Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Kinematics Differences Between the Flat, Kick, and Slice Serves Measured Using a Markerless Motion Capture Method

  • Published:
Annals of Biomedical Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tennis injuries have been associated with serving mechanics, but quantitative kinematic measurements in realistic environments are limited by current motion capture technologies. This study tested for kinematic differences at the lower back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and racquet between the flat, kick, and slice serves using a markerless motion capture (MMC) system. Seven male NCAA Division 1 players were tested on an outdoor court in daylight conditions. Peak racquet and joint center speeds occurred sequentially and increased from proximal (back) to distal (racquet). Racquet speeds at ball impact were not significantly different between serve types. However, there were significant differences in the direction of the racquet velocity vector between serves: the kick serve had the largest lateral and smallest forward racquet velocity components, while the flat serve had the smallest vertical component (p < 0.01). The slice serve had lateral velocity, like the kick, and large forward velocity, like the flat. Additionally, the racquet in the kick serve was positioned 8.7 cm more posterior and 21.1 cm more medial than the shoulder compared with the flat, which could suggest an increased risk of shoulder and back injury associated with the kick serve. This study demonstrated the potential for MMC for testing sports performance under natural conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Chow, J. W., L. G. Carlton, Y. T. Lim, W. S. Chae, J. H. Shim, A. F. Kuenster, and K. Kokubun. Comparing the pre- and post-impact ball and racquet kinematics of elite tennis players’ first and second serves: a preliminary study. J Sports Sci 21(7):529–537, 2003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Corazza, S., E. Gambaretto, L. Mundermann, and T. P. Andriacchi. Automatic generation of a subject-specific model for accurate markerless motion capture and biomechanical applications. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 57(4):806–812, 2010.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Corazza, S., L. Mundermann, A. M. Chaudhari, T. Demattio, C. Cobelli, and T. P. Andriacchi. A markerless motion capture system to study musculoskeletal biomechanics: Visual hull and simulated annealing approach. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 34(6):1019–1029, 2006.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Corazza, S., L. Mundermann, E. Gambaretto, G. Ferrigno, and T. P. Andriacchi. Markerless motion capture through visual hull, articulated icp and subject specific model generation. Int. J. Comput. Vis. 87(1–2):156–169, 2010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Elliott, B. Spin and the power serve in tennis. J. Human Mov. Stud. 9(2):97–104, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Elliott, B., and J. Alderson. Laboratory versus field testing in cricket bowling: a review of current and past practice in modelling techniques. Sports Biomech. 6(1):99–108, 2007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Elliott, B., G. Fleisig, R. Nicholls, and R. Escamilia. Technique effects on upper limb loading in the tennis serve. J. Sci. Med. Sport 6(1):76–87, 2003.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Elliott, B., T. Marsh, and B. Blanksby. A 3-dimensional cinematographic analysis of the tennis serve. Int. J. Sport Biomech. 2(4):260–271, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Elliott, B. C., R. N. Marshall, and G. J. Noffal. Contributions of the upper-limb segment rotations during the power serve in tennis. J. Appl. Biomech. 11(4):433–442, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Fleisig, G., R. Nicholls, B. Elliott, and R. Escamilla. Kinematics used by world class tennis players to produce high-velocity serves. Sports Biomech. 2(1):51–64, 2003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Gordon, B. J., and J. Dapena. Contributions of joint rotations to racquet speed in the tennis serve. J. Sports Sci. 24(1):31–49, 2006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Hill, J. A. Epidemiologic perspective on shoulder injuries. Clin. Sports Med. 2(2):241–246, 1983.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Johnson, C. D., and M. P. McHugh. Performance demands of professional male tennis players. Br. J. Sports Med. 40(8):696–699, 2006.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kibler, W. B., and M. Safran. Tennis injuries. Med. Sport Sci. 48:120–137, 2005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Knudson, D., and R. Bahamonde. Effect of endpoint conditions on position and velocity near impact in tennis. J. Sports Sci. 19(11):839–844, 2001.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Marks, M. R., S. S. Haas, and S. W. Wiesel. Low-back pain in the competitive tennis player. Clin. Sports Med. 7(2):277–287, 1988.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Marshall, R. N., and B. C. Elliott. Long-axis rotation: the missing link in proximal-to-distal segmental sequencing. J. Sports Sci. 18(4):247–254, 2000.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. McCann, P. D., and L. U. Bigliani. Shoulder pain in tennis players. Sports Med. 17(1):53–64, 1994.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Mundermann, L., S. Corazza, and T. P. Andriacchi. The evolution of methods for the capture of human movement leading to markerless motion capture for biomechanical applications. J. Neuroeng. Rehabil. 3(1):article 6, 2006.

  20. Reid, M., B. Elliott, and J. Alderson. Shoulder joint loading in the high performance flat and kick tennis serves. Br. J. Sports Med. 41(12):884–889, 2007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Reid, M., B. Elliott, and J. Alderson. Lower-limb coordination and shoulder joint mechanics in the tennis serve. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 40(2):308–315, 2008.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Sigal, L., and M. J. Black. Guest editorial: state of the art in image- and video-based human pose and motion estimation. Int. J. Comput. Vis. 87(1–2):1–3, 2010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Sprigings, E., R. Marshall, B. Elliott, and L. Jennings. A 3-dimensional kinematic method for determining the effectiveness of arm segment rotations in producing racquet-head speed. J. Biomech. 27(3):245–254, 1994.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Tanabe, S., and A. Ito. A three-dimensional analysis of the contributions of upper limb joint movements to horizontal racket head velocity at ball impact during tennis serving. Sports Biomech. 6(3):418–433, 2007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Tennis Industry Association. Executive summary 2008. The tennis marketplace. 9:1–16, 2008.

  26. Vorobiev, A., G. Ariel, and D. Dent. Biomechanical similarities and differences of A. Agassi’s first and second serves. In: Proceedings of the 11 International Symposium on Biomechanics in Sports, 1993.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Katerina Blazek, Nathan Fenner, Julien Farve, Yoshimori Kiriyama, and all of the Biomotion Lab members that donated their time to collect this data.

Conflict of interest

There were no conflicts of interests associated with this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Alison L. Sheets

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Geoffrey D. Abrams, Marc R. Safran & Thomas P. Andriacchi

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Thomas P. Andriacchi

  4. Palo Alto Veterans Affairs, Bone and Joint Center, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Thomas P. Andriacchi

  5. Mixamo Inc., San Francisco, CA, 94107, USA

    Stefano Corazza

Authors
  1. Alison L. Sheets
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Geoffrey D. Abrams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stefano Corazza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marc R. Safran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Thomas P. Andriacchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alison L. Sheets.

Additional information

Associate Editor Michael R. Torry oversaw the review of this article.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sheets, A.L., Abrams, G.D., Corazza, S. et al. Kinematics Differences Between the Flat, Kick, and Slice Serves Measured Using a Markerless Motion Capture Method. Ann Biomed Eng 39, 3011–3020 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-011-0418-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-011-0418-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation