Toward next generation coaching tools for court based racquet sports

Even with today’s advances in automatic indexing of multimedia content, existing coaching tools for court sports lack the ability to automatically index a competitive match into key events. This paper proposes an automatic event indexing and event retrieval system for tennis, which can be used to coach from beginners upwards. Event indexing is possible using either visual or inertial sensing, with the latter potentially providing system portability. To achieve maximum performance in event indexing, multi-sensor data integration is implemented, where data from both sensors is merged to automatically index key tennis events. A complete event retrieval system is also presented to allow coaches to build advanced queries which existing sports coaching solutions cannot facilitate without an inordinate amount of manual indexing

Multi-sensor human action recognition with particular application to tennis event-based indexing

The ability to automatically classify human actions and activities using vi- sual sensors or by analysing body worn sensor data has been an active re- search area for many years. Only recently with advancements in both fields and the ubiquitous nature of low cost sensors in our everyday lives has auto- matic human action recognition become a reality. While traditional sports coaching systems rely on manual indexing of events from a single modality, such as visual or inertial sensors, this thesis investigates the possibility of cap- turing and automatically indexing events from multimodal sensor streams. In this work, we detail a novel approach to infer human actions by fusing multimodal sensors to improve recognition accuracy. State of the art visual action recognition approaches are also investigated. Firstly we apply these action recognition detectors to basic human actions in a non-sporting con- text. We then perform action recognition to infer tennis events in a tennis court instrumented with cameras and inertial sensing infrastructure. The system proposed in this thesis can use either visual or inertial sensors to au- tomatically recognise the main tennis events during play. A complete event retrieval system is also presented to allow coaches to build advanced queries, which existing sports coaching solutions cannot facilitate, without an inordi- nate amount of manual indexing. The event retrieval interface is evaluated against a leading commercial sports coaching tool in terms of both usability and efficiency

Perceptions of players, coaches, and parents on a scaled tennis equipment program

Purpose: The scaling of tennis equipment was officially launched by the International Tennis Federation in 2007 through the Play and Stay Campaign. This campaign, through a Tennis 10’s initiative, formulated three stages that features different racquet lengths, ball compression variations, and court sizes. The three scaled tennis equipment stages provided a pathway designed to have early success for youth starting to play the game. This investigation delved into understanding perceptions of the three stakeholder groups (parents, players, and coaches) of a scaled tennis equipment program. Method: Sixty-three young tennis players, 30 parents of tennis players, and 10 tennis coaches were interviewed using a set number of questions designed to identify perceptions of a scaled tennis equipment program. Results: Tennis players using scaled tennis equipment perceived they were able to play the game with their coach, friends, and family. Parents identified that scaled tennis equipment was designed for their child and promoted confidence. Tennis coaches mentioned that scaled tennis equipment promoted cooperative teaching style and constraints-based coaching and suggested that only team competition should be promoted for players 10-and-under. Conclusion: All three stakeholder groups indicated success with a scaled tennis equipment program. It appeared to facilitate players’ successful participation in the game of tennis and exhibited confidence. To safeguard the success of a scaled tennis equipment program, transition between stages needs to be done according to skill development success rather than age criteria.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure SciencesPhDUnrestricte

Advancing theory and application of cognitive research in sport: Using representative tasks to explain and predict skilled anticipation, decision-making, and option-generation behavior

Objectives: Three main goals were addressed in this research. First, we tested the claims of two cognitive mechanisms that have been proposed to explain expert performance. This was done during assessment and intervention phases of decision making. Second, we tested the validity of an online test of perceptual-cognitive skill in soccer: The Online Assessment of Strategic Skill In Soccer (OASSIS). Third, we compared the OASSIS to other predictors of skill in soccer. Design: Over the course of a three-part experiment, participants completed an updated version of the option-generation paradigm employed by Ward, Ericsson, and Williams (2013), the OASSIS, and a battery of other cognitive tests. Performance on these tests was used to inform theory and validate the OASSIS as an applied tool for domain professionals. Method: NCAA Division 1 and recreational-level soccer players completed a battery of tests, both using paper/pencil (see Ward et al., 2013) and online. Results: Support for Long Term Working Memory theory (LTWM; see Ericsson & Kintsch, 1995) was observed during both phases of decision making, though the prescriptions of the Take-The-First heuristic (see Johnson & Raab, 2003) tend to hold, particularly within intervention phase. When used to predict skill-group membership, the OASSIS accounted for more variance than other domain-general tests of cognition. Furthermore, scores on the OASSIS correlated with other measures of perceptual-cognitive skill in soccer and the process-level predictions made by LTWM. Conclusions: Updates to our theoretical understanding of expert performance are provided and the validity of the OASSIS is demonstrated

Spartan Daily, September 21, 2006

Volume 127, Issue 15https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/10273/thumbnail.jp

Transitioning out of the professional player pathway: A grounded theory on the process in South African Men’s tennis

