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).

中文翻译：

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轮椅网球比洞赛的身体需求：荟萃分析的系统回顾

背景

轮椅网球是一项全球流行的运动，其职业巡回赛横跨 40 个国家，举办超过 160 场比赛。尽管轮椅网球具有广泛的吸引力，但有关轮椅网球对身体要求的信息分散在各种研究中，因此需要进行全面的系统审查以综合可用的数据。

客观的

目的是提供与轮椅网球相关的身体需求的详细综合，包括场地面积、表现水平、运动类别和性别等多种因素。

方法

我们在 PubMed、Embase、CINAHL 和 SPORTDiscus 数据库中进行了全面检索，涵盖从成立到 2023 年 3 月 1 日的文章。使用 Scopus 对纳入的文章进行前向和后向引用跟踪，我们根据人口、暴露、比较、结果和研究设计 (PECOS) 框架。我们的研究重点是参加地区、国家或国际级别的轮椅网球运动员，包括青少年和成人，以及公开赛和四人制网球运动员。我们分析了单打和双打比赛，并将性别（男、女）、运动类别（公开赛、四人赛）和场地类型（硬地、红土、草地）作为关键比较点。感兴趣的结果包括比赛持续时间、场上运动、击球表现和生理比赛变量。选定的研究设计包括观察性横断面、纵向和干预研究（仅基线数据）。我们计算了具有 95% 置信区间 (CI) 的汇总平均值或均值差，并采用了具有稳健方差估计的随机效应荟萃分析。我们使用 Cochrane Q和 95% 预测区间评估异质性。

结果

我们的文献检索检索到 643 条记录，其中 24 篇文章符合我们的纳入标准。大多数可用信息都集中在公开组的国际男子轮椅网球运动员，主要在硬地球场上进行单打比赛。这些球员在硬地球场上的主要调查结果（平均值 [95% CI]）是比赛持续时间 65.9 分钟 [55.0–78.8]，设定持续时间 35.0 分钟 [28.2–43.5]，比赛持续时间 4.6 分钟 [0.92–23.3]，对打持续时间 6.1 s [3.7–10.2]，有效上场时间 19.8% [18.9–20.7]，工作与休息比例 1:4.1 [1:3.7–1:4.4]。没有足够的数据来分析女性球员的比赛时间。然而，就硬地比赛的现有数据而言，平均比赛时长为 34.8 分钟 [32.5–37.2]。国际男运动员在硬地球场上的平均每场比赛距离为 3859 m [1917–7768]，平均和峰值平均前进速度分别为 1.06 m/s [0.85–1.32] 和 3.55 m/s [2.92–4.31] 。这些球员平均每场比赛打出 365.9 [317.2–422.1] 杆，每盘打出 200.6 [134.7–299.0] 杆，每场打出 25.4 [16.7–38.7] 杆，每场比赛打出 3.4 [2.6–4.6] 杆。没有足够的数据来对女运动员的场上动作和击球表现进行荟萃分析。国际男运动员在硬地球场上的平均心率和峰值心率分别为每分钟 134.3 [124.2–145.1] 和 166.0 [132.7–207.6] 次，平均比赛心率占峰值心率的百分比为 74.7% [46.4]。 –100]。我们没有发现有关地区球员或青少年球员的研究，只有一项有关双打比洞赛的研究。

结论

虽然我们对轮椅网球的身体需求进行了全面的概述，但我们的理解主要集中在公开组硬地球场上的国际男性运动员上。为了更全面地了解这项运动的身体要求，未来的研究应优先考虑女子和四人运动员、青少年、双打以及在红土和草地球场上进行的比赛的数据。这些努力将有助于为轮椅网球运动员和教练制定更加量身定制和有效的培训计划。

本系统评价的方案已在国际注册系统评价和荟萃分析方案平台上预先注册（注册https://doi.org/10.37766/inplasy2023.3.0060）。