Kinesiology, Vol. 23. No. 1.-2., 1991.
Professional paper
The relationship between work and rest intervals in tennis at the elite professional level
Davor Šentija
; Fakultet za fizičku kulturu Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
The final matches of the world top tennis players 1988 & 1992 Men's U. S. Open were analyzed to provide information on the components of the sport of tennis at the elite professional level. The work/rest intervals were timed from a video tape recording of the matches. In 1988 Final (two baseline players ranked No 1 and No2 in the world) the work/rest ratio was 1 : 3,4 (66 min : 227 min) with the average point duration 12, 2 seconds, while in this year's final (two serve & volley players ranked also No 1 and No 2) the points lasted on average only 3,8 seconds, with an overall 1 : 8,5 work/rest ratio (16 min : 155 min). The average rest period between points was 28,3 and 21,8 seconds, respectively. Even in the 1988 final with two baseline players, 60 % of the points were less than 10 second in duration, and in this year's final 95,7%. These results indicate that in professional tennis at the elite level (for the given surface) almost all of the energy derives from the anaerobic alactic metabolism and a trend towards a more offensive (serve & volley) style of play can be observed, with further shortening of average point duration. The main role of the aerobic metabolism would be to provide fast replenishment of the consumed anaerobic energy sources, during the rest intervals between points and games.
The understanding of the energy production and provision of each of the three systems is basic for designing a training program that fits the demands of the sport. Following those principles of training, these results can be useful in planning a sport specific conditioning program for tennis players.
Keywords
tennis; anaerobic; aerobic capacity; effective play time
Hrčak ID:
257193
URI
Publication date:
4.6.1991.
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