Research of Incentive Effects on Data from Tennis

Incentives and prizes in sports can be different, ranging from monetary awards and prizes, ending with fame, respect and recognition of society. These factors can be a powerful motivator for athletes, encouraging them to overcome difficulties and strive for victory. Studies that focus on the impact of winning at a certain stage of the competition on the subsequent results of athletes are important for understanding the mechanisms of motivation and success in sports. Athletes with high motivation are able to work on themselves, train hard and not stop there. They are ready to overcome obstacles on the way to success, as for them victory is the main goal. There are various types of sports competitions, we will consider competitions consisting of independent stages. A staged competition is a competition in which participants go through several separate stages, each of which is a separate test or task. The winner is determined based on the total results of all stages. Before the first stage, the participants, who are approximately equal in abilities, are in a symmetrical position, but after the first stage their positions always become asymmetric, because at the initial stage someone will win, and someone will lose. This can lead to a further winner effect. In this paper, we test how winning the first stage of the competition can stimulate athletes to further success (at later stages of the competition), even with equal physical capabilities and an initial level of motivation. We also want to check how this effect varies depending on the stage of the competition, that is, to consider the impact not only at the early stages of the competition (short-term effect), but also at later stages (long-term effect). Thus, our main goal of the study will be to determine whether winning at the initial stage affects the results of subsequent competitions among men and women. The presence of any effect can not only expand our understanding of the impact of winning on athletic performance, but also help athletes, coaches and sports psychology specialists optimize training and motivational strategies to achieve the best results. In order to check how winning the first stage of the competition affects the athlete's subsequent results, we will analyze the data using the example of a tennis competition. We will consider different samples depending on gender and type of competition (tennis matches can consist of three or five sets), and also pay special attention to differences in the behavior and achievements of athletes. This is necessary in order for us to investigate precisely the behavioral effects, without taking into account the initial difference in the abilities of athletes. We assume that the results will differ between men and women. This study will help to identify the characteristics of motivation and success in sports, depending on the gender of athletes.