Tennis Game Research Articles

Characterisation of ball degradation events in professional tennis

Tennis balls are acknowledged to degrade with use and are replaced at regular intervals during professional matches to maintain consistency and uniformity in performance, such that the game is not adversely affected. Balls are subject to the international tennis federation’s (ITF) ball approval process, which includes a degradation test to ensure a minimum standard of performance. The aim of this investigation was to establish if the ITF degradation test can assess ball longevity and rate of degradation and determine if there is a need for a new degradation test that is more representative of in-play conditions. Ball tracking data from four different professional events, spanning the three major court surfaces, including both men’s and women’s matches were analysed. The frequency of first serves, second serves, racket impacts and surface impacts were assessed and the corresponding distribution of ball speed and (for surface impacts) impact angle was determined. Comparison of ball impact frequency and conditions between in-play data and the ITF degradation test indicated the development of a new test, more representative of in-play data, would be advantageous in determining ball longevity and rate of degradation with use. Assessment of data from different surfaces highlighted that grass court subjected the ball to fewer racket and surface impacts than hard court or clay. In turn, this appears to influence the distribution of ball speed on impact with the surface or racket, suggesting a surface-specific degradation test may be beneficial. As a result of these findings a new test protocol has been proposed, utilising the in-play data, to define the frequency of impacts and impact conditions to equate to nine games of professional tennis across the different surfaces.

Enhancing player engagement through game balancing in digitally augmented physical games

Game balancing can be used to compensate for differences in players' skills, in particular in games where players compete against each other. It can help providing the right level of challenge and hence enhance engagement. However, there is a lack of understanding of game balancing design and how different game adjustments affect player engagement. This understanding is important for the design of balanced physical games. In this paper we report on how altering the game equipment in a digitally augmented table tennis game, such as the table size and bat-head size statically and dynamically, can affect game balancing and player engagement. We found these adjustments enhanced player engagement compared to the no-adjustment condition. The understanding of how the adjustments impacted on player engagement helped us to derive a set of balancing strategies to facilitate engaging game experiences. We hope that this understanding can contribute to improve physical activity experiences and encourage people to get engaged in physical activity. HighlightsWe study the effects of game adjustments on game balancing and player engagement.We study how digital technology can be used as a resource for game balancing.Dynamic adjustments enhance player engagement more than static ones.Game adjustments can moderate the influence of a player on the other's performance.Game balancing design strategies are outlined.

A technology platform for automatic high-level tennis game analysis

Sports video research is a popular topic that has been applied to many prominent sports for a large spectrum of applications. In this paper we introduce a technology platform which has been developed for the tennis context, able to extract action sequences and provide support to coaches for players performance analysis during training and official matches. The system consists of an hardware architecture, devised to acquire data in the tennis context and for the specific domain requirements, and a number of processing modules which are able to track both the ball and the players, to extract semantic information from their interactions and automatically annotate video sequences. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the proposed combination of hardware and software modules is able to extract 3D ball trajectories robust enough to evaluate ball changes of direction recognizing serves, strokes and bounces. Starting from these information, a finite state machine based decision process can be employed to evaluate the score of each action of the game. The entire platform has been tested in real experiments during both training sessions and matches, and results show that automatic annotation of key events along with 3D positions and scores can be used to support coaches in the extraction of valuable information about players intentions and behaviours.

Kicks Inc.: Confidential Information for Jack Watson (Itf Representative)

