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Comparative effects of exercise training on serve performance and upper-body power in tennis players: a systematic
Song Hu1, Fengjiao Wang2, Jia Liu3
1Graduate School of Physical Education, Pukyong National University, Busan, Republic of Korea.
Objective:
To systematically compare the effects of different exercise training interventions on the serve performance and upper-body power of tennis players.
Methods:
PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP database were systematically searched from inception to May 25, 2026. Healthy tennis players with an intervention period ≥4 weeks were included. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used as effect sizes. Pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis were conducted on Stata 16.0, and the different training interventions were sorted using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA). The quality of each included study was evaluated using Cochrane's Risk-of-Bias Assessment Tool, and the evidence quality of network meta-analysis was assessed using CINeMA.
Results:
Totally 20 studies involving 606 tennis players were included. Network meta-analysis shows that plyometric training (PT, SMD = 0.91, 95%CI: 0.56 to 1.26), resistance training (RT, SMD = 0.85, 95%CI: 0.46 to 1.23), core stability training (CST, SMD = 0.82, 95%CI: 0.24 to 1.41) and multi-modal training (MMT, SMD = 0.77, 95%CI: 0.33 to 1.20) can all significantly increase serve velocity compared with regular training (REG). The SUCRA ranking shows that PT ranks first in terms of serve velocity (72.6%). There is no significant difference between each training intervention and REG in terms of serve accuracy or upper-body power. CST is ranked first by SUCRA for both indicators (serve accuracy: 75.3%; upper-body power: 81.9%). The CINeMA shows that the quality of evidence is high or moderate for some comparison results in terms of serve velocity, but is generally low for serve accuracy and upper-body power.
Conclusions:
All types of exercise training interventions can effectively improve the serve velocity of tennis players, among which PT has the best effect. CST shows potential advantages in serve accuracy and upper-body power, but the quality of evidence is weak. PT may be considered the main training method to improve serve velocity, particularly in young tennis players, and should be combined with serve technique and placement control training. CST can be used as an auxiliary intervention for serve accuracy training.
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