Who, how and when to perform winner points and unforced errors in badminton matches? An analysis of men’s single matches in the 2016 Olympic Games

The aim of the present study was to (i) establish the probability of winning a badminton game based on the number of unforced errors (UE) and winner points (WP); (ii) analyse the moment of the game that these actions are performed; (iii) analyse the relationship between the number of UE and WP and the athletes ranking. The sample included all men single matches (n = 57) from the 2016 Olympic Games. Winner players performed significantly more WP, while loser players performed significantly more UE. Moderate correlations were found between single ranking of the players and mean number of WP (r = −0.45, p 80%) of winning a game. In the last moments of the first and second games, the loser players perform significantly lower numbers of UE. At the last moments of the first and second games, the winner players perform significantly lower numbers of WP. The study suggests that athletes and coaches might pay attention before the match to the ranking position of the opponent and during the game at the moment that the number of UE becomes greater than PV.