Influence of racket polar moment on joint loads during tennis forehand drive
Résumé
A tennis racket is characterised by three moments of inertia. The swingweight is measured about the axis perpendicular to the handle of the racket in the perpendicular plane of the frame, the twistweight is measured about the axis perpendicular to the handle of the racket in the plane parallel to the frame and the polar moment is measured about the long axis of the racket (Brody 2000). On an absolute basis, players are more sensitive to polar moment than to the other two moments of inertia (Brody 2000). The main advantage of the increase in the polar moment is to offer more stability against twisting of the racket head with off-axis ball impacts. However, there are no data in the literature investigating the relationship between racket polar moment and joint loads experienced by the tennis player under field conditions. This study aimed at investigating the influence of the racket polar moment on the upper limb joint moments and powers during tennis forehand drive.