Pros say it all the time. The best tennis they play is when they are “in the zone,” playing tennis without any conscious thought. Tennis is a game of muscle memory and habit. The best players must program their subconscious mind with the proper technique until the body is automatically performing these skills. With the newly developed consumer product, Shot Stats Challenger, players can receive instant performance feedback with swing analysis metrics, including racket head speed (mph and kph), ball spin, play time, stroke count, and impact. This quantitative feedback is extremely beneficial to players because they can develop the proper technique and established quality habits that will improve their game exponentially.
The Shot Stats Challenger attaches to a racket just like a standard vibration dampener and weighs about the same as three dampeners. It features a rubberized exterior and a display screen that is high-contrast and easy to read in any environment, even the bright sun. It is touch screen controlled and responds to left and right swipes to change preferred metrics. The Challenger has a wireless sync feature using Bluetooth 4.0 technology that lets the player, parents or coach stay connected at all times as data is outputted to any mobile device. It can be removed in seconds and can conveniently handle the impact of any direct hit.
The convenience of this product for instant feedback is unmatched in tennis technology. Previously, a player would have to record video footage and analyze their strokes and technique after each recorded session. Now, with Challenger, a player can see instant stats on the Challenger display screen, or even activate the audible cue feature for even faster feedback. This allows any player to continue hitting balls while also receiving instantaneous swing metrics, and they can adjust and issues immediately to build muscle memory and achieve the best results.
Shot Stats provides a way to combine data and video for the ultimate experience. The synced data obtained from the Challenger can be viewed on any smartphone/tablet so a player can get deeper insight into how they are playing over individual sessions or matches. The ability to measure racket head speed or spin type is so crucial to a developing player, because faster racket head speeds lead to heavier spin on the ball, and this makes a player much more consistent. Coaches can also reap huge benefits from this product because they can get exact data on how a player is hitting a serve or a forehand, and then tailor their personal feedback towards the metrics provided.
The Shot Stats app will provide a way to record video along with the tracked data, which adds visual references towards each piece of data. This allows a player to form mental images and provide their brain with correct visual references to use in the future. On the app itself, players and coaches can create an individual profile to store collected metrics over time. The stats the Challenger collects can be shared across the world to other players and coaches, and it creates a worldwide experience for people looking to improve their game. With the video feature, players can share specific clips of a stroke to world-class coaches and gain access to feedback they wouldn’t normally have. Even within local communities, the technology in the Challenger could help rate playing abilities among tennis leagues using the analyzed data.
Shot Stats has truly created a revolutionary tool that empowers both the player and coach with raw motion data. The innovation behind the fusion of tennis and technology will allow players to capture the most pertinent information about their tennis strokes, and this is truly exciting for skill development in the future.