Effects of playing surface and gender on rally durations in singles grand slam tennis
Author
Smith, Adam
Date
2013Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The techniques and tactics implored by elite tennis players have seen substantial
changes over the past 20 years (Sanchez-Munos et al., 2007). As a result, many
studies have observed how rally durations vary across the different types of
playing surface and produced ramifications for the athletes and their tactics.
Therefore the purpose of this study was to assess the effects that both the gender
of the athlete and the court surface had on rally length in three of the professional
grand slam tennis tournaments. Secondly, to assess whether any differences
regarding rally length within a match exist, and to highlight the extent of variation
between sets. Data was collected from thirty matches (n=30), 15 men’s and 15
women’s, spread evenly across three of the tennis Grand Slam tournaments
(French Open, Wimbledon & US Open). Dartfish EasyTag iPhone application
(Dartfish) was used for data collection from video coverage of each individual
match. The match variables analysed rally duration in seconds (s) and the number
of shots that each rally contained. Results indicated that men have continued to
have a greater length of rally than women on clay and hard courts, however
women saw a longer rally duration when playing on the grass courts of
Wimbledon, but fewer shots were played. Significant results were found when
comparing both rally duration and number of shots across the three playing
surfaces (p<0.01), with clay showing the longest rally duration and grass the
shortest. Interrogation of the within match variables, identified that within the
men’s game the rally duration as well as number of shots decreases gradually
from set 1 to set 3, with an increase being seen in set 4 & 5, however caution
needs to be taken with these results due to the amount of matches analysed.
Women saw set 2 produce the longest rally data, with set 1 & 3 showing similar
results. In conclusion, matches played on clay have continued to see the longest
rally durations and most number of shots for both genders, with grass producing
the shortest durations and least amount of shots. Differences were seen between
genders with men producing longer rallies on clay and hard courts and women on
grass, yet men were seen to play the most number of shots on all playing
surfaces.
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