The Role of Sleep Quality and Exercise Delay on Perceived Improvement in Tennis Players

Emrullah Yilmaz1, Mustafa Nurullah Kadi2, Behnam Cücü2, Ramazan Erdoğan3
1Ministry of Education, Mardin, Türkiye
2Gazi University Faculty of Sports Sciences, Ankara Türkiye
3Munzur University Faculty of Sports Sciences, Tunceli, Türkiye
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70517/revcc2624156
Published: 15/10/2026
: Emrullah Yilmaz, Mustafa Nurullah Kadi, Behnam Cücü, Ramazan Erdoğan. The Role of Sleep Quality and Exercise Delay on Perceived Improvement in Tennis Players. Revista Cultura Científica, 2026 Issue 24. pg. 1866-1876.

Abstract

This study examined bedtime procrastination, exercise procrastination, and perceived psychological recovery among tennis players, while also considering variations according to demographic and training characteristics. A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational survey was conducted with 214 volunteer licensed tennis players aged 18–35 years who had at least one year of sporting experience. Data were obtained using an exercise procrastination measure, a bedtime procrastination measure, and a psychological recovery measure, together with a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t tests, one-way analyses of variance, Tukey post-hoc comparisons, and Pearson correlations were reported. The findings showed no statistically significant differences by gender on the measured scale scores. Age-group comparisons indicated differences in exercise procrastination and its time, motivation, and anxiety components, whereas bedtime procrastination and perceived psychological recovery did not significantly differ by age. Athletes with doctoral qualifications reported higher psychological recovery scores than participants with associate or bachelor’s degrees, although these results were based on a small doctoral subgroup. Athletes training only once a week recorded higher exercise procrastination scores than those training more frequently; perceived recovery and bedtime procrastination did not significantly differ according to training frequency. The reported correlation between exercise procrastination and bedtime procrastination was positive and strong (r = 0.88), although the manuscript does not provide the associated significance test or the complete correlation matrix. Overall, the study identified associations between exercise procrastination and demographic or training characteristics, together with a notable reported association between exercise and bedtime procrastination. Because the design was cross-sectional and based on self-report, causal effects and changes in objective sleep quality or athletic performance cannot be inferred. The findings may inform further studies of self-regulation and recovery-related perceptions among tennis players.

Keywords: tennis; bedtime procrastination; exercise procrastination; perceived psychological recovery

Abstract

This study examined bedtime procrastination, exercise procrastination, and perceived psychological recovery among tennis players, while also considering variations according to demographic and training characteristics. A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational survey was conducted with 214 volunteer licensed tennis players aged 18–35 years who had at least one year of sporting experience. Data were obtained using an exercise procrastination measure, a bedtime procrastination measure, and a psychological recovery measure, together with a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t tests, one-way analyses of variance, Tukey post-hoc comparisons, and Pearson correlations were reported. The findings showed no statistically significant differences by gender on the measured scale scores. Age-group comparisons indicated differences in exercise procrastination and its time, motivation, and anxiety components, whereas bedtime procrastination and perceived psychological recovery did not significantly differ by age. Athletes with doctoral qualifications reported higher psychological recovery scores than participants with associate or bachelor’s degrees, although these results were based on a small doctoral subgroup. Athletes training only once a week recorded higher exercise procrastination scores than those training more frequently; perceived recovery and bedtime procrastination did not significantly differ according to training frequency. The reported correlation between exercise procrastination and bedtime procrastination was positive and strong (r = 0.88), although the manuscript does not provide the associated significance test or the complete correlation matrix. Overall, the study identified associations between exercise procrastination and demographic or training characteristics, together with a notable reported association between exercise and bedtime procrastination. Because the design was cross-sectional and based on self-report, causal effects and changes in objective sleep quality or athletic performance cannot be inferred. The findings may inform further studies of self-regulation and recovery-related perceptions among tennis players.

Keywords: tennis; bedtime procrastination; exercise procrastination; perceived psychological recovery

References

  1. Kellmann, Michael. “Underrecovery and Overtraining: Different Concepts—Similar Impact?” Enhancing Recovery: Preventing Underperformance in Athletes, edited by Michael Kellmann, Human Kinetics, 2002, pp. 3–24.

  2. Kellmann, Michael. “Preventing Overtraining in Athletes in High-Intensity Sports and Stress/Recovery Monitoring.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, vol. 20, suppl. 2, 2010, pp. 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2010.01192.x.

  3. Kellmann, Michael, et al. “Recovery and Performance in Sport: Consensus Statement.” International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, vol. 13, no. 2, 2018, pp. 240–245. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2017-0759.

