Background and Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the correlations among ball speed of serve, forehand, backhand groundstrokes and tennis-specific fitness tests for elite junior tennis players. Methods: Twenty three elite junior tennis players were participate in this study. Tennis related fitness testing included body strength, flexibility, agility and balance ability. The data were analyzed by Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple stepwise regression analysis to determine the correlation and predicted value. Results: The ball speed of serve (β=0.720, t=4.401, p<.05), forehand (β=0.798, t=5.453, p<.05), backhand (β=0.583, t=3.043, p<.05) was significantly and positive correlated with the distance of medicine ball throwing. Conclusion: These results indicated that the junior tennis player hitting ball speed and upper body strength were the most relevant, furthermore, it is suggested that the junior tennis players need to raise training load focusing on the lower extremity muscle strength and explosive power of the jumping training.
Background and Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the correlations among ball speed of serve, forehand, backhand groundstrokes and tennis-specific fitness tests for elite junior tennis players. Methods: Twenty three elite junior tennis players were participate in this study. Tennis related fitness testing included body strength, flexibility, agility and balance ability. The data were analyzed by Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple stepwise regression analysis to determine the correlation and predicted value. Results: The ball speed of serve (β=0.720, t=4.401, p<.05), forehand (β=0.798, t=5.453, p<.05), backhand (β=0.583, t=3.043, p<.05) was significantly and positive correlated with the distance of medicine ball throwing. Conclusion: These results indicated that the junior tennis player hitting ball speed and upper body strength were the most relevant, furthermore, it is suggested that the junior tennis players need to raise training load focusing on the lower extremity muscle strength and explosive power of the jumping training.