Analysis of finishing actions in men’s and women’s professional padel

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of finishing actions in men’s and women’s professional padel. To do this, the category, the type of finishing actions, the type of shot and the number of shots in 5513 points from five World Padel Tour tournaments were analysed. The results showed that men made more winners and fewer errors than women (p < 0.001); with smashes usually being the most frequently used shots to make winners, also highlighting the forehand off the wall smash in women's padel. The back wall shots and forehand or backhand shots without a wall appear as the most frequent errors in these finishing actions. Also, while men tend to make more errors with forehand volleys, women hit more winners with this shot. Men and women padel players make more errors (CSR = 6.7; CSR = 5.5) and fewer winners (CSR = −6.7; CSR = −5.5) in the first five shots of each point. However, they make fewer errors and more winning shots as the number of shots per point increases. These findings are highly relevant, since the style of play differs according to the gender of the players.

Keywords

Gender performance analysis racquet sports

Introduction

Padel has gone from being a minority sport to being one of the most popular sports in the world, and this growth has led to an increase in championships, clubs, sponsors, and sports licenses.¹ The interest in this sports modality has also been reflected in an increase in scientific publications,² with game analysis being the most studied and characteristic topic, based on the provision of objective data through observational methodology.³ Specifically, the participants of the World Padel Tour (WPT), the most established professional men's and women's circuit in the world that organises tournaments in different countries worldwide each season, have been the object of study in several of these investigations, determining the differences that exist according to the gender of the participating players and between winning and losing teams.

Previous studies have observed that the duration of the points is longer in women's professional padel, and the number of shots per match or per point is greater.^4,5 The participation of the players on the left side of the court is greater in the men's category, while in women's padel the participation of the player on the right side is greater.⁶ In addition, considering the types of shots, men make more backhand volleys, flat or topspin smashes and, in general, more shots close to the net; while women make more lobs, trays, and shots from the middle and back of the court.^4,7–9 For their part, while women make a higher percentage of unforced errors, men make a higher percentage of winners.^6,10 However, although men are more effective on serve,¹¹ women are more effective on return.¹⁰ Finally, in the women's circuit, it is more characteristic that the games end with a golden point,¹² a WPT rule that consists of playing a point that will decide the game when the score is deuce.

Winning teams tend to score long-lasting points (more than 11 s), make no errors in the first four seconds of the point, and are very effective on break points.^13–15 In addition, they perform more attacking actions in 85% of the points, spend more time in net zones and perform more smashes. In contrast, losing pairs tend to lose more long-duration points, take fewer attacking actions per point per game, hit more groundstrokes with or without a wall during the match, and make more trays. Thus, there is a relationship between earning points and occupying areas close to the net.¹⁶ Finally, Muñoz et al.,¹² indicate in their study that the golden point is an indicator of performance, with the winning pairs being the ones that achieve the most of these types of points.

Research on padel takes into account different contextual or situational variables which determine differences during the game. Examples of these contextual variables are the set number,^12,14 the round,^12,14,17 the season,¹⁰ the type of tournament, master or open,¹⁷ match status,^18,19 key points, or point duration intervals.^16,20 However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies in the scientific literature that analyse the effectiveness of finishing points according to the number of shots in men’s and women’s professional padel, analysing the type of shots, the way of finishing (winner or error) and the possible differences between the men's and women's categories.

Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of finishing actions in men’s and women’s padel according to the type of shot and the number of shots per point. Given the objective, the hypothesis was that padel players would make more winners in areas close to the net and that the finishing actions would be different in men and women.

Material and methods

Research design

The design of this research follows empirical methodology, and more specifically a descriptive strategy. In addition, it is included within the observational category, being nomothetic, longitudinal, or monitoring and multidimensional.^21,22

Sample

Based on the ethical provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki,²³ the analysis included a total of 5513 points (2645 men's points and 2868 women's points), from 91 sets (44 men's sets and 47 women's sets) out of a total of 38 matches in the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals corresponding to five WPT tournaments in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The tournaments corresponded to Open and Master, to ensure the participation of the best pairs in the world, with 18 women (age 31.12 ± 6.06) and 21 men (age 28.66 ± 6.10) being analysed.

