Thermoregulatory responses during competitive singles tennis

Sarah M Morante ^1* and John R Brotherhood ¹

¹ University of Sydney, Australia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: smor7484{at}mail.usyd.edu.au.

Accepted 24 September 2007

Abstract

Objectives: The present investigation provides examples of thermoregulatory responses during competitive singles tennis and comparisons with continuous, steady-state running. Methods: Typical examples of body core (rectal) temperature, skin temperature and heart rate were selected to demonstrate the differing characteristics of tennis and running, and the corresponding thermal environments. Rectal and skin temperatures were logged each minute whilst heart rate was logged every 15 seconds throughout the competitive best of three set singles tennis matches and 60 minute continuous, steady-state running trials. Tennis matches were completed outdoors in widely varying thermal environments whilst the running trials were completed in the laboratory under stable conditions. Results: Rectal temperature in tennis was shown to be raised little more than resting levels, or to reach plateau after different lengths of time depending on exercise intensity and environmental conditions. Rectal temperature during tennis was found to take longer in reaching a plateau than continuous, steady-state exercise. Skin temperature during tennis varied widely depending on environmental air temperature and was lower than the running example at the same air temperature. Heart rate displays close similarity between opponents for both average and response characteristics during tennis. Wider range and higher peak values were found during the tennis example compared with running. Conclusions: The present investigation has provided a descriptive account of thermoregulatory response characteristics during singles tennis. Differences between outdoor tennis and continuous, steady-state running in the laboratory for each of these responses were discovered.

Key Words: Core temperature, Heart rate, Physiology, Skin temperature

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