tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/australian-open-2013-4543/articlesAustralian Open 2013 – The Conversation2013-01-25T23:23:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/118212013-01-25T23:23:58Z2013-01-25T23:23:58ZAzarenka, Tsonga and the sexism that chokes women’s tennis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19640/original/vm3ndq7p-1359084799.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jo-Wilfried Tsonga thinks women's tennis is affected by their unstable emotions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two interesting and intersecting events occurred at the Australian Open this week. First, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/cheeky-tsonga-ponders-inconsistency-in-the-womens-game-20130124-2d7z5.html">questioned women’s ability</a> to control their emotions while playing tennis at a press conference.</p>
<p>The following day, world number one Victoria Azarenka won her semi-final match in <a href="https://theconversation.com/panic-stations-azarenkas-extended-break-and-the-science-of-choking-11809">controversial circumstances</a> when she took two medical timeouts late in the second set of her Australian Open semi-final clash with US teen Sloane Stephens. In her post-match on-court interview, Azarenka seemed to suggest that she had panicked and needed the medical timeouts to pull herself together. While she later retreated from this explanation, the damage was already done to her and to women’s tennis.</p>
<p>Azarenka’s actions have been described by Stephens’ coach and a raft of former professional players as “<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/tennis/victoria-azarenka-cops-criticism-for-taking-timeout-for-choking-against-sloane-stephens/story-e6frfgao-1226561187745">cheating within the rules</a>” and “<a href="http://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news/article/-/15944550/azarenka-under-fire-for-unsportsmanlike-medical-time-out/">unsportsmanlike</a>”. One article said she should be <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/australian-open-scandal-a_b_2539967.html">disqualified</a>. Although Australian Open management <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/victoria-azarenka-sloane-stephens-timeout_n_2541055.html?ir=Sports">later confirmed</a> that Azarenka was indeed treated for two separate injuries during the medical timeouts, this did not stop critics from basically <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/victoria-azarenka-cops-criticism-for-taking-timeout-for-choking-against-sloane-stephens/story-e6frg6n6-1226561187745">accusing her</a> of cheating. </p>
<p>After his loss to Swiss maestro Roger Federer in the men’s quarter final, world number eight Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was asked why there is not a similar dominance of a handful of women in the sport. Although the question is factually incorrect (there are a dominant few women on the professional women’s tennis circuit), it gave Tsonga a forum for his chauvinistic views. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19646/original/sbzv7r5w-1359088516.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Victoria Azarenka has been in the news for allegedly choking and has been accused of gamesmanship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Tsonga explained that the reason men dominate is because women are more emotionally unstable than men. “I’m sure everybody will say it’s true, even the girls”, he said. “I mean, it’s just about hormones and all this stuff. We don’t have all these bad things so we are physically in a good shape every time and you are not.” </p>
<p>In saying this, Tsonga essentially attributed what he perceives to be women’s uneven performance with the menstrual cycle, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-premenstrual-moodiness-10289">reinforcing the stereotype</a> that women are overly emotional and prone to breakdown under pressure due to their biological make-up. They can’t help it in his view, and because of that they will never be able to match the men. Regretfully, Azarenka’s initial confession that she choked and felt the onset of panic during her match with Stephens reinforces these negative stereotypes even though the highest ranked female tennis player in the world eventually made her way into Saturday’s final, where she will seek to defend her title.</p>
<p>Tsonga’s comments highlight ongoing questions about women in professional tennis. </p>
<p>First of all, it is debatable whether there has not been a similar dominance of a small number of top players in the women’s singles, historically and at present. What about all-time greats such as Steffi Graf (22 Grand Slams), Martina Navratilova (18 Grand Slams), Serena Williams (15 Grand Slams) and Monica Seles (9 Grand Slams)? </p>
<p>There is compelling evidence that the prevailing belief that men’s tennis is currently highly predictable and less competitive than women’s tennis is false when we look at the entire tours. Economist <a href="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2013/release/mens-tennis-more-competitive">Liam Lenten</a> calculated that overall, men’s tennis is actually (slightly) more competitive than women’s tennis in terms of the percentage of matches that go to the deciding set, the likelihood of upsets, and so forth.</p>
<p>But even if casual observers of the game find women’s tennis less predictable and more competitive than men’s, it follows that women’s tennis would offer a more balanced and interesting proposition to watch. Indeed, it would mean that women’s tennis has a greater element of uncertainty which, as former cricketer <a href="http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/luck-9781408815472/">Ed Smith</a> vividly argues in his book Luck, is a key ingredient of a game’s popularity. Why, then, does women’s tennis have smaller television audiences and fewer fans and sponsors than men’s tennis?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19645/original/drm7k68r-1359088121.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Martina Navratilova is arguably the greatest tennis player of all time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Julian Smith</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The answer, unfortunately, is quite simple: sexism. The portrayal of women as emotionally unstable feeds into deeply rooted stereotypes regarding biological difference and how this affects performance in sports. The gendered nature of sport is not just cultural, but structural - it is structured by codified rules of segregation. In fact, sport is one of the most segregated institutions in western societies.</p>
<p>Tennis is a prime example of a sport with profound gender segregation, especially at the competitive level. The entire elite level (apart from the mixed doubles) is separated by gender - the ATP World Tour for men and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for women. Why this is the case seems obvious: men are physically stronger and faster than women, and therefore it would be unfair for them to compete against each other. But this belief seems to justify the positioning of women’s sport below men’s in terms of funding, media attention and general esteem. The gender divisions in sport are reinforced by patriarchal beliefs about the value and capacity of women. </p>
<p>A striking example of this was an article by Fairfax journalist Richard Hinds who drew on what he perceived as Azarenka’s meltdown to denigrate women’s tennis. In <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/getting-bang-for-your-buck-never-guaranteed-even-on-centre-court-20130124-2d9se.html#ixzz2IxRRPfrV">his article</a> he likened women’s tennis players to prostitutes, writing:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why pay for a sensory experience you can get for nothing standing outside an opened window at a brothel?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The real challenge will be to address these deeper sources of unfairness by challenging conventional perceptions of tennis as a “gentleman’s sport”. Of all professional sports, tennis is the main one where women are prominently featured. Women’s tennis is covered on prime time television, and in the Grand Slam tournaments there is gender equity in the prize pool. But as long as erroneous beliefs about women’s hormones continue to shape our reviews of the women’s game, women’s tennis will continually strive for the recognition it deserves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11821/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two interesting and intersecting events occurred at the Australian Open this week. First, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga questioned women’s ability to control their emotions while playing tennis at a press…Ramon Spaaij, Senior Research Fellow in Sociology, La Trobe UniversityKaren Farquharson, Associate Professor of Sociology, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/118092013-01-25T03:21:42Z2013-01-25T03:21:42ZPanic stations: Azarenka’s ‘extended break’ and the science of choking<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19612/original/jy7ryrfk-1359069481.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Questions have arisen over the cause of Victoria Azarenka's extended break during her semi-final match.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A controversial extended medical break taken by tennis world number one Victoria Azarenka after losing five match points in her match against Sloane Stephens has raised the issue of “choking” in sport again. </p>