The variables analysed were the following:

- Category: the men's and women's categories were established to discover the possible differences between them.

- Type of finishing actions: a distinction was made between a winner (the player wins the point with a direct shot) and an error (the player misses the last shot), following Courel–Ibáñez and Sánchez–Alcaraz.¹⁶

- Type of shot: according to the classification established by Almonacid,,²⁴ we distinguish a total of 18 types of shots, which occur during the game in padel.

- Number of shots: the number of shots in each of the points was quantified, establishing a group of them, following the duration intervals of the point according to Courel–Ibáñez and Sánchez–Alcaraz¹⁶ and Sánchez–Alcaraz, Jiménez et al..²⁰

Process

The analysed matches were broadcast in streaming and later hosted on the WPT website, from where they were downloaded for data observation, collection and analysis. For this data collection process (data were collected from February 2022 to July 2022), an ad-hoc instrument was designed with the aim of analysing the variables under study: category, type of finishing actions, type and number of shots.

An intra-observer reliability analysis was performed to ensure the veracity of the data collected. The observer analysed a sample of 650 points to guarantee a relevant amount of data, between 10% and 20% of the study sample.²⁵ The mean reliability of the analysis test was 0.98.²⁶

Statistical analysis

All data were analysed with the statistical package IBM SPPS 26.0 for Windows. First, the calculation of frequencies (n) and percentages (%) of the variables under study was performed. Pearson's chi-square tests were carried out to make the comparison between genders of the finishing actions and the type of shot. The strength of the relationships was interpreted using the corrected standardised residuals (CSR), considering values from 1.96 to 2.58 as small; 2.58 to 3.29 as medium, and more than 3.29 as strong.²⁷ The effect size was calculated from Crammer's V (Vc), where values of 0.1 represented a small effect, 0.3 a medium effect and from 0.5 a large effect. A significance level of p < 0.05 was established.

Results

Table 1 shows the results obtained in the finishing actions according to the men's and women's categories. In addition, the types of shots are reflected based on the finishing actions (winners and errors), in both categories. The results show that the effectiveness of the last shot of the points is associated with the type of shot in women (χ² (17) = 601.410; p = 0.000; Vc = 0.458) and in men’s padel (χ²(17) = 824.008, p = 0.000, Vc = 0.558).

Table 1.

Differences between winners and errors in men’s and women’s padel according to the type of shots.

	Men						Women
	Winners			Errors			Winners			Errors
	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR
Type of shots	1690	64.0	6.6*	952	36.0	−6.6	1583	55.2	−6.6	1285	44.8	6.6*

