Pilates & Tennis NOv2012

Alexandra Prigent for the Pilates FoundationPILATES & TENNIS PERFORMANCEPILATES & TENNIS PERFORMANCEHow Pilates can enhance the forehand, backhand,serves and overheads in tennis game.This information is the property of Alexandra Prigent-Labeis for PILATES EXCELLENCE and shouldnot be copied or otherwise used without express written permission from the author.This document is copyright protected.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION.21.BIOMECHANICS OF TENNIS & USE OF KINETIC CHAIN.2A)INTRODUCTION TO THE KINETIC CHAIN CONCEPT.2B)TENNIS BIOMECHANICS AND PERFORMANCE.3C)RISKS OF A WEAK KINETIC CHAIN IN TENNIS.42.FOREHAND AND BACKHAND GROUNDSTROKES.4A)KINETIC CHAIN.4B)APPLIED PILATES.73.SERVES AND OVERHEADS.8A)KINETIC CHAIN.8B)APPLIED PILATES.9CONCLUSION.11APPENDIX.12A)ROGER FEDERER: PILATES IN REAL.12B)REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY.13November 20121

Alexandra Prigent for the Pilates FoundationPILATES & TENNIS PERFORMANCEINTRODUCTIONGood tennis coaches can teach you to improve your technique. Proper technique, however, can beobtained only if you can produce all necessary movements throughout the range of motion required foroptimal positioning and stroke execution. Tennis requires strength, power, endurance and speed butmobility, flexibility, control and balance are equally important. Each of these components should beconsidered when designing a conditioning programme for tennis players. Tennis is a lifelong sport andthe challenge both for amateur and elite professional players is to enhance performance while remaininginjury free over the years. Avoiding injuries is all the more difficult as tennis is a sided sport and withouta proper physical conditioning programme working muscles both concentrically and eccentrically, playerscan easily develop strong muscular imbalances.This essay presents how the Pilates method can be integrated to a dedicated conditioning programmefor tennis players to improve performance and reduce risks of injuries. To do so we start by studying thebiomechanics of tennis and the kinetic chain theory. We categorise tennis strokes in two groups thatshare similar muscular work and challenges: (1) the forehand and backhand, (2) the serve and overhead.In each of these categories, we first describe the specific kinetic chain that allows the proper force tobe transferred to the racket and the ball during stroke. This allows us to highlight the key associatedmuscular and skeletal challenges for the body and suggest examples of Pilates recruitment, strength andmobility exercises from the classical and modern matwork repertoire targeting each consideration oftennis performance.1. BIOMECHANICS OF TENNIS & USE OF KINETIC CHAINa) INTRODUCTION TO THE KINETIC CHAIN CONCEPTAll body segments are linked to the rest of the body, meaning what happens in one part of the bodyimpacts the forces and loads experienced by the rest of the body because joints, muscles and fasciaprovide trails to transfer energy throughout the body. This principle has been called the kinetic chain,where actions in one part of the body are transferred through a linked system to other segments.Optimal use of the kinetic chains in tennis requires less muscle activation, less load on the bodystructures, and less energy expenditure to achieve the desired result.November 20122

Alexandra Prigent for the Pilates FoundationPILATES & TENNIS PERFORMANCEA kinetic chain can be decomposed as a succession of momentum (or energy) transferred along thechain from one segment to the other through static points. In mechanics, the principle of momentumconservation (or energy conservation), famously illustrated by Newton’s cradle1, implied two simplecrucial facts for biomechanics studies:1. If resistance is reduced to nothing, then momentum remains constant and there is no loss ofenergy. Joint mobility (e.g. shoulders, hips) and fibre flexibility (e.g. hamstrings, trapezius) aretherefore crucial to allow the energy to travel through the body without any power loss.2. If a momentum meets a static point, it is instantaneously transferred to this static point that thengets in motion. Stability of certain parts of the body (e.g. pelvis, shoulder girdle) allows theenergy to be transferred efficiently from one segment to the next.Figure 1: Illustration of a 2-sphere Newton’s cradle. The moving blue sphere shocks the staticred sphere and transfers all its energy to it so that the blue sphere becomes static and the red getsin motionb) TENNIS BIOMECHANICS AND PERFORMANCEThe optimal coordination of kinetic chains in high speed movement activities like tennis usescoordinated sequential movements of body segments to build force from the ground through the hipsand trunk to the shoulder and into the arm, hand and racquet. The United States Tennis Association(USTA) finds that “approximately 50% of the energy needed to hit a forehand is generated from the legsand trunk and transferred through the kinetic chain to the racket”2 (Kibler et al, 2004:11). For maximalpower when the racket hits the ball, players must be able to:- ‐Generate energy to initiate the chain: pushing against the floor makes the floor push against theplayer3 and the energy is transferred up through the legs,Named after Sir Isaac Newton, the Newton’s cradle is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy viaa series of swinging spheres. When one on the end is lifted and released, the resulting force travels through the line andpushes the last one upward.2 Tennis technique and injury prevention, USTA Sport science committee, Aug 20043 Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal opposite reaction1November 20123

