The Adaptive Role of Pre-Service Routines in Tennis: An Ecological Dynamics Approach to Self-Regulation in Sports Tasks

Pre-performance routines (PPR) can be defined as the set of behaviours and thoughts systematically used to prepare sport tasks execution. How consistently athletes should perform their PPR, is a topic with contradictory findings and interpretations. Guided by an ecological dynamics approach, we propose that self-regulatory action temporarily emerges from the exploration of several constraints (i.e., task, environment, and athlete), implying that PPR are an adaptive process that deals with performance circumstances, supporting and allowing task goal achievement.Using the “behaviour setting” concept, we applied a “behavioural mapping” technique to conduct an observational study on 10 professional players (i.e., ranked from 1º to 744º at the Association of Tennis Professionals), and described their pre-service routines (PSR) components (i.e., type of behaviours, their frequency, and duration) for a full official match. A total of 611 PSR were observed. Results indicate that PSR are subject of contextually constrained functional variability. Specifically, the length of the previous point explains from 23% to 47% the adaptation of PSR time, and different contextual challenges (i.e., critical points, result of the previous point, and set score) promoted individualized PSR adaptations (p < .05). Results suggest that PSR in tennis are shaped by interacting constraints, requiring athletes to functionally adapt their self-regulatory behaviour to deal with performance circumstances. These findings present important practical implications for PSR prescription, suggesting that, instead of being a rigid script of thoughts and behaviours, PSR development should allow athletes to functionally adapt their routines for each specific sport task to be executed.