<p>In what appeared to be a panic attack, Azarenka said that she “<a href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/tennis/coach-of-sloane-stephens-accuses-victoria-azarenka-of-cheating-within-the-rules-at-australian-open/story-e6frf4mu-1226561443909#.UQHZuUpevfE">couldn’t breathe</a>” and “couldn’t swing” during that period of the match. She took a ten minute break (apparently because she <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/tournament-director-defends-azarenka-20130124-2da92.html">tweaked her back</a>), returned, and won the match.</p>
<p>Azarenka is not the first to “choke” in this year’s Australian Open. As a proud Australian, it was heartbreaking to watch our very own Sam Stosur lose from what appeared an un-losable position. Afterwards, she admitted it was “<a href="http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/01/17/i-choked-stosurs-open-confession/">probably a choke</a>”.</p>
<p>Azarneka has been <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/victoria-azarenka-faces-accusations-of-gamesmanship-over-timeout-during-australian-open-semifinal-8464668.html">accused of gamesmanship</a> over the move. And she’s not the first to take a well-timed break in tennis. If we look back to past tennis champions such as <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis-wimbledon-94--becker-accused-of-cheating-by-medvedev-the-threetimes-wimbledon-champion-courts-more-controversy-as-he-fights-his-way-towards-his-seventh-final-guy-hodgson-reports-1425948.html">Boris Becker</a> and <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19910115&id=CBFZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J5ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6630,3913793">John McEnroe</a>, it was very common to see them take “toilet breaks” whenever they were on the back foot. Did they feel themselves succumbing to the pressure? Perhaps … but only they can answer that question. Ultimately, it provided time to regain that competitive edge.</p>
<p>Choking is very common across all sports. Type “sport’s greatest chokes” into Google and you will find <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/670865-power-ranking-the-top-50-worst-chokes-in-sports-history">plenty</a> of <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/espn25/story?page=listranker/25biggestchokes">examples</a> of what people perceive to be “<a href="http://au.askmen.com/top_10/fitness_top_ten/43_fitness_list.html">choking</a>”. For golf lovers, one only need look back to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/sports/golf/2012-british-open-adam-scotts-collapse-recalls-one-by-greg-norman.html">last years’ British Open</a> where Adam Scott squandered a four shot lead on the final four holes of the tournament (disappointing for Aussie fans, again).</p>
<p>So, after all of that, what is a choke?</p>
<p>Researchers have studied this phenomenon extensively over the past few decades. In an unpublished review of choking, Dr. Christopher Mesagno and Dr. Denise Hill defined choking as a “considerable decrease in performance when self-expected standards are normally achievable, which is the result of increased anxiety under pressure”. </p>
<p>Sometimes choking is confused with poor performance, when, in reality, it is more than that – it is making drastically uncharacteristic mistakes due to the pressure that the performer is experiencing.</p>
<p>A common problem with research on choking is that it is near impossible to create a situation that resembles the pressures that elite sports people, such as Azerenka and Stosur, experience when playing in a major event.</p>
<p>Instead, researchers attempt to manipulate “pressure” situations using creative methods, such as performing for money. Such situations raise anxiety levels and provide a good indication of what occurs to a performer when required to execute skills under pressure.</p>
<p>There are two theories that propose why choking occurs. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17516812">Distraction theories</a> suggest that the performer’s attention is diverted to task-irrelevant thoughts, such as worries about the situation and potential consequences. Alternatively, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1992.tb02446.x/abstract">self-focus theories</a> argue that pressure causes individuals to focus on the task execution, which can potentially disrupt the automatic movements that we come to expect from professional athletes.</p>
<p>Given that Azarenka <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/victoria-azarenka-cops-criticism-for-taking-timeout-for-choking-against-sloane-stephens/story-fndkzym4-1226561187745">admitted</a> she was “really panicking”, it would appear that her attention was distracted by thoughts of worry.</p>
<p>Research by <a href="http://www.ihp.hku.hk/staff/academic/biography.php?staff_id=10">Professor Rich Masters</a> has shown certain individuals are more prone to consciously monitor their movements based on individual personality differences and, furthermore, are more likely to perform worse in pressure situations. He <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17509840802287218">devised a questionnaire</a> that identifies such individuals. It would be interesting to ascertain how some of our professional athletes labelled as “chokers” would fare on this questionnaire.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the important question we should be asking is whether taking “extended breaks” when feeling the pressure, as Azarenka did, is in the spirit of the game. I doubt it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In addition to his role as a PhD Candidate at Victoria University, Tim Buszard works for Tennis Australia.
</span></em></p>A controversial extended medical break taken by tennis world number one Victoria Azarenka after losing five match points in her match against Sloane Stephens has raised the issue of “choking” in sport…Tim Buszard, PhD Candidate, Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/118112013-01-25T03:19:18Z2013-01-25T03:19:18ZDjokovic has longer to recover, so should Murray and FedEx bother?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19631/original/9ngzfcrz-1359078616.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Elite tennis players put their bodies through a lot, so what does it take to recover properly?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Joe Castro</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Will an extra day’s rest and recovery give Novak Djokovic an advantage over Federer or Murray in Sunday’s Australian Open final?</p>
<p>In case you missed it, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novak_Djokovic">Djokovic</a>, the defending Australian Open champion, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-demolishes-david-ferrer-at-australian-open/story-fnbe6xeb-1226561348529">defeated</a> Spain’s David Ferrer last night in the tournament’s semi-final, setting up a shot at his third consecutive Australian Open title.</p>
<p>In a post-match interview, the Serb told Channel Seven’s Jim Courier that he was <a href="http://au.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/15949475/djokovic-welcomes-longer-recovery/">glad to have two full days off</a> before the final on Sunday night, when he will play the winner of tonight’s semi-final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray.</p>
<p>So what sort of recovery methods will Djokovic likely <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-23/djokovic-keeps-recovery-program-secret/4479712?section=sport">be using</a> to prepare for Sunday’s final?</p>
<h2>Post-match recovery</h2>
<p>The use of <a href="http://www.australiansportsconditioning.com/articles/?article5/cold-water-immersion">cold-water immersion</a> and <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/sportscoachmag/sports_sciences/compression_garments_do_they_influence_athletic_performance_and_recovery">compression garments</a> are common recovery tools in elite sport, often owing to their <a href="http://www.pgedf.ufpr.br/Effects%20of%20cold%20water%20immersion%20on%20%20RO%201.pdf">availability</a> at many competitions (in the case of cold-water immersion) and <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/41/7/409.abstract">portability</a> (in the case of compression garments) during regular travel.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19635/original/c7v6p85t-1359081757.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mast Irham/EPA</span></span>
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<p>Despite <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18580411">some conjecture</a>, cold-water immersion – by virtue of temperature or the pressure it puts on the body – is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19847682">reported to be beneficial</a> to post-exercise recovery, particularly if the player has suffered muscle damage or injury.</p>
<p>Conversely, evidence for improved physiological performance-based recovery following the use of full- or lower-body compression therapy is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12875311">limited</a>, though improved recovery of lower-body power and perceived soreness <a href="http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Triplett_Travis_1996_Influence_of_Compression.pdf">has been reported</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, there’s another very important factor in post-match recovery. Given the large amounts of energy burnt during long tennis matches – <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/473503-how-many-calories-are-burned-during-2-hours-of-singles-tennis/">some estimates</a> suggest as much as 4,000 calories for a five-hour match (an average male will burn roughly 2,000 calories per day) – appropriate replenishment of fuel sources, via sufficient carbohydrate and protein intake, is also of great importance.</p>
