Effectiveness of the serve during the international at tennis federation women's circuit championship in Nairobi
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Date
1997
Authors
Kiganjo, M. G.
Njororai, W. W. S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The serve is considered as the most important, frequently occurring and
ultimate stroke in a tennis march. The purpose of this study was to
determine the effectiveness of the serve during the International tennis
Federation (lTF) women's singles champions in Nairobi. The
championship was played on murram courts and was organised on
knockout basis. Winners and losers in 21 matches were observed using a
manual charting system and a video camera. The frequency and outcome
of the first and second serves were tallied in terms of no-errors/ good (e.g.
in, aces and wins) and errors/ faults (e.g. out, double fault and wrong
court). The direction of good serves as they landed in the service court
were also recorded in terms of right, middle and let landing. Two
observers who were conversant with the game of tennis and match
analysis charted each match. The video-recorded matches were played to
cross check the accuracy of the manual charting. Descriptive statistical
. analysis using mean scores and percentage tabulation showed that aU the
winning players in each match made least errors on their serves compared
with the losing players. More errors were made on the first serves than on
the second serves. Most serves landed in the middle of the service court
than in the right and left service courts. Service errors decreased with
progressive tournament stages. The outcome of this study confirmed the
percentage theory in tennis that those players who make few errors
eventually emerge as winners of a tennis match. It is important that the
serve should not be neglected during the teaching and coaching of tennis
players.
Description
A paper presented at the Africa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and dance 3rd Scientific Congress held on 11th - 15th September, 1997 at Kenyatta University
Keywords
Tennis serve, Errors, Wins, Women's singles championship, Percentage theory