Determining and assessing volleyball playing tactics via match statistics
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2024
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Information and Service Management (ISM)
Language
en
Pages
55+1
Series
Abstract
Volleyball, as one of the most popular sports, has drawn increased academic research attention. In this sport, a tactic is considered a comprehensive set of skills and techniques strategically adopted by teams, greatly influencing the interest of audiences and business individuals. Nevertheless, the majority of existing studies on volleyball have mainly focused on assessing the impact of separate skills on a game's outcome. There seems to be a scarcity of research exploring the combined effect of multiple skills, or what we term as a playing tactic. Therefore, this study aims to identify potential tactics and their effects on performance success by examining match statistics gathered from Volleyball Women's World Championship tournament. This thesis employs two analytical methods: factor analysis and ordinal regression analysis. Based on post-match statistics, fourteen variables have been extracted, covering six critical volleyball skills, namely attack, block, serve, set, and dig. These variables are subjected to factor analysis to group them based on high correlations. Each resulting group is considered a distinct playing tactic. Subsequently, these identified playing tactics are used as predictors in a regression analysis, with the success outcome serving as the dependent variable. The practical implications derived from these findings can offer advantages to players, coaches, recruitment and investment personnel, and companies developing scouting applications for volleyball. By gaining insights into tactics, volleyball players and their coaches can tailor training programs and strategies for better results on the court. Recruitment and investment professionals can leverage this knowledge for more informed player selection, aligning choices with budget considerations. For companies that specialize in scouting software, understanding of diverse playing tactics can lead to the inclusion of more enhanced metrics in their products, giving them an edge in the marketplace.Description
Thesis advisor
Seppälä, TomiKeywords
volleyball analysis, playing tactics, factor analysis, ordinal regression