Adam Stack Biomechanics on a Tennis Serve

It is advantageous to have long levers when executing the serve in a game of Tennis. By increasing the length of the lever, this then increases the range of motion at the levers end, therefore increases the speed of the racket (Ackland & Elliot, 2009). This is why it is recommended that the server has a fully extended arm whilst performing their routine, because the principle of leverage states that the velocity at the end of a long lever is faster than the velocity at the end of a short lever, and that the end of a lever will move more quickly than any other point on the lever (Summerton, Sunday, 28 April 2013). The extension of the arm also enables you to reach higher over the net and gives you more of a chance to snap down on the ball commonly taught as snapping your wrist in order to make the ball’s trajectory go into the service box that is diagonally opposite from where you are serving. It is evident that when viewing my subroutine my I do not snap my wrist to after my follow through, therefore not enabling me to get full amount of power when performing the serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It can be seen that the third class lever is used in the motion of a Tennis serve. Third-class levers have the effort placed between the load and the fulcrum. The effort always travels a shorter distance and must be greater than the load (Williams, 2016). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is seen with the fulcrum being your grip on your racquet and the force being applied is your racquet swing. Lastly the load is the contact with the ball that your racquet make’s using the part of your strings called the dead spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see in the video of myself you can see that I have extended my arm to full stretch when making contact with the ball due to the fact that our contact point is out in front of us and is also made at an appropriate height therefore my levers are maximised. Having a straight lever will also keep you from releasing the ball too late or too early, which will cause the ball to be tossed too far in front of you or too far behind you, both of which will result in unnatural body positions for the striking of the serve. It is important to remember, arm straight + ball released at eye level=toss at correct height and position (OPTIMUM TENNIS LLC, 2015). This enables more accuracy and control by having the ball out in front as we are not off balance bending backwards to hit the ball, therefore allows us to add more power to our serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also when making contact you can see that we both have internal shoulder over shoulder rotation, and that our shoulders rotate parallel to the net. This enables us to generate greater force as the arm now pulls the body as it has momentum, and the body now allows the arm to pull it and starts moving again (Mencinger, 2012). Internal shoulder rotation is the rotation of the upper arm in the shoulder joint that accelerates the racket forward (Stumpfel, 2104). According to the Australian biomechanical researcher Bruce Elliott, internal shoulder rotation is responsible for 40% of forward racket head speed.​