The purpose of this study was to analyze the GRF (ground reaction forces) developed using two types of tennis serve stance (foot-up, FU and foot back, FB) and two types of tennis serves (flat and slice). Nine right-handed male advanced players (77.9 ± 13.1 kg) performed ten serves (five flat and five slice) from two AMTI force platforms. GRF were normalized to body weight (BW). Two-way ANOVA's (stance × serve) were performed on the components of the GRF for each platform. Five of the subjects used the FB technique (feet stays in the same position relative to each other) and four used the foot-up (FU) technique (back foot is moved forward next to front for push off). No differences were found between the two types of serves. The FU stance developed larger peak vertical GRF on the platform than the FB stance (2.1 vs. 1.5 BW, p < .02). Although non-significant, the FB stance had a trend of greater peak forward propulsive force with the back leg (0.20 vs. 0.16 BW) than the FU. The FU stance generated a larger braking force on the front platform (0.19 vs. 0.12 BW, p < .02) than the FB stance. The FU stance generated greater vertical GRF, which may enable the players to produce greater angular momentum and consequently more racket velocity. The FU technique may also create a larger horizontal breaking force that shows the forward momentum of the body, which may hinder serve and volley players. Supported by the USTA Sport Sciences.
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Bahamonde et al. (2001) studied this question.