AUTHOR=Lambrich Johanna , Muehlbauer Thomas 

TITLE=Plantar pressure is changed to increase post-impact ball speed during longline forehand and backhand groundstroke in elite female tennis players

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1165628

DOI=10.3389/fspor.2023.1165628

ISSN=2624-9367

ABSTRACT=Introduction: Achieving a high ball speed during the execution of groundstrokes represents a performance-relevant factor in tennis. However, it is unclear how plantar pressure data is changed during the execution of groundstrokes to achieve a high post-impact ball speed. Thus, the objective of the present study was to determine how plantar pressure is changed in each foot during the longline forehand and backhand groundstroke in tennis players to increase post-impact ball speed.
Methods: Seventeen healthy nationally ranked female tennis players (mean age: 21.7 ± 7.7 years) participated in this study. The players performed longline forehand and backhand groundstrokes (topspin) at four post-impact ball speed levels, i.e., 80 km/h, 90 km/h, 100 km/h, and vmax. Plantar pressure was measured in each foot (i.e., dominant [equals the stroke arm], non-dominant) using flexible instrumented insoles.
Results: Irrespective of stroke technique, the repeated measures ANOVA showed significant ball speed × foot dominance interactions. For the forehand stroke, the post-hoc analyses revealed significantly increased (dominant foot) and decreased (non-dominant foot) pressure values when post-impact ball speed is increased from 100 km/h to vmax. Concerning the backhand stroke, the post-hoc analyses yielded significantly decreased (dominant and non-dominant foot) plantar pressure values when post-impact ball speed is increased from 100 km/h to vmax. There were no further significant differences between the other ball speed levels.
Discussion: The significantly varying plantar pressure changes depending on stroke technique and foot dominance to increase post-impact ball speed suggest that specific physical exercises related to the foot (dominant vs. non-dominant foot) and groundstroke (forehand vs. backhand) seem to be necessary for plantar pressure optimization.