Effects of passive, active, and mixed playing strategies on external and internal loads in female tennis players

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different playing strategies on external and internal loads in female tennis players during match play. Also, the underlying effects on the technical-tactical actions and activity profiles were examined. Twelve well-trained female players (age: 25 +/- 5 years; maximum oxygen uptake: 40.9 +/- 4.3 ml/kg/min) played points against an opponent of similar ability outdoors on red-clay courts. The players played points over five playing conditions. Before each condition, the players were instructed to apply either a passive, an active, or their own playing strategy (free play) to succeed. The five conditions were played in a randomized order, whereas the condition with the own strategy was always played first and served as control. During play, the external and internal loads were investigated by 10 Hz global positioning system, 100 Hz inertial measurement unit, short-range telemetry, capillary blood, and visual analog scale procedures. A 25 Hz video camera was used to examine the technical-tactical actions and activity profiles. Compared to the control condition, the passive, active, and mixed playing strategy conditions induce up to large effects on the external loads (running distances with high acceleration and deceleration), up to moderate effects on the internal loads (energy expenditures spent with high metabolic power, lactate concentration, and rating of effort), and up to very large effects on the technical-tactical actions (number of ground strokes and errors) and activity profiles (strokes per rally, rally duration, work to rest ratio, and effective playing time). Our study shows that passive, active, and mixed playing strategies have an impact on the external and internal loads, technical-tactical actions, and activity profiles of female tennis players during match play. This finding should be considered for practical purposes like match analyses and training procedures in the tennis environment.