Despite the growth of research on padel, available literature is mainly focused on male samples of modest size. This study characterised the differences in performance between men's and women's ...top-class padel players competing in the World Padel Tour (WPT) across four entire seasons (2016-19). Game performance indications from 1070 sets (532 matches) were collected from the official WPT website records. Men and women's performance were compared by means of the set result and the season. Men padel players performed a smaller number of actions, winners and errors per game than women, except winning smashes and smashes, by order of effect size (ES) magnitude: winning smashes (ES = 1.27), smashes (ES = 1.26), unforced errors (ES = 0.59), winners (ES = 0.55), breakpoints won (ES = 0.42), breakpoints (ES = 0.41) and winning volleys (ES = 0.24). Additionally, sex differences in unforced errors, winners, breakpoints, and breakpoints won become bigger as the time goes, with men showing an increasing greater performance. These findings confirm the existence of sex differences in professional padel performance and a worrying trend to becoming bigger. The sex specificities should be considered to both optimise training and competition plans and mitigated these sex disparities in padel players.
This study explores the relationship between the scoring structure and the win or loss of a badminton match, while providing quantitative analytic data using binary entropy to determine the ...uncertainty of said win or loss. Scoring structure data were collected from the official match records of the top 16 events of the World Badminton Championships from 2006 to 2020 (a total of 10 editions) as collection objects (745 matches and 1,734 sets in all) and were analyzed by means of notational analysis. Our entropy analysis showed that the main factor affecting the certainty of win or loss in men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles comes from the number of leading points, and in women's singles and women's doubles from whether the current point is closer to the match point. Our binary-entropy analysis based on scoring structure showed that, to maintain high uncertainty so that players stay competitive, the scoring points of two sides should differ in less than 5; in addition, the decisive factors for victory strongly depend on gender, also justifying research results of previous studies.
•Network science methodologies were able to clearly describe and quantify the point performance of elite badminton players including self and opponent related networks.•The use of bipartite networks ...for badminton offers a novel perspective of performance analysis accounting for context and applicability of results into practice.•The use of bipartite networks was in accordance with non-linear and ecological approaches, where athletes and players are considered as organisms that base their decisions on opponents and their own actions.
Bipartite networks are related to non-linear and ecological approaches where, at least, two different kinds of entities are considered. In sports, we can consider players as entities that base their decisions (actions and reactions) on opponents and their own actions. Incorporation of bipartite networks into modelling of racket sport performances may bridge the gap between the performance analysis sub-discipline and coaches for greater preparation of training sessions and competitions for enhanced success. Thus, the main aim of this study was to create badminton stroke networks (BSN), from the match activities of a player and their opponents, to describe and quantify the performance of elite Olympic badminton players. The use of a Network Science approach required the development of a series of methodologies that accounted for strokes played by all medallists within an Olympic tournament and included: (i) the construction of BSN; (ii) the one-mode projections of bipartite networks (self- and opponent- networks); (iii) the centrality of one-mode projections; and (iv) the identifiability of badminton players. The BSN identified different playing patterns for medallists with the Silver medallist categorised with the less predictable and defined style of play, the Bronze medallist exhibiting the most defined style; and the Gold medallist exhibiting the greatest predictability, but only when losing points (self-networks). The use of Network Science enabled the identification of distinctive styles of play (self- and opponent–related), based on stroke performance, during successful and unsuccessful points within an Olympic tournament. Specifically, the identifiability of each player's network and its associations with point outcome, provided a better understanding of stroke performances and individual features of world-class badminton players. The use of non-linear approaches (such as bipartite networks) to measure and visualize player's performances, accounting for the specific nature of badminton and opponents, may support coaches and players with the contextualized demands of playing patterns and their performances (i.e., winning and losing points) for future success.