<h2>Sleep it off?</h2>
<p>Another important factor in post-match recovery is the athlete’s sleeping patterns.</p>
<p>Quite simply, <a href="http://arcrsa.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/nutrition-sleep-and-recovery.html">sleep is integral</a> to the recovery of metabolic, cognitive and physiological regenerative processes. Indeed, the absence of sleep is reported to <a href="http://www.setantacollege.com/wp-content/uploads/Journal_db/Intermittent-Sprint%20Performance%20and%20Muscle.pdf">slow muscle glycogen synthesis</a> (reducing the amount of energy available to the muscles), elevate thermoregulatory and <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/10768705_Effects_of_one_night%27s_sleep_deprivation_on_anaerobic_performance_the_following_day">cardiovascular demands</a> (making the body work harder to cool itself and supply blood to the muscles) and slow cognitive and physical performance.</p>
<p>It might well be that playing five-set epics that last well into the early morning – as Djokovic did <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/sports/tennis/21iht-open21.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">against Stan Wawrinka</a> in the fourth round – could adversely affect a player’s recovery; both due to physical load of the match and disruption to sleep patterns.</p>
<p>But there is no evidence (yet) to show that increasing the amount of sleep an athlete gets can improve their post-exercise recovery. Also, the role of compression or cold water therapies should also be used in the context of sufficient nutritional and fluid intake.</p>
<h2>The effects of fatigue build-up</h2>
<p>While tennis match play is intermittent in nature, the prolonged duration of matchplay can result in <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/41/8/531.abstract">excessive increases in physiological and psychological loads</a>, above those tolerable, potentially resulting in a reduction in performance.</p>
<p>Despite such research, on one-off tennis matches, there is no data reporting the changes observed in physiological responses over many days of matchplay, as is demanded on an almost weekly basis on the professional tennis circuit (and certainly at the Australian Open).</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19636/original/7qqwzdh8-1359082059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barbara Walton/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the physiological responses of matchplay have received significant research attention, there has also been considerable attention given to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17597004">technical competencies and outcomes</a> during competitive tennis matchplay.</p>
<p>For example, a player’s serve can be <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19171960">affected by fatigue and physiological load</a> during prolonged matchplay, highlighting the interaction between match outcomes, technical proficiency and physical load.</p>
<p>But there is currently no literature reporting the effects of consecutive day match-play on load, or more importantly, technical performances as would be related to match outcomes.</p>
<h2>An extra day’s rest?</h2>
<p>It might seem obvious, but the extent of the recovery required by a player depends on the effort they put in on court – the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/13880879/Tennis-Fitness-The-Next-Level">distance they cover</a>, the duration of the match, the intensity of their exertion – and the ensuing effects on their physiological and psychological responses.</p>
<p>These responses are based on the prior experience of the player: have they done enough training in the lead-up to the tournament? Are they at peak fitness? Are they in good form? Is their body accustomed to five-set matches?</p>
<p>The addition of an extra day’s rest may be of benefit if a player’s opponent has been unduly extended in their previous match and hasn’t had enough time to recovery fully.</p>
<p>So is it the case that Novak Djokovic – with his two full days off – will have an advantage over Murray or Federer, who will have only one full day to recover from their semi-final tonight?</p>
<p>As can be seen above, there are many variables at play – match intensity, overall fitness, fatigue built up throughout the tournament, and so on. It’s probably less a case of whether Djokovic has an advantage, and more whether the winner of Murray and Federer is disadvantaged.</p>
<p>But discounting any injury, you would assume the time between tonight’s match and Sunday’s final would be sufficient for players as experienced as Murray and Federer to fully recover, even if their semi-final does go to five sets.</p>
<p>But, as yet, there’s no published evidence to support this conclusion.</p>
<p>One thing’s for sure: if Djokovic plays as well against Federer/Murray as he did against Ferrer last night, he’s going to be hard to stop.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11811/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Duffield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Will an extra day’s rest and recovery give Novak Djokovic an advantage over Federer or Murray in Sunday’s Australian Open final? In case you missed it, Djokovic, the defending Australian Open champion…Rob Duffield, Senior Lecturer, Sport & Exercise Science, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/117622013-01-25T01:10:34Z2013-01-25T01:10:34ZDoes Channel 7 serve the Australian Open we’re owed?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19545/original/vp2gkfdm-1358991345.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don't we deserve to see Roger Federer in HD?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mark Dadswell</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Open reaches its climax this Australia Day weekend, so it is opportune to reflect how it relates to the nation. </p>
<p>All the singles finalists will be overseas players, meaning that, to the dismay of sport patriots, Australia is more gracious host than active participant. But the current weakness of local tennis does not undermine the open’s formal recognition as an event of “national importance and cultural significance” by the government. For this reason, it is guaranteed to be shown on free-to-air television in the interest of allowing the widest possible citizen access, irrespective of whether they are tennis or, indeed, sports fans.</p>
<p>But as two million or so viewers absorb the men’s final on the Seven Network, it is worth asking how it got to be on their screens, and whether they are receiving the quality of coverage befitting common cultural property.</p>
<p>I have recently discussed the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-citizenship-and-the-right-to-watch-the-boxing-day-test-from-your-couch-11410">anti-siphoning</a> regulations that prevent certain free-to-air sports events migrating to subscription television. </p>
<p>By way of brief example, the recently concluded one-day cricket series with Sri Lanka is part of a federal government-sanctioned list that requires “each one day cricket match involving the senior Australian representative team selected by Cricket Australia played in Australia” to be freely available via broadcast television. The justification for this intervention into the sports media market is the idea of <a href="http://www.citizenship.gov.au/learn/cit_test/_pdf/australian-citizenship-aug2012.pdf">national cultural citizenship</a>: the notion that some events (all, currently, of a sporting nature) are integral to Australian identity.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19546/original/vr78nyvj-1358991947.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We only see certain matches, such as the quarter-finals featuring Sloane Stephens, on broadcast television.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dennis Sabangan </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the increasingly combative behaviour in federal parliament may make it feel like a spectator sport, Question Time does not make the anti-siphoning list. But it is governed by <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2004C00043">Parliamentary Proceedings Broadcasting Act 1946</a>, which “requires the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to broadcast proceedings of the Senate and the House of Representatives, including joint sittings”. </p>
<p>Televised sport’s anti-siphoning list comes under the <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2013C00005">Broadcasting Services Act 1992</a>, which recognises the ABC or SBS as national broadcasters, but is actually much more interested in cashed-up commercial television broadcasting licensees. The economics of sport and media, and the government’s commercially-oriented regulatory framework, have progressively sidelined public service broadcasters with regard to major sport events.</p>
<p>As a result, these national moments have become the province of advertising-dependent broadcasters, with subscription television also getting a negotiated but limited slice of the action. As the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-given-the-muscle-to-take-on-afl/story-fnca0von-1226455264966">billion-dollar deals</a> for AFL and NRL - in which Seven and Nine were major players - premium sport rights are highly prized assets. But are the citizens in whose name they have secured a better bidding position being well served?</p>
