Statistical Differences in Set Analysis in Badminton at the RIO 2016 Olympic Games

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine statistical differences in a set of badminton competition matches in five different modalities with regard to competition level (Group Phase vs. Eliminatory Phase). Data from 453 sets (125 in men’s singles; 108 sets in women’s singles; 77 sets in men’s doubles; 73 in women’s doubles and 70 in mixed doubles) from the RIO 2016 Olympics Games were recorded and classified in two groups of variables to analyze variables related to match (5) and set (15). A descriptive analysis and univariate test (Mann–Whitney U) for non-parametric data were conducted. The results show in men’s and women’s singles all the variables related to match were higher in the Elimination Phase than in the Group Phase ( p < 0.01). In Sets 1 and 3, the longest set duration, rally and average rally were found in the Elimination Phase than Group Stage ( p < 0.05). In women’s singles, these differences were also recorded in Set 2. For doubles, the results are more stable among groups. Men’s doubles had a longer duration of the match and set (sets 1 and set 2) ( p < 0.01), and also scored highest for average rally strokes (sets 1 3) ( p < 0.05) and shuttles used in the Elimination Phase vs. the Group Phase along the match ( p < 0.01). In women’s doubles, more shuttles were used in a match in the Elimination than in the Group Phase. Moreover, the same results are established for Set 2, including for average rally. Mixed doubles saw no match going to three sets. However, the greatest differences showed a longer rally and average rally being registered in the Elimination than in the Group Phase. In conclusion, the timing factors of the badminton singles and doubles games were different in the Elimination and Group Phases. This information may help players and coaches prepare and administer different types of workouts or, more specifically, competition schedules adapted to the characteristics of modern badminton.

Long rallies and next rally performances in elite men’s and women’s badminton

“…The frequency of these high-demanding rallies was 24.5% during men's matches and 19.6% during women's matches, values greater than the 15% reported by Laffaye et al [3] during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Our results confirm the current trends of the intermittent and high intensity demands required by players during elite badminton matches and the increasing number of long rallies played during matches by both sexes [10]. Further, the current findings corroborate that elite badminton matches mainly consist of short-intermittent rallies (around 75% and 80% of men's and women's matches, respectively) interspersed with long rallies that modify players' demands [3][4][5].…”

“…The current findings highlighted the importance of separating analyses by sex and the need to consider the specificities of match-contexts. In particular, men and women's matches exhibited different long rally contexts with eight and three clusters, respectively [10]. Specifically, clear differences among clusters were identified for time-related parameters (i.e., rally and rest time, density and time between strokes) indicating the specific and independent scenarios where long rallies occur based on contextual variables.…”

“…The sample comprised of 60 matches each for male and female players (n = 120; n = 4,475 and n = 4,490 rallies, respectively) randomly selected from the total number of matches played during the 2015 World Badminton Super Series and World Championship season (n = 449 and n = 434, for men´s and women´s respectively) that met the following criteria: (i) publicly available on TV; (ii) included all rallies played within the full match without omissions; and (iii) included both regular and playoff/knockout stage matches. To account for the disparity of match-performances in elite badminton [10], analyses accounted for match time-duration and time-related structure of rallies for each sex. Therefore, a two-step cluster analysis was conducted (split by sex) initially using number of strokes and rally time as quantitative variables to determine the final sample in accordance with the specificities of long rallies [3].…”

Effect of Modification Rules in Competition on Technical–Tactical Action in Young Tennis Players (Under-10)

“…Observer training was conducted according to the training protocols designed previously in several investigations (Losada and Manolov, 2014;Gamonales et al, 2018). The observers performed the following training steps: (a) theoretical training by studying the use and terminology of the observational instrument; (b) practical training with the calculation of intraobserver reliability, recording 20% of behaviors in a match; (c) practical training with the calculation of interobserver reliability, recording 33% of behaviors in another match, with 1 week apart; and (d) calculation of interobserver and intraobserver reliability values, which were found to be in line with other investigations of performance analysis (Gómez et al, 2018;Sainz de Baranda et al, 2019;Torres-Luque et al, 2019) in tennis (Losada et al, 2015;Fitzpatrick et al, 2018). The calculation of intraobserver and interobserver reliability was carried out through the weighted kappa statistic for ball landing locations and player's hitting areas recommended by Robinson and O'Donoghue (2007).…”

Changes in Duration and Intensity of the World’s Top-Level Badminton Matches: A Consideration of the Increased Acute Injuries among Elite Women’s Singles Players

“…Intensity of the matches differs depending on the opposition [5,10]. Recent studies have indicated that match duration during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games was significantly different between the group stage and play-offs; the group stage served as the qualification round for the play-offs [11,12]. To conduct a thorough investigation of the changes in the characteristics of the world's top-level badminton matches, we further classified the matches of the Super Series tournaments into two stages: early rounds-round 1 and round 2-and the final eight-quarterfinal, semi-final, and final.…”