ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review

Editorial

2023-12-21T19:03:25+00:00

This issue includes contributions from researchers and experts from all over the world that share their articles related to a variety of topics which include: the ITF WTN, tennis development at ground level, parent attitudes in tennis, public relations in college tennis, biomechanics and skill phases, the benefits of hitting against the wall, and the consequences of the changes made to the pro tennis tour, among others. This editorial will share the activities that the ITF Development Department has implemented throughout 2023 in the different pillars of its strategy.

World Tennis Number: The new gold standard, or a failure?

2024-01-05T23:59:35+00:00

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has recently implemented World Tennis Number (WTN), as their official rating system. It is unknown if this rating system is accurate, therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the predictability of WTN in match outcomes, comparing it to the accuracy at which Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) predicts match outcomes. We collected matches from the 2022 USTA Boys’ 16 & 18 National Championships. For WTN, UTR, and USTA ranking, we compared the predictability of match results using the Area-Under-Receiver- Operating-Characteristic (AUROC) Curve. Of the 806 matches analyzed, players with better WTNs, better UTRs, and better USTA rankings won in 76.8%, 76.7%, and 64.3% of matches, respectively. The predictability of WTN difference between players was comparable to that of UTR difference between players (AUROC, WTN: 0.847 vs UTR: 0.859, P-value = 0.14), and was superior to that of the difference in USTA rankings between players (P-value < 0.001). As WTN was superior to USTA ranking and was as accurate as UTR in terms of predicting match results, its use as a rating system is validated. This result can support the use of WTN for seeding criteria in USTA tournaments.

Public relations strategy in a Japanese college tennis team during COVID-19: Factors for joining the team

2024-01-05T23:59:33+00:00

The spread of the novel coronavirus infection that began in 2020 has forced the cancellation of many competitive sports events. This has made it difficult for college sports teams to recruit top athletes at athletic venues and has also forced the cancellation of face-to-face recruiting activities for general freshmen. Under these unprecedented circumstances, online publicity strategies have become particularly important. In this study, we attempted to analyze the effectiveness of the public relations strategy of the Y tennis team of K University by focusing on the factors that were decisive in new students’ decisions to join the team. The results showed that the decisive factors were “enriched practice environment” and “compatibility with academic work.” It was also found that approximately 40% of the new members decided to join the team after receiving information on Twitter and participating in online information sessions. In this paper, we propose effective public relations strategies while drawing actual examples from public relations strategies in practice.

Biomechanical insights on Tennis Canada’s skill fundamental phases: Ecological dynamics, force generation and reading gameplay

2024-01-05T23:59:17+00:00

Using an ecological dynamics perspective and informed by a game-based approach to coaching tennis, this paper applies a biomechanical analysis to Tennis Canada’s five fundamental skill phases, namely recovery, impact point, set-up, hitting zone and grip, along with tactical concepts of time, space, force, and risk. The intent of this paper is to locate, within the player reading gameplay, the biomechanical principles for force generation in tennis strokes that inform Tennis Canada’s five fundamental skill phases. We suggest that these fundamentals can be effectively employed during gameplay so that force can be considered a part of tactical awareness. From a game-based approach we consider gameplay as referring to a player’s ability to read the emerging patterns of play, as critical to successful application of biomechanical principles to stroke mechanics. We propose that perception-action coupling ideas from ecological psychology, guided by the 4R model of read, respond, react, and recover for the stroke movement cycle, promotes both novice and advance tennis players ability to play tennis. The goal of this paper is therefore to help the tennis teaching professional combine ideas from sports pedagogy, biomechanics, and motor learning into the coaching of tennis players, so that their tennis players can experience the flow of forces from a well-played point.

The impact of the changes made to the men's professional tennis tour system: A case study of Japanese players

2024-01-05T23:59:31+00:00

In 2019, the International Tennis Federation implemented major changes to the men's professional tennis tour system in order to (1) reduce the number of professional players who cannot make a living, and (2) create a system that allows talented junior players to quickly transition to the professional level. These changes in the tour system are considered to have had a significant impact on the players' environment and psychological aspects. The purpose of this study was to exploratively examine the impact of the tour system changes on Japanese male tennis players. The subjects of the study were four Japanese male tennis players who participated in the ITF World Tennis Tour held in Japan. They were interviewed one-on-one for approximately 40 minutes using a semi-structured interview method. The interview was centered on the question “How did the change in the tour system affect you?” and the interviewees were asked to give specific reasons for their answers. Following a qualitative inductive analysis of the verbatim transcripts of the interviews, five areas of impact were identified: feeling, game plan, status, environment, and requests.

Acute effect of HAL (limb type)-assisted cybernic voluntary control squat exercise on tennis serve speed

2024-01-05T23:59:28+00:00

The fastest serve at the 2022 US Open Tennis was 141 mph (226.9 km/h, Alexander Bublik, KAZ) and 128 mph (205.9 km/h, Coco Gauff, USA) for men and women, respectively. This speed is expected to increase in the future. Most studies focused on improving serve performance have been conducted in the fields of sports biomechanics and exercise physiology. There are no studies focusing on the voluntary control of the brain, spinal cord, motor nerves, musculoskeletal system, and service performance. Recently, a wearable cyborg, Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL), has been utilized as a rehabilitation device in patients with stroke, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury. We aimed to determine the acute effect of Cybernic Voluntary Control squat exercises using HAL on the serve speed. Four male tennis coaches with extensive teaching experience (mean age: 32.5 ± 0.6 years, teaching experience: 10.5 ± 0.6 years) were included in the study. The results showed an increase of approximately 7% in the in serve speed after HAL-assisted squatting. This was attributed to the interactive biofeedback between HAL and the participants, which may have produced the immediate effect. HAL use could maximize the physical functions of tennis players and guide post-injury rehabilitation exercises.