<p>The current arrangements for watching sport on television mainly honour cultural citizenship rights in the breach, not the observance. The core market is essentially a captive one, with the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/sport-and-reality-shows-big-hits-in-tv-ratings/story-e6frfmyi-1226519135579">popularity</a> of live sport among large sections of the population incontestable. </p>
<p>In 2012 (an Olympic year), 51 of the top 100 free-to-air programs were either “listed” live sport programs or about sport. Among the rest were the cricket-focused drama <a href="http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/howzat/">Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War</a>, and legions of competitive “reality” shows such as <a href="http://www.thevoice.com.au/">The Voice</a>, <a href="http://homes.ninemsn.com.au/theblock2012/Houses/">The Block</a> and <a href="http://au.tv.yahoo.com/my-kitchen-rules/">My Kitchen Rules</a>, whose live presentation has copied much from sport, not least by appropriating the climactic “Grand Final”.</p>
<p>Sport and television’s “match made in heaven” involves expensively trading broadcast rights to the advantage of both parties, with viewers’ interests coming in a rather poor third. Of course, sport organisations protest that they must maximise revenue for the health of the game, and broadcasters trumpet their customer focus. But they know the perishable commodity that is live television sport demands that they expose viewers to everything else that pays for the “right” to watch.</p>
<p>Hence, the viewer-infuriating practices of running advertisements over key sporting moments, the constant spruiking of often unhealthy goods, the insistent promotion of other network programs, and the aggressive alignment of the sport and betting industries. Viewers have little recourse other than to switch off or adopt avoidance strategies involving remote controls or awkwardly substituting public service radio for television commentary.</p>
<p>If this weren’t enough, sport’s crown jewels are commonly dulled by broadcast mediocrity. If you want HD with your Australian Open, you’ll need to subscribe to Fox Sports and watch it overnight on delay. </p>
<p>And for an event with a number of matches occurring at once on different courts, there is surprisingly little use of split screens, Seven’s digital channels, or of an integrated web-and mobile-based platform (like the BBC’s gold standard coverage of the London 2012 Olympics). </p>
<p>Then there is the perennial complaint of some execrable commentary, especially after the main matches of the day, when Seven’s producers assume that buffoonery will maintain aggregate viewing numbers.</p>
<p>Social media can provide a rallying point for protest, as with the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ch9fail">Facebook page</a> “Channel 9 Olympics Coverage sucks”, which currently has 25,504 “likes”. A petition with 2,286 supporters submitted to the International Olympic Committee demanded that 9 “review the policy that enables commercial broadcasters to more easily win broadcast rights at the disadvantage of non-advertising broadcasters such as the ABC who would be able to show events without constant advertisement”.</p>
<p>A revival of public service broadcasting of premium sport in Australia would have revolutionary consequences for the commercial sports media in substantially reducing rights revenue and audience advertising exposure. </p>
<p>Many citizen viewers would no doubt be delighted, but few federal governments would be game to take on big sport and big media. Instead, the government could turn its attention to exercising some quality control over the sport broadcasts that it regulates in the name of Australian culture. </p>
<p>The amount and type of advertising and promotion would be a promising place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11762/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe has received funding from the Australian Research Council for work on culture, media and sport: Handling the ‘Battering Ram’: Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation and the Global Contest for Dominance in Sports Television (DP0556973) and Struggling for Possession: The Control and Use of Online Media Sport (with Brett Hutchins, DP0877777).</span></em></p>The Australian Open reaches its climax this Australia Day weekend, so it is opportune to reflect how it relates to the nation. All the singles finalists will be overseas players, meaning that, to the dismay…David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/117862013-01-24T03:38:58Z2013-01-24T03:38:58ZSmall courts, big futures: how to nurture young tennis aces<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19536/original/psb686dx-1358986372.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To give young players the best chance of success, we need to scale the game down for them.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Dan Peled.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether you’re a tennis fan or not, it’s impossible not to admire the sublime skills on display at the Australian Open. From <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bByvWPmMZ_8">Roger Federer’s brilliant backhand</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ap62qw6mrc">Serena William’s sensational serve</a>, we continue to be presented with a package of highlights that excite and entertain.</p>
<p>And while we marvel at the skills on display, few really understand how these talented players attain such a level of expertise. One thing we do know is that they all start at a very young age. </p>
<p>If you’re attending the Australian Open this week, take a short wander to the newly developed clay courts at Melbourne Park to see the best nine- and ten-year-olds in the country do battle. It is <a href="http://www.tennis.com.au/news/2012/10/27/super-10s-rolls-out-around-australia">an initiative</a> by Tennis Australia aimed at shining a light on our up and coming youngsters.</p>
<p>In recent years, the approach to develop young players into champions has changed.</p>
<p>In 2012, the <a href="http://www.itftennis.com/home.aspx">International Tennis Federation (ITF)</a> made only the fifth change to the game’s rulebook in over a century. <a href="http://www.tennis.com.au/sa/news/2011/11/15/new-rule-on-the-way-for-10-and-under-tennis-competitions">The rule change</a> mandated that low-compression (and therefore low-bounce) balls be used in authorised age-ten-and-under competitions held by the ITF’s member associations.</p>
<p>Australia has embraced this decision and now endorses the use of such balls for all children aged ten and under. </p>
<p>Research has subsequently shown that the use of lower-compression balls is advantageous to children’s match play.</p>
<p>A recent study by Tennis Australia (yet to be published) required the most skilled U10s in the country to play matches with standard balls and low-compression balls.</p>
<p>Analysis of the matches showed that the low-compression balls produced faster rallies and more points played at the net. Children also struck the lower-bouncing ball at a good height (between their thighs and shoulders), as opposed to the standard ball which often bounced too high.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the matches played with low-compression balls featured similar tactics and speed of play as those seen in matches between professional adults.</p>
<p>The use of modified equipment is also a key component of Tennis Australia’s junior development and participation program - <a href="http://hotshots.tennis.com.au/">Hot Shots</a>. This program is very similar to the AFL’s <a href="http://www.aflauskick.com.au/">Auskick</a> and Cricket Australia’s <a href="http://www.in2cricket.com.au/">Milo in2 Cricket</a> programs in the sense that all three are based on scaling the game down to allow children to play with greater ease. </p>
<p>In a series of experiments that I conducted as part of my PhD (yet to be published), it was clear that scaling equipment to the physical size of the child improved performance (as we expected). This involved playing with smaller racquets, lower compression balls and on smaller courts.</p>
<p>But most interesting was the fact that scaling equipment appeared to encourage an implicit mode of learning. That is, children would learn the basic skills without consciously being aware of the technical aspects of the skill.</p>
<p>This style of learning is considered beneficial to motor skill learning as it promotes resilience to psychological and physiological pressures – both key elements of sporting success.</p>
<p>When you combine the Hot Shots initiative with the programs targeted at the best U10s and the new <a href="https://theconversation.com/training-on-clay-a-recipe-for-success-at-the-australian-open-11390">multi-million dollar academy at Melbourne Park</a>, it would appear Tennis Australia is doing a lot to help foster and nurture young talent in this country.</p>
<p>Who knows, we might even see a young Aussie playing on the final Saturday or Sunday of the Australian Open in the not-too-distant future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In addition to his role as a PhD Candidate at Victoria University, Tim Buszard works for Tennis Australia.</span></em></p>Whether you’re a tennis fan or not, it’s impossible not to admire the sublime skills on display at the Australian Open. From Roger Federer’s brilliant backhand to Serena William’s sensational serve, we…Tim Buszard, PhD Candidate, Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/116452013-01-20T19:36:05Z2013-01-20T19:36:05ZKeep your eye off the ball: the secrets of elite tennis coaching<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19380/original/zmwcrj94-1358486612.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Andy Murray's coach Ivan Lendl (left) has led the Scot to great success … so what makes a great coach?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Barbara Walton</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every January the Australian Open attracts the world’s best tennis players to Melbourne in a bid to become champion of the Asia-Pacific Grand Slam.</p>