Kicks Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of athletic apparel and shoes, had plans to launch a new tennis shoe line within the year and was seeking an up-and-coming young athlete to be its spokesperson. Sebastian Martinez had emerged as an ideal candidate, and contract discussions were underway. Six issues need to be resolved to the satisfaction of the six parties involved—the athlete, the athlete's mother, the athlete's father, the athlete's agent, the Kicks brand manager, and an International Tennis Federation (ITF) representative. This case provides specific role information for the ITF representative. The case needs to be accompanied by the background information case, UVA-QA-0739. Excerpt UVA-QA-0742 Rev. Dec. 2, 2010 Confidential Information for Jack Watson (ITF Representative) Jack Watson had been involved in tennis for over 40 years. Now, in his mid-60s, he had taken on the role of compliance official for the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Watson had seen the game of tennis evolve from an elite country-club sport to a game of athleticism and commercialism. Watson had been a strong supporter of the growth and popularity of the sport, but he was well aware of many professional athletes in a variety of sports who had been exploited by media and fame. He continued to be involved with the ITF because of his mission to retain the dignity of the sport and its athletes. And ultimately, his role was to protect the athlete. Each year, every professional tennis agent was required to attend a one-day conference held by the ITF on agent compliance. Each agent took a test on the rules, and upon receiving a nearly perfect score, the agent would be registered as a preferred agent by the ITF. To remain in compliance, an agent must have ITF approval for each sponsorship deal completed. Many times, the agent would send the official contract terms before it was signed, and once the ITF approved it, the deal could be completed. Each year, however, Watson liked to actually take part in at least one negotiation so he could remain current with American culture and become a better critic. Watson had already planned a trip to the United States for other matters, so he decided to be a part of the negotiations with Sebastian Martinez. He was also interested in getting to know some of the U.S. agents better, in hopes of better controlling the perceived exploitation of athletes in the United States by companies and agents alike. To prevent tennis players from being exploited, the ITF had created guidelines that all agents and companies were required to abide by in all endorsement contracts. (The guidelines were distributed at every annual conference and required strict adherence.) These guidelines included a maximum annual endorsement base fee of $ 5 million; a maximum signing bonus of 15% of the endorsement base; a limit of 15 athlete appearances; and a maximum of 30% of endorsement base for a performance-based bonus. Watson believed that if athletes were given the maximums in each category, it would set a precedent for future athletes; he feared the agents would continue to lobby the ITF, and limits would continue to rise with each coming year. . . .

体育館天井に設置された一台のカメラによる卓球のゲーム分析

体育館天井に設置された一台のカメラによる卓球のゲーム分析

テニスの試合内容自動認識

In this paper, contents of tennis games are recognized automatically. 3-D positions of a ball and players are detected by using stereo camera method. The system detects ball bounces on a court and shots by players using vector directions of the ball velocity. The game ends are determined by the ball velocity and its position, and the game sequences are recognized automatically. The system also detects the shot style - forehand, backhand, volley, smash stroke - by using the existence of bounces before shots and the positional relation of the ball and the player's. Experiments were executed by using 7 game video data, and the automatic recognition results showed good coincidence with the results of human judgments.

Neural Correlates of User-initiated Motor Success and Failure – A Brain–Computer Interface Perspective

Any motor action is, by nature, potentially accompanied by human errors. In order to facilitate development of error-tailored Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) correction systems, we focused on internal, human-initiated errors, and investigated EEG correlates of user outcome successes and errors during a continuous 3D virtual tennis game against a computer player. We used a multisensory, 3D, highly immersive environment. Missing and repelling the tennis ball were considered, as ‘error’ (miss) and ‘success’ (repel). Unlike most previous studies, where the environment “encouraged” the participant to perform a mistake, here errors happened naturally, resulting from motor-perceptual-cognitive processes of incorrect estimation of the ball kinematics, and can be regarded as user internal, self-initiated errors. Results show distinct and well-defined Event-Related Potentials (ERPs), embedded in the ongoing EEG, that differ across conditions by waveforms, scalp signal distribution maps, source estimation results (sLORETA) and time–frequency patterns, establishing a series of typical features that allow valid discrimination between user internal outcome success and error. The significant delay in latency between positive peaks of error- and success-related ERPs, suggests a cross-talk between top-down and bottom-up processing, represented by an outcome recognition process, in the context of the game world. Success-related ERPs had a central scalp distribution, while error-related ERPs were centro-parietal. The unique characteristics and sharp differences between EEG correlates of error/success provide the crucial components for an improved BCI system. The features of the EEG waveform can be used to detect user action outcome, to be fed into the BCI correction system.

