INVESTIGATION OF ANTHROPOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS AND SERVE SPEEDS ACCORDING TO TURKEY RANKINGS IN 10-12 AGE GROUP TENNIS PLAYERS

Aim of the research was to investigate the relationships between some physical, anthropometric and somatotype characteristics, serve speed and classification rankings of tennis players. Hence, height, body weight, skinfold thickness, serve speed, various diameters and peripheries were measured. 40 certified tennis players, 26 males and 14 females age between 10-12, attended the study. A moderate positive correlation was found between serve speeds and heights (r=0.66; p 0.05) and body weights (r=0.61; p 0.05) of female tennis players; a moderate positive correlation was found between the serve speeds and the ages (r=0.60; p 0.01) and, heights (r=0.58; p 0.01) and a low correlation was found between the weight and serve speeds (r=0.47; p 0.05) of male tennis players. A positive high level of correlation was found between the thigh circumference measures and serve speeds (r=0.73; p 0.01) and a moderate one was found with classification ranking in Turkey (r=0.56; p 0.05) of the female tennis players; a low correlation was found in biceps in flexion (r=0.40; p 0.05), calf (r=0.39; p 0.05), thigh circumference measures (r=0.39; p 0.05) and serve speeds of the male tennis players. In conclusion it has been observed that anthropometric parameters used in tennis impact the serve speeds and placement in the classification ranking in Turkey. These findings indicate that serve speeds have a correlation with thigh circumference measures, biceps in flexion peripheral measure and calf peripheral measure and improving the values of such parameters may have a positive impact on the serve speed.