<p>While the players are undoubtedly the main draw card, they also bring with them a team of highly trained individuals to support their goal of being crowned champion. Chief among them is, of course, their coach – a critical ingredient in a player development and success.</p>
<p>Countless hours are devoted to attaining the expertise needed to become a high performance coach, not unlike the investment made by players in reaching the top of their game.</p>
<p>So what exactly sets an expert coach apart?</p>
<h2>Watch and (help others to) learn</h2>
<p>There are many facets to coaching but one of the primary responsibilities is guiding player development through technique analysis and feedback.</p>
<p>Visit the practice courts to watch any of the players and you will no doubt see their coach out on court, scrutinising their player’s performance. It is the coach’s job to view the player’s technique, analyse critical features, detect errors and provide timely and accurate feedback so the player’s performance can be improved.</p>
<p>Even slight changes in ball toss or trunk rotation – which may be imperceptible to the untrained eye – can have a significant effect on speed, accuracy and consistency in a player’s game.</p>
<p>Consequently, the <a href="http://www.cafyd.com/REVISTA/art3n5a06.pdf">skill of observation is critical</a> for coaches and a key to their success. What the coach can or can’t “see” in a player’s technique directly influences the feedback they can provide a player.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19286/original/xhcnmg8m-1358379087.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gaze behaviour of coaches was analysed using a projector system and ASL Mobile Eye glasses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Georgia Giblin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Like coach, like player</h2>
<p>What a coach “sees” are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinematics">kinematics of action</a> – how the player’s limbs are positioned and coordinated in space to produce the desired movement outcome (ball speed and direction).</p>
<p>An enhanced understanding or ability to interpret the kinematics of an action allows expert coaches to make informed, accurate and often quick decisions. It is a quality that separates them from other less-skilled coaches.</p>
<p>This same concept of expert interpretation of movement patterns is evident in players as well – when returning serve, for instance. The best receivers in the world appear to have all the time in the world to get a serve back over the net.</p>
<p>This advantage is borne out of superior perceptual skills to interpret an opponent’s serve mechanics, which ultimately gives them more time to react.</p>
<p>Through <a href="http://www.castonline.ilstu.edu/smith/405/readings_pdf/expert_rdngs/shim%20visual%20cues.pdf">research</a> we know that expert tennis players are better at perceiving and interpreting an opponent’s body movements prior to ball impact during the serve, allowing them to accurately anticipate shot direction and produce a successful response.</p>
<p>Like expert players, expert coaches are better equipped to perceive and interpret important kinematic information, and then to use this information to determine whether a change in technique is required. </p>
<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>Through a series of experiments (the results of which haven’t yet been published) analysing the gaze behaviour of coaches we have discovered that when watching a player’s serve, expert coaches tend to focus on proximal areas (those close to the midline) such as the trunk. Novices spend more time viewing the racquet and ball motion.</p>
<p>We analysed the coaches’ gaze using a lightweight pair of glasses with two small cameras, one positioned to capture the scene (what the coach is seeing) and one to capture the coach’s eye.</p>
<p>When combined, the two cameras allow us to see exactly where the coach is looking.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AHAtSjNjJV0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Using the ASL Mobile Eye glasses the researchers were able to track coaches’ eye movements.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is well known that the ability to interpret and use earlier occurring information (“proximal kinematics”) is a key contributor to expertise. Proximal segments (such as the trunk) are critically important as they form the foundation of movement. They also typically move slower so they are easier to see than distal segments such as the racquet.</p>
<h2>Putting it all together</h2>
<p>With a greater understanding of the kinetic chain – a sequence of movements, usually proximal to distal used to create an effective tennis serve – expert coaches are able to identify problems with the player’s game.</p>
<p>For example an expert coach will identify low clearance over the net then use their superior knowledge of kinematics to pinpoint specific segments – poor leg drive perhaps – which are contributing to or causing the particular problem.</p>
<p>Coaches may not always be aware of how they perceive kinematics, or how sensitive they are to seeing changes in technique but, like players, they operate best when performing judgements automatically, or without conscious processing.</p>
<p>An increased understanding of kinematics is also what allows coaches to prescribe exercises or drills aimed at fixing specific technical issues contributing to larger problems in a player’s game. It’s this eye for detail that ultimately leads to the production of champion players.</p>
<p>Reckon all of that sounds easy? Try analysing some thundering serves during this year’s Australian Open and explain why they did or didn’t hit their mark.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgia Giblin is affiliated with Tennis Australia, investigating where coaches look when evaluating the serve, and how sensitive they are to perceiving changes in technique.</span></em></p>Every January the Australian Open attracts the world’s best tennis players to Melbourne in a bid to become champion of the Asia-Pacific Grand Slam. While the players are undoubtedly the main draw card…Georgia Giblin, PhD Candidate in Biomechanics and Skill Acquisition, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/116442013-01-17T20:41:58Z2013-01-17T20:41:58ZFitness play-off: how tennis stars compare with other athletes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19262/original/r53b6pds-1358308796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If Serena Williams didn't play tennis, would her sheer athleticism ensure an elite career in another sport?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ever wondered how elite tennis players compare to their contemporaries in other sports?</p>
<p>Does Rafael Nadal have the same leg power as world 100m sprint champion <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-there-a-limit-to-athletic-performance-8073">Usain Bolt</a>? Would Australian <a href="http://www.tennis.com.au/player-profiles/sam-groth">Sam Groth</a>’s booming serve (he currently holds the record for the fastest ever serve, 263km/h) make him a good baseball pitcher? And would the sheer athleticism of the [Williams sisters](http://williamssisters.org/](http://williamssisters.org/) ensure a career in basketball, or any other sport, if it wasn’t tennis?</p>
<p>Unlike many sports regulated by a time clock, the duration of a tennis contest is unknown. On average a match lasts between one and four hours, though the longest professional tennis match was at Wimbledon in 2010 when [Nicolas Mahut and John Isner](http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jun/25/john-isner-nicolas-mahut-wimbledon-2010](http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jun/25/john-isner-nicolas-mahut-wimbledon-2010 ) took 11 hours and five minutes, over 183 games, to decide their battle.</p>
<p>This variation in match demands influences the physical profiles of the players and consequently their strengths and weaknesses compared to other athletes.</p>
<h2>Aerobic endurance</h2>
<p>The gold standard technique of assessing a person’s aerobic fitness is to measure their maximal oxygen uptake (VO<sub>2</sub> max). This measures the respiratory and cardiovascular systems’ ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles, and the muscles’ capacity to utilise that oxygen to produce energy.</p>
<p>Australian male high-performance tennis players <a href="http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/physiological-tests-for-elite-athletes-2nd-edition">reportedly have</a> relatively high maximal oxygen uptakes (mean of 58.2 ml O<sub>2</sub>/kg/min), indicating that skilled tennis players have good cardiovascular endurance.</p>
<p>So how do these results compare with elite endurance athletes such as cyclists?</p>
<p>Elite Australian under-23 road cyclists have exceptionally high VO<sub>2</sub> max scores, <a href="http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/physiological-tests-for-elite-athletes-2nd-edition">ranging between</a> 70-80 ml O<sub>2</sub>/kg/min. This means that at maximal exercise, cyclists are more efficient at supplying energy aerobically – ideal for a continuous endurance sport.</p>
<p>So while a tennis player’s endurance is important, particularly to aid recovery between points and avoid fatigue, it’s not good enough to swap the racket for a saddle.</p>
<h2>Leg speed and power</h2>
