An examination of the factorial structure of the unforced-error measure in collegiate women tennis players in Japan: A comparison between players and coaches

Daisuke Hirata,Shuhei Sato,Kiso Murakami

doi:10.52383/itfcoaching.v25i71.220

Abstract

   Unforced errors are a significant issue in producing high performance in tennis. Identifying the causes of these errors in important to guide interventions to reduce unforced errors. The purpose of this study was to examine the different causes of unforced errors (UE) of Women’s Collegiate tennis players from the perspectives of coaches and players. Specifically, and based on previous research (Hirata, Sato, Murakami, Sato, & Saijo, in press; Shibahara, Tamaki, Hirata, Sonobe, Morii, & Saijo, 2015), a measure was developed to collect data on UE. The factor structure was examined using data collected from 283 Collegiate women tennis players and 77 coaches of women tennis players. These participants were divided into High-Skilled (HS) and Low- Skilled (LS), where the criteria for such selection was based in the competition level played in different Competitions. In order to access the HS competition, players needed to be winners of the LS competition. Comparing and contrasting both groups are in the basis of the current research study.  

Highlights

There are two types of error in tennis, an unforced-error (UE) and a forced-error
Several items representing the different elements of unforced errors (UE) as identified in previous research
The criteria adopted to peer up players into High skilled (HS) and low skilled (LS) was based in their participation in Japan intercollegiate tennis championship or state tennis tournament, recognizing that the access of intercollegiate tennis championship is reserved for the winners of state tennis tournament

Summary

Introduction

There are two types of error in tennis, an unforced-error (UE) and a forced-error. The unforced-error is caused in the situation the player is able to select the shot and is in control of a point or a game. Hirata et al (2014) found several causes of UE in collegiate women tennis players: (a) situational decision-making processes, (b) skill issues, and (c) psychological issues (see Figure). It was considered that the cause of the UE was different when coaches thought the cause of player’s UE. The cause of this as the UE is the variety, to know the cause of the UE of players and coaches are considered to be a valid information for coaching. Several items representing the different elements of UE as identified in previous research (Hirata et al., METHOD The participants included 283 of collegiate women tennis players who belonged to a university tennis team and 77 of coaches who coached women tennis players in Japan (see Table 1 for demographic details the study participants).

Objectives

Results

Conclusion