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To understand and describe the athlete and their environment(s), researchers, historically, have confined their description of retrospective events, such as sport participation, development, career transitions, etc., to the sport context. This approach has been limiting to researchers’ scope of interpretation (qualitative designs) and / or projection (quantitative designs) of past, present and future (athletic) selves along with transitioning and non-transitioning sporting careers. In other words, the person and athlete are portrayed as mutually exclusive. Considering this, the motivation for the current research project was to understand, reimagine and amplify the human experience of South African men’s tennis players, i.e., the people within their development pathways. To do this, a rigorous constructivist grounded theory (GT) methodology was employed both as the research process and as a strategy to generate theory. This GT study explored South African men’s tennis player transitions within and out of the professional player pathway in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Four research questions guided the study: 1) what is happening in the development process of a promising competitive junior tennis player in the Western Cape, South Africa?; 2) what is happening [on and off the court] in the development of these players?; 3) what are the transitional processes throughout the junior career pathway and how are these transitions understood?; and 4) how do men’s tennis players [with a promising national junior ranking] transition out of the professional player pathway? To best answer these research questions, a range of tennis participants (n = 34) were selected using purposeful sampling (theoretical sampling) along with maximum variation sampling. Data collection entailed semi-structured interviews augmented with observational work. Theory generation adhered to the procedures for constructivist GT analysis (initial codes, focused codes, categories and categories underpinning theory). As a result, a GT model that explains South African men’s tennis player development and transition processes was developed. This model is underpinned by eight core categories: 1) pursuing a rich man’s sport; 2) transitioning steps; 3) playing inside the lines [small world]; 4) SA Coaching world; 5) life orbiting tennis; 6) college: driving the tennis vehicle; 7) manhood eclipsing childhood; and 8) being a pro at life, not tennis. The practical implications of this model are recognised firstly in its approach to tennis development, i.e., placing greater emphasis on the person and their individual life transitions and how these influence their tennis trajectories. Secondly, this model provides a unique context to the South African tennis player journey. A journey that Tennis South Africa’s (TSA) current long-term player development model (LTPD) generically and collectively attempts to accommodate in a long-term development plan. However, without context and individual experiences of junior to senior transitions, i.e., sport within life domains, the South African tennis player remains (figuratively) confined to a linear, reductionist and prescriptive approach to development and the complexity of their path is grossly misunderstood and misrepresented. A practical recommendation for TSA is to accommodate the doubles format as a mechanism for tennis development and utilize it as a viable professional tennis pathway.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ʼn poging om die atleet en hul omgewing(s) te verstaan en te beskryf, het navorsers histories gesproke hul beskrywing van retrospektiewe gebeure soos sportdeelname, ontwikkeling, loopbaan veranderinge, ens., tot die sport konteks beperk. Hierdie benadering het beperkend op navorsers se omvang van interpretasie (kwalitatiewe ontwerp) en / of projeksie (kwantitatiewe ontwerp) van die verlede, hede en toekomstige (atletiese) eie-ek, tesame met veranderende en nie- veranderende sport loopbane, ingewerk. Met ander woorde, die persoon en atleet word as wedersyds eksklusief uitgebeeld. Met dit in gedagte, was die motivering vir die huidige navorsingsprojek om die menslike ervaring van Suid-Afrikaanse mans tennisspelers, dit wil sê, die persone binne hulle ontwikkelingsroetes te verstaan, opnuut te bedink en toe te lig. Om dit te vermag is ’n onbuigsame konstruktivisties gegronde teoretiese (GT) metodologie gebruik as beide die navorsingsproses en as ’n strategie om die teorie te genereer. Hierdie GT studie het Suid- Afrikaanse mans tennisspeler veranderinge binne en buite die professionele arena in die Wes- Kaapse Provinsie in Suid-Afrika ondersoek. Vier navorsingsvrae rig die huidige studie: 1) wat gebeur in die ontwikkelingsprosesse van ’n belowende mededingende junior tennisspeler in Wes-Kaapland, Suid-Afrika?; 2) wat gebeur [op en van die baan] in die ontwikkeling van hierdie spelers?; 3) wat is die oorgangsprosesse tydens die junior beroepsloopbaan en hoe word hierdie veranderinge verstaan?; en 4) hoe verlaat mans tennisspelers [met ’n belowende nasionale junior ranglys posisie] uit die professionele ontwikkelingsroete? Om hierdie navorsingsvrae ten beste te beantwoord is verskeie tennisspelers (n = 34) deur middel van doelgerigte steekproefneming geselekteer (teoretiese steekproefneming) saam met maksimum variasie steekproefneming. Data insameling het semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude behels wat deur waarneming aangevul is. Teorie generering het getrou gebly aan die prosedures vir konstruktivisties GT analise (aanvanklike kodes, gefokusde kodes, kategoriee en kategoriee wat teorie ondersteun). As gevolg hiervan is ’n Gegronde Teoretiese model ontwikkel wat die Suid-Afrikaanse mans tennisspelers se ontwikkeling en veranderende prosesse verduidelik. Hierdie model word gerugsteun deur agt kernkategorieë: 1) die beoefening van ’n rykmansport; 2) oorgangstappe; 3) speel binne die lyne [klein wereld]; 4) Suid-Afrikaanse (SA) Afrigtingswereld; 5) lewensbaan tennis; 6) kollege: bestuur die tennis voertuig; 7) manlikheid wat die kinderjare verduister; en 8) om professioneel in lewe te wees, nie tennis nie. Die praktiese implikasies van hierdie model word eerstens erken in die benadering tot tennisontwikkeling, dit wil sê meer klem op die persoon en hul individuele lewensoorgange en hoe dit hulle tennis ontwikkelingsroete beinvloed. Tweedens voorsien hierdie model ’n unieke konteks aan die Suid-Afrikaanse tennisspeler se reis – ’n reis wat Tennis Suid-Afrika (TSA) se langtermyn speler ontwikkelingsmodel (LTSO) generies en gesamentlik poog om in ’n langtermyn ontwikkelingsprogram te akkommodeer. Dit is egter so dat sonder konteks en individuele ervarings van junior tot senior oorgangstydeperke, dit wil se, sport binne die lewensdomein, bly Suid-Afrikaanse tennisspelers (figuurlik) beperk tot ’n liniere, reduksionistiese en voorskriftelike benadering tot ontwikkeling en die kompleksiteit van die spelers se loopbane word erg misverstaan en verkeerd voorgestel. ’n Praktiese aanbeveling vir TSA is om die dubbelspel formaat as ’n meganisme vir tennisontwikkeling te implementeer en om dit as ’n lewensvatbare professionele roete aan te wend.Doctora

