Quantifying the margin for error in Tennis

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K17846
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya
• Principal Investigator: Murata Munenori 鹿屋体育大学, スポーツ生命科学系, 講師 (40756607)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: シミュレーション / 最適化 / 空力 / 角速度 / テニス / ミス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to propose a method for quantifying the margin for error in tennis. Lift and drag coefficients were estimated, and a tennis ball trajectory simulator was developed to examine the effect of players’ height and side of the court (ad court or deuce court) on the margin for error in tennis serves. The margins for error were generally similar on both sides of the court when the rate of ball rotation in the serve was low but were different when the rate of ball rotation was high. The difference in the margin for error due to differences in players’ height was large when the rate of ball rotation was low. The method proposed here can quantify the margin for error taking into account players’characteristics and thus is expected to be useful for the coaching of individual players.

Free Research Field

スポーツバイオメカニクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

テニスの競技特性を考慮すると，これまで多く報告されてきたラケットスピードの獲得だけではなく，各ショットのミスのリスクを定量化することは重要である．本研究では，選手やショットの条件に応じたミスのリスクを定量化する方法を提案した．そして，サーブにおいて，サイドや選手の身長がミスのリスクに与える影響を検討した．提案した手法は，各ショットの打点や速度等に応じてミスのリスクを定量化できることから，これまでの研究で提示されているような，一般的知見を示すだけでなく，個別の指導において具体的なデータをフィードバックすることに役立つ．