Analysis of dual sports performance typically involves observational techniques to gather data samples during actual competition. These techniques are limited by the amount of data that can be collected and the need to define the observable variables in advance. Today's advanced technologies have considerably overcome these limitations, enabling high‐volume data collection for post‐recording analysis. The present study was based on the three‐dimensional kinematic data recorded by the automated ball‐tracking Hawk‐Eye system between the 2003 and 2008 seasons in elite tennis tournaments, which provided a database of 262 596 points. The analysis consisted of an examination of the relationships between the various characteristics of the serve summed up by the resulting ball trajectory and winning‐point probabilities. The influence of factors such as serve speed, serve location, court surface, gender differences, and spin intensity on the winning‐point rate was assessed to gain insight into efficient serve tendencies in world‐class tennis. The implications for practitioners are highlighted and directions for future research in tennis performance analysis based on automatic ball tracking are proposed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining: The ASA Data Science Journal, 2016
This study investigated split-step timing when returning serves and whether this timing is related to neuromechanical capabilities in world-class tennis players. In Experiment 1, the split-step timing of four groups of world-class players (male and female ATP/WTA seniors, and ITF juniors) was measured on court when returning serves of the same level players. The four groups initiated the split-step at a similar time, starting around the time ball-racket contact in the serve stroke and landed when early ball-flight information was available. In Experiment 2, the neuromechanical capabilities (leg stiffness and vertical jump performance) of a group of world-class players and three groups of less-skilled tennis players were examined. The results showed an increase in leg stiffness with an increase in level of expertise. A crossexperiment analysis in world-class male players (ATP/ITF, n = 10) revealed that the timing of initial foot movement was significantly correlated with the leg stiffness (r 2 =0.54), with later lateral step after the serve in the players who had higher stiffness. The findings support the hypothesis that world-class tennis players adapt perceptual-motor control on the basis of their neuromechanical capabilities and maximise the time before initiating their interceptive action to rely on more reliable information.
The spatial-occlusion paradigm makes use of two techniques (masking and removing visual cues) to provide information about the anticipatory cues used by viewers. The visual scene resulting from the removal technique appears to be incongruous, but the assumed equivalence of these two techniques is spreading. The present study was designed to address this issue by combining eye-movement recording with the two types of occlusion (removal versus masking) in a tennis serve-return task. Response accuracy and decision onsets were analysed. The results indicated that subjects had longer reaction times under the removal condition, with an identical proportion of correct responses. Also, the removal technique caused the subjects to rely on atypical search patterns. Our findings suggest that, when the removal technique was used, viewers were unable to systematically count on stored memories to help them accomplish the interception task. The persistent failure to question some of the assumptions about the removal technique in applied visual research is highlighted, and suggestions for continued use of the masking technique are advanced.
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