<p>Popular measurements of leg speed include the time taken to run ten metres and leg power testing, which often involves assessing the height a player can jump from a standing two-foot take-off (called a <a href="http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/VerticalJump.html(http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/VerticalJump.html)">vertical jump test</a>.</p>
<p>While Australian female tennis players can break the tape in approximately 2.01 seconds for ten metres, our notoriously fit and fast Australian Women’s hockey team (the Hockeyroos) <a href="http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/physiological-tests-for-elite-athletes-2nd-edition">average 1.95 seconds</a>. Not such a bad result for the tennis players.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19269/original/kb3d4v5q-1358311729.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19269/original/kb3d4v5q-1358311729.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19269/original/kb3d4v5q-1358311729.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19269/original/kb3d4v5q-1358311729.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19269/original/kb3d4v5q-1358311729.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19269/original/kb3d4v5q-1358311729.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19269/original/kb3d4v5q-1358311729.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rafael Nadal probably doesn’t have the same leg power as sprint champion Usain Bolt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When considering leg power, national level male tennis players (16 years plus) average an approximate jump height of 54cm. In comparison, elite under-20 Australian national level basketball players jump an average of 65cm.</p>
<p>Again, the tennis players’ results stand up reasonably well. In general terms, the comparatively similar results of tennis players to other sports more renowned for these capacities certainly illustrates the importance of leg power and speed in tennis.</p>
<h2>Overhand throwing</h2>
<p>The enormous speeds modern tennis players generate on their serve cannot all be put down to their technologically advanced tennis racquets. Rather, elite players possess an excellent tennis-specific overhand throwing technique.</p>
<p>Sports scientists <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2012.01503.x/abstract">have investigated</a> the movement coordination patterns of the tennis serve and overhand throw and determined that similar kinematic sequencing occurs between both movements.</p>
<p>So it’s not surprising to hear anecdotal evidence of strong throwing arms on many elite tennis players when playing sports such as cricket and baseball. It may also be a reason why the average female tennis serve is not as fast as their male counterpart.</p>
<h2>Vision</h2>
<p>In addition to their exceptional physical skills, elite tennis players are often admired for their Superman-like vision. A quick check-up from the optometrist would reveal they only possess the same 20:20 vision as the rest of us with normal, uncorrected vision.</p>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11100157">some evidence</a> to suggest the best players can track a fast-moving ball for longer than lesser-skilled players and indeed athletes from sports where tracking a fast-moving object is not essential – swimming, for example.</p>
<p>But like baseball and cricket batters, tennis players seemingly can’t “keep their eye on the ball” until racquet-ball contact – despite their coaches demanding they do!</p>
<h2>All-round talent</h2>
<p>Compared with many other Olympic sports, it’s clear tennis requires a well-rounded athlete able to be as explosive as a sprinter, yet have adequate staying power to last marathon five-setters. That’s before we even consider the sublime dose of technical skill and hand-eye coordination required to actually hit the ball.</p>
<p>Few other sports come to mind that demand the athlete possess so many different physical and skill qualities to succeed. To watch these fine athletes do battle on the hallowed courts of Melbourne Park is an honour indeed. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Damian Farrow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ever wondered how elite tennis players compare to their contemporaries in other sports? Does Rafael Nadal have the same leg power as world 100m sprint champion Usain Bolt? Would Australian Sam Groth’s…Damian Farrow, Professor of Sports Science, Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/113902013-01-15T19:57:36Z2013-01-15T19:57:36ZTraining on clay: a recipe for success at the Australian Open?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19230/original/s4k59shy-1358224728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are many links between training on clay and hard courts success.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Yoan Valat</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year Melbourne plays host to the first major hard court tennis championship of the year – the Australian Open.</p>
<p>The blue court surfaces of Melbourne Park are now a familiar part of the Australian sporting summer, but it hasn’t always been that way.</p>
<p>In 2008 the courts at Melbourne Park were switched from a green <a href="http://www.reboundace.com.au/">Rebound Ace</a> surface to a new, <a href="http://www.mindtheracket.com/2010/07/whats-in-a-hard-court/">slower</a> plexicushion surface. It was <a href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/tennis/federer-unimpressed-by-plexicushion/story-e6frf4mu-1111115309530">a controversial move</a> and one that has created an advantage for some players and a disadvantage for others.</p>
<p>So which players might have an advantage on a slower surface? And how much of an effect does court surface have on tournament success?</p>
<h2>Plexicushion champions</h2>
<p>The history books show us that recent success on the plexicushion surface of Melbourne Park has gone the way of “aggressive baseliners” – players that dictate play from the back of the court with either heavy spin or flat and fast counter-punching groundstrokes.</p>
<p>Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams in particular have been the clear beneficiaries of the surface change, taking home five of the last ten (combined men’s and women’s) Australian Open championships.</p>
<p>Other players which seem to be suited to the newer Melbourne Park surface include Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.</p>
<p>These players have something in common: they’ve done extended training stints on clay courts.</p>
<h2>Clay is king</h2>
<p>Success on hard courts – such as those used at the Australian Open – could well be linked to prolonged training stints on clay courts. In fact, it has <a href="http://www.yardbarker.com/tennis/articles/love_tennis_embrace_that_slide_brad_gilbert_talks_clay/12041434">been suggested</a> that more than 80% of the world’s top-ten players have spent at least half of their training lives battling it out on the red dirt.</p>
<p>Clay is the slowest tennis surface of them all, due to a greater amount of friction created by the ball when it hits the dirt. Constructed from either crushed shale, stone or brick, the clay surface produces a higher and slower bounce than both grass and hard courts. This pushes most players way beyond the baseline into a more defensive court position – a nightmare for most serve-reliant players.</p>
<p>Clay courts are also responsible for fewer knee-related injuries - due to reduced impact on joints and muscles, as well as an decreased player-to-surface <a href="http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/friction-coefficients-d_778.html">friction coefficient</a> – and fewer matches have been cut short because of injury on clay courts than at the Australian and US Open (both of which are held on hard courts).</p>
<h2>Longer and stronger</h2>
<p>On average, clay court rallies last longer (7-8 seconds) than those held on hard courts (6-7 seconds) and grass courts (2-3 seconds). A slower surface, combined with reduced chance of injury and increased match time, provides players with an opportunity to develop strategic fundamentals involved in tennis.</p>
<p>Playing on a slower surface also teaches players discipline, patience and how to effectively construct the longer points which dominate play on European dust. </p>
<p>The physically taxing nature of playing on clay has also <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22890497">been shown</a> to produce increased physiological responses (compared with hard courts), such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17313272">greater utilisation of the aerobic metabolism</a></li>
<li>increased <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21088546">heart rate</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22890497">blood lactate concentration</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22890497">increased energetic cost and perceptual loads</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The slower incoming ball on clay means players are also required to generate more of their own power, rather than utilising their opponent’s incoming kinetic energy to counterattack during rallies.</p>
<p>The combination of an enhanced exercise capacity and tolerance to prolonged match play (which is most common on clay), and a better understanding of point construction is a winning formula, not only on clay, but also on the now-slower hard courts.</p>
<h2>Game-changer</h2>
<p>So what does this mean for the traditional net player – the player who relies on big serves followed up with a swift move to the net, aiming to dispose of weak returns from their opponent’s racket?</p>
