Reflections on Beach Tennis in Brazil: a state of knowledge

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Beach Tennis is a recent sport in Brazil that has been increasing its number of fans and supporters, contributing to the growth of the sport.
OBJECTIVE: This research aims to map and discuss the production of knowledge regarding the studies of dissertations and scientific articles that deal specifically with Beach Tennis.
METHODS: The research is characterized as a qualitative approach to the type of state of knowledge. The descriptor “Beach Tennis” was used in the online databases: CAPES Theses and Dissertations Portal and Google Scholar.
RESULTS: Four researches that approached Beach Tennis as an object of study were analyzed and interpreted, two of which presented clarity and theoretical and methodological coherence throughout the development of their research, articulating the qualitative approach with the critical-reflexive deepening of the processes of investigation. Two other studies showed a certain weakness in the theoretical and methodological aspects, in the collection instruments and in the data analysis techniques, consequently compromising the construction processes of the results presented.
CONCLUSION: The studies interpreted in this article were predominantly descriptive-exploratory, with a qualitative approach, in which they contributed to the beginning of an investigative field on the theme of Beach Tennis. They sought to highlight the opinions of practitioners/teachers of this modality about the conditions of the practice, the regulatory institutions, the social profile of the practitioners, the process of institutionalizing the practice of the modality in a non-coastal city and about the creation of possibilities for the intergenerational practice.