Tennis is a dynamic sport requiring speed, agility, power, coordination, endurance, and rapid decision-making. The Bengal Tennis Association (BTA) plays an important role in promoting competitive tennis and athlete development in Bengal, providing a suitable platform for sports science-based fitness and performance assessment.On 19 September 2026, the Department of Sports Science and Yoga, RKMVERI (Deemed University), Belur Math, in collaboration with the Bengal Tennis Association (BTA), organised a Comprehensive Athlete Fitness, Neuromuscular, and Psychometric Assessment at BTA. The event involved 25 tennis athletes and focused on evaluating key physical, neuromuscular, and psychometric parameters relevant to athletic performance. The programme aimed to promote the systematic application of sports science in athlete assessment and performance development.
Assessment Battery & Parameters Evaluated
The testing battery was categorized into four core domains: Anthropometrics & Vitals, Musculoskeletal & Physical Fitness, Neuromuscular & Anaerobic Capacity, and Psychometric & Cognitive Parameters.
|
Testing Domain |
Specific Tests Conducted |
Evaluated Athletic Parameters |
|
Anthropometrics & Vitals |
Baseline Measurement, Blood Pressure, Pulse, Oxygen Saturation, Peak Expiratory Flow |
Height, Weight, Bilateral Leg Length, Resting Heart Rate, Systolic/Diastolic BP, SpO, Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR). |
|
Musculoskeletal Strength & Power |
Back-Leg & Hand Grip Dynamometry, Vertical Jump, Seated Medicine Ball Throw |
Back-leg isometric strength, left/right hand grip force, lower-body explosive power, and upper-body throwing power. |
|
Muscular Endurance & Flexibility |
Push-Up Test, Sit-and-Reach Test |
Upper-body muscular endurance, lower back, and hamstring flexibility. |
|
Agility & Dynamic Balance |
Spider Agility Test (Left & Right), Star Excursion / Y-Balance Test |
Multidirectional footwork speed, directional change agility, and tri-planar dynamic lower extremity balance. |
|
Anaerobic Capacity |
Running Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) / Repeated Sprint Battery |
Peak anaerobic power, average power output, minimum power output, and fatigue index across repeated sprint trials. |
|
Psychometric & Cognitive |
1. Deary-Liewald Test |
Simple and choice processing speed, visual focus maintenance, visuospatial working memory, executive inhibitory control, and verbal short-term memory span. |
Student Learning & Field Experience
Participating Sports Science students gained practical experience in:
- Multi-Domain Test Battery Management: Seamlessly coordinating physical, anthropometric, and psychometric assessment stations in a field environment. Students designed an optimal rotation schedule for 25 athletes to prevent test interference.
- Environmental Adaptation: Students learned to monitor environmental factors (such as ambient temperature and humidity which were a challenge on the testing day) and adapt delicate digital gear (e.g., reaction time screens, peak flow mouthpieces) to field conditions while maintaining sanitary and safety standards.
- Athlete Communication: Instructing athletes on standard test execution, safety guidelines, and computer-based psychometric test instructions.
- Interprofessional Collaboration: Students interacted directly with BTA tennis coaches, strength and conditioning trainers, and academy officials which helps in giving an understanding of their training methods as well as aid the presentation of the data as per their requirements.
Practical Applications
This multi-dimensional sports science assessment spanning anthropometrics, neuromuscular performance, anaerobic capacity, and psychometrics shifts youth development from intuition-based coaching to objective, data-driven athlete management. Some important practical applications are:-
1. Talent Identification
This multi-dimensional sports science assessment spanning anthropometrics, neuromuscular performance, anaerobic capacity, and psychometrics in young athletes helps refine talent selection criteria, separating chronological age advantages (early maturers) from true neuromuscular and cognitive potential.
2. Personalized Strength & Conditioning (S&C) Design
Rather than applying generic fitness routines, coaches can prescribe targeted S&C interventions based on precise physical limiters. For example an athlete displaying high back-leg isometric strength but low vertical jump height or seated medicine ball throw distance suffers from poor “Rate of Force Development (RFD)”. Coaches can shift their focus from high-load weight training to ballistic plyometrics and kinetic chain velocity work.
3. Asymmetry Detection & Injury Risk Mitigation
The Y-Balance Test (Anterior, Postero-Medial, Postero-Lateral reach) and Spider Agility Test (Left vs. Right) pinpoint functional asymmetries.Comparing leg length, back-leg strength, and hand-grip dynamometry highlights imbalances between dominant racket-side torque and non-dominant stabilization, allowing coaches to integrate unilateral trunk and shoulder girdle corrective exercises before injuries manifest.
4. Integrating physical data with cognitive test results helps coaches optimize player tactics
Tactical periodization simply means designing practice drills that train those specific physical and mental skills together on the court. For example Defensive players have high physical endurance (low fatigue on repeat sprints), long-lasting mental focus (Sustained Attention Test), and strong discipline to avoid unforced errors (Stroop Test). Whereas the Aggressive players have better split-second decision-making speed (Deary-Liewald Reaction Time), fast footwork in all directions (Spider Agility), and high leg power for serves and overheads (Vertical Jump).
| Faculty/Staff Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Swami Vidyapradananda (Primary Coordinator) | Sports Science and Yoga – Belur Campus |
