(Press-News.org) Dietary supplementation with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) on the morning of a tennis match allows athletes to maintain their edge. A randomized, controlled trial reported in BioMed Central's open access Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that those players who received the supplement showed no decline in skilled tennis performance after a simulated match.
Chen-Kang Chang from the National Taiwan College of Physical Education, Taiwan, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study. He said, "We found that sodium bicarbonate supplementation can prevent the fatigue-induced decline in skilled tennis performance seen during matches. The service and forehand ground stroke consistency was maintained after a simulated match in the bicarbonate trial. On the other hand, these consistency scores were decreased after the match in the placebo trial".
The nine players in the study were randomly assigned to receive either bicarbonate or placebo drinks. They then took part in a tennis skills test before and after a simulated match. The skills test measured the accuracy and consistency of service and forehand and backhand ground stroke to both sides of the court. Speaking about the results, Chang said, "To our knowledge, this is the first study to show the effect of bicarbonate supplementation on skilled performance in racquet sports. Future research may include other tennis skills such as volleys and drop shots with the measurement of stroke velocity and running speed".
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Notes to Editors
1. Sodium bicarbonate supplementation prevents skilled tennis performance decline after a simulated match
Ching-Lin Wu, Mu-Chin Shih, Chia-Cheng Yang, Ming-Hsiang Huang and Chen-Kang Chang
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (in press)
During embargo, article available here: http://www.jissn.com/imedia/1140155092389550_article.pdf?random=267470
After the embargo, article available at the journal website: http://www.jissn.com/
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication.
2. The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) is a peer-reviewed journal that covers various aspects of sports nutrition, supplementation, exercise metabolism, and/or scientific policies related to sports nutrition. The journal is designed to keep members of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and the public up to date on the latest advances in sport nutrition.
3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.
Bicarbonate adds fizz to players' tennis performance
2010-10-26
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