Acute effects of squat and core exercises using elastic bands on post-activation performance enhancement in tennis players: control, randomized, crossover trials

Background Resistance equipment is often used to achieve the post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) effect; however, tennis players who are constantly in tournaments may not always have access to it. This study aimed to investigate the PAPE effects of resistance-band-based squat and core exercises on selected physical test parameters in tennis players. Methods Fifteen male tennis players (14.86 ± 0.66 years) participating in international tennis tournaments completed three separate randomized experimental visits. At each visit, participants began with different warm-up protocols (jogging [Control], dynamic warm-up [DW], and dynamic warm-up + resistance band [DW + RB]). Then they performed a series of sport-specific tests (countermovement jump [CMJ], anaerobic power, squat jump [SJ], 5m, 10 sprints, 5-0-5 change of direction test [COD], and medicine ball forehand [MBFH] and backhand [MBBH] throw tests). Results The findings showed that the DW + RB protocol produced statistically significant differences in CMJ, anaerobic power, MBFH, and MBBH test results compared to both CON and DW (p < 0.05). Although the DW + RB group showed an increase in SJ performance (CON 7.83% and DW 2.66%), there was no statistically significant difference compared to the other warm-up groups (p > 0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in the sprint (5 m and 10 m) and the change of direction test results. Conclusions The use of elastic bands after a dynamic warm-up resulted in improved core performance, essential for jumping and tennis, compared to other warm-up protocols. Therefore, warm-up activities involving elastic band-based exercises can be integrated into the traditional warm-up protocol before training or matches for players participating in international tennis tournaments.