Online Leisure Communities: The Case of Tennis Enthusiasts

Online communities represent important virtual spaces “where people come together with others to converse, exchange information or other resources, learn, play, or just be with each other” (Resnick & Kraut, 2011, p. 1). They are communication vehicles independent of time and location (Rheingold, 1994) offering users a convenient, timely, and a reliable way to socialize with others (Chayko, 2008). As such they may replace, or at least extend more traditional communities. In a tennis context, traditional clubs bring together members so that they can share their common interest in tennis. In general, the clubs facilitate their connection to the sport of tennis. This same club, in a virtual format, can play this same role but the members need not come together in a physical sense. Club members may be located from around the globe as they share and interact with their fellow club members. Online thousands of these members can engage in simultaneous discussions of any aspect of the sport. The overall goal of the study is to better understand online dynamics between posters as they interact online. The message board Talk Tennis was selected as a test site. It is the oldest and largest message board of its type and is devoted entirely to the sport of tennis. The board was monitored using three guiding questions. First, how does online community develop and evolve within Talk Tennis? Second, how do tennis enthusiasts use Talk Tennis? Third, how do tennis enthusiasts influence each other within Talk Tennis? In particular, the evolving nature of word-of-mouth communication was considered as posters share, debate, aid, and support fellow posters. Group dynamics were monitored within 19,782 messages posted to 54 Talk Tennis discussion threads. Results suggest that posters tend to use the message board to fulfill three basic functions: to express themselves, to seek utility, and to offer help to others. The online dynamics were often complex as posters sought to fulfill their various goals. For example, posters adopted a variety of roles to ensure the smooth functioning of this online community. Throughout, posters exchanged information, experiences, outside resources, collectively helping with the decision-making. They actively engaged their network while focusing on community success. These insights suggest how traditional face-to-face dynamics are reproduced and enhanced online

Unravelling tennis performance:creating monitoring tools to measure and understand technical and tactical skills

The key in elite tennis performance is suggested to be the combination of outstanding technical and tactical skills. However, little is known about which specific skills are important to progress towards elite tennis performance. Moreover, there are no reliable, valid and feasible tools to assess technical and tactical skills in youth tennis players. Therefore, in this thesis, tools with sufficient psychometric properties were developed to measure technical and tactical skills in a tennis-specific context - contributing to both scientific and practical purposes. An on-court tennis test was developed to assess technical skills based on accuracy (target areas), ball speed (radar system) and percentage errors. A new instrument with closed-ended questions was designed to examine tactical skills, in particular ‘Anticipation and positioning’, ‘Game intelligence and adaptability’, ‘Decision-making’, and ‘Recognizing game situations’. Our studies showed that outstanding technical skills, especially accuracy under increased task complexity (i.e. high temporal and cognitive pressure), were considered essential to progress towards elite tennis performance. Findings of this thesis also suggest that these technical skills continue to develop in adolescence in a group of youth talented tennis players. From a practical perspective, the tools created in this thesis are valuable for coaches and players to enhance tennis performance. In addition to monitoring the progress of players, tools can assist in identifying relative strengths and weaknesses of players as well as provide essential information about underlying skills that require most attention to progress towards elite performance