What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to evaluate sleep changes during tennis season periods and their effects on balance and strength.

June 12, 2026Sport Sciences for Health0 citationsOpen Access

Sleep changes from off-season to in-season periods: effects on balance and jumping performance in young high-level tennis players

AMAntonino MulèUniversità Cattolica del Sacro Cuore DVDomenico Savio Salvatore VicariUniversity of Verona VGValerio GiustinoUniversity of Palermo

Key Points

This study aims to evaluate sleep changes during tennis season periods and their effects on balance and strength.
Participants filled out a questionnaire to assess their chronotype.
Evaluations on sleep habits, balance, and lower-limb strength were conducted in off-season and in-season periods.
Two groups were formed based on changes in sleep duration: worsened sleep group (WSG) and improved sleep group (ISG).
The WSG exhibited significant declines in balance performance, with increased Sway Path Length (SPL) and Sway Average Speed (SAS) across all test conditions (p < 0.001).
Females had worse balance performance in single-leg stance compared to males, with significant differences in SPL and SAS (p ≤ 0.043).
No significant effects of sleep changes were observed in jumping performance.

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Sleep has been identified as an important factor influencing performance, as well as sex and chronotype. The study aimed to investigate: (I) sleep changes in tennis season periods; (II) sleep influence on balance and lower-limb strength; (III) sex and chronotype influences. Methods Participants filled out a questionnaire to evaluate their chronotype. Sleep habits, balance, and lower limbs strength were evaluated in two season periods: off- and in-season. Forty percent of participants worsened their sleep duration from off- to in-season. Based on this, two groups were made: the worsened sleep group (WSG) and the improved sleep group (ISG). Results The WSG showed a decrease in balance performance across all test conditions. This was evidenced by significantly higher Sway Path Length (SPL) and Sway Average Speed (SAS) values in double-leg stance (DLS) both with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) ( p range from 0.043 to < 0.001), as well as in single-leg stance (SLS) ( p range from 0.018 to 0.010) from off-season to in-season period. Furthermore, gender-specific differences were also observed. Females had significantly worse SPL and SAS values in right SLS ( p ≤ 0.043), while males significantly increased SAS in DLS with EO ( p = 0.044), and SPL, SAS, and Sway Ellipse Area (SEA), in DLS with EC ( p ≤ 0.018). No sleep effects were found in jumping performance. Evening types showed the lowest SEA in left SLS than the other chronotypes, and at in-season compared to off-season (all p < 0.001). Conclusions Sleep remains a critical determinant of performance. Indeed, a reduction in sleep quantity was associated with a significant decline in balance performance, while no effect on jumping performance was observed. The strength of this association may be affected by athletes’ transition from off-season to in-season. This study suggests that individual factors such as sex and chronotype can influence these associations. These results offer valuable insights that require further investigations.

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