Biomechanical Analysis of Abdominal Injury in Tennis Serves. A Case Report

The serve is an important stroke in any high level tennis game. A well-mastered serve is a substantial advantage for players. However, because of its repeatability and its intensity, this stroke is potentially deleterious for upper limbs, lower limbs and trunk. The trunk is a vital link in the production and transfer of energy from the lower limbs to the upper limbs; therefore, kin-ematic disorder could be a potential source of risk for trunk injury in tennis. This research studies the case of a professional tennis player who has suffered from a medical tear on the left rectus abdominis muscle after tennis serve. The goal of the study is to understand whether the injury could be explained by an inappropriate technique. For this purpose, we analyzed in three dimensions the kinematic and kinetic aspects of the serve. We also performed isokinetic tests of the player’s knees. We then compared the player to five other professional players as refer-ence. We observed a possible deficit of energy transfer because of an important anterior pelvis tilt. Some compensation made by the player during the serve could be a possible higher abdominal contraction and a larger shoulder external rotation. These partic-ularities could induce an abdominal overwork that could explain the first injury and may provoke further injuries.