Biomechanical analysis of muscle activity at the topspin service in tennis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analysed and compare upper-limb muscle activation during the moment of contact in a tennis performance. Muscle activity of the triceps brachii, flexor carpi radialis, and medial deltoid was recorded from ten participants during the moment of contact and analysed using a repeated measures design. Descriptive statistics revealed that the medial deltoid exhibited the highest mean muscle activation, followed by the flexor carpi radialis and triceps brachii. Mauchly’s test of sphericity indicated that the assumption of sphericity was satisfied, permitting the use of uncorrected repeated measures ANOVA. Pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni adjustment demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the flexor carpi radialis and medial deltoid, with the medial deltoid showing significantly greater activation. No significant differences were observed between the triceps brachii and the other two muscles. These findings suggest that the medial deltoid plays a dominant stabilizing role at the shoulder joint during the moment of contact in tennis, while the triceps brachii and flexor carpi radialis contribute comparably to elbow and wrist stabilization. The results provide useful insights for performance optimization and injury prevention in tennis.