZE, S.R. MITCHELL and S.J. ROTHBERG School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK Keywords: tennis serve, racket power, coefficient of restitution, grip, sweet spot Abstract The high-speed first serve has become an increasingly dominant factor in tennis, raising concerns over the influence modern racket technology has on the game. One concern is that rackets are now too powerful and so overemphasise a player's ability to produce fast serves. This may help explain the `penalty shootout' scenario, where match result id dictated by the relative speed and consistency of the players' first serves. There is some concern that on the faster surfaces, maximum service speeds have reached, or are approaching, the service returnee's reaction threshold, making it virtually impossible for players to return the ball. To shed light on the issue the factors relating to `racket power', the amount a racket magnifies a player's innate ability to impart linear velocity to a tennis ball, need to be considered. Various studies have been performed that shed some light on the subject. This paper presents an overview of the published literature related to `racket power' in the game of tennis, a review of previous research on specific and sometimes controversial issues. Areas meriting further investigation are identified to encourage future research into racket power. Introduction Over the last 20 years tennis racket designs have changed dramatically. Perhaps most significantly of all, early wooden rackets have given way entirely to rackets constructed from high-tech materials more commonly associated with the aerospace industry. These developments began with a surge in interest in the game in the late 1960s but, ironically, these same advances might ultimately be responsible for the J. Kotze, S.R Mitchell & S.J. Rothberg, February 2000 The role of the racket in high-speed tennis serves 2 of 32 demise of tennis prompted by a drastic decline in its merits as a spectator sport. Without detracting from the athleticism and skills of the elite players, modern racket designs appear to enable the serve to be played so reliably at such elevated speeds that even the fastest player reaction times are too slow to permit regular return of service (Groppel, 1986, Arthur, 1992, Brody, 1995). Serve velocities in the professional game were recorded for the first time in 1990, when only 5 players served in excess of 200kph. By 1995 this number had risen to 38 and, although firm data is not yet available, it is widely believed that most of the current top 200 players on the ATP tour are capable of reaching the 200 kph benchmark. Greg Rusedski holds the current world record for the fastest serve recorded in 1998, at 240 kph (Coe, 1999). The International Tennis Federation (ITF) regards the percentage of sets settled by tiebreaks as a key indicator of the influence of the serve on the game. In the extreme, the service games of some players are seldom broken and this is especially evident on the fast grass courts where the ball skids off the grass, bouncing lower and giving the receiver even less time to react. Data gathered from recent Wimbledon championships show that up to 36% of sets involving certain players end in tie-breaks, with a very clear correlation between this indicator and service speed (Coe, 1999). Matches on grass courts have been compared to a `shoot-out', in which the outcome is determined principally by service speed and this is of concern to officials, players and spectators. The Sampras � Ivanesevic Wimbledon final of 1994, in which only 3 of the 206 points lasted more than 4 shots, was described by Fred Perry as "..one of the most boring finals in history". Any loss in spectator interest could initiate a downward spiral in which sponsors withdraw support causing a reduction in prize monies and publicity followed by further decline in public interest. This paper reviews the procedures adopted and the data generated by researchers whose vital role in protecting