The interaction between wheelchair configuration and wheeling performance in wheelchair tennis: a narrative review

The number of wheelchair tennis players is rising internationally, yet from a scientific perspective little is known about wheelchair tennis performance. Wheelchair tennis is more complex compared to other wheelchair court sports, due to the wheelchair/racket interaction. The purpose of this narrative review was to gain insight into the influence of wheelchair configuration, i.e., the individual set-up of a wheelchair, on wheelchair tennis performance, more specifically on wheelchair mobility performance and propulsion technique. Wheelchair propulsion while holding a racket has had little attention in both the wheelchair mobility performance and wheelchair propulsion technique area. It is shown that the propulsion technique and wheelchair mobility performance are negatively affected by the racket. Based on the current literature, the influence of wheelchair configuration on wheeling performance in wheelchair tennis can mainly be described from a broader wheelchair court sport perspective, due to the lack of specific publications about wheelchair tennis. In the future more research should be conducted on wheeling performance and wheelchair configuration in wheelchair tennis, to attain a more proper scientific foundation for optimising wheelchair tennis performance.