J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Dec 28. [Epub ahead of print]
COMPARISON OF TWO AEROBIC FIELD TESTS IN YOUNG TENNIS PLAYERS
Fargeas-Gluck MA, Léger L.
SOURCE
1Faculté des Sciences du Sport, LAPHAP-EA3813, Université de Poitiers and Faculté des Sciences, département des Sciences du Sport, Université de Limoges, FRANCE; 2Département de kinésiologie, Université de Montréal, CANADA.
ABSTRACT
This study compares the maximal responses of a new aerobic tennis field test, the NAVTEN to a known aerobic field test, often used with young tennis players, i.e. the continuous multistage 20-m shuttle run test (20m SRT). The NAVTEN is an intermittent (1-min/1-min) multistage test with side to side displacements and ball hitting. Ten young elite tennis players aged 12.9±0.3 (Mean±SD) randomly performed both tests and were continuously monitored for heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake (&OV0312;O2) using the &OV0312;max ST (Sensormedics). The 20m SRT and NAVTEN show similar HRpeak (202±6.1 vs. 208±9.5, respectively) and &OV0312;O2peak (54.2±5.9 vs. 54.9±6.0 ml kg min). Pearson correlations between both tests were 0.88 and 0.92 for &OV0312;O2peak and maximal speed, respectively. NAVTEN yielded &OV0312;O2peak values that are typical for active subjects of that age and are similar to the 20m SRT supporting its use to measure aerobic fitness of young tennis players in specific and entertaining field conditions. The fact that two thirds of the tennis players achieved a different ranking (± 1 rank) with the NAVTEN and the 20-m SRT, suggests that the NAVTEN may be more specific than the 20-m SRT to assess aerobic fitness of tennis players. From a practical point of view, the NAVTEN test is more specific and pedagogical for young tennis players even though both tests yield similar maximal values.
REVIEW
This study simply introduces the benefit of another form of aerobic-condition test in tennis players. The traditionally used test for tennis players is the 20 meter shuttle run test (20m SRT) which employs conventional forward running in distances greater than may be experienced in typical on-court tennis movement. The new test (NAVTEN), employs lateral shuttle displacements while hitting a ball at the end of each run, may be slightly more specific to tennis-related movement and conditioning, although both tests demonstrate similar maximal values.
Comentários