Understanding the lonesome tennis players: insights for future wearables

Abstract

Wearable smart devices enhance athletes' physical activities by providing physical data on their performances. However, there is a high abandonment rate regarding these devices. This study aims to understand the habits and the wishes of the tennis players in order to create a more prolonged and frequent wearable usage. As a preliminary work, we conducted an online survey on the Turkish Tennis Federation's website with 1567 participants. Later we conducted in-depth interviews with 20 professional and international tennis players to get a better understanding of their wishes. Our initial results suggest that with the increase of tennis playing frequency the wearable usage frequency increases, which has not been indicated by previous studies. However, the most striking outcome of the study is the tennis players' need for feedback regarding mental states, which should be considered for future wearables.