1. Research information regarding the stress tennis has on the body and
the types of injuries that are common to the sport. Develop a questionnaire
using this information. Design it so that one can find out what causes a
higher injury rate for players today than 20 years ago.
2. Give the questionnaire to 50 junior players, between the ages of 8 and
18, who play tournaments. Tournament players must be devoted to the sport
in order to succeed so these players play the most often and get the most
injuries.
3. Using a speed gun, record average speed of the serves of 3 different
players with 3 different types of racquets: wooden, standard size, and extended.
Use 50 serves for each player in order to get an accurate average. This
tests whether the newer racquets, who supposedly generate more speed, are
a cause for the rise in injuries.
4. Analyze the data in order to find major causes and to find the methods
people are using to treat them.
The following is the questionnaire used on the tennis players:
Dear Tennis Player,
I need your help! I am conducting an experiment regarding injuries in junior
tennis. The information you provide will be useful for my science fair project.
There are no correct or incorrect responses, only your much needed experiences.
Thank you!
1. Gender: Male Female
2. How old are you?
3. What is your attitude towards tennis?
a. I love it. I can't get enough. I want to play professionally.
b. I play because I want a college scholarship.
c. I like it a lot, but I never sacrifice my social life to play tennis.
d. I hate it. My parents make me play.
4. How long have you been playing tennis?
a. Less than a year
b. 1 and under 2 years
c. 2 and under 3 years
d. 3 and under 4 years
e. 4 and under 5 years
f. 5 and under 6 years
g. 6 and under 7 years
h. 8 or more years
5. How many days a week do you play tennis?
a. 1 day
b. 2 days
c. 3 days
d. 4 days
e. 5 days
f. 6 days
g. Everyday
6. How long do you play for (on average)?
a. 1 hour
b. 2 hours
c. 3 hours
d. more than 3 hours
7. What kind of racquet do you use? (Please specify if it is extended or
over-sized)
8. Have you ever been injured?
a. Yes
b. No
(If you answered "No" for #8, you can stop answering this questionnaire.)
9. What part of the body did your injury effect?
a. shoulder
b. elbow
c. other arm part
d. leg
e. ankle
f. foot
g. back
h. hip
i. stomach
j. other:_____________________
10. What was your specific injury?
11. How long were you out of tennis?
a. Less than a week
b. 1 to 2 weeks
c. more than 2 weeks, but less than a month
d. 1-2 months
e. 2-6 months
f. more than 6 months
12. Did you see a doctor?
a. Yes
b. No
13. What type of treatment did you have?
a. time off
b. ice/heat method
c. massage therapy
d. surgery
e. other:_____________________
14. Did your injury require you to change equipment (like racquets, string
tension, shoes, etc.)?
a. Yes
b. No
15. What did you change?
a. racquet
b. string tension
c. shoes
d. other_______________
16. How often do you stretch?
a. Always
b. Most of the time
c. Rarely
d. Never
17. Who do you like better?
a. Andre Agassi
b. Pete Sampras
c. They're good players, but I could kick their butts any day.