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The Physical Demands of Wheelchair Tennis Match Play: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis

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Abstract

Background

Wheelchair tennis, a globally popular sport, features a professional tour spanning 40 countries and over 160 tournaments. Despite its widespread appeal, information about the physical demands of wheelchair tennis is scattered across various studies, necessitating a comprehensive systematic review to synthesise available data.

Objective

The aim was to provide a detailed synthesis of the physical demands associated with wheelchair tennis, encompassing diverse factors such as court surfaces, performance levels, sport classes, and sexes.

Methods

We conducted comprehensive searches in the PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus databases, covering articles from inception to March 1, 2023. Forward and backward citation tracking from the included articles was carried out using Scopus, and we established eligibility criteria following the Population, Exposure, Comparison, Outcome, and Study design (PECOS) framework. Our study focused on wheelchair tennis players participating at regional, national, or international levels, including both juniors and adults, and open and quad players. We analysed singles and doubles matches and considered sex (male, female), sport class (open, quad), and court surface type (hard, clay, grass) as key comparative points. The outcomes of interest encompassed play duration, on-court movement, stroke performance, and physiological match variables. The selected study designs included observational cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies (baseline data only). We calculated pooled means or mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and employed a random-effects meta-analysis with robust variance estimation. We assessed heterogeneity using Cochrane Q and 95% prediction intervals.

Results

Our literature search retrieved 643 records, with 24 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. Most available information focused on international male wheelchair tennis players in the open division, primarily competing in singles on hard courts. Key findings (mean [95% CI]) for these players on hard courts were match duration 65.9 min [55.0–78.8], set duration 35.0 min [28.2–43.5], game duration 4.6 min [0.92–23.3], rally duration 6.1 s [3.7–10.2], effective playing time 19.8% [18.9–20.7], and work-to-rest ratio 1:4.1 [1:3.7–1:4.4]. Insufficient data were available to analyse play duration for female players. However, for the available data on hard court matches, the average set duration was 34.8 min [32.5–37.2]. International male players on hard court covered an average distance per match of 3859 m [1917–7768], with mean and peak average forward speeds of 1.06 m/s [0.85–1.32] and 3.55 m/s [2.92–4.31], respectively. These players executed an average of 365.9 [317.2–422.1] strokes per match, 200.6 [134.7–299.0] per set, 25.4 [16.7–38.7] per game, and 3.4 [2.6–4.6] per rally. Insufficient data were available for a meta-analysis of female players’ on-court movement and stroke performance. The average and peak heart rates of international male players on hard court were 134.3 [124.2–145.1] and 166.0 [132.7–207.6] beats per minute, and the average match heart rate expressed as a percentage of peak heart rate was 74.7% [46.4–100]. We found no studies concerning regional players or juniors, and only one study on doubles match play.

Conclusions

While we present a comprehensive overview of the physical demands of wheelchair tennis, our understanding predominantly centres around international male players competing on hard courts in the open division. To attain a more comprehensive insight into the sport’s physical requirements, future research should prioritise the inclusion of data on female and quad players, juniors, doubles, and matches played on clay and grass court surfaces. Such endeavours will facilitate the development of more tailored and effective training programmes for wheelchair tennis players and coaches.

The protocol for this systematic review was registered a priori at the International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (Registration https://doi.org/10.37766/inplasy2023.3.0060).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Tennis Federation, London, UK

    Samuel Williamson & Cain Berry

  2. UK Sports Institute, Bath, UK

    Samuel Williamson

  3. Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Clare L. Ardern

  4. Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

    Clare L. Ardern

  5. Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    Neil Heron

  6. School of Medicine, Keele University, Staffordshire, England

    Neil Heron

  7. Section Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Dina C. Janse van Rensburg & Babette M. Pluim

  8. Medical Advisory Panel, World Netball, Manchester, UK

    Dina C. Janse van Rensburg

  9. Sport Science Department, Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association (KNLTB), Amstelveen, The Netherlands

    Marleen G. T. Jansen

  10. Centre for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands

    Marleen G. T. Jansen

  11. School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    Samantha McCormick

  12. Tennis Australia, Melbourne, Australia

    Machar Reid

  13. Faculty of Sport Science, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain

    Alejandro Sánchez-Pay

  14. Physio Meets Science GmbH, Leimen, Germany

    Tobias Saueressig

  15. University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Linda J. Schoonmade

  16. Spinal Cord Injury British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Robert B. Shaw

  17. Human Kinetic Technology, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Rienk M. A. van der Slikke

  18. IPC Medical Committee, Bonn, Germany

    Nick Webborn

  19. School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Nick Webborn

  20. Amsterdam Collaboration on Health & Safety in Sports (ACHSS), IOC Research Center of Excellence, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Babette M. Pluim

  21. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Babette M. Pluim

  22. Academic Center for Evidence-Based Sports Medicine (ACES), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Babette M. Pluim

  23. Medical Department, Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association (KNLTB), Amstelveen, The Netherlands

    Babette M. Pluim

  24. University of Western Australia, School of Human Sciences, Perth, Australia

    Machar Reid

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  1. Samuel Williamson
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  2. Clare L. Ardern
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Correspondence to Babette M. Pluim.

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Funding

TS obtained financial support from the Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association (KNLTB) to conduct the statistical analysis. The remaining authors did not receive any financial assistance for the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Conflict of interest

BMP and MGTJ are employed by the KNLTB. CB is employed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). BMP and SW are Heads of Classification of the ITF. CLA, NH, DCJvR, SM, MR, ASP, TS, LJS, RBS, RMAvdS, and NW have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

Authors’ contributions

SW, BMP, MGTJ, SM, and NH conceived the idea for the study, while CLA, CB, MR, ASP, RBS, RMAvdS, and NW made substantial contributions to the study’s design. LJS conducted the literature search with input from SW, MGTJ, and BMP. SW, BMP, and MGTJ screened the articles and extracted the data. TS analysed the data and conducted the statistical analysis and meta-analysis. SW, BMP, MGTJ, DCJvR, SM, and NH prepared the original draft. All authors helped critically revise the work for important intellectual content, approved the final version of the work, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

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Williamson, S., Ardern, C.L., Berry, C. et al. The Physical Demands of Wheelchair Tennis Match Play: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02028-x

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