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• We identify gender differences in reaction to past performance in tennis. • Competition and profit opportunities are very similar for both genders in professional tennis. • We rely on exogenous shocks affecting past performance to identify a causal effect. • We estimate sizeable negative momentum affect for women, but not men. • Effect is driven by: absolute ability, experience, and intermediate scores. We use high-volume data from professional tennis to estimate the causal effect of past on current performance for women and men. To identify this effect, we exploit double faults as exogenous shocks to past performance. We estimate that men do not react to near setbacks in the past. In contrast, women perform considerably worse after near setbacks. Heterogeneity analysis reveals different effects depending on experience, ability, and the intermediate score. Our results are robust to a number of sensitivity checks. A potential explanation for our findings are gender differences in negative psychological momentum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the flat serve (FS) minimizes the ball spin and kick serve (KS) combined topspin and sidespin, this systematic review aimed to explore the ball impact location (BI) within the FS and KS at the professional men, junior men, and women tennis players. The PRISMA guideline was used, and the original articles were searched in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. The means and standard deviations computed from the distance of BI from the origin within the FS and KS on the x, y, and z axes (global coordinate system) were normalized by the participants' height and weighted by the number of participants in one-way ANOVA. Ten articles with a pooled sample of 133 males and 51 females aged 11–25 were included. The professional men had more stable BI on the x-axis within the FS by 56% (p < 0.001), within the KS by 58% (p < 0.001), and on the y-axis within the KS by 90% (p < 0.001) than junior men. The professional and junior men had the BI more leftwards from the origin on the x-axis within the KS by 188% (p < 0.001) and 88% (p < 0.001), respectively than within the FS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of RICYDE. Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte is the property of Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

One purpose of the present investigation was to examine whether tennis athletes have maladaptive achievement patterns associated with learned helplessness, and whether this condition is related to gender and/or skill level. A second purpose was to determine if there is a relationship between maladaptive achievement patterns and the attributional styles used in failure performances. A sport-specific questionnaire based upon the research of Dweck and others was designed to assess the cognitive, motivational, and emotional maladaptive achievement patterns in male and female highly skilled and lesser skilled athletes enrolled in a tennis academy (N=50). Another sport-specific questionnaire based on Abramson's attributional model was used to measure each athlete's attributional style (i.e., locus of control, stability, globality, and importance). Results revealed that 11 subjects demonstrated maladaptive achievement patterns associated with learned helplessness. No gender or skill level differences were present. Subjects classified as helpless had a different attribution dimension style for explaining failure performances than did subjects classified as nonhelpless. Specifically, helpless subjects gave ratings that were internal, persistent, and recurrent. The results were discussed in terms of their practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to determine if winning a specific game in a tennis match would predict success in the match and if psychological momentum was influenced by ability levels or gender of the players. Subjects were 119 male and female players competing in 163 matches in three sanctioned tennis tournaments. Game-by-game and set results were recorded. Furthermore, interviews were conducted to ascertain players' perceptions of momentum. Results revealed that winning any of the first eight games in the first and/or second set was a significant predictor of success in the tennis match. However, when only the results of more competitive matches (when sets extended to nine or more games) were examined, Games 8, 10, and 11 in the first set were significant predictors of winning the match, while only Game 4 of the second set resulted in an increased probability of match victory. No gender or ability differences were found. Based on these findings, it is suggested that investigators be cautious in inferring psychological momentum since these findings were dependent on the equity of competitors within a match, and psychological momentum seems to be a highly individual matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Homo Sporticus is the property of University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Sport & Physical Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the study was to examine the predictability of the competitive performance of Slovene tennis players by using the most promising morphological measures and motor tests selected by automatic computer methods and by experienced tennis coaches by means of machine learning methods. The analysis included altogether 1,002 male and female tennis players who had undergone regular testing by the National Tennis Association and were positioned on the ranking list of the Slovene Tennis Association between the years 1993 and 2008. Selections of the most promising variables by means of the two automatic methods yielded similar results, whereas the selection performed on the basis of estimates made by coaches differed considerably. With regard to the analysis by means of classification methods, an accurate predictability of competitive performance for the age category younger than 16 years was observed, while the results of predictions for the age category older than 16 were poor. Among the regression methods, as opposed to the linear regression, which has yielded satisfactory results, regression trees served no useful purpose in practice. Automatic methods for identifying the most promising variables proved to be more successful than those of the coaches, which was most clearly noticeable with regard to the female tennis players and when linear regression was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare male and female tennis players with respect to their body construction and to identify possible anthropometrical differences. In addition, the study carried out a comparison between different performance levels for both genders, in order to be able to contribute to an explanation of differences between those performance levels. For this reason 40 male and female players who played in the third and fourth divisions of German tennis, and another 35 male and female tennis players who played in the lowest divisions -- which are the ninth and tenth tiers -- were anthropometrically examined. The result supplies evidence for a simple gender specific difference on the examined subjects. Male tennis players with an average body height of 181.7 cm and average body weight of 79.4 kg are both significantly taller and heavier than the female tennis players, whose average body height is 167.3 cm and average body weight is 57.9 kg. In addition, the investigation reveals some performance level specific differences for male-players. The male subjects who played at the higher