A comparison of muscle activations during traditional and abbreviated tennis serves

The abbreviated tennis serve is a relatively novel modification of the traditional serve that has been reported to provide performance advantages over the traditional technique. However, there are limited objective data regarding the benefits and biomechanics of the abbreviated serve; no data exist that describe shoulder muscle activations during the abbreviated serve. The purpose of this study was to compare muscle activations between the traditional and abbreviated serves. Electromyographic data were collected for the anterior and posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, middle trapezius, latissimus dorsi, serratus anterior, and pectoralis major. When muscle activations were compared during each serve phase, no significant differences were observed between the traditional and abbreviated tennis serve techniques, indicating that the traditional and abbreviated serves are similar regarding shoulder muscle activations. These results could have implications for performance of and injury related to the abbreviated versus traditional serve technique. Although the abbreviated serve has anecdotally been described as advantageous, the present data do not indicate any significant advantages or disadvantages in performing the abbreviated serve technique versus the traditional serve.     

Social Class,Educational Opportunity and Equal Entitlement: Dilemmas of schooling in England and France

Through a comparison of the beliefs, goals and teaching methods adopted by primary school teachers working in areas of disadvantage in England and France, this paper considers how the education systems of the two countries resolve the dilemmas involved in providing educational opportunities to children of all social class backgrounds. Traditionally, the centralised French system, strongly influenced by a republican ideological tradition, has adopted a policy of equal entitlement and equal treatment for all, while the English system has enshrined the notion of differentiated teaching according to the perceived needs of the child. In research carried out before recent reforms, significant differences were found in the goals which inner city teachers set themselves in the two countries. Recent follow-up research indicates the continued central importance of teachers' values in the light of strong external pressure to change.