Anticipation training for expert tennis players when facing a specific player

Abstract

International audienceIntroduction: In fast ball sports, such as tennis, when spatiotemporal constraintsare high, players have to anticipate the opponent action. Not much is knownabout how players acquire and improve this ability. The aim of this study wasto use an implicit training protocol (no information was given to participants)based on the knowledge of one particular opponent to analyse how expertscould improve their anticipation ability.Method: Professional tennis players were tested and trained in a protocolconsisted of watching videos with temporal occlusions before the opponentstroke and guessing the direction of the stroke. Three groups took part in theexperiment: one with a specific training with the same opponent as in pre- andpost-tests; one with a various training with players other than the one used inpre- and post-tests (to control that the improvement is link with the knowledgeof one specific opponent and not to an adaptation to the task) and one controlgroup without practice.Results: Only the group trained with the same opponent increased itsresponse accuracy.Discussion: Our results suggest that anticipation can be improved in professionaltennis players with a very specific training providing information aboutthe opponent