INTRODUÇÃO: As produções científicas com o foco em treinadores/as esportivos no Brasil têm apresentado uma crescente em especial a partir de 2008, principalmente em esportes coletivos. Entretanto não ...foi apresentado uma revisão científica sobre treinadores/as dos principais esportes de raquete. OBJETIVO: Analisar a produção científica sobre treinador/a de esportes de raquete a partir das revistas anexadas no Portal de Periódicos CAPES.MÉTODOS: Utilizando o estado da arte, as buscas foram realizadas nas revistas anexadas à área 21 do Portal de Periódicos CAPES. Após um processo de seleção das revistas totalizando 26 revistas classificadas de A1 a B3, utilizamos os seguintes termos: “badminton”, “tênis”, “tênis de mesa”, “squash”, “esportes de rede”, “esportes de raquete”, “esportes com raquete”. Os termos foram utilizados em português, inglês e espanhol e os artigos publicados até dezembro de 2018 classificados como originais ou revisão foram selecionados. Dos 1061 artigos que apresentavam os critérios de inclusão da busca, 207 foram selecionados como tratando de esportes de raquete, sendo que apenas 7 apresentavam o treinador/a de esportes de raquete como tema principal.RESULTADOS: O tênis e o tênis de mesa se manifestaram como os esportes de raquete mais estudados com o foco no treinador/a. Os temas estudados foram: comportamento, pensamento, avaliação e características do treinador/a. A maioria dos estudos foram publicados em revistas de alta classificação (Qualis A1 e A2) em idiomas como o inglês e espanhol, enquanto apenas um estudo foi publicado em uma revista brasileira e no idioma português.CONCLUSÃO: A pequena produção científica sobre treinadores/as de esportes de raquete, principalmente a nível nacional, apresenta-se como um potencial área para o desenvolvimento de futuros trabalhos com enfoque nas modalidades que não apresentaram nenhuma produção científica (badminton e squash) como também em outros temas de estudos, por exemplo o desenvolvimento de treinadores/as de esportes de raquete.
•The scoring coordination pattern between players increases as the game progresses.•At the beginning of the game (until 11th point) players are less coordinated.•In the second half (11-21 points) ...players show highly coordinated scoring patterns.•There is a stronger coordination in the knockout phase compared to the group stage.•Entropy showed less variability in the second half but high in the first half.
The scoring performance in badminton can reveal important stages during the match and different characteristics according to notational, temporal and contextual-related variables. The aim of the present study was to: (i) analyse the scoring performance dynamics of men's badminton players according to tournament stage (group stage, knockout stage), game number (game 1, game 2, game 3) and game half (before and after the mid-game break when the leading player reaches 11 points); (ii) identify the persistency trends of point outcome and temporal-related variables in male badminton players; and (iii) establish the relationships between players’ scoring coordination and point outcome entropy with temporal-related variables. Thirty-one games and 1,080 rallies were analysed from 14 matches played by the tournament medallists from Rio 2016. The main finding shows that at the beginning of game (until 11 points) the players are less coordinated (anti-phase) and, in the second half (11-21 points) the players are more coordinated (in-phase) with a similar scoring performance for both players. The results showed a stronger coordination in the scoring process in the knockout phase compared to the group stage and entropy showed less variability at the beginning of the second half but high variability in the first half. In conclusion, these results can contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of elite badminton matches.
Technical and tactical actions are decisive in terms of badminton player competitive performance. The main objective of this research was to design, validate, and estimate the reliability of an ...observational instrument for the analysis of the tactical and technical actions in individual badminton. The process was carried out in four different steps: first, there was a review of the scientific literature and a preliminary list of variables was made; second, a qualitative and quantitative assessment was completed by 10 badminton expert judges; in the third step, the content validity was estimated using Aiken's V coefficient; finally, intra-observer reliability and interobserver reliability were tested by two observers specialized in badminton using the Cohen's Kappa coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient. Strokes were used as the unit of measure by our observational instrument; every time badminton players hit the shuttlecock, 22 variables (eight contextual variables, seven variables related to the result of the match, and seven variables related to the game) are observed. The minimum Aiken's value was 0.58, and reliability was 0.63. In spite of these values, none of the variables had to be removed, but there were modifications in terms of drafting in some of them. The main findings confirmed the validity and the usefulness of this instrument.
