Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
Game Insight Group, Tennis Australia, Richmond, Australia.
J Sports Sci. 2020 Apr;38(8):945-952. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2020.1737370. Epub 2020 Mar 14.
Modified sports, whereby equipment and rules are manipulated to facilitate skill performance, have been shown to promote skill learning and potentially increase participation. However, it is currently unexplored how key stakeholders - coaches and key figures working in National associations - who are critical stakeholders in implementing and delivering sport programmes, perceive modified sport. This study explored how tennis coaches and key figures working within tennis National associations perceived the impact of implementing a modified tennis campaign on participation and skill development in children and adults. Key figures and coaches around the world completed an online questionnaire. Both groups considered that modified tennis was positively associated with increasing and sustaining participation, skill learning, talent development and people's attitude towards tennis. Furthermore, participants thought that a rule change (i.e., use of a low-compression ball in children competitions) and the campaign's core messages (i.e., "serve, rally, score" and "easy, fun, and healthy") have been critical for the success of the campaign. These results support previous research on the positive impact of modified tennis on skill development and provide a further impetus on implementing modified sports to increase participation. Other sports can adopt similar strategies to improve their modified programmes.
经过改良的运动项目通常会调整设备和规则以促进技能表现，从而被证明有助于技能学习，并可能增加参与度。然而，目前还不清楚关键利益相关者——教练和在国家协会工作的关键人物——作为实施和提供运动项目的关键利益相关者，如何看待改良运动。本研究探讨了网球教练和在网球国家协会工作的关键人物如何看待实施改良网球活动对儿童和成人参与度和技能发展的影响。来自世界各地的关键人物和教练完成了在线问卷调查。这两个群体都认为，改良网球与增加和维持参与度、技能学习、人才发展以及人们对网球的态度呈正相关。此外，参与者认为规则的改变（即儿童比赛中使用低压缩球）和活动的核心信息（即“发球、对打、得分”和“简单、有趣、健康”）对于活动的成功至关重要。这些结果支持了改良网球对技能发展的积极影响的先前研究，并为增加参与度而推广改良运动提供了进一步的动力。其他运动项目可以采用类似的策略来改进他们的改良项目。