What is it like to be a parent of an elite junior tennis player?

2024-01-05T23:59:26+00:00

This paper is an Interpretative Phenomenological Analyses (IPA) into the experiences of parents of elite junior tennis players. “Performance narratives” have received attention in professional sports settings, but research has yet to fully investigate the effects on parents of junior tennis players. Parents are a psychologically significant network member of coach-athlete relationships. Narrative theory states that through creating personal stories people can make sense of their lives. A “performance narrative” is a story of dedication to sport performance, where, winning, results, achievements are pre-eminent and link closely to the story tellers’ identity. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of 8 parents of elite junior tennis players and describe what it is like to be a parent in the elite junior tennis context. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of 8 parents of elite junior tennis players describes their experiences of elite junior tennis tournaments. This study found that (a) parents struggle with the development versus winning paradigm in junior tennis (b) “performance narratives” influence how parents evaluate player improvement (c) “performance narratives” influence parents’ behaviours at competition. This paper recommends more face-to-face coach-parent communication to help parents adhere to development narratives and increasing the frequency / relevancy of parent education workshops that give a realistic depiction of the elite junior tennis pathway.

Proposal and evaluation of a practice session including a learning tennis wall

2024-01-05T23:59:23+00:00

Tennis is a challenging sport to learn. Novice children players (5-8 years old) need a certain amount of practice to reach both consistency and mastery in their strokes. In an attempt to support the coach and help the players to remain active, ©Artengo designed an equipment consisting of increasing the hitting volume during a practice session: The Tennis Wall. The objectives of the present study were i) to propose a practice session including the use of the Tennis Wall, ii) to evaluate the influence of adding the Tennis Wall on the hitting volume in a practice session with novice children tennis players. A practice session with the Tennis Wall allowed to hit about 3 times more balls for each young tennis player compared with a traditional practice session. Although the results of this study need to be confirmed with a larger sample of participants and more training sessions, they suggest that the Tennis Wall can be an interesting support to learn tennis due to the increased repetition of strikes which contributes to skill acquisition.

Non-gender stereotyped motor development in the discovery stage of tennis: A narrative review

2024-01-05T23:59:14+00:00

We present motor development as the central element of the integral development of children in the pre-school stage, which is also transferable to primary education. Movement and motor acquisition facilitate new learning, such as that which takes place in the social sphere. Thus, through motor skills, boys and girls increase their interactions with others, which gives them more opportunities to establish positive gender relations with their classmates. The purpose of this review article is to provide knowledge and recommendations so that teachers who teach mini-tennis classes in schools or clubs have educational resources that allow them to teach with equity in a context of greater gender equality. The teachers will note two relevant facts: first, that human beings begin to show gender differences when choosing a game very early, around the age of two; second, they will understand that rackets in themselves, like balls and colours, do not have gender. Throughout the text, we will present some examples of gender stereotypes that will help to better understand this problem that limits the development of boys and girls, and that is part of our society.

How important is the coach-created motivational climate on player longevity?

2024-01-05T23:59:03+00:00

Coaches are considered the architects of sustained participation and performance in sport, often responsible for implementing the structure and content of training and competition over short- and long-term periods. Further, coaches can also influence the design and nature of social interactions and experiences. Appleton et al. (2016) refers to such coaching environments, created intentionally or unintentionally, as ‘coach-created motivational climates,’ given their impact on player motivation (or lack of). This article initially describes the research that supports empowering coach-created motivational climates, an evidence-based approach to developing and sustaining player motivation. An empowering climate is characterised by coach behaviours of high task involvement, autonomy and social support and low ego control. The article then highlights how tennis coaches can implement and review empowering coaching principles, promoting positive health development and player longevity.

Tennis development at the ground level: Coaches’ perceptions of how incentive structures impact the development systems national tennis associations implement

2024-01-05T23:59:05+00:00

National Tennis Associations operate within the confines of a market-driven environment. An environment creating incentive structures forcing NTAs to be cognizant of revenue generation, which may impact how tennis development systems are designed and implemented, affecting how tennis products and services are delivered at the micro-level. Therefore, the study sought to examine coaches’ perspectives of how tennis delivery at the ground level is shaped by the incentive structures created by NTAs’ implementation of tennis development systems. Findings from eight interviews with experienced coaches demonstrate how coaches feel compelled to compromise some of their ideals in their delivery of tennis services, feel the pressure of competitive youth tennis can be overwhelming for players, and believe a team-oriented tournament structure can alleviate some of the concerns arising from extant incentive structures. Findings show the need to consider how tennis’s existence in a market-driven economy shapes how tennis is managed and delivered, and provide an initial foundation for future research.