Using a Table Tennis Game, “Elemental Knock-Out”, To Increase Students’ Familiarity with Chemical Elements, Symbols, and Atomic Numbers

A motivating and fun activity for students in introductory chemistry has been designed to increase familiarity with the chemical elements, symbols, and atomic numbers in the periodic table. This activity, Elemental Knock-Out, is a table tennis game, and the gameplay is adapted from a box grid baseball game. Playing in teams for fun and enjoyment, students work cooperatively with others to compete against an opposing team. The game is designed for first-year undergraduate students. The cost of one set of game materials is less than $50. The average time required to complete one game, i.e., to become familiar with the chemical elements and atomic numbers, is about 120 min for a class of 60 students. This game was implemented with 118 students including different grade classes. The results were interpreted through poll and quiz before and after the activity. The results of the study revealed that most of the students had positive impressions of the game and considered it to be a fun way of interacting with t...

Performance Analysis in Table Tennis - Stochastic Simulation by Numerical Derivation

Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the impact of different tactical behaviors on the winning probability in table tennis. The performance analysis was done by mathematical simulation using a Markov chain model. 259 high-level table tennis games were evaluated by means of a new simulation approach using numerical derivation to remove the necessity to perform a second modeling step in order to determine the difficulty of tactical behaviors. Based on the derivation, several mathematical constructs like directional derivations and the gradient are examined for application in table tennis. Results reveal errors and long rallies as the most influencing game situations, together with the positive effect of risky play on the winning probability of losing players.

Body Segment Kinematics and Energy Expenditure in Active Videogames.

Energy expenditure (EE) in active videogames (AVGs) is a component for assessing its benefit for cardiovascular health. Existing evidence suggests that AVGs are able to increase EE above rest and when compared with playing passive videogames. However, the association between body movement and EE remains unclear. Furthermore, for goal-directed game design, it is important to know the contribution of body segments to EE. This knowledge will help to acquire a certain level of exercise intensity during active gaming. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the best predictors of EE from body segment energies, acceleration, and heart rate during different game situations. EE and body segment movement of 17 subjects, aged 22.1 ± 2.5 years, were measured in two different AVGs. In randomized order, the subjects played a handheld-controlled Nintendo(®) Wii™ tennis (NWT) game and a whole body-controlled Sony EyeToy(®) waterfall (ETW) game. Body segment movement was analyzed using a three-dimensional motion capture system. From the video data, mean values of mechanical energy change and acceleration of 10 body segments were analyzed. Measured EE was significantly higher in ETW (7.8 ± 1.4 metabolic equivalents [METs]) than in NWT (3.4 ± 1.0 METs). The best prediction parameter for the more intense ETW game was the energy change of the right thigh and for the less intense hand-controlled NWT game was the energy change of the upper torso. Segment acceleration was less accurate in predicting EE. The best predictors of metabolic EE were the thighs and the upper torso in whole body and handheld-controlled games, respectively. Increasing movement of these body segments would lead to higher physical activity intensity during gaming, reducing sedentary behavior.

Active Gaming as a Method to Improve Pressure Pain Sensitivity

An acute bout of moderate to vigorous exercise temporarily reduces pain sensitivity in healthy adults, a phenomenon termed exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH). Recently, active gaming (AG), which allows an individual to be physically active during video game play, has been rising in popularity as a means of light to moderate exercise. While evidence has shown that AG elicits positive cardiovascular and balance outcomes, no research has investigated active gaming as a modifier of pain. PURPOSE: To determine whether an acute bout of active gaming increases pressure pain thresholds (PPT) in healthy adults. METHODS: Thirteen subjects (Age=23±5 years) were tested for pressure pain thresholds at the upper trapezius and forearm immediately before and after a 15-minute AG session or control session. Subjects played 4 different active games on separate days, including two different boxing games and two different tennis games. Heart rate was measured during game play. PPTs for the forearm and trapezius were analyzed with 2(time) X 5 (session) repeated measures ANOVA. Bivariate correlations examined the relationship between average percentage of Heart Rate Reserve (HRR%) during game play and magnitude of EIH (pre-post). RESULTS: Average HRR% for each game was: Boxing1=46.5±13, Tennis1 = 22.9±11, Boxing2= 45.5±16, Tennis2=20.1±9. The analysis revealed a significant Time x Session interaction for the PPTs at the forearm (p<.001) and trapezius (p=.014). PPTs significantly decreased from the pre to posttest for the control session (pre=3.75±.32, post=3.3±.23), but significantly increased from pre to post during the Boxing1 session (pre=3.58±.45, post=3.9±.39). PPTs at the trapezius significantly increased from pre to post during the Boxing1 (pre=3.35±.4, post= 3.7±.45) and Boxing2 (pre=3.7±.4, post 4.1±.5) sessions. EIH at the trapezius and forearm was significantly correlated with average HRR% (trapezius r=.33, forearm r=.28). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that an active gaming session played at a moderate intensity is capable of temporarily reducing pain sensitivity.

