The Most Important Bones in Tennis

There are 206 bones in the human skeleton. Which of these are the most important in tennis?

For the purposes of this article I am limiting myself to the upper body. The two bones are the ulna styloid and the humerus.

I won’t deny that tennis is a game of moving with some hitting. As such, getting yourself in proper position allows proper stroking of the ball. This is where the pros excel far beyond any amateur. However, assuming you can get yourself in proper position, these two bones can be imagined as alternate or additional keys to execute high quality swings.

The ulna styloid is the thinner bone in your forearm. The humerus is the single bone in the upper arm.

The motions of the arm have been well described by biomechanists in all the strokes. (See the Biomechanics section.) But visualizing the images of the movement of these bones gives players and coaches additional images to use in developing or improving technique.

The Wrist

I have not heard much about it lately, but the tennis training tool The Wrist Assist is a device popularized and advertised by Brad Gilbert that carried the slogan “feel what the pros feel”….