Researchers studied three types of tennis serves, and identified one in particular, called a “kick” serve, which creates the highest potential for shoulder injury.
The study examined the difference in body positioning for the three serves. Researchers measured the distance between the vertical center line of a player’s body and the hitting surface of the racquet when the player hit the ball. For the kick serve, players swung the racquet closer to the center – about 21 cm (8 inches) and 16 cm (6 inches) closer than for the flat serve and slice serve, respectively. The players also extended the racquet farther behind them for the kick serve: 8 cm (3 inches) farther than for the flat serve.