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

Abstract

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). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in the sprint (5 m and 10 m) and the change of direction test

results compared to both CON and DW (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.