<p>The advancement in technology, especially in tennis rackets, now encourages a more all-round game style which is not only favourable, but a necessity for tournament longevity in all of the grand slams.</p>
<p>Barrelling aces and serve-and-volley tactics are great, and still an advantage on the faster grass court surfaces of the All England Club, where a record 113 aces were served up by John Isner in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isner%E2%80%93Mahut_match_at_the_2010_Wimbledon_Championships">his 2010 campaign at Wimbledon</a>.</p>
<p>But the gap between hard-hitting serve-and-volley-ers and aggressive baseliners is closing, and the baseliners have already made their mark on the faster grass and hard court grand slams.</p>
<p>One of the most prominent examples is Rafael Nadal, who is missing from this year’s Australian Open, but has proven that his clay court prowess and years of hard work on the dirt can be transferable to all surfaces in the modern game.</p>
<p>He has been able to mould a classical clay court game into an all-round style, potent on all of the four major surfaces, and is the first male player in tennis history to simultaneously hold grand slam titles on clay, grass and hard courts.</p>
<h2>Clay is the way</h2>
<p>So hard courts are getting slower, and the cream of the crop are focusing on developing sound technical and physical attributes on clay.</p>
<p>In this light, it makes sense that the Melbourne Park’s recent redevelopment has included the construction of <a href="http://www.italianclaycourtsaustralia.com.au/claycourts/melbourne-park/">eight new clay courts</a>. This is in addition to the Australian Institute of Sport’s European training base in Italy which includes provisions for touring tennis players to gain further experience on the dirt.</p>
<p>It’s yet to be seen whether this will be enough to help Australian tennis players nudge into the top echelon of the sport and perhaps take the Australian Open crown in the coming years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Zois does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Every year Melbourne plays host to the first major hard court tennis championship of the year – the Australian Open. The blue court surfaces of Melbourne Park are now a familiar part of the Australian…James Zois, Lecturer in Sports Coaching, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/110602013-01-15T05:11:06Z2013-01-15T05:11:06ZLetting go: why athletes play on past their prime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19202/original/dwf7jn25-1358209963.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lleyton Hewitt went down in straight sets in the first round of the Australian Open last night.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Julian Smith</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Any hopes that Lleyton Hewitt could revisit past glories in his 2013 Australian Open campaign were dashed last night when he lost in straight sets to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic. It now seems impossible to deny, as Greg Baum <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/early-exit-as-hewitt-trips-at-first-hurdle-20130114-2cq5h.html">wrote for The Age</a>, that “the post-Hewitt era looms ever nearer”.</p>
<p>The recent retirement of former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting sparked similar debate about athletes playing on past their prime. While there is no doubt as to the significant contribution and influence Ponting had on the game of cricket, <a href="http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/ricky-ponting-must-make-perth-his-final-test-or-risk-ruining-his-reputation-says-malcolm-conn/story-e6frfkp9-1226523740972">many have questioned</a> whether his retirement from the sport should have occurred some time before he was plagued by run of poor batting scores. </p>
<p>And in Australian Rules football, the oldest player in the league, Essendon’s Dustin Fletcher, will “go round” for another year during the 2013 season.</p>
<p>Why is it that athletes seem unable or unwilling to withdraw from sport before their best days are long behind them? Retirement from sport is inevitable; so why do athletes choose not to bow out gracefully before the general public starts demanding they go? After all, athletes who can retire on their own terms are much more likely to transition well out of the sport than those who are forced into retirement through injury or by being cut from their team.</p>
<p>Sport has long been regarded as a place where young boys learn the traditional values associated with being a man, such as competition, toughness and winning at all costs. One of the ways men can demonstrate their masculine identity is through “doing” masculinity (as opposed to being masculine), and sport is one of the most common ways. The male body, therefore, becomes a central aspect of masculine identity. </p>
<p>Towards the end of careers when athletes’ bodies are succumbing to the brutal nature of elite sport, the realisation that one’s body cannot do what it used to be able to do can lead to <a href="http://theses.flinders.edu.au/public/adt-SFU20111128.210808/">masculine identity</a> becoming vulnerable. </p>
<p>For many men, it is extremely difficult to acknowledge that their bodies are failing them. Continuing to play on beyond one’s physical prime may therefore be due to an unwillingness to recognise the physical limitations of a failing body.</p>
<p>How well an athlete retires from sport depends on how much of their identity is wrapped up in being a sportsman. For those whose whole identity is solely comprised of being an athlete, leaving the sport is much more difficult: if they are not an athlete then who are they? </p>
<p>But people do not stop being sportsmen simply because they have retired from sport, neither do they stop being men. So the problem lies not in what they are able to do to but what they want to do, as nothing compares to <a href="http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30016906/hickey-struggleforthebody-2008.pdf">life as an athlete</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18756/original/km3zmjwx-1355714430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18756/original/km3zmjwx-1355714430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18756/original/km3zmjwx-1355714430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18756/original/km3zmjwx-1355714430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18756/original/km3zmjwx-1355714430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18756/original/km3zmjwx-1355714430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18756/original/km3zmjwx-1355714430.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some sportsmen extend their careers by changing tactics or position, such as Essendon’s Dustin Fletcher, who no longer takes a direct opponent onfield.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP IMage/Martin Philbey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Existence as an elite athlete is often described as being the “perfect life”. Not only are our male sporting superstars paid extremely well for doing what they love, they are given hero status in society. Particularly in Australia, where sport has such significance, the recognition, stardom and rewards that are associated with being an elite sportsman are difficult to give up.</p>
<p>When an athlete does retire, whether forced to or by choice, a period of readjustment occurs. Even those who spend the later part of their careers preparing for life after sport still experience difficulties leaving their former life behind. This can in part due to athletes still being comparatively young when they retire. Even Ricky Ponting at 37 still has another 30 years in which to build an alternative career.</p>
<p>It is through this subsequent career that masculine identity is then reconstructed. Success in post-sporting career employment is one of the fundamental ways in which masculinity is reaffirmed, suggesting that the importance of a new career path is crucial to successfully withdrawing from elite sport. </p>
<p>Given the sole focus on sport as a career path from a young age, alternative careers are often overlooked. With such a small percentage of aspiring young athletes making it to the elite level, is it any wonder those who do want to hang onto it for as long as possible?</p>
<p>Athletes know when their performance starts to decline so the end of their career is not necessarily a surprise, but playing beyond their prime does delay the consequences of having to cope with life after sport. Many still feel they have much to contribute. </p>
<p>Perhaps this is why so many former athletes seek careers in commentary; it is a means by which they can still contribute to and hold onto the sport that has been a significant and enjoyable part of their lives.</p>
<p>It should be noted that retiring female athletes no doubt also have difficulty adjusting to life without sport. But sport shapes masculine identity in such a distinct manner that male athletes have been the focus of this discussion.</p>
<p>Retirement from sport does not have to be all doom and gloom. The new era offers new challenges and alternative pathways to success, through which masculine identity can be reaffirmed. </p>