Forehand without wall	49	3.1	−10.8	132	14.4	10.8*	66	4.3	−8.1	159	12.8	8.1*
Backhand without wall	20	1.3	−13.1	127	13.9	13.1*	53	3.5	−10.4	181	14.6	10.4*
Forehand side wall	2	0.1	−3.7	11	1.2	3.7*	2	0.1	−4.2	19	1.5	4.2*
Backhand side wall	1	0.1	−5.4	18	2.0	5.4*	4	0.3	−4.5	25	2.0	4.5*
Forehand ground stroke	11	0.7	−8.5	59	6.4	8.5*	15	1.0	−6.7	66	5.3	6.7*
Backhand ground stroke	4	0.3	−7.7	40	4.4	7.7*	12	0.8	−6.9	63	5.1	6.9*
Open double wall	5	0.3	−3.0	12	1.3	3.0*	4	0.3	−3.3	17	1.4	3.3*
Closed double wall	4	0.3	−1.6	6	0.7	1.6	5	0.3	−3.2	18	1.5	3.2*
Forehand off the wall smash	61	3.9	0.1	34	3.7	−0.1	96	6.3	2.1*	55	4.4	−2.1
Backhand off the wall smash	3	0.2	−1.9	6	0.7	1.9	12	0.8	0.4	8	0.6	−0.4
Forehand volley	225	14.2	−2.1	156	17.0	2.1*	334	21.9	4.4*	189	15.3	−4.4
Backhand volley	247	15.6	−1.5	161	17.6	1.5	190	12.5	−0.9	169	13.6	0.9
Tray	138	8.7	0.2	75	8.2	−0.2	239	15.7	−0.6	204	16.5	0.6
Smash	484	30.6	14.3*	52	5.7	−14.3	315	20.7	12.9*	48	3.9	−12.9
Over the fence	84	5.3	6.4*	3	0.3	−6.4	57	3.7	6.3*	3	0.2	−6.3
Over the back wall	88	5.6	7.0*	1	0.1	−7.0	37	2.4	5.3*	1	0.1	−5.3
Fake smash	25	1.6	1.7	7	0.8	−1.7	26	1.7	4.0*	2	0.2	−4.0
Recovery smash	132	8.3	8.0*	5	0.5	−8.1	57	3.7	5.5*	7	0.6	−5.5

* > 1.96.

The results of Table 2 show that gender is associated with the type of shot when it is a winner (χ² (17) = 219.777; p = 0.000; Vc = 0.259) or an error (χ²(17) = 67.374; p = 0.000, Vc = 0.174).

Table 2.

Differences between genders in winners and errors according to the type of shot.

	Winners						Errors
	Men			Women			Men			Women
	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR
Type of shots	1690	51.6	6.6*	1583	48.4	−6.6	952	42.6	−6.6	1285	57.4	6.6*

Forehand without wall	49	3.1	−2.0	66	4.3	2.0*	132	14.4	1.0	159	12.8	−1.0
Backhand without wall	20	1.3	−4.2	53	3.5	4.2*	127	13.9	−0.5	181	14.6	0.5
Forehand side wall	2	0.1	−0.1	2	0.1	0.1	11	1.2	−0.7	19	1.5	0.7
Backhand side wall	1	0.1	−1.4	4	0.3	1.4	18	2.0	−0.1	25	2.0	0.1
Forehand ground stroke	11	0.7	−1.0	15	1.0	1.0	59	6.4	1.1	66	5.3	−1.1
Backhand ground stroke	4	0.3	−2.1	12	0.8	2.1*	40	4.4	−0.8	63	5.1	0.8
Open double wall	5	0.3	0.2	4	0.3	−0.2	12	1.3	−0.1	17	1.4	0.1
Closed double wall	4	0.3	−0.4	5	0.3	0.4	6	0.7	−1.7	18	1.5	1.7
Forehand off the wall smash	61	3.9	−3.3	96	6.3	3.3*	34	3.7	−0.8	55	4.4	0.8
Backhand off the wall smash	3	0.2	−2.5	12	0.8	2.5*	6	0.7	0.0	8	0.6	−0.0
Forehand volley	225	14.2	−5.9	334	21.9	5.9*	156	17.0	1.1	189	15.3	−1.1
Backhand volley	247	15.6	2.2*	190	12.5	−2.2	161	17.6	2.5*	169	13.6	−2.5
Tray	138	8.7	−6.2	239	15.7	6.2*	75	8.2	−5.7	204	16.5	5.7*
Smash	484	30.6	5.8*	315	20.7	−5.8	52	5.7	2.0*	48	3.9	−2.0
Over the fence	84	5.3	1.9	57	3.7	−1.9	3	0.3	0.4	3	0.2	−0.4
Over the back wall	88	5.6	4.3*	37	2.4	−4.3	1	0.1	0.2	1	0.1	−0.2
Fake smash	25	1.6	−0.4	26	1.7	0.4	7	0.8	2.1*	2	0.2	−2.1
Recovery smash	132	8.3	5.2*	57	3.7	−5.2	5	0.5	−0.1	7	0.6	0.1

* > 1.96.

