The Influence of Tennis Serve Kinematics on Ball Impact Sound and Post Impact Ball Speed and Spin

Naoyuki Takeda; Osamu Terashima; Fumiya Kinoshita; Hideaki Touyama; Shuho Yamada

Naoyuki Takeda Toyama Prefectural University
Osamu Terashima Toyama Prefectural University
Fumiya Kinoshita Toyama Prefectural University
Hideaki Touyama Toyama Prefectural University
Shuho Yamada Toyama Prefectural University

Keywords: tennis, serve, impact sound, ball spin, ball speed, modal analysis, motion capturing

Abstract

In this study, we examined the pressure levels of ball impact sounds during serving in tennis. Ten participants were recruited and instructed to serve from the Deuce and Advantage Courts in the Center and Wide directions. The sound pressure levels were measured and analyzed on the receiver side. High-speed cameras, motion capture, and racket excitation experiments were also conducted to assess the spin amount, initial velocity of the ball, and impact position of the racket during service. The results indicated that the ball impact sound during service is influenced by the racket's impact position, initial velocity of the ball, and spin amount of the ball. Furthermore, it was found that when the spin amount of the ball was high, the racket's impact position tended to deviate from the center, leading to a decrease in the ball impact sound. However, there was little difference in the tendencies observed in participants based on handedness or sex. These findings suggest that receivers can improve their accuracy in play by predicting the spin amount and velocity of the ball based on the ball impact sound. Additionally, servers can strive to strike the ball at the center of the racket and maintain the initial velocity of the ball, even when applying spin, to make their serves more difficult for receivers to predict. The p-value in the present experimental results is less than 0.47, and the discussion is based on results with certain significant differences.

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