Using the 135 App Scroller - An Example
The pros have moved on to the US hard court season and we had a classic example of why being able to see analytics at any stage of a match can be so important.
Thanasi Kokkinakis played Fernando Verdasco in the first round in Los Carbos earlier this week. He went on to win the match in 3 sets 63 67 62. Tough match. What made it tougher was the fact that Thanasi had a break of serve in the second set and had 3 match points late in the second to take it out. He couldn’t convert and the match went to a decider.
Fortunately for Thanasi, and his team, he was able to pull it off in the end, but in looking over the analytics inside the app, something became very clear.
What is The Scroller?
Before explaining what happened, you can find the 135 App scroller at the bottom of every graph inside the app. At the bottom of each screen are two buttons that you can drag along the line, such that you can view analytics from any game score, to any game score in a match.
That’s a break from traditional stats where you only get the full match stats or set by set stats.
What Happened Against Verdasco
Most parents have seen their child all set for victory, then somehow the match turns south and, before you know it, your player is in a deciding set or match tiebreaker.
It’s very easy to blame it on nerves, failure to close, lack of concentration, but do the analytics show us anything?
The two graphs below are Thanasi’s rally lengths on serve, one from the start of the match through to midway through the second set. The other is from a starting point of midway way through the second set through to the start of the third.
I’ve put circles around the important data (3s and 5s) and also around the scroller buttons so that you can clearly see the different points. The score is also visible although you may have to zoom in a little.
Note the difference? Thanasi’s 3s and 5s were OK until midway through the second set, then fell off a cliff with loads of errors after that. Luckily, we have video to look at all his 3s and 5s shown in the second graph. They show a distinct lack of footwork and a desire to finish points too quickly, hence the mistakes.
Give the scroller a go to see if there’s anything noticeable about how you or your player, plays. Do they start slowly? Do they have trouble closing? What happens in tiebreakers? All of these can be viewed inside the app using the scroller.
