Stroke Analysis in Padel According to Match Outcome and Game Side on Court

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the distribution of padel strokes, their effectiveness, direction, and court zone, comparing between the winning and losing pairs in the match and the playing side of the players. The sample included 8441 strokes corresponding to 1055 points out of a total of nine padel matches in the First National Category. The variables analyzed were type of stroke, court area, effectiveness and directions of the strokes, match outcome, and game side. Matches were analyzed through systematic observation. The results showed that the winning pair made a significantly higher percentage of winners, and cross-court smashes and volleys from the offensive zone. In addition, players on the left side executed a higher percentage of cross-court and winning shots than the players on the right side. Such knowledge may constitute a useful guide in the design of appropriate game strategies and specific training sessions based on the shots that will help players to win the match according to the role of the player and depending on their game side.

Ball Impact Position in Recreational Male Padel Players: Implications for Training and Injury Management

“…The results show that the most-used strokes in padel were volleys, serves, and groundstrokes (novice: 21.46% serves, 23.98% groundstrokes, and 15.45% volleys; highly trained: 15.76% serves, 15.48%groundstrokes, and 25.09% volleys). Similar results have been reporter by previous studies that have quantified the distribution of padel strokes [2,4,47]. There were particular differences in the use of strokes among highly trained and novice players, with novices using more services (21.46%), groundstrokes (23.98%), and lobs (11.40%), but the highly trained players using more volleys (25.09%), wall strokes (22.85%), and smashes (4.84%) (Figure 1).…”

“…The tactical dynamics of better players might account for these differences due to their positioning and movement when approaching the net, increasing the time spent at the net and enhancing scoring options [ 1 , 2 , 23 ]. Thus, a recent study indicated that the winning pairs performed a significantly higher percentage of smashes and volleys and a lower number of groundstrokes, walls strokes, and lobs than the losers [ 47 ]. This is important given that overhead strokes, such us smashes and volleys, imply high velocities of glenohumeral joint rotation, which is related to a higher prevalence of shoulder injuries in highly trained padel players [ 11 , 48 ].…”

“…The chi-square test and adjusted standardized residuals (ASR) were used to identify differences in the stroke type distribution between groups of players. The Crammér's V effect size was interpreted as small, medium, and large according to degrees of freedom [47]. Statistical calculations were performed using a custom Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and SPSS v.24 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).…”

Competitive Evolution of Professional Wheelchair Tennis from the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004 to Rio 2016: An Observational Study

“…The observation process was carried out through free-use software LINCE (LINCE 1.4, Barcelona, Spain) [ 23 ]. This software has been used in studies of racquet sports with an observational methodology [ 6 , 24 ]. This observational system allows the construction of an observation instrument according to the needs.…”

“…Knowledge of the activity patterns of competition helps to improve training methods and provides information about the total amount of work, rest periods, series or repetitions of training exercises amongst many other aspects [ 4 ]. For this, studies are usually carried out with an observational methodology, and the use of free software (e.g., LINCE software) to analyse the competition is very common in racquet sports such as tennis [ 5 ], padel [ 6 , 7 ], badminton [ 8 ] or WT [ 9 ]. In this sense, WT matches are always played to the best of three tie break sets and the ball can bounce twice before it is hit [ 10 ].…”