2134/15403
Louise Reyner
Louise
Reyner
James A. Horne
James A.
Horne
Sleep restriction and serving accuracy in performance tennis players, and effects of caffeine
Loughborough University
2014
Sleep restriction
Caffeine
Tennis
Serving accuracy
Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
2014-07-30 13:56:19
Journal contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Sleep_restriction_and_serving_accuracy_in_performance_tennis_players_and_effects_of_caffeine/9629744
Athletes often lose sleep on the night before a competition. Whilst it is unlikely that sleep loss will
impair sports mostly relying on strength and endurance, little is known about potential effects on
sports involving psychomotor performance requiring high level cognitive skills necessitating
judgement and accuracy, as in tennis, and where caffeine is ‘permitted’’. Two studies were
undertaken on the effects of 5h sleep (33%) restriction versus normal sleep, on an objective
measure of serving accuracy in semi-professional tennis players. Testing (14:00h-16:00h) for
both studies comprised 40 serves into a (1.8m x 1.1m) ‘service box’ diagonally, over the net.
Study 2 was identical to that of Study 1, except that there was an extra sleep restriction condition.
All conditions involved a sugar free drink given 30 min before testing, but with the drink for one
sleep restriction containing 80mg caffeine (double blind). Study 1 comprised 16 men and
women, in a within Ss counterbalanced design (normal versus sleep restriction). Study 2
involved 12 different men and women undergoing three conditions in a latin square design.
Conditions were as for Study 1, with a replicated sleep restriction. All conditions incorporated a
sugar-free drink given 30 min before testing, with one restriction including 80mg caffeine (double
blind). Both studies showed significant impairments to serving accuracy following sleep
restriction, particularly with women. At this dose, caffeine had no beneficial effect. These results
reflect laboratory based, non-sports related findings pointing to detrimental effects of sleep loss
on executive function.