Association between body height and serve speed in elite tennis players

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the body height (BH) of elite tennis players and their serve speeds: SF (fastest serve in a match), S1 (average speed of the first serve in a match), and S2 (average speed of the second serve in a match). Data were collected from the world's best tennis players who participated in all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2008 (men, n = 78–84, BH = 1.85 ± 0.07 m; women, n = 70–78, BH = 1.73 ± 0.07 m). Statistically significant correlations (r) between BH and serve speed were found in all 24 statistical analyses (p < 0.01). The correlation coefficients were similar in men and women. The correlation coefficients of BH with SF and S1 ranged 0.48–0.64 for men and 0.48–0.59 for women. The correlations between BH and S2 were weaker and more variable (r = 0.20–0.50 for men and 0.24–0.42 for women). The BH of the men explained 27%, 30%, and 14% of the variance of SF, S1, and S2, respectively, with corresponding values for female players of 27%, 27%, and 12%.

Keywords:

• Grand Slam tournaments
• statistical analysis
• correlation