Physiological Responses of Young Tennis Players to Training Drills and Simulated Match Play

J Strength Cond Res. 2016 Mar;30(3):851-8. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001159.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the responses of young tennis players during 5 different training drills and to compare the responses between drills. Ten (17.0 ± 1.2 years) male tennis players participated in this study. Each athlete completed 5 total training drills. Drills 1-4 consisted of each player returning balls from a ball-serving machine and were stroke/time-controlled over 6 points. The fifth drill was a simulated match (SM) play, between 2 opposing players, and also lasted 6 points. The 4 stroke/time-controlled drills had the following strokes/time for each point: drill 1: 2 strokes/∼4 seconds, drill 2: 4 strokes/∼8 seconds, drill 3: 7 strokes/∼14 seconds, drill 4: 10 strokes/∼20 seconds. Peak heart rate (HR), blood lactate concentration (LA), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured after the first, third, and sixth point of each drill. Drills were performed in a randomized crossover design; a 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used with significance set at p ≤ 0.05. All dependent variables (HR, LA, and RPE) significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) as strokes, and time per rally increased in each drill. Furthermore, all variables were elevated to a greater magnitude (p ≤ 0.05) during the 7 and 10 stroke drills after the first, third, and sixth points when compared with the SM and the 2 and 4 stroke drills at the corresponding time points. These results suggest that the physiological responses to tennis training drills were stroke/time-dependent. Therefore, because of the intense intermittent nature of tennis, stroke/time-controlled drills, which require significant physiological demands, should be incorporated along with technically focused shorter drills to fully mimic the conditions of competitive match play.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Cross-Over Studies
  • Heart Rate / physiology
  • Humans
  • Lactic Acid / blood
  • Male
  • Perception
  • Physical Conditioning, Human / methods*
  • Physical Conditioning, Human / physiology*
  • Physical Exertion
  • Random Allocation
  • Tennis / physiology*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Lactic Acid