Hand Movements and Gestures Characterization Using Quaternion Dynamic Time Warping Technique

Trends show that wearable devices with high-range sensors offer new business opportunities in enriching user experience in swing-based outdoor games, such as tennis, golf, and/or indoor gaming applications. Such applications providing insights into a player’s abilities to play these games require methods that efficiently distinguish and capture intricacies of hand movements and/or gestures. In this paper, we show that quaternions-based dynamic time warping (QDTW) technique provides an efficient means for characterizing different arm/hand movements and gestures. A complete methodology and results for the pursued case study of outdoor tennis game are provided in this paper. We propose a new and unique approach for training data for various tennis shots and then using DTW and QDTW at the two levels of a hierarchical classifier for classification of an incoming tennis shot. The achieved accuracy for tennis shots detection is more than 99% and that for classification is 90%. Furthermore, the concept of consistency in a player’s shots and how a played shot differs from a professional’s similar shot are considered to suggest recommendations for improvement to the player.

Comparison of Abdominal Strength and Explosive Strength of Table Tennis Players and Badminton Players in School Students

The study was under taken with the purpose of comparing selected physical fitness variables in Table Tennis Players and Badminton Players. The variables selected were Explosive Strength and Abdominal Strength. Sixty male school students were selected as subjects aging 14 year to 16 year (15.17 ± 0.51) who were actively involved in their respective games. Among these 30 belonged to Badminton game and rest 30 belonged to Table Tennis game. Descriptive Statistics and Independent 't' test were employed using IBM SPSS-17 Software. Findings suggest that the players belonging to Badminton game were superior in both Explosive Strength and Abdominal Strength in comparison to the players belonging to Table Tennis game.

IMPLEMENTASI PERMAINAN TONNIS DI SD NEGERI SE KECAMATAN TUGU KOTA SEMARANG 2015

The purpose of this study was to determine how the implementation tennis game in the elementary school throughout Tugu sub-subdistrict of Semarang City in 2015 and its inhibiting and supporting factors. The research method used was the survey method while the methods of collecting data were observation, interviews and research documentation. The research instrument was interview questions addressed to the Head Master, Penjasorkes Teacher and student observation.Results from this study showed that the implementation of learning tennis game runs well seen from the results of interviews with the Head Master and Penjasorkes Teacher in the Elementary Schoool throughout the Tugu Sub subdistrict of Semarang City, 2015. Based on the results and discussion, it can be concluded that the implementation Tennis game in elementary school throughout the Tugu Subdistrict of Semarang City 2015 as a whole included in the good category.