The results obtained in the finishing actions of both genders, taking into account the number of shots, are reflected in Table 3. The results show that the effectiveness of the last shot of the points is associated with the number of shots in women's (χ² (4) = 41.887; p = 0.000; Vc = 0.121) and men’s (χ²(4) = 50.333; p = 0.000; Vc = 0.138) professional padel.

Table 3.

Results obtained in winners and errors according to the number of shots per points.

	Men						Women
	Winners			Errors			Winners			Errors
	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR	n	%	CSR
Number of shots per point
1 to 5	428	25.3	−6.7	360	37.8	6.7*	414	26.2	−5.5	457	35.6	5.5*
6 to 10	532	31.5	1.8	268	28.2	−1.8	456	28.8	−0.7	386	30.0	0.7
11 to 15	353	20.9	2.0*	168	17.6	−2.0	311	19.6	2.9*	199	15.5	−2.9
16 to 20	171	10.1	2.0*	74	7.8	−2.0	170	10.7	1.9	111	8.6	−1.9
Over 21	206	12.2	2.8*	82	8.6	−2.9	232	14.7	3.5*	132	10.3	−3.5

* > 1.96.

As can be seen, in points of short duration (one to five shots), there is a greater probability (CSR = 6.7 for men and CSR = 5.5 for women's padel) of finishing the points with errors. However, as the points increase in duration (number of shots), they usually end with a winner, both in men’s and women’s padel.

Discussion

The objective of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of finishing actions in men’s and women’s padel according to the type of shot and the number of shots per point.

In men's padel, more winners are made than in the women's, and on the contrary, fewer errors are made in men's padel than in women's padel. The conclusions of other investigations accord with the results obtained in this study, since they show that men make more winners and fewer unforced errors than women.^6,10,20 Men develop a more aggressive game making more winners and women develop a more conservative game waiting for the opposing pair to make an error, therefore, we recommend adjusting the way of training according to the gender of the athletes.

When men’s and women’s padel players execute some variant of the smash they make more winners. Various investigations also conclude that winning pairs make a greater number of winning smashes than losing pairs.^4,14,15,28 Sánchez-Alcaraz et al.,⁹ indicate in their study that the efficiency of the smash decreases significantly when the players move away from the net, therefore, the winning smashes are usually hit close to the net. On the contrary, when men and women execute back wall shots and forehands or backhands without a wall, they make more errors, which are usually shots from the middle and back of the court. Various investigations show that about 80% of the direct points are obtained from the net zone.^13,15,16 In addition, while the winning pairs spend more time at the net, the losing pairs hit more groundstrokes with or without a wall during the match.^13,16,29 Thus, as Courel-Ibáñez et al.¹⁶ indicated in their study “while the objective of the pair of players who are in the back zone is to fight to get the net position, that of the players who are in the net zone is to fight to keep it”.

Men use the smash and recovery smash more as winners, and women use the tray, off-the-wall smash, and forehand volleys more as winners. Comparing genders, women generate more game winners through forehands and backhands without wall, forehand volleys, trays, and off-the-wall smashes than men. For their part, men perform more winning actions through backhand volleys and smashes than women. Other research indicates that men make flatter or topspin smashes and, in general, more shots close to the net, while women make more shots from the middle zone and the back of the court.^4,7,9 Therefore, men are more effective performing finishing actions at the net, and women are more effective performing attacking actions in the middle and back of the court. Similarly, the results of this research indicate that in men's padel the smash and the backhand volley are used more, therefore, more winners and errors are made than in women's padel. However, in women's padel the tray is used more and for this reason, more winners and errors are made than in men's padel with this shot. Coaches must provide information on the effectiveness of the game according to the gender of the players and create determined tasks where the specific type of hitting is trained. These results could be due to anthropometric and strength differences between elite men and women players.^12,30 Men are taller, with a higher muscular percentage and higher levels of vertical jump and grip strength than women players, which would allow them to successfully use the smash in positions further away from the net.⁹ On the contrary, women are shorter, so they have to let the ball pass so that it bounces off the wall, and then hit it. Similarly, women have less strength to make a winning smash.

