Mild traumatic brain injuries in tennis are rare , but can happen when the velocity of the tennis ball is higher than 40 m / s . To put that in perspective , that ’ s faster than a cheetah can run .
Issue 33.1
The Risk of Traumatic Brain Injury in Tennis
Mild traumatic brain injuries in tennis are rare , but can happen when the velocity of the tennis ball is higher than 40 m / s . To put that in perspective , that ’ s faster than a cheetah can run .
It ’ s well-known that football and soccer can potentially cause concussions and other head injuries for their players . But what about tennis ?
Is being struck in the head by a tennis ball enough to cause a concussion ? And how fast does a tennis ball need to be going to possibly cause traumatic brain injury ?
Researchers from SMU , a nationally-ranked Dallas-based private university , did a detailed , computational study – utilizing the same technique widely-used by researchers to predict what head injuries might occur if there was a car or plane accident – to answer these and other questions . The study was published in the ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics .
Xin-Lin Gao , a mechanical engineering professor at SMU , and Yongqiang Li , a former SMU PhD student who worked with Gao , analyzed what would happen to a male ’ s head if it was hit by a tennis ball at different speeds or locations .
They found :
• Mild traumatic brain injuries , or concussions , are rare , but can happen when the velocity of the tennis ball is higher than 40 m / s . To put that in perspective , that ’ s faster than a cheetah can run .
• A ball striking the side of the head was most likely to cause a head injury , compared to being struck in the forehead or the top of the head .
• Head injuries were also more common when the ball hit someone at a 90-degree angle , versus a 30- or 60-degree angle .
• But spinning of the ball was not found to have any significant impact on causing a head injury .
A computational study shows the effects of being struck by a tennis ball at three different locations -- frontal ( left ), lateral ( middle ) and crown ( right ).
“ Understanding and protecting against head injuries induced by tennis ball impacts is very important , given that tennis is a worldwide sport with tens of millions of participants every year ,” Gao said .
Gao and Li , who is now an associate professor at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics , were specifically focused on determining if a tennis ball could cause a head injury that was severe enough to be classified as a traumatic brain injury — when a forceful bump , blow or jolt to the head or body causes a disruption to the normal function of the brain .
Concussions are classified as mild TBIs , because they aren ’ t life-threatening . But they can cause lasting problems for weeks or months , such as headaches , dizziness and problems with concentration .
The researchers based their findings on an anatomically-detailed model of a man ’ s head .
More research is needed for women and children , though lead researcher Gao said the findings would likely be similar for both groups . g
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