Vu?kovi?, Goran; James, Nic - The distance covered by winning and losing players in elite squash matches

摘要

The aim of this research was to analyse players’ motions in elite squash matches and to establish whether or not there were differences in the distance covered between winners and losers of individual rallies. An automated player-tracking system, with operator supervision and intervention, captured players’ movements during matches at the World Team Championships (N=11). All rallies (n = 1429) were analyzed, except when a ‘let’ decision was made by the referee (n = 307). All rallies were sorted into four different time-related categories: very short, short, medium and long rallies. On average, the winners of rallies covered 0.71m less than the losers. However, in 41.4% of cases, the loser of the rally covered less distance than the winner of the rally. This result suggests that a player who forces an opponent to cover a greater distance is not guaranteed to win the rally. A general explanation for this finding is that whilst a player may dominate a rally and cause the opponent to cover a greater distance, an error by the dominant player, or a good move by the player under pressure, would result in the rally winner having covered a greater distance. Consequently, further analyses are needed to examine whether any link exists between shot selection and their outcome and the distance covered.