A new method for assessing squash tactics using 15 court areas for ball locations.
Tactics in squash have typically been assessed using the frequency of different shot types played at different locations on the court either without reference to other relevant information or on the basis of the preceding shot. This paper presents a new squash specific method for categorizing court locations in which the ball was played, a novel techniques for assessing the reliability of this method and presents typical shots responses in these new areas controlled for preceding shot as well as the time between shots and the handedness of the players. Twelve games were viewed using the SAGIT/Squash software and 2907 shots viewed a second time from a video image taken from behind the court with an overall agreement of 88.90% for the court location data and 99.52% for shot type. 3192 shots from 9 matches from the 2003 World Team Championships were analyzed in SAGIT/Squash. In the court areas analyzed between 2 and 7 shot responses were predominant suggesting tactical patterns were evident. This was supported by differences evident between shot responses played from the two back corners where the backhand side was characterized by a predominance of straight drives whereas straight and crosscourt drives were played on the forehand side. These results tended to confirm that tactics i.e., consistent shot types, are played although these are only apparent when factors that determine shot selection are accounted for. This paper has controlled for some of these factors but others need to be considered e.g., if individual player profiles are to be ascertained.
['Vučković|Goran|G|', 'James|Nic|N|', 'Hughes|Mike|M|', 'Murray|Stafford|S|', 'Milanović|Zoran|Z|', 'Perš|Janez|J|', 'Sporiš|Goran|G|']
D001185:Artificial Intelligence D054874:Athletic Performance D006801:Humans D009949:Orientation D015865:Racquet Sports D015203:Reproducibility of Results D012984:Software D062206:Spatial Analysis D013037:Spatial Behavior D014741:Video Recording
Method Squash tactics Shot types Ball analysis