Remember the Scorpion by Isaac Goldemberg

tumultuous life of Caravaggio, the death of Anne Boleyn, and the erotic escapades of notorious conquistador Hernán Cortés are revised and woven into an intricate, inextricable tapestry. With apparent effortlessness , Enrigue fuses together ostensibly discordant narratives, fashioning a riveting, hilarious, and insightful romp. Set during the Counter Reformation and framed by a duel-like game of pallacorda —akin to tennis—between Italian maestro Caravaggio and Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo, the novel comprises vignettes traversing decades and continents , with Enrigue inserting inventive restagings of personal interactions in a broader historical context. From Caravaggio ’s escapades in Rome to the pillaging of Tenochtitlan, we travel around the world and into the private lives of popes, poets, and prostitutes. As the novel unfolds, recurring objects—a tennis ball stuffed with the hair of Boleyn, severed before her head befell the same fate; the scapular of Cortés; and a mantle of iridescent feathers crafted by Aztecs—neatly (albeit implausibly ) link these otherwise isolated plots. It is a disservice to discuss Sudden Death without emphasizing the impeccable work of translator Natasha Wimmer . With dexterity, Wimmer navigates the novel’s blend of Spanish, Nahuatl, and Italian, the result reading seamlessly , demonstrative of how translation can itself be an art form. By preserving certain Italian words, Wimmer enhances our sense of locale and places us in the action, the umpire’s shouts of Trenta-amore echoing in our imaginations. Perhaps the simplest description of Sudden Death is contained within the novel itself: “A book with a lot of back and forth, like a game of tennis.” This is, however, entirely insufficient, as the novel resists categorization, darting among genres with remarkable deftness, neither wholly history , criticism, autobiography, nor pure fiction. Enrigue writes skilfully about art, globalization, and religion but truly excels at creating authentic, vivid depictions of emotional and physical intimacy. With these, the novel feels personal and provocative , rather than flat and factual, and thrums with a menagerie of life. Rosie Clarke London Anna Gavalda. Life, Only Better. Trans. Tina Kover. New York. Europa Editions. 2015. 210 pages. In her latest book, French novelist Anna Gavalda brings together two novellas exploring the young, restless, and downtrodden on the edge of a breakthrough. Matilde and Yann are both in their twenties , at a point in their lives when they feel opportunity is slipping past, for which they bear responsibility as much as their circumstances do. Both find their lives thrown completely off balance by chance encounters that force them to question what they want and how they will get it. Matilde is drifting, working a deadend job for her brother-in-law and living with more-or-less miserable roommates. Although not happy with her lot, she’s comfortable and complacent until her lost bag is found by a chef who leaves an indelible impression. Soon, consumed by the idea of this man, Matilde finds a new purpose in life as she tries to find him, putting all her hopes for a better, more fulfilling existence on him. Yann isn’t much better off, living with his girlfriend in a flat that has slowly been scrubbed of his identity in favor of a neutral decor. One evening, while his girlfriend is out of town, he happens to bump into his neighbors, who invite him in for drinks and dinner. During hours of rousing conversation, Yann begins to see the passion missing from his own life and sets about making changes for himself. Gavalda’s writing is engaging and lyrical although at times rambling in a way that’s true to the voice of her characters. She gives in to their impulses to self-pity and self-loathing—in the case of Matilde, to the point of distraction. But her characters are so deeply human that it’s easy to forgive any sense of misdirection. What’s more, despite being rooted in the now-cliché wayward twentysomething narrative, the stories themselves are entirely unpredictable . For Yann, the idyllic evening takes a surprising turn, while for Matilde, a single line takes the story to an unforeseeably dark and potentially dangerous place, only to abruptly end. Life, Only Better is indeed that: slices of life with...

플랫폼에 따른 테니스 게임 플레이어 액션의 추상화 연구

본 연구에서는 게임에서 플레이어가 행하는 동작이 게임에서 추상화되는데 있어 어떤 형태를 가지는지 테니스 게임을 중심으로 다양한 플랫폼을 통해 사례연구를 수행하였다. 특히 추상화되어진 테니스 액션에서 얻을 수 있는 플레이어 경험의 형태를 로렐(laurel)이 제시한 모델에 따라 이동, 스윙, 방향과 세기, 스킬의 4가지로 축약하여, 초기 비디오 게임, 콘솔 게임, 모바일 게임, 동작인식 게임, 웨어러블 게임 등에서 조망하고 이를 도식화 하였다. 결론적으로 기술에 발전에 따른 플랫폼의 변화는 버튼을 누르던 단조로운 게임 플레이에서 직접 라켓을 휘두르는 것과 같은 물리적 유사 행위로 치환되어 확장된 경험을 플레이어에게 제공한다. 나아가 인터페이스에 따라 행위의 차이는 약간씩 발견되나 문맥 자체는 일관성이 있음을 알 수 있었다. This study conducted a case study using various platforms centered on a tennis game to examine what forms the movements of a game player had when they were abstracted in the game. In particular, it summarized the forms of the player's experience that could be attained from the abstracted tennis actions into the 4 types: movement, swing, direction & intensity, and skill; and observed and schematized them in the early video games, console games, mobile games, Gesture recognition games, and wearable games. In conclusion, the development of technology offers the players with greater experience. For example the change of the platform of simple games of pressing buttons into swinging. Furthermore, the study found a consistency in the context even though the difference of action was slightly found by the interface.

