Evaluating Basic Tennis Skills: The Application of International Tennis Number for College Students

Abstract

Study purpose. Success in tennis is largely determined by the mastery of correct fundamental techniques from an early stage. Without biomechanically sound and efficient basic techniques, students will find it difficult to develop advanced game tactics. Field observations indicate that students' skill levels remain highly varied and tend to fall within the low-to-moderate categories. The use of the International Tennis Number (ITN) standard is highly relevant as it is an objective international rating system designed to measure a player's accuracy, depth, and power. This study aims to analyze the fundamental tennis technical skills of Sports Coaching Education (PKO) students at University Negeri Medan based on the International Tennis Number (ITN) standards.

Materials and methods. This research employs a quantitative descriptive design. The method used was a survey involving tests and measurements. The research subjects consisted of 126 respondents. The instrument utilized was the ITN On-Court Assessment, with data analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results. The results show that the majority of respondents (97.6%) possess basic tennis technical skills at a beginner level, with the most frequent classification being ITN Level 8 (46.8%). Half of the respondents (50%) demonstrated "poor" proficiency in groundstroke depth. Regarding groundstroke accuracy, most participants fell into the "very poor" category (57.9%). Respondents generally exhibited "poor" ability in both volley depth (61.1%) and service competence (62.7%). In contrast, the mobility level was predominantly categorized as "moderate" (42.9%).

Conlusion. It is recommended that students engage in independent practice outside of lecture hours. Furthermore, the International Tennis Number (ITN) instrument should be implemented as a course completion standard or a prerequisite for students.