Alexandra Prigent for the Pilates Foundation- ‐PILATES & TENNIS PERFORMANCEMaintain energy constant through each segment of the chain whether the energy is transferredthrough a linear (along the spine from lumbar to upper thoracic during serve) or angular movement(rotating the arm up and around the shoulder socket),- ‐Transfer the energy effectively through stable connection points: e.g. stable hips will allow energyto be passed on from the legs to the upper trunk, and- ‐Add energy at each level of the chain to increase the total momentum: the arm is active whenrotating around the shoulder socket and increases the velocity of the chain to maximise speed whenhitting the ball.c) RISKS OF A WEAK KINETIC CHAIN IN TENNISWhen the characteristics of the chain are not present, or the sequential timing incorrect, the transferof energy in the kinetic chain is said to be “broken”. In a broken kinetic chain the energy that isnormally generated and accumulated by many segments is altered or even not transferred at all to thenext segment, hence other body parts must compensate to create the same performance. The USTAstates that “if the trunk does not rotate to provide force to the shoulder, it requires a 34% increase in the shoulder velocityto achieve the same ball velocity”1 (Kibler et al, 2004:12).2. FOREHAND AND BACKHAND GROUNDSTROKESa) KINETIC CHAINThe open-stance forehand (the most commonly used in today’s game – see figure 2) can bedecomposed into the backswing or preparation phase, the forward swing where the racket hits the balland the follow-through that directs the ball and decelerate the arm.During a backswing (figure 2), the player loads some energy pushing into the floor. Rotationof the hips and of the trunk allows the body to load additional energy into the kinetic chain. Abductionand external rotation of the arm and extension of the wrist build the last layer of energy and the body isin maximum external rotation.1Tennis technique and injury prevention, USTA Sport science committee, Aug 2004November 20124

Alexandra Prigent for the Pilates FoundationPILATES & TENNIS PERFORMANCEFigure 2: Carlos Moya in preparation for an open-stance forehandshowing trunk rotation, arm and wrist extended and shoulder in externalrotation to load energy and prepare for the forward swing of theacceleration phase. Source: n.d. [online] at -stance-forehand/To initiate the forward swing (figure 3), the player extends his legs pushing into the floor torelease the loaded energy and transfer it up through a linear momentum. The hips then release theirrotation, followed by the trunk, adding angular momentum onto the kinetic chain. Throughout thetrunk rotation phase, the extended arm maintains the same angle in relation to the trunk. When rotationstops, the arm is released in full extension and rotates around the shoulder girdle. When the racketfinally hits the ball, most of the accumulated energy is sent into the racket and the ball - the wrist actingas a directional system to place the ball on the court with precision.Figure 3: Roger Federer during the acceleration phase of an open-stance forehand showing a long aligned spine,trunk rotation with a stable levelled pelvis, a right arm and wrist in full extension with the shoulder down and wellstabilised in order to use the momentum accumulated during the loading phase. Source (left): Kevin C.Cox/Getty Images North America. August 19, 2010, Cincinnati, Ohio. Source (right): n.d., ious-experience/The follow-through is a deceleration phase that contracts muscles eccentrically to absorb theenergy that has not gone into the ball and remains into the body kinetic chain.November 20125

Alexandra Prigent for the Pilates FoundationPILATES & TENNIS PERFORMANCEThe kinetic chain of the backhand groundstroke (figure 4) is similar to that of a forehandalthough it generally requires less trunk rotation (although two-handed and open-stance backhandsrequire more than single-handed or close-stance backhands) and more rotational work of the shoulder(in particular in one-handed backhands).Figure 4: Closed-stance backhand by Roger Federer decomposed into the loading phase (1-4), theacceleration phase (5-8) and the deceleration or follow-through (9-12). Source: n.d. [online]http://news.tennis365.net/lesson/img/pro gif/federer backhand 01 0407.gifNovember 20126