The effects of skill level on lower-limb injury risk during the serve landing phase in male tennis players

Abstract

The kinematic and kinetic performance of tennis players differs across skill levels, with joint range of motion (ROM), moments, and stiffness being strongly linked to injury risk. Focusing on the biomechanical characteristics of lower-limb joints throughout the landing stage, especially among athletes of different skill levels, aids in understanding the link between injury risk and performance level. This study recruited 15 male campus tennis enthusiasts and 15 male professional tennis players. The kinematic and kinetic differences between amateur and professional players during the landing phase of the tennis serve were analyzed using SPM1D 0.4.11 and SPSS 27.0.1, with independent-sample t-tests applied in both cases. Throughout the tennis serve’s landing stage, the professional group exhibited significantly greater sagittal plane hip-joint stiffness (p < 0.001), horizontal plane moment (59~91%; p = 0.036), and a significantly higher peak moment (p = 0.029) in comparison with the amateur group. For the knee joint, the professional group exhibited significantly larger ROM in flexion–extension (0~82%; p = 0.003); along with greater ROM (0~29%; p = 0.042), moment (12~100%; p < 0.001), peak moment (p < 0.001) in adduction-abduction; and internal–external rotational moments (19~100%; p < 0.001) were markedly higher. The professional group showed significantly higher ankle joint ROM (p < 0.001) and moments (6~74%; p = 0.004) in the sagittal plane, as well as greater horizontal-plane ROM (27~67%; p = 0.041) and peak moments (p < 0.001). Compared with amateur tennis players, professional tennis players exhibit greater ROM, joint moments, and stiffness in specific planes, potentially increasing their risk of injury during the landing phase.