In the latest issue of Men's Health magazine, Andy Roddick estimates that he runs approximately 15 miles per tennis match. I don't really have the time to figure out whether that is realistic or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone else wanted to crunch the numbers.
no, he does not. tennis requires alot of movement but its in short bursts. even in a six set match, its not going to add up to 15 miles. maybe 5. it may burn off the same amount of calories as a 15 mile run though considering all the quick movements.
Roddick would have to run from baseline to the net over 2,000 times during the course of a match to equal 15 miles.
Even if a match went 5 sets, all with 12 games, and the average game was 8 points (1 deuce), that would be 55 yards per game, which seems high (for an AVERAGE), given tennis court dimensions *(27' x 39' per side). I'd say it's more on the order of 5 miles.
ktown wrote:
Even if a match went 5 sets, all with 12 games, and the average game was 8 points (1 deuce), that would be 55 yards per game, which seems high (for an AVERAGE), given tennis court dimensions *(27' x 39' per side). I'd say it's more on the order of 5 miles.
Take these assumptions, figure 90 feet per point (up to the net and back and up again, or more than twice across the baseline per point) and Roddick would travel about 8.2 miles per match.
So, he overshot on the estimate. I don't blame him, I'd be more tired after a 5 set match than a 15 mile run. But then again, I'm a runner. He's not. 15 miles would probably seem like torture to him compared to a tennis match. So, in conclusion, he's full of it and should be fined and investigated by USADA.
soccer players? maybe.
tennis players? no way.
Other ways to look at it:
4 hour match (long yes) 15/4 = 3.75 MPH avg or slower than a constant motion of 15 min mile pace. Possible.
Use the 5 mile estimat for a 4 hr. match 5/4 = 1.25 MPH (a veritable crawl). It's somewhere between 5 and 15. I'd say 8's a good guess.
Dean Kevinberg wrote:
In the latest issue of Men's Health magazine, Andy Roddick estimates that he runs approximately 15 miles per tennis match. I don't really have the time to figure out whether that is realistic or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone else wanted to crunch the numbers.
Maybe Roddick does run 15 miles per tennis match; trouble is Federer only runs 4.
How many minutes of play time does a match take (not including break obviously)?
If he was playing for 60 minutes, he'd be at 4 min a mile average for 15 miles. He should go after Komens record.
An outside midfielder on a soccer team, the most strenuous position, runs on average 7 miles per game. The most active player in the world a few years ago, Luis Figo, was shown running 9 miles. There is no way that tennis players run more than soccer players and soccer players will never run 15 miles in a 90 minute game. There is no way Andy Roddick runs 15 miles per match.
desert rodent wrote:
Maybe Roddick does run 15 miles per tennis match; trouble is Federer only runs 4.
Maybe he means he runs 15 miles a match when he plays Federer ;)...
Commen Cense wrote:
How many minutes of play time does a match take (not including break obviously)?
The link below cites 2 journal articles that calculated the work:rest ratio for pro tennis as 1:2.9 (1985) and 1:4.73 (2004).
http://tinyurl.com/22ocrvRoddick's matches lasted an average of 137.5 minutes at the 2007 Australian Open. If the work:rest ratio was 2.9, he would have to average 18.98 mph (3 min 10 sec/mile) the entire time the ball was in play to travel 15 miles.