Comparing Upperclassmen and Underclassmen Male Collegiate Tennis Players

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2-17-2018

Publication Title

Proceedings of the Southeastern American College of Sports Medicine Regional Conference

Abstract

Background: Various performance metrics, particularly full body power and high aerobic capacity, have demonstrated to influence in game performance for male tennis players.

Purpose: To determine differences in performance measures between upperclassmen (UP) and underclassmen (UN) male tennis players.

Methods: Nine male Division I collegiate tennis players (UN: 5, UP: 4) participated in the study. During pre-season testing, VO2max, body composition, vertical jump, and both dominant and non-dominant hand grip strength were determined. For both the hand-grip strength and vertical jump test the highest value from a two test sequence was recorded. A oneway ANOVA was run comparing these variables between UN and UP.

Results: The ANOVA revealed no statistical difference between UN and UP in any of the test variables. However, dominant hand grip strength did approach statistical significance (F(1,7)=5.447, p = 0.052) with the UP (25.5 ± 2.7 kg) being greater than UN (21.4 ± 2.3 kg). In addition, the UP averaged better performance measures compared to the UN, though not statistically significant.

Conclusion: UP tennis players may demonstrate improved performance over UN, though the differences are variable within tests.

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