Ball speed and ball spin in an International Tennis Federation women’s circuit tournament $10000

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify ball speed and ball spin of women’s tennis in an ITF circuit tournament $10000. Data were collected with Trackman tennis radar at an international tournament held in Japan. Eight players were subjected and we analyzed four kinds of shots: serve (1st and 2nd) and groundstrokes (forehand and backhand). In groundstrokes, slice shot was excluded in analysis. The ranges of average ball speed and ball spin in serve were as follows: 1st: 128.1km/h to 160.3km/h, 1370.3rpm to 2691.5rpm; 2nd: 104.4km/h to 135.6km/h, 2318.2 rpm to 3503.4rpm. We found trade off relationships between ball speed and ball spin in both serves. The range of average ball speed and ball spin in groundstrokes were as follows: forehand: 92.2km/h to 114.4km/h, 1265.7rpm to 2013.5rpm; backhand: 88.6km/h to 101.5km/h, 1060.0rpm to 1755.4rpm. Forehand showed not only faster speed but also higher spin rate than backhand. There was no relationship between ball speed and ball spin in groundstrokes. Serve speed was almost 10km/h slower than data of Cross (2014). Fastest speed and highest spin were almost same as data of Wimbledon 2016 (ESPN.com, 2016). Those results were new findings about ball speed and ball spin of women’s tennis players in an ITF circuit tournament $10000 level.