Does the presence of an opponent affect short serve accuracy?

What is it about?

In some sports (such as badminton), the target or end-point for a projected object is often not reached because an opponent intercepts or returns the object; thus, a player cannot use object landing location information to inform accuracy outcome. We compared the landing location of serves performed without an opponent by elite badminton players to predicted landing points of serves delivered with an opponent, we aimed to determine whether object projection accuracy is affected by the presence of an opponent.

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Why is it important?

Landing locations of serves to an opponent were predicted using a model developed through analysis of serves without an opponent present. The model predicted that 69% of serves to an opponent would have landed on or short (i.e. outside the permitted area) of the service line.

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