The International Journal of Sports Science and Engineering published Pascal Acree's science fair project in its March 2013 edition. Acree's project, which he undertook during his Freshman year, studied tennis racquet parameters in relation to a junior (youth) tennis player's swing.
A Scientific Approach for Diagnosing a Junior Tennis Player's Swing and Determining Optimum Racquet Parameters
A tennis player since elementary school, Acree was concerned about the optimal age to transition to an adult sized racquet. He upgraded from a junior racquet in his final year of middle school and thought that he might have made the transition too late, possibly hindering his performance. For the project, he developed a scientific way to determine when junior players should upgrade to heavier racquets. He tested and compared the performance of junior players using both size racquets. Acree enjoyed using the scientific method to answer an important question about his favorite sport. In the process, he also developed an approach to analyzing the players' swings which can be used as a coaching tool. So many tennis coaches expressed interest in his project that he took the initiative to write the experimental design and results in journal format and submit it for consideration.
Acree is a member of the 2013-14 Raider Boys Tennis team, starting every match last year as a Freshman. Through the first few matches of his second season, he and Senior Nikunj Jinan have played in the second doubles spot. Off the court, he is a member of the Raider Jazz Band as well as Science National Honor Society. Additionally, Acree is the co-founder and president of the Raider Science Olympiad Team.
