Dynamic analysis of scoring performance in elite men's badminton according to contextual-related variables

Abstract

The scoring performance in badminton can reveal important stages during the match and different characteristics according to notational, temporal and contextual-related variables. The aim of the present study was to: (i) analyse the scoring performance dynamics of men's badminton players according to tournament stage (group stage, knockout stage), game number (game 1, game 2, game 3) and game half (before and after the mid-game break when the leading player reaches 11 points); (ii) identify the persistency trends of point outcome and temporal-related variables in male badminton players; and (iii) establish the relationships between players’ scoring coordination and point outcome entropy with temporal-related variables. Thirty-one games and 1,080 rallies were analysed from 14 matches played by the tournament medallists from Rio 2016. The main finding shows that at the beginning of game (until 11 points) the players are less coordinated (anti-phase) and, in the second half (11-21 points) the players are more coordinated (in-phase) with a similar scoring performance for both players. The results showed a stronger coordination in the scoring process in the knockout phase compared to the group stage and entropy showed less variability at the beginning of the second half but high variability in the first half. In conclusion, these results can contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of elite badminton matches.