エリートテニス選手における幼児期からの運動経験:インタビュー調査による検討

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain an effective knowledge for developing an elite tennis player. To accomplish this, interviews were conducted with eleven world-class Japanese professional tennis players (4 male and 7 female). The author inquired about the athletes’ experiences regarding exercise play, and sports during the developmental process. The questions included following, ① what kind of play did you do, ② what is your strongest memory of play, ③ what did you gain from exercise experience, ④ how did exercise experience in childhood have a positive impact on your tennis career. The results of the interviews are that all players were immersed at an early age in exercise play (tag, hide and seek, etc) and sports (baseball, swimming, soccer, etc) with their neighborhood friends, brothers, and sisters. They had enjoyed playing, physical movements, and competing with friends. They developed not only fundamental motor skills but also the ability to play tennis through considerable exercise experience. Furthermore, they felt to be able to improve an understanding of themselves by playing sports with friends, and they developed an attitude as an athlete through experiences of challenge, competition, victory or defeat. Consequently, players received many physical and psychological benefits from their exercise experience in childhood. These benefits have a profound influence on their career as professional tennis players. It is necessary that to train and develop an elite tennis player, children should be given sufficient exercise experience including challenge, competition, victory or defeat since childhood.