The aim of the present study was to compare the biomechanical characteristics of the table tennis top spin shot when played cross-court (CC) or long-line (LL) in competitive table tennis players. ...Seven national level players respectively completed 10 long-line and 10 cross-court top spin shots responding to a standard ball machine. A stereophotogrammetric system was used to track body segments while executing the motion. Significantly more flexed right knee and elbow angles were measured at the moment of maximum velocity of the racket (MMV) in LL. In addition, significantly greater angles between the feet and the table and between the shoulders and the table at the MMV, indicated more pronounced rotation angles of the lower upper and upper-body in LL compared to CC with respect to the table. A higher inclination of the racket at the MMV was found in LL. The elbow flexion and the racket inclination may be associated to the direction of the shot. The present findings show that kinematic differences exist between the LL and the CC topspin forehand in competitive table tennis players. Coaches should be aware of these differences to adopt the optimal teaching strategies and to reproduce proper joint angles during training.
We developed a test to evaluate badminton‐specific endurance. The study included 10 female badminton players. Five participants were ranked in Japan's top 100 national rankings (ranked), whereas the ...others were unranked (unranked). Participants reacted quickly with badminton‐specific steps from the base center to the four sensors at each corner of a singles badminton court. On each set, they reacted eight times to randomized instructions at stage‐specific intervals (1.2, 1.0, and 0.8 s for stages 1, 2, and 3, respectively), which were performed six times with a rest of 20 s in each stage (8 movements × 6 sets × 3 stages). On a different day, participants ran on a treadmill as a comparative test. Blood lactate concentration (BLa) was measured on each test. In the badminton‐specific test, ranked participants had lower BLa (4.2 ± 1.7 mM vs. 6.3 ± 3.1 mM), with medium or large effect sizes. The average reach time to sensors was shorter in ranked participants (1.56 ± 0.03 s vs. 1.62 ± 0.07 s), with medium or large effect sizes. BLa was similar between groups, with trivial or small effect sizes in the running test. These results suggest that the newly developed test can evaluate badminton‐specific endurance.
Padel has become one of the most popular racket sports in the world, capturing the interest of researchers and thus increasing the number of manuscripts that revolve around this sport. This article ...describes the state of development of the science of padel and locates the most relevant journals, authors, institutions, countries and keywords on the subject. The set of publications related to padel was retrieved from the main collection of the Web of Science. The state of development of padel in science was verified. Journals, authors, institutions, countries and keywords in the topic were analysed with the VOSviewer software. A total of 116 publications were analysed, finding that the publications on padel were in a phase of exponential growth. Sánchez-Alcaraz, Courel-Ibañez, Muñoz-Marín, Ramón-Llin and Sánchez-Pay were the most prominent authors, with the University of Murcia and Spain being the main institution and country on the subject. The science of padel is growing exponentially, with Spain being the driving force behind the topic of study, with new countries joining in recent years. This study provides relevant information on the state-of-the-art padel, and it will help researchers to establish new relationships and find more relevant authors and articles.
A better understanding of the demands of in-game competition demands may improve coaching strategies, training designs, and injury prevention programs. However, there is limited information regarding ...performance analysis in professional padel. This study aimed to analyse performance indicators and their influence on match outcomes regarding sex, tournament round, and set number. The sample contained 1070 sets from 532 matches of the 2016 to 2019 World Padel Tour seasons. Variables including sex, round, game result, stroke effectiveness, and break points were registered through systematic observation. A non-parametric approach was applied to evaluate differences between sex, match outcome, and tournament round. The results showed significant differences between winners and losers regarding sex in break points (male
= 2.13,
= 0.00; female
= 2.22,
= 0.00), smash winners (male
= 0.85,
= 0.00; female
= 0.69,
= 0.00), groundstroke winners (male
= 1.01,
= 0.00; female
= 1.18,
= 0.00), volley winners (male
= 1.08,
= 0.00; female
= 0.91,
= 0.00), and errors (male
= 0.76,
= 0.00; female
= 0.65,
= 0.00). Furthermore, differences in shot effectiveness between winners and errors increased in the last set of the match and in the last round of the tournament (
< 0.05). Therefore, shot effectiveness seems to be a key factor in professional padel that distinguishes between winning and losing players. Such knowledge may have implications in the design of appropriate game strategies and specific training sessions to improve performance and to prevent sport injuries.
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