Want to show off your data analysis and visualization skills, and dig into some tennis data while you’re at it? Nikita, from the Tennis Notebook, and I are hosting the Tennis Data Storytelling Challenge, which will run for the next several months. You can read all about it–and sign up–at her site.
There’s plenty of data out there for you to use, and I encourage you to explore it to get a better sense of what you might do with it. Nikita has focused in particular on data from the Match Charting Project, the crowdsourced effort I’ve coordinated to collect shot-by-shot stats for hundreds of professional matches. The best way to learn about that project is to jump in and chart a match (or ten) yourself.
So, what should you write about? If you have to ask, I suspect you’re not watching enough tennis–or, at least, you’re not watching with a sufficiently critical eye.
The best analytical work comes from people with deep domain knowledge in addition to the data science skills they need to do the analysis. The more you watch the sport intently, listen to commentators with a skeptical ear, and think for yourself about what’s happening on court, the better your work will be.
In addition to those that Nikita posted recently, here are a few more general subjects to get you pointed in the right direction:
- How do lefties differ–in tactics or in results–from right-handers?
- What shots or tactics are more successful on one surface than on another?
- What happens to a player’s game when s/he starts getting tired, and how does that show up in the data?
- Are there particular skills or playing styles that transfer well from the lower levels (Challengers, etc) to tour level?
- What happens in pressure situations? Do some players excel more than others? Do players lean on different tactics than they do in lower-leverage situations?
The list goes on–literally. I’ve posted a list of nearly 150 topics, ranging from simple queries to barely-touched fields of research. Feel free to add to it.
Remember, however, that many of these are big questions–far too complicated to adequately address in 1,500 words. I’d rather see a very carefully researched, convincing narrative about a narrow topic than an attempt to cover too much ground at once.
Again, if you want to join the fun, head over to The Tennis Notebook and sign up for the Challenge!