“The Tongue”:

Abstract This article argues that the assembly of stanzas in the Findern manuscript known as “The Tongue” presents a coherent, voiced, lyric poem made up of selections from Lydgate's Fall of Princes, Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, and a concluding stanza unique to this manuscript. I illustrate how the Findern scribe recast this source material into a poem that resonates with the broad concerns of the manuscript as a whole: the place of proper speech in social behavior, the relationships of male and female eloquence, and the allegorizations of courtly gaming adapted to a gentry world. More pointedly, the poem's final stanza, with its reference to marking the chase in the game of tennis, associates its idioms with the personal allegories of Charles d'Orléans, and I suggest that the overall tone and texture of this poem owes much to Charles's literary sensibility as it was understood in late-fifteenth-century England.

Vibrational analysis of hollow and foam-filled graphite tennis rackets

The game of tennis is plagued with wrist and elbow injuries. Most players use light, stiff hollow graphite rackets. A recent foam-filled racket design appears to reduce the risk of wrist injury. A vibrational analysis of a wide variety of rackets was conducted in attempt to understand the science behind this racket’s apparent success. Damping rates were measured for the bending and torsional modes for a wide variety of hollow and foam-filled rackets. No significant difference among the rackets was found, suggesting the benefit of the foam-filled racket design is not due to damping. An extensive modal analysis was conducted for several rackets over the frequency range of 100 Hz to 1.5 kHz to identify the bending, torsional, and string modes. In this paper, the damping rates, mode shapes, and frequencies, will be compared for several hollow and foam-filled rackets. Results will be interpreted in light of the relevant forces between the racket, ball, and arm.

The Seductions of Modern Tennis: From Social Practice to Literary Discourse

This article investigates the cultural articulations between real and lawn tennis, starting from the invention of the game of lawn tennis in the late nineteenth century and looking at the negotiations which surrounded its birth. It analyses the seductions of the game through a focus on art and discourses around the game, in particular literary discourse. The first part analyses the ‘invention’ of the game and in particular the components of the sport as they were being defined. The second part looks at competing narratives of the invention of tennis. The third part focuses more specifically on artistic representations and literary definitions of tennis. The article concludes on the two aspects of tennis, social and competitive, and at the literature which emerges more specifically from a consideration of competitive tennis.

PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN LANGSUNG UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN BERMAIN TENIS MEJA SISWA KELAS VI SDN 09 RUMBAI PEKANBARU

The result of fifth grade students’ learning sport from SDN 09 Rumbai Pekanbaru was still low because the method used did not suitable with learning materials. Because of that problem, researcher used direct instructional model in learning table tennis games that could improve the result of fifth grade students’ learning table tennis from SDN 09 Rumbai Pekanbaru. After applying direct instructional model, it could been seen from the teacher’s activity that increased in the first cycle from the first meeting (70%) to the second meeting (75%), and in the second cycle also increased from 85% in the third meeting to 95% in the fourth meeting The students’ activity also increased in the first cycle from 60% in the first meeting to 75% in the second meeting, and in the second cycle also increased from 90% in the third meeting to 95% in the fourth meeting. In the last exam in first cycle average of the students’ learning result increased 2.06 point from based score 69.87 to 72.93. In the last exam in second cycle increased 6.94 point from first cycle to 79.87. From the data analysis, the teacher’s activities, the students’ activities, and the result of students’ learning increased. So, it could be concluded that applying direct instructional model increased the result of fifth grade students’ learning sport from SDN 09 Rumbai Pekanbaru.Key words: direct instructional model, table tennis games