level show a lower body fat percentage -- with an average of 13.7% after skinfold-based body fat estimation -- than the male subjects who played at the lower level and displayed an average body fat percentage of 18.3% after skinfold-based body fat estimation. Finally, the male tennis players at the higher level are on average 182.4 cm tall and have a body weight of 76.7 kg. In comparison, the male tennis players at the lower levels are on average 180.9 cm tall and have an average body weight of 82.4 kg. For the female gender, no body-construction-specific disparities relating to the different performance levels were identified. It may be the case that the observed performance-level based difference for the male tennis players indicates a more pronounced athleticism in men's tennis than in ladies' tennis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a structure-conduct-performance model, we analyse competitive balance in the male (Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP) and female (Women Tennis Association or WTA) professional tennis circuits. Measures of inter-seasonal uncertainty as well as indicators for long-term uncertainty suggest that men's tennis is more competitive. From year to year, the share of new top 10 players is larger in ATP as are the changes in position of the remaining players. Equally, the number one position in the ATP rankings changes more frequently. Indicators for match-specific and seasonal uncertainty, however, suggest no difference in competitive balance between WTA and ATP: men's and women's matches are equally (un-)predictable. The reason for this apparent puzzle lies in the fact that lower ranked men have a better chance to make it to the finals. As uncertainty of outcome is often assumed to be a major determinant of a sport's popularity, the observed differences between the ATP and WTA competitions are expected to translate into differences in the interest of the public and media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis. Gymnica is the property of Palacky University in Olomouc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: In tennis, injuries to the elbow and wrist occur secondary to the repetitive nature of play and are seen at increasingly young ages. Isokinetic testing can be used to determine muscular strength levels, but dominant/non-dominant and agonist/antagonist relations are needed for meaningful interpretation of the results. Objectives: To determine whether there are laterality differences in wrist extension/flexion (E/F) and forearm supination/pronation (S/P) strength in elite female tennis players. Methods: 32 elite female tennis players (age 12 to 16 years) with no history of upper extremity injury underwent bilateral isokinetic testing using a Cybex 6000 dynamometer. Peak torque and single repetition work values for wrist E/F and forearm S/P were measured at speeds of 90°/s and 210°/s, with random determination of the starting extremity. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to determine differences between extremities for peak torque and single repetition work values. Results: Significantly greater (p<0.01) dominant arm wrist E/F and forearm pronation strength was measured at both testing speeds. Significantly less (p<0.01) dominant side forearm supination strength was measured at both testing speeds. Conclusions: Greater dominant arm wrist E/F and forearm pronation strength is common and normal in young elite level female tennis players. These strength relations indicate sport specific muscular adaptations in the dominant tennis playing extremity. The results of this study can guide clinicians who work with young athletes from this population. Restoring greater dominant side wrist and forearm strength is indicated after an injury to the dominant upper extremity in such players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to measure the difference in speed between the two basic strokes, back- hand (bh) and forehand (fh), in intermediate-level tennis players to identify the differences that exist between the use and effectiveness of the two strokes. The sample consisted of 20 intermediate-level tennis players, 6 males and 14 females. The variables applied were 10 backhand and 10 forehand strokes, for each subject. Data analysis and the comparison did not show any statistically significant differences between the speed of either strokes, whereas the difference was noticed between the males and females. The results showed that the general performance in the forehand stroke was better for males. It was concluded that more practice should be done in backhand than in forehand strokes for both genders, because speed was not lacking but effectiveness was, hence the latter requires further practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses lesbian tennis player Am&#x00C9lie Mauresmo, who upset the world's number one player Lindsey Davenport, in the semifinals of the Australian Open Championships in 1999. After the match, Davenport told assembled reporters that Mauresmo's power and physique were overwhelming, that playing her was like playing "a guy." Davenport's remarks might have passed with little notice, except that after the match, Mauresmo "leapt into the arms of girlfriend Sylvie Bourdon and was cradled with hugs." Then Martina Hingis, the world's number two player and Mauresmo's opponent in the Open final, told Swiss journalists in a joking tone that Mauresmo was there with her girlfriend, and that she a half-man. Following those exchanges, the women's final was played in an atmosphere of heightened media interest. Hingis won the match, but Mauresmo's time in the spotlight was not over. Shortly after the match, a "New York Times" reporter found a "calm and confident" Mauresmo outside the players' lounge. Mauresmo told the reporter she had intended to talk about her sexuality, even before the Open began, "not because she wanted to become a symbol or the focus of attention, but because she did not want to dance around the subject throughout her career."

Although we know from research that achievement motivation is related to individuals' ideas about how good they are at an activity, we know less about the components that predict these task-specific ability self-perceptions. Given their demonstrated motivational power, it would be useful to know what sub-component physical and psychological skills feed into individuals' sport-specific ability self-perceptions. A sample of 323 female and 143 male adult tennis players filled out questionnaire measures assessing their perceived tennis ability, United States Tennis Association (USTA) rating, self-perceptions of seven tennis shots (e.g., forehand, serve), perceived physical competencies, and perceived psychological competencies. Regression analyses showed that age, USTA rating, Perceived Tennis Shot Abilities, perceived confidence and achievement motivation, and perceived strategy knowledge significantly predicted players' Perceived Tennis Ability. The results highlight the importance of including perceived psychological abilities in measures of perceived athletic and sport-specific competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We ask whether top-ranked male tennis professionals are more dedicated or committed to their careers than the top-ranked female professionals. We find no evidence that this is the case in the 1979-1994 period. Despite substantially lower real earnings, the women pros competed for as many years as did the men and just as intensely in terms of annual number of tournaments played. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]