Men's Versus Women's Serving:
What is the Role of Internal Rotation?
Bruce Elliott and Machar Reid
If we compare the highest service speeds of top players in men's and women's professional tennis, the speed of the female serve is on average approximately 80% that of the male serve.
Milos Raonic, for example, has been recorded at 155 mph and Serena Williams at 129 mph. Sam Groth has hit the fastest the fastest serve on record on the ATP tour at 163mph. Venus Williams has the fastest recorded WTA serve at 130 mph.
Are these differences due purely to strength and physical size, or does technique also play a role?
There are obvious physical differences between men and women, but one movement clearly differentiates male from female players where service speed is concerned. This is shoulder internal rotation. (Click Here for additional explanation of this critical movement.)
Research shows that internal shoulder rotation is the largest contributor (approximately 40%) to the generation of racket velocity at impact in the male high performance serve.
