The Current State of Tennis Technology and Analytics

We had the privilege to present at the very first Tennis Technology and Analytics Summit organized by the International Tennis Performance Association. Thank you Dr. Mark Kovacs for leading the charge in our field! Please see an introduction below and a link to full documents being first of their kind in the tennis industry.

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A White Paper Summary from the 2018 Tennis Technology and Analytics Summit 
presented by the International Tennis Performance Association

As part of the 2018 World Tennis Fitness Conference, the International Tennis Performance Association hosted a half day Summit on Tennis Technology and Analytics. The purpose behind the Summit was to bring practical experts together to discuss the State of the Tennis Industry and provides some recommendations for the future.
 
“The Science of Today is the Technology of Tomorrow”
The growth of technology and analytics in all sports has grown exponentially in the last decade. The tennis industry has embraced many aspects of technology and analytics, but also has many areas that continue to be developed to improve the sport in all the various areas.
Tennis Needs Innovation
The first step in innovation is understanding where the areas of strength and the areas of opportunity exist. To improve technology and analytics in the sport of tennis, it is paramount to bring together the best minds in the industry and focus on what we currently do well and what we can improve on. Read full ITPA article…

View the entire White Paper here

SevenSix - Coach Tennis From Anywhere

2.0 released 4-5-2020 !

SevenSix’s platform enables online and distance coaching, in order to boost player performance and open new opportunities for coaches. This video gives a summary of the app’s usage: players record themselves in action, upload the video to their account, and then a coach can provide feedback to the player.

Alex recently spoke with CEO of SevenSix, Trond Kittelsen, and got some more information on the current state of SevenSix, the company’s development as a startup, and the potential of exciting new tennis technologies.

In what ways does a coach interact with players through SevenSix?

Trond: A coach can use his or her smartphone to record a short video and audio that is uploaded to the player’s profile. This way a player will know what they need to work on for their technique. SevenSix’s focus is on low barrier tools that enable player/coach connections rather than the analytical process itself.

I do not think SevenSix will go the way of a video analysis app because they often get complex, and only a small group of coaches use them. Instead, SevenSix approaches online coaching in a different manner, by providing a framework that allows a coach to use any video analysis tool they prefer (phone, Dartfish,  PlaySight etc). All the data silos need to be opened up so that coaches can change and mix things up a little bit, but still, have one platform that gathers and presents all of their information. While working closely with top coaches, I saw first-hand that player development plans were in the coach’s Google Drives, and that valuable information was only shared with players once or twice a year. Overall, it just was not collaborative enough. I wanted to do something about it so that a player can have different coaches and his or her parents can follow the player’s profile and be notified every time a change is made.

It’s true that tennis analytics continue to be quite fragmented.Can you expand more on how you envision addressing this issue in the future?

Even with the top players, the information and planning before a match take place across multiple channels like email, text, and WhatsApp. It ends up being a mess and this needs to be simplified and streamlined in a platform like SevenSix. Currently, we can get information, statistics, and documentation of matches but it’s still quite manual. There are coaches out there painstakingly tagging each point by score or shot like a backhand winner. We just received a fairly big innovation grant to build the world's first tennis AI coach. Picture that you film a player with your smartphone, it will calculate and display metrics live through an app, and even giving you recommendations on what to change in terms of technique. An  AI coach would provide a great opportunity to players and coaches and by doing this we will give any players the resources of a professional tennis player in terms of coaches, technology and analytical tools.

Are there others working on AI tennis coaches?

There are, but they will need more funds and support from federations. Additionally, they need to choose an angle, whether the AI will be part of a spectator app or if the AI serves as a coach for player development. So far, the first app in sports that I know of incorporating this type of AI was launched in September of 2018. It’s called Homecourt and is for basketball. It tracks the ball and player movements at the same time without the barriers of expensive sensors, cameras, or other hardware. An AI system like this for tennis would even work with the SevenSix platform today and make it better.

What do you see as the main benefit of SevenSix for coaches?

SevenSix will help professional coaches monetize their experience. I am not saying that all coaches are going to do this; a coach will need experience in video analysis and giving feedback. But SevenSix opens up a new market for the coaches. Often in Norway, clubs have member structures where 50% or more of members may not have access to a specific coach. So, SevenSix will enable coaches to connect with the members through digital coaching. We have built the system around coaches and enabling them to make up to 20% more than their yearly salary.Considering the monetary pressures on tennis coaches and players the business model of SevenSix is freemium accounts on both ends, but the player has to pay 30 dollars to the coach if he or she orders feedback from the coach. A coach can build a network of players, and if a coach creates a report for players in that network then the players do not have to pay to view the information.

How would you summarize the current state of SevenSix?

SevenSix’s platform helps to digitize the game of tennis by uploading documents, images, and video through on any device. The performance intelligence is manual as there are no analytic tools in the app right now. The picture that we have is that SevenSix is a constant and the analytic systems and sensors will continue to change year to year.

 The financial support from the app started in March 2017, when we won a competition from Capgemini to begin building SevenSix. We also received 120,000 dollars from Microsoft and soft funding from Innovation Norway. Additionally, I have a signed letter of intent with Orange Coach to provide online coaching to their coaching network, and there has been a lot of traction and media coverage in Norway and online. We are testing the product with several top players and coaches as well as clubs and academies in Norway. The SevenSix app is in beta version, but the validation and positive feedback from players and coaches so far at this stage are important. There is a backlog of things that I want to do, but the focus right now is getting in contact with coaches who have some knowledge in video feedback to help players online.

How many people have the app right now, and how are they using it?

Right now, we have 189 users and counting.  We spend time meeting clubs and coaches to tell them about the concept and to receive valuable feedback for new development sprints. We have made some instructional videos to guide coaches through the sign-up process, but we will still need to form a personal relationship. I am meeting with a club of 2,000 members in Norway to help them tell the story of increased access to the coaches. You know how busy we are as coaches and this will allow the players and users of the app to get more instruction. So, it’s still early days, but lots of positives.

I love the big vision that’s absolutely awesome. Do you have anything lined up for SevenSix in the U.S.?

I spent four weeks in Silicon Valley, in October, where I met with some academies. I met Mark Leschly at Universal Tennis. I’m picturing how can you document development, and a ranking system might be the factor or solution to documenting player progress, but it’s also easier for a coach to evaluate a player if they know the rankings. And UTR is now getting into the club levels, so even I can have a ranking as an active club player.

Even though we have limited exposure in the states, we are generating interest around the world. We are onboarding coaches in Norway now, and we will market their specialties on SevenSix, in social media, and on the coaches clubs. There is some interest in India as well, and we are still looking for coaches to continue to try SevenSix out and give us feedback. It’s an open platform that any coach can use to work the way they prefer to work. The additional revenue source for coaches is a great motivator as well. Coaches in Norway don’t make that much money, they are stuck on the court. But with SevenSix a coach anywhere in the world can do 5 or 6 online coaching sessions in that same hour. So I hope that the extra revenue will be a motivator  for coaches to give the app a try. I would love to get in contact with coaches with basic video analytics skills also in the US.

Update:

As of 4-5-2020 version 2.0 is ready to go for coaches.

An AI coaching solution is also in the works in the form of an app.

Disclaimer: we are working hard to develop the platform. Currently, the platform is a beta version. It is not perfect yet, but we wanted to go live anyway to support you in these difficult times.

Website

Disclaimer: Author Alex Johansson is serving on the SevenSix Advisory Board

Video Analysis Apps

By Doug Eng EdD PhD, USPTA Master Professional, PTR International Master
Professional

Hudle Technique

Among the most useful technologies that any coach can use is making videos of athletes. It is quite easy to just film students and show them. But if you need to really make a strong point on videos, apps are quite helpful. There are a number of apps that assist analysis of videos. Chances are you downloaded one app (and say, hey, I need to do more videos) or maybe use apps regularly. Today’s apps have lots in common: inexpensive pricing, drawing tools, wheel for moving the video and split screen for side-by-side comparisons. What differentiates
many apps is more a matter of extra features, quality and simplicity. Using video analysis is highly useful since we often miss things in just watching. In addition, your student can more clearly see what to work on. You can often ask your students what they think rather than offering a correction. It becomes a better learning experience if they try to figure out some things. Finally, consider videoing at high speeds or slow motion (e.g, 240 fps). It uses more space on the smartphone but it’s easier to see things that you might miss at 30 fps.

THE BASICS:
There are some essentials every modern video analysis app should have:

• Recording from smartphone or tablet camera
• Downloading videos from other cameras