School of Information Sciences and Engineering, University of Canberra , Australia.
Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology , Australia.
J Sports Sci Med. 2006 Dec 15;5(4):548-55. eCollection 2006.
In a tennis match it is not uncommon for games to 'go with service' (ie. 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, so on). When this occurs, the player who serves first is either ahead by one game, or the games' score is equal. Some commentators, players, argue that the person who serves first has a psychological advantage in that his/her opponent is very often 'playing catch-up'. Assuming that such a (non-zero) psychological advantage of 'being ahead in the games' score' exists, the advantage of serving first in a set between two equal players, is determined. In the presence of such 'front-runner' psychological effects, alternative methods or rules for allocating service to the players are considered, and some are shown to be fairer than the present rule. A proposal consisting of two modifications to the present rules is put forward for consideration. One of these modifications is very easy to apply. The reverse psychological effect to the above, the 'back-to-the-wall' effect, occurs when a player performs better when behind. The proposal is seen to be fairer than the present method for the cases in which both players A has either a positive or negative psychological effect and player B also has an equivalent positive or negative effect. Further, the application of the proposal to doubles is also considered and a modification for doubles suggested for consideration. Key PointsThis study shows that a scoring system that is typically considered fair, may in fact not be fair when some psychological factors are added.Assuming a 'front-runner' (and/or a 'back-to-the-wall') effect exists in tennis for both players, the advantage of serving first in a set between two equal players, is determined.Given the presence of such psychological factors in tennis, fairer methods of allocating service to the players both within sets and across sets are determined.An additional modification for tennis doubles is also recommended.A method for improving the fairness in the one-day and test versions of a series of cricket matches is suggested.
在网球比赛中，一局比赛“以发球方得分（例如 1-0、1-1、2-1、2-2、3-2 等）结束”的情况并不少见。出现这种情况时，先发球的球员要么领先一局，要么局分相等。一些解说员和球员认为，先发球的球员在心理上有优势，因为他/她的对手往往是“在追赶”。假设这种（非零）“在局分上领先”的心理优势存在，那么两名实力相当的球员在一盘比赛中先发球的优势就可以确定。在存在这种“领跑者”心理效应的情况下，会考虑为球员分配发球权的替代方法或规则，并且有些方法被证明比现行规则更公平。本文提出了对现行规则进行两项修改的建议。其中一项修改非常简单易行。与上述情况相反，当球员落后时，会产生“背水一战”的反向心理效应。当球员 A 有正或负的心理效应，而球员 B 也有同等的正或负效应时，这个建议被认为比现行方法更公平。此外，还考虑了该建议在双打比赛中的应用，并提出了一个适用于双打的修改建议。要点本研究表明，当加入一些心理因素时，一个通常被认为公平的计分系统实际上可能并不公平。假设在网球比赛中，两名球员都存在“领跑者”（和/或“背水一战”）效应，那么在两名单打球员之间的一盘比赛中，先发球的优势就可以确定。鉴于网球比赛中存在这些心理因素，确定了在一盘比赛甚至跨盘比赛中为球员分配发球权的更公平的方法。还为网球双打推荐了一个额外的修改建议。提出了一种改进一系列板球比赛单日和测试版本公平性的方法。
