BACKGROUND: Tennis performance is highly influenced by serve speed. This review aimed to evaluate and quantitatively compare the efficacy of popular strength and conditioning (S&C) training methods in enhancing the speed of the ball in the serves of tennis players.
METHODS: Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in the Scopus, Web of Science, SportsDiscuss, and PubMed databases without date constraints, up to July 2024. Studies included in this meta-analysis met PICOS criteria: a) randomized controlled trials with healthy tennis players, b) isolated or combined S&C training programs, c) evaluation of tennis serve speed, and d) adequate data to compute effect sizes (ESs). The PEDro scale was used to assess methodological quality.
RESULTS: Out of 271 identified papers, 16 studies of moderate to high quality were included in the meta-analysis. Resistance training demonstrated a small but significant effect on serve speed (ES = 0.53; p < 0.001), while multimodal training exhibited a moderate and significant effect (ES = 0.79; p = 0.001). However, core training did not have a significant effect on serve speed (ES = 0.32, p = 0.231).
CONCLUSION: The findings suggested that S&C interventions, including resistance and multimodal training, were beneficial for increasing serve speed in tennis players. Further high-quality research is recommended to confirm this conclusion.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_ record.php?RecordID=519790, identifier CRD42024519790.
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.