<p>The question then is not whether there is life after sport, but rather when is the right time to let go?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deb Agnew is affiliated with Sturt Football Club. She works for this organisation as a sports trainer.</span></em></p>Any hopes that Lleyton Hewitt could revisit past glories in his 2013 Australian Open campaign were dashed last night when he lost in straight sets to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic. It now seems impossible…Deb Agnew, Associate Lecturer Social Health Sciences, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/114422013-01-13T19:38:11Z2013-01-13T19:38:11ZNumbers game: the Australian Open and predicting success<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19162/original/rmkywtrr-1357882009.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How good will Bernard Tomic turn out to be? We can look to science for (some of) the answers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/David Crosling</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.australianopen.com/index.html">Australian Open</a> is upon us for another year, and the best tennis players in the world have assembled in Melbourne to compete for the right to call themselves “champion”.</p>
<p>Much of the focus will be on the genuine contenders for the men’s and women’s singles trophies – the likes of <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Novak-Djokovic.aspx">Novak Djokovic</a>, <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Roger-Federer.aspx">Roger Federer</a>, <a href="http://www.wtatennis.com/players/player/11289/title/victoria-azarenka">Victoria Azerenka</a> and <a href="http://www.wtatennis.com/players/player/9044/title/serena-williams">Serena Williams</a>. But for many Australians, the focus of the tournament will be 20-year-old <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Bernard-Tomic.aspx">Bernard Tomic</a> who is currently ranked 64th in the world.</p>
<p>Will Tomic be able to follow through on <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/less-is-more-in-tomic-top10-bid-20130106-2cb4v.html">suggestions</a> he’s good enough to break into the top ten? Or will his highest-yet world ranking of 27th – reached in June 2012 – be as close to the top ten he gets?</p>
<p>While such questions are very difficult to answer, there is a branch of science that’s making things easier: sports data science. More on that in a moment.</p>
<h2>All hail the underdog</h2>
<p>While most attention at the Australian Open will be on the genuine contenders and the local heroes, other lesser-known athletes are just as important to the success and unique personality of the tournament.</p>
<p>Indeed, some of the greatest moments in recent Australian Open history have been provided by these “underdogs”.</p>
<p>Who could forget the un-seeded Cypriot <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Marcos-Baghdatis.aspx">Marcos Baghdatis</a> steam-rolling the likes of <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Ivan-Ljubicic.aspx">Ivan Ljubicic</a>, <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Ro/A/Andy-Roddick.aspx">Andy Roddick</a> and <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/David-Nalbandian.aspx">David Nalbandian</a> (see video below) in 2006 to reach the final? And what about the 2003 quarter final in which the highly competent but lesser-known Moroccan <a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/El/Y/Younes-F-El-Aynaoui.aspx">Younes El Aynaoui</a> took Andy Roddick to the longest fifth set (at the time) in open history <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7qnNOWdlJM">(21-19)</a>? </p>
<p>Tennis Australia estimates that the average cost for a tennis player to travel to roughly 30 international tournaments and employ support staff ranges between US$121,000 and US$197,000 per year.</p>
<p>The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) <a href="http://www.stevegtennis.com/rankings/2012/$$122412.htm">prize-money list</a> shows that only male athletes ranked in the top 140 are likely to have earned this much in 2012.</p>
<p>In response to these concerns about the sustainability of a lower-ranked player’s professional career, the organisers of the 2013 Australian Open are offering an unprecedented amount of prize-money: <a href="http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2012-10-02/201210011349132314862.html">$30 million</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hze8sJawrhA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>While goal-setting is important at all stages of an athlete’s career, entry into the top 100 is a particularly important milestone. Reaching this ranking not only gives athletes a high likelihood of financial sustainability, but also allows entry into the four grand-slam tournaments (Australian Open, Roland Garos, Wimbledon and the US Open).</p>
<p>In order to ensure both the sustainability and profile of the sport, supporting institutions such as Tennis Australia must have strategies in place, so that as many athletes as possible are able to reach this ranking goal. One of these strategies is the tracking and prediction of athlete rankings using advanced numerical modelling techniques, so such athletes are identified and supported.</p>
<h2>Sports data science</h2>
<p>Tennis success requires institutions which support and develop athletes – such as Tennis Australia – to possess expertise in a wide range of complex sport science disciplines, from psychology to biomechanics.</p>
<p>As a result, it is incredibly difficult to predict how competition and athletes will evolve (I’m sure this is one of the reasons we enjoy it so much!). </p>
<p>An exciting area of sport science, popularised by Michael Lewis’s film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Moneyball</a>, is sports data science – an attempt to establish some semblance of order from the chaos that is professional sport.</p>
<p>By analysing ATP ranking data going back to the inception of the ranking system in 1973, we are able to gain some insight into how players of different eventual skill progress in their early career. </p>
<p>This analysis technique, known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_network">“Bayesian networking”</a>, is a highly versatile and adaptable mathematical tool which can be used in a range of applications – from <a href="http://openclassroom.stanford.edu/MainFolder/VideoPage.php?course=ProbabilisticGraphicalModels&video=1.1.1-Intro-overview&speed=100">image processing through to medical diagnostics</a> .</p>
<p>Work performed in a joint study by Victoria University <a href="http://www.vu.edu.au/institute-of-sport-exercise-and-active-living-iseal">(ISEAL)</a>, The Australian Institute of Sport and Tennis Australia’s Sport Science and Medicine Unit has initialy focused on the male game, largely because of the greater volume of data currently available.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19163/original/ts7tfjkf-1357882796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19163/original/ts7tfjkf-1357882796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19163/original/ts7tfjkf-1357882796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19163/original/ts7tfjkf-1357882796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19163/original/ts7tfjkf-1357882796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19163/original/ts7tfjkf-1357882796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/19163/original/ts7tfjkf-1357882796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We can use sports data science to help predict players’ future success.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/How Hwee Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Predicting progression</h2>
<p>Ranking progression of tennis athletes is incredibly variable, particularly in their early career. For instance, Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga achieved ranks of approximately 50 and 800 respectively by the end of their second full year on the ATP tour, yet both still managed to reach the top ten.</p>
<p>This variation makes life difficult when attempting to predict future success, but analysis shows that the top ten cohort are the most easily distinguishable group of players.</p>
<p>Of the top-ten-ranked male players at the end of 2012, seven had achieved a rank inside the top 50 in their third full year on tour. Most of these athletes were of sufficient quality to achieve an ATP ranking at a very early age (generally 16 or 17 years old), and thus these high ranks are also achieved at very early ages.</p>
<p>After their sixth full year on tour, eight of these athletes had actually achieved a top ten ranking.</p>
<p>This type of information can be used to track and compare the progression of athletes. For instance, Bernard Tomic was ranked inside the top 50 during his third full year on tour, setting him on a path that is somewhat indicative of a top ten ranking ascent.</p>
<p>But it’s important to remember that Tomic remains seven years younger than the current average age of the top ten – 26.9 years old – and it could be argued that he has time on his side. What is certain is that athletes follow highly variable trajectories before reaching their prime.</p>
<p>Distinguishing top 100 athletes from those who will not reach that milestone is much more difficult. It involves much more complex analysis since the path these athletes take are much less obvious at early ages.</p>
<p>The discipline of sports data science is still very much in its infancy. In the future we hope to be able to predict, with greater certainty, just how well players will progress. By doing so, we’ll be able to ensure Aussie sporting talent doesn’t go to waste.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Bane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Australian Open is upon us for another year, and the best tennis players in the world have assembled in Melbourne to compete for the right to call themselves “champion”. Much of the focus will be on…Michael Bane, Research Fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.