Best way to collect and display data for tennis

Hi everybody, my name's Vitto and I'm here to ask you such a big favour:

I should write a kind of dissertation about "Tennis-Match analysis" and as you guess the main focus will be collecting data while watching a tennis match. But here is the point: I'm not looking for officials stats (such as How many aces, how many breakpoints and so on = all the stats that you can read from offical websites), I'm looking for any kind of data that you are able to collect ONLY by watching the match:

- SERVICE
- where the player served (left/middle/right)
- what spin (slice/kick/flat)
- net approach after serve (yes/no)
- how many seconds before he serves (seconds..)
- ........

- RETURN IN
- where the receiver shot the ball (left/middle/right)
- kind of return in (difensive/neutral/aggressive)
- punti vinti in risposta alla prima palla (a confronto con stats finali del match)
- ....

- RALLIES
- rally duration (how many shots)
- how it ends (winner/forced error/unforced error)
- which shots and where (forehand/backhand; down the line/inside-out/crossed)
- ....

And so on. It's a HUGE amount of data and I should do that for lots of tennis matches... of course I'm NOT asking you to create the file (I'm beginner with excel but I can learn quickly)... I just want to ask you HOW collect and HOW display these stats!!

I mean, which is the best way to create an excel file like that? I'm struggling with that. Please don't answer only "pivot table." because I don't know how to use it (so far) and I'm missing HOW to prepare the datasheet. I'm writing you hoping to read something that could help me in creating this file.

Thanks so much (by the way: if you love tennis I will send you the final project )

I uploaded the file... do you think that's the best way to collect and display the stats? I can use filters in order to display what I need.. but I'm not sure if is the most logical choice for this job...

I'll add my 2 cents. Maybe others will provide their views.
First, decide if this is a spreadsheet or a database. There are many similarities, especially with all the added features in each application. If your typical question will be something like "show me the games that Federer won when his first serve was a kick followed by an approach to the net" then a database would be a better choice. If your typical question is something like "what was the average rally duration for games when the receiver returned the ball down the line" then a spreadsheet may be better. Either one could answer each question, it is just a matter of which is better/easier. I will say, though, that the Excel community seems bigger than the Access community.

Second, determine what you are tracking (which you gave examples of above) and also the appropriate values for that data. You did some of that above, but, for example, would your input for where the player served be text "left", "middle", or "right" or would you be better served by using numbers (e.g. left = 0, middle = 1, and right = 2) so that you could then easily find an average position for the place where the player served? Don't be afraid to have both options - you could have the input be text, but you could have a 'helper' or calculated column that converts "left" to 0, "middle" to 1, etc. This would allow you to have the text, which is easier for humans to comprehend, but also have some numbers for analysis.

Third, do some trial runs. This will allow you to determine exactly what you want to measure and how you will track all of this. For example, is each row a point in the game? Then how are you going to determine points in the same match? Is it by the two players? If so, then how do you tell the difference between Federer and Nadal in Wimbledon vs the French Open?

Finally, and this may be a personal preference, but I recommend trying to keep all of the data on one sheet. For example, if you try to have a sheet for each game, then trying to do calculations across multiple sheets becomes a problem. You would then use the other sheets for your summaries.