In short-term points (one to five shots), both in the men's and women's categories, there is a greater probability of finishing the points with errors. However, as points increase in duration (number of shots), they often end with winners. For their part, Courel-Ibáñez and Sánchez-Alcaraz¹⁶ conclude in their study that minimising the number of errors during the first 4 s, as well as being able to score after 11 s, seem to increase the chances of victory in professional padel. This can be attributed to players wanting to win the point as soon as possible, which leads to haste and errors. Therefore, players should play more conservative shots early in points and try to make the decision to hit a finishing shot at the right time.

Despite the novel results found in this study, some of the limitations found should be highlighted. The moment of the set (beginning, middle, or end), as well as the equality in the score of the set, and the number of the set, are factors that could influence the results obtained. Future studies could be aimed at trying to determine the influence of these contextual variables on the finishing actions in padel.

Conclusions

Men make more winners and fewer errors than women. When men’s and women’s padel players execute some variant of the smash, which are usually shots close to the net, they make more winners. On the contrary, when they execute back wall shots and forehand or backhand shots without a wall, which are usually hit from the middle and back of the court, they make more errors. Also, while men tend to make more errors on forehand volleys, women hit more winners.

While men use over-the-back wall and recovery smashes more as winners than women, women use off-the-wall smashes, forehands or backhands without a wall, and forehand volleys more than men as winners. On the other hand, men make more errors with the fake than women.

In men's padel, the smash and the backhand volley are used more, therefore, more winners and errors are made than in women's padel. However, in women's padel the tray is used more and for this reason, more winners and errors are made than in men's padel with this shot.

The style of play in padel varies in men's and women's categories, therefore, the way of training must be adjusted according to the gender of the athletes.

Finally, men’s and women’s professional padel players make a large number of errors during the first five shots of each point, their number decreasing as the number of shots increases. Likewise, padel athletes make fewer winners at the beginning of the point, increasing their number as it progresses.

These findings are highly relevant, since the style of play differs according to the gender of the athletes and helps players make the decision to perform one type of finishing shot or another depending on the moment of the game. In addition, it helps coaches design specific training tasks and develop competition strategies.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Rafael Martínez-Gallego

Bernardino Javier Sánchez-Alcaraz

Diego Muñoz

References

International Padel Federation. List of countries associated with the International Padel Federation (FIP), https://www.padelfip.com/es/ (2022, accessed 11 May 2022).

García-Giménez

Pradas De La Fuente

Otín

, et al. Performance outcome measures in Padel: a scoping review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19: 4395.

Almonacid

Martínez

. Esto es pádel. Aula Magna. Sevilla, 2021.

Lupo

Condello

Courel-Ibáñez

, et al. Efecto del género y del resultado final del partido en competiciones profesionales de pádel. [Effect of gender and match outcome on professional padel competition]. RICYDE Revista Internacional de ciencias del deporte 2018; 14: 29–41.

García-Benitez

Pérez-Bilbao

Echegaray

, et al. Influencia del género en la estructura temporal y las acciones de juego del pádel profesional. Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte 2016; 11: 241–247.

Fernández de Ossó Fuentes

León-Prados

. Herramienta de evaluación técnico-táctica en pádel / Technical and tactical assessment tool for Paddle. Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte 2017; 17: 693–714.

Torres-Luque

Ramirez

Cabello-Manrique

, et al. Match analysis of elite players during paddle tennis competition. Int J Perform Anal Sport 2015; 15: 1135–1144.

Escudero-Tena

Fernández-Cortes

García-Rubio

, et al. Use and efficacy of the lob to achieve the offensive position in women’s professional padel. Analysis of the 2018 WPT finals. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17: 4061.

Sánchez-Alcaraz

Perez-Puche

Pradas

, et al. Analysis of performance parameters of the smash in Male and female professional padel. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17: 7027.

10.

Escudero-Tena

Courel-Ibáñez

García-Rubio

, et al. Sex differences in professional padel players: analysis across four seasons. Int J Perform Anal Sport 2021; 21: 651–662.

11.

Sánchez-Alcaraz

Muñoz

Pradas

, et al. Analysis of serve and serve-return strategies in elite Male and female padel. Applied Sciences 2020; 10: 6693.

12.

Muñoz

Toro-Román

Vergara

, et al. Análisis del punto de oro y su relación con el rendimiento en jugadores profesionales de pádel masculino y femenino. Retos 2022; 45: 275–281.

13.

Ramón-Llin

Guzmán

Martínez-Gallego

, et al. Stroke analysis in padel according to match outcome and game side on court. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17: 7838.

14.

Escudero-Tena

Javier Sánchez-Alcaraz

García-Rubio

, et al. Analysis of game performance indicators during 2015–2019 World Padel Tour seasons and their influence on match outcome. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021; 18: 4904.

15.

Sánchez-Alcaraz

Courel-Ibáñez

Muñoz

, et al. Análisis de las acciones de ataque en el pádel masculino profesional. Apunts Educación Física y Deportes 2020; 36: 29–34.

16.

Courel Ibáñez

Sánchez-Alcaraz Martínez

. Efecto de las variables situacionales sobre los puntos en jugadores de pádel de élite. Apunts Educació Física I Esports 2017; 33: 68–74.

17.

Sánchez-Alcaraz Martínez

Siquier-Coll

Toro-Román

, et al. Análisis de los parámetros relacionados con el marcador en el circuito world padel tour 2019: diferencias por género, ronda y tipo de torneo. Retos 2021; 39: 200–204.

18.

Muñoz Marín

Courel Ibáñez

Sánchez-Alcaraz Martínez

, et al. Análisis del uso y eficacia del globo para recuperar la red en función del contexto de juego en pádel (Analysis of the use and effectiveness of lobs to recover the net in the context of padel). Retos 2016; 31: 19–22.

19.

Muñoz

Javier Sánchez-Alcaraz Martínez

Courel Ibáñez

. Diferencias en las acciones de subida a la red en pádel entre jugadores profesionales y avanzados. Journal of Sport and Health Research 2017; 9: 223–232.

20.

Sánchez-Alcaraz

Jiménez

Muñoz

, et al. Effectiveness and distribution of attack strokes to finish the point in professional padel. Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de La Actividad Fisica y Del Deporte; In press, http://cdeporte.rediris.es/revista/inpress/arteficacia1365.pdf.

21.

Ato

López-García

Benavente

. A classification system for research designs in psychology. Anales de Psicología 2013; 29: 1038–1059.

22.

O’donoghue

. Research methods for sports performance analysis. London: Routledge, 2009.

23.

World Medical Association. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Bull World Health Organ 2001; 79: 373.

24.

Almonacid-Cruz

. Perfil de juego en pádel de alto nivel. Universidad de Jaén, http://ruja.ujaen.es/handle/10953/357 (2011, accessed 13 September 2022).

25.

Igartua

. Métodos cuantitativos de investigación en comunicación. Barcelona: Bosch, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/230794660.pdf (2006, accessed 13 September 2022).

26.

Landis

Koch

. undefined. The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. JSTOR 1977; 1977: 159–174.

27.

Field

. Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. London: Sage, 2018. https://app.kortext.com/borrow/269367.

28.

Ramón-Llin

Guzmán

Martínez-Gallego

, et al. Stroke analysis in padel according to match outcome and game Side on court. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17: 7838.

29.

Ungureanu

Lupo

Brustio

. Padel match analysis: notational and time-motion analysis during official Italian sub-elite competitions. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19: 8386.

30.

Pradas

Sánchez-Pay

Muñoz

, et al. Gender differences in physical fitness characteristics in professional padel players. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021; 18: 5967.