Influence of racket on the variability of humerothoracic joint kinematics during tennis serve: a preliminary study
Résumé
Previous study showed that kinematic patterns reveal very little variability over repeated tennis strokes for individual player (Knudson 1990). Sport media, however, regularly show difficulties encountered by elite athletes in being accustomed to new equipment, especially in tennis activity. The stability of the pattern would thus be altered by changes in racket specifications. During overhead motion, the shoulder complex has a predominant function as it funnels the energy generated by the lower limbs and trunk to the upper limb and then to the racket, through the so-called kinetic chain (Sciascia et al. 2012). The variability of shoulder kinematic patterns could thus be a key point in habituation to a new equipment. The aim of this study was to explore the variability of the humerothoracic joint kinematic pattern in a highly skilled player when serving with his own racket and with another one. It was hypothesised that the kinematic pattern would be more variable when serving with another racket than with the regular one