Zetou E, Koronas V, Athanailidis I, Koussis P. Learning tennis skill through game Play and Stay in elementary pupils. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 560-572, 2012. This study aimed to examine the effect of Play and Stay tennis program on learning the service skill on Elementary School pupils and the development of their satisfaction. Sixty-two (62) 5th class Elementary pupils, aged 11 years (Mean Age=11.13, SD=0.33) took part. The pupils, from four classes of two national elementary schools (two classes from each school), were divided into two groups: the experimental group which followed the Play and Stay program, and the control group which followed the traditional teaching method. The four-week course was held during the Physical Education lessons, (20 min of 3 hours/week). A quantitative evaluation was made on 10 trials at the service by each pupil. The qualitative evaluation of the technique was made (video-taping, observation, and a 5-element skill assessment) for service learning, comprising of: an initial test at the beginning, a final test at the end, and a retention test one week after completing the program without any practice. At the end of the course, all participants completed a feedback questionnaire on the level of satisfaction with the program. ANOVA repeated measures revealed significant interaction between groups and measurements for technique evaluation (F(2.120)=30.82, p<0.01), as well as the outcome of service skill (F(2.120)=10.44, p<0.01). The t-test analysis for independent samples showed significant differences between the experimental and the control group in four of the six variables on the satisfaction questionnaire. These findings indicate that the Play and Stay tennis teaching program was effective in helping pupils to learn the service skill, while simultaneously having fun and enjoying the procedure. This suggests that students will be motivated to become more involved in tennis as a sport, since enjoyment and satisfaction stimulate interest in participation.

On the basis of the integrative concept of self-esteem discussed in sport-related literature, various studies refer to its importance in the context of sports activities. Self-esteem is often understood as a personality trait because it tends to be durable and stable. No accurate description is available regarding the types of sports in which subjects participated. The main purpose of the research was to identify and compare the levels of self-esteem and self-confidence of athletes practicing individual and team sports. The self-esteem and self-confidence levels were measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg 1979) and the Self-Confidence Test (Romek, 2000). All participants were males. Subjects were divided into two categories: 40 for individual sports and 40 for team sports. There were two evaluation periods: P1, the beginning of the preparation period, and P2, the beginning of the competition period. There were statistically significant differences for P1 (p < 0.002) and P2 (p < 0.003). The differences between the average values of the two periods were 5.8 points and 3.8 points, both favorable to the group of athletes who practiced individual sports. There were significant differences between the individual and team athletes in self-esteem level. Individual athletes presented a higher level of self-esteem.

The purpose of this project is to examine the impact of competitive stress on tennis athletes and propose solutions for controlling and treating it. Pre-competition stress is a negative feeling for an athlete, which most often comes from expecting a victory. In the present work a general reference is made initially to human stress, which is caused by a variety of factors, whether specific or not, afflicting a large part of the population. Then follows an introduction to the basic features of precompetition anxiety, followed by an observation on the psychological stressrelief skills and how they can be applied. In conclusion, the overcome of the stressful situations depends on maintaining focus of predefined goals, gaining competitive experience and preserve emotional balance during the process.

Tennis is one of the most popular individual sports all over the world. Strength and trained muscles are required for a player in order to achieve a good backhand, forehand, volley or flat stroke. Especially while playing tennis are many kinds of muscles involved, including the lower body muscles, trunk muscles and upper body muscles. The purpose of this review is to present the activated muscles in the basic tennis movements of forehand and backhand and to improve the knowledge about their role in order to help tennis players and coaches to enhance their tennis performance and to reduce risk of injury. To support the present review, data were gathered from library and network databases using keywords such as tennis, muscles, forehand, and backhand for publications between 2015 and 2019. Overall, thirty-five references were detected and used. The literature showed that forehand and backhand drives are strokes that involve muscles not only of the upper limbs but also a series of more complex movements that start with the feet and end with the swinging of the tennis racket. The insight for the action of the muscles in tennis should be utilized in tennis players so as to better understand the muscular function which takes part in specific tennis movements and has a greater performance. In addition, this knowledge is considered strongly beneficial for the coaches and the favourable building of the training process.

This paper aims to highlight possible differences in the component of emotional intelligence in two distinct categories of athletes: alpine skiers, versus football players, at the youth level. A battery of specific tests was applied only once, the results found indicated more significant values for skiers. The significance of these results leads us to the idea that the characteristics of the sport and its practice at the level of performance significantly influence the level of emotional intelligence. The general conclusion drowns significant differences in the component of emotional intelligence between skiers and athletes footballers.