Success in national level junior tennis: Tactical perspectives

Abstract

Point duration in competiti ve t enni s i s becomi ng shor ter, highli ghti ng a greater empha sis on per formance of the fir st strokes of each point , in particular the per for mance of t he serv er. M ethods: Descri ptiv e mea su res of the vi deo-based analysi s i ncluded t he str oke type, point outcome and str oke posit ion of the fir st t wo strokes o f th e serv er (serv ice and fir stsh ot) du ring t en rando ml y sel ect ed sets o f co mp etitio n on hard court. Al l participant s (mal e; n=8) were of the age group 14 and under. R esults: T he per for mance o f th e 1 s t serv e i s characterized by an 'in-percenta ge' of 54.6% and an improved chance of wi nni ng t he poi nt (for t he server) following a 1 s t ser ve (55.9%; P<.001) compared t o a 2 nd ser ve (49.9%). T he majority of stroke positions for fir st-shot wi nn ers were l ocated i n th e centr al zon e o f t he court (52.2%; P<.01). In comparison t o the error rate of all exa mined strokes, we ob serv ed an i ncr eased error rate of the first-shot (16.5% vs. 22.4%, P<.01). Conclusion: Contrasting t o pr ofessionals, juni ors produce more 1 s t ser ve error s and wi n fewer point s dir ectl y via the serve. Success in juni or tenn is r elies i n mini mizi ng error s withi n short rallies speci fical ly on the firstshot of t he server. Coaches of elit e junior t enni s players should focus on strategi es to opti mi ze court positi on followi ng t he serve, and service percen tage t o in crea se co mp etiti ve su ccess rate. T o achi ev e t hi s, th e ser ver sh ou ld u tilize th e serv e as a ' set-up' t ool, dictating the direction of the returner's r etu rn of serve wit hin t he central zones of t he court.

Differences in competition statistics between winners and losers in male and female tennis players in Olympic Games

“…The examination of match statistics or performance indicators in professional tennis is attracting increasing research attention (Cui, Gómez, Gonçalves, & Sampaio, 2018;Fitzpatrick, Stone, Choppin, & Kelley, 2019;Klaus, Bradshaw, Young, O'Brien, & Zois, 2017;Martin, Bideau, Touzard, & Kulpa, 2019). These studies provide information about the way the game is played on different surfaces (Cui et al, 2018), or allow us understanding the differences between players of different levels (Hizan, Whipp, & Reid, 2011;Klaus et al, 2017;Söğüt, 2017) or genders Hizan, Whipp, & Reid, 2015;Stare, Zibrat, & Filipcic, 2015). Investigating the statistical analysis of game characteristics, we can identify the reasons for winning or losing a game (Filipčič, Filipčič, & Berendijaš, 2008;Fitzpatrick et al, 2019).…”

A simple new method for identifying performance characteristics associated with success in elite tennis

“…19 For example, if winning a higher percentage of net-points is found to be more closely associated with success on grass courts than on any other surface, this should be reflected in training sessions, with approach shots and net-play afforded more practice time around the grass court season. The serve is generally considered to be the most important stroke in tennis 20,21 and several studies have described the serve and serve-return as key factors to overall success, 22,23 but few attempts have been made to objectively identify the performance characteristics most strongly associated with success.…”

Matchplay characteristics and performance indicators of male junior and entry professional tennis players

“…The aforementioned studies analysed match efficiency in male and female professional tennis. In comparison, several researchers 7,20,26–30 have conducted notational analysis of the junior game.…”