  4. Richardson, Sean O., et al. Overtraining Athletes: Personal Journeys in Sport. Human Kinetics, 2008.

  5. Samuels, Charles. “Sleep, Recovery, and Performance: The New Frontier in High-Performance Athletics.” Neurologic Clinics, vol. 26, no. 1, 2008, pp. 169–80.

  6. Venter, R. E. “Role of Sleep in Performance and Recovery of Athletes: A Review Article.” South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, vol. 34, no. 1, 2012, pp. 167–84.

  7. Doherty, Rónán, et al. “The Sleep and Recovery Practices of Athletes.” Nutrients, vol. 13, no. 4, 2021, article 1330.

  8. Fullagar, Hugh H. K., et al. “Sleep and Athletic Performance: The Effects of Sleep Loss on Exercise Performance, and Physiological and Cognitive Responses to Exercise.” Sports Medicine, vol. 45, no. 2, 2015, pp. 161–86.

  9. Kovacs, Mark S. “Tennis Physiology: Training the Competitive Athlete.” Sports Medicine, vol. 37, no. 3, 2007, pp. 189–98.

  10. Turner, Mitchell, Philipp Beranek, Ian C. Dunican, and Travis Cruickshank. “The Impact of Sleep-Wake Behaviour on Tennis Match Performance in Junior State Grade Tennis Players.” Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, vol. 5, 2023, pp. 156–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-022-00177-x.

  11. Kroese, Floor M., Denise T. D. de Ridder, Catharine Evers, and Marieke A. Adriaanse. “Bedtime Procrastination: Introducing a New Area of Procrastination.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 5, 2014, article 611. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00611.

  12. Kroese, Floor M., and Denise T. D. de Ridder. “Health Behaviour Procrastination: A Novel Reasoned Route towards Self-Regulatory Failure.” Health Psychology Review, vol. 10, no. 3, 2016, pp. 313–25.

  13. Kelly, Scout M., and Hayley R. Walton. “‘I’ll Work Out Tomorrow’: The Procrastination in Exercise Scale.” Journal of Health Psychology, vol. 26, no. 13, 2021, pp. 2613–25.

  14. Codina, Nuria, et al. “Procrastination at the Core of Physical Activity (PA) and Perceived Quality of Life: A New Approach for Counteracting Lower Levels of PA Practice.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 10, 2020, article 3413.

  15. Zhang, Yuan, et al. “The Effects of Procrastination on Physical Activity among Chinese University Students: The Chain-Mediated Effects of Time Management Disposition and Exercise Motivation.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 15, 2024, article 1433880.

  16. Köse, Elif, Abdullah Kayhan, Başak Dinçer, Burcu Kayhan, and Tennur Yerlisu Lapa. “Egzersiz Erteleme Ölçeğinin Türkçe Versiyonunun Psikometrik Özellikleri [Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Procrastination in Exercise Scale].” Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, vol. 35, no. 4, online publication 2025, pp. 197–211. https://doi.org/10.17644/sbd.1573822.

  17. Lastella, Michele, et al. “Wakeup Call: Reviewing the Effects of Sleep on Decision-Making in Athletes and Implications for Sports Officials.” Montenegrin Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, vol. 9, no. 2, 2020, pp. 65–71.

  18. Yılmaz Dinç, S., K. Koçhan, and Z. Zat. “The Validity and Reliability of the Bedtime Procrastination Scale.” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, vol. 5, no. 9, 2016, pp. 57–62.

  19. Kayğusuz, Şeval, and Cengiz Karagözoğlu. “Sporda Psikolojik Toparlanma Ölçeği (SPTÖ) Geliştirme Çalışması [Development of the Psychological Recovery in Sport Scale].” Spor Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi, vol. 8, no. 2, 2023. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jssr/article/1192861.

Emrullah Yilmaz
Ministry of Education, Mardin, Türkiye
Mustafa Nurullah Kadi
Gazi University Faculty of Sports Sciences, Ankara Türkiye
Behnam Cücü
Gazi University Faculty of Sports Sciences, Ankara Türkiye
Ramazan Erdoğan
Munzur University Faculty of Sports Sciences, Tunceli, Türkiye

How to cite:

Emrullah Yilmaz, Mustafa Nurullah Kadi, Behnam Cücü, Ramazan Erdoğan. The Role of Sleep Quality and Exercise Delay on Perceived Improvement in Tennis Players. Revista Cultura Científica, 2026 Issue 24. pg. 1866-1876.

Publication History

Copyright © 2026, Emrullah Yilmaz, Mustafa Nurullah Kadi, Behnam Cücü, Ramazan Erdoğan. Published by Revista Cultura Científica. This article is published as open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Browse Advance Search