COMPARISON OF PHYSICAL FITNESS BETWEEN PARALYMPIC TENNIS PLAYERS WITH AND WITHOUT SPINAL CORD INJURY

Purpose: This study aimed to compare grip strength, upper limb explosive strength, sprint, and agility in the wheelchair between Paralympic tennis players with and without spinal cord injury. Methods: The participants were 18 Colombian wheelchair tennis players from the open category who were divided into two groups according to the condition that generated the disability: spinal cord injury (n=9) and without spinal cord injury (n=9). Sociodemographic and sports data were collected, as well as results of manual dynamometry, medicine ball throws simulating forehand, backhand and serve gestures, 5-, 10- and 20-meter sprint, T-Test and Spider test. Results: According to our findings, tennis players who had a spinal cord injury obtained shorter distances in throwing the medicine ball by simulating the forehand (p=0.008), backhand (p=0.009) and serve gestures (p=0.012) and took longer to execute the 5- (p=0.050), 10-meter sprint (p=0.040), T-Test (p=0.037) and Spider test (p= 0.025) in comparison with those without spinal cord injury. Conclusion: The results of the present study demonstrated that athletes who have a spinal cord injury throw the medicine ball shorter distances, are less fast and agile with the wheelchair compared to athletes who have other types of conditions. Therefore, it is essential that individualized interventions are generated by the interdisciplinary team, with emphasis on explosive strength and aspects of mobility in the wheelchair, considering the type of condition that generated the disability, as well as possible adjustments to the functional classification system.