An integrated physiological and performance profile of professional tennis
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Farrow, Damian , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 41, no. 8 (2007), p. 531-536
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: To describe the physiological responses to tournament tennis in relation to prevailing environmental conditions, match notation, and skills that underpin performance. Design: 14 male professional tennis players (mean (SD) age, 21.4 (2.6) years; height, 183.0 (6.9) cm; body mass, 79.2 (6.4) kg) were studied while contesting international tennis tournaments. Environmental conditions, match notation, physiological (core temperature, hydration status, heart rate, blood variables), and performance indices (serve kinematics, serve velocity, error rates) were recorded. Results: Hard and clay court tournaments elicited similar peak core temperature (38.9 (0.3) v 38.5 (0.6)°C) and average heart rate (152 (15) v 146 (19) beats/min) but different body mass deficit (1.05 (0.49) v 0.32 (0.56)%, p<0.05). Average pre-match urine specific gravity was 1.022 (0.004). Time between points was longer during hard court matches (25.1 (4.3) v 17.2 (3.3) s, p<0.05). Qualitative analysis of first and second serves revealed inverse relations between the position of the tossing arm at ball release and the position of the ball toss and progressive match time (respectively, r= -0.74 and r= -0.73, p<0.05) and incurred body mass deficit (r=0.73 and r=0.73, p<0.05). Conclusions: Participants began matches in a poor state of hydration, and experienced moderate thermoregulatory strain and dehydration during competition. These adverse physiological conditions may compromise performance and influence notational analyses.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005645
A comprehensive profile of elite tennis and strategies to enhance match play performance
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "This dissertation illustrates an interdisciplinary sport science approach to further understand the interaction between physiology and performance in tennis. An integral theme throughout the experimental phases was the emphasis on obtaining information from actual competitive scenarios or settings that simulated a match environment. [...] This study extended the work of similar investigations through the multifaceted methods in which performance was quantified. Overall the thesis provides unique insight into the physiological demands of professional tournament tennis and the constraints these impose on performance. Furthermore, evidence was accrued to support some of the common preparatory and in-match behaviours used by players to enhance performance."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Fatigue in tennis : Mechanisms of fatigue and effect on performance
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Farrow, Damian , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sports Medicine Vol. 37, no. 3 (2007), p. 199-212
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This article reviews research sourced through sport science and medical journal databases (SportDiscus® and PubMed) that has attempted to quantify the effects of fatigue on tennis performance. Specific physiological perturbations and their effects on common performance measures, such as stroke velocity and accuracy, are discussed. Current literature does not convincingly support anecdotal assertions of overt performance decrements during prolonged matches or matches played during unfavourable (e.g. hot and humid) environmental conditions. The constraints of field-based research have presented, and continue to present, a methological challenge to investigators within this domain. Limitations of previous investigations have included the following: (i) a restricted measurement approach to the mulifaceted skills that form the basis of match performance; (ii) a lack of sensitivity and large variability in skill or performance measures; (iii) usage of non tennis-specific methods to induce fatigue; and (iv) fatigue levels failing to reflect those recorded in match play. Hyperthermia, dehydration and hypoglycaemia have all been identified as common challenges to sustained performance proficiency in tennis, with emerging evidence suggesting central fatigue may also be a key stressor. Mixed results underpin attempts to mitigate physiological compromise and in situ performance deterioration through application of potential ergogenetic strategies (e.g. carbohydrate and caffeine supplementation, and hyperhydration). Methodological limitations are again a likely explanation, but positive findings from other skill-based sports should encourage further research in tennis. To date, tennis has largely relied on traditional methods to measure performance and has not yet realised the benefits of new sports science methods. Future research is encouraged to adopt methodological approaches that capture the multi-dimensional nature of tennis. This can be achieved through the incorporation of multifaceted performance assessment (i.e. perceptual-cognitive and biomechanical measurement approaches), the improvement of measurement sensitivity in the field setting and through the use of experimental settings that accurately simulate the energetic demands of match play. © 2007 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005663
Development of a tennis-specific fatigue-inducing protocol and the effects of caffeine on performance
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Farrow, Damian , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Science and Racket Sports IV p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Tennis performance is multi-faceted, characterized by an intricate integration of physical attributes, perceptual skill and technical proficiency. The dyanamics of the sport and the various styles adopted by players (e.g. baseline or serve and volley), ensures that there is no predetermined match intensity or duration. Similarly, variable environmental conditions challenge sustained performance excellence. Success at the elite is often determined by one's ability to resist fatigue.
Caffeine, carbohydrate, and cooling use during prolonged simulated tennis
- Authors: Hornery, Daniel , Mujika, Inigo , Young, Warren , Farrow, Damian
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Vol. 2, no. 4 (2007), p. 423-438
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Purpose: To determine the effects of prolonged simulated tennis on performance and the ergogenic potential of caffeine, carbohydrates, and cooling. Methods: Twelve highly trained male tennis players (age 18.3 ± 3.0 y, height 178.8 ± 8.5 cm, body mass 73.95 ± 12.30 kg, mean ± SD) performed 4 simulated matches (2 h 40 min) against a ball machine on an indoor hard court. The counterbalanced experimental trials involved caffeine supplementation (3 mg/kg), carbohydrate supplementation (6% solution), precooling and intermittent cooling, and placebo control. Physiological markers (core temperature, heart rate, blood lactate, and blood glucose), subjective responses (ratings of perceived exertion and thermal sensation), stroke velocity and accuracy, serve kinematics, and tennis-specific perceptual skill quantified the efficacy of interventions. Results: Significant effects of time (P < .01) reflected increased physiological demand, reduced serve velocity and ground-stroke velocity and accuracy, and a slowing of the serve racket-arm acceleration phase. Caffeine increased serve velocity (165 ± 15 km/h) in the final set of the match (P = .014) compared with placebo (159 ± 15 km/h, P = .008) and carbohydrate (158 ± 13 km/h, P = .001) conditions. Carbohydrate and cooling conditions afforded physiological advantage (increased blood glucose, P < .01, and reduced preexercise thermal sensation, P < .01) but did not affect performance relative to the placebo condition. Conclusions: Prolonged simulated tennis induced significant decrements in tennis skills. Caffeine supplementation partly attenuated the effects of fatigue and increased serve velocity. In contrast, carbohydrate and cooling strategies had little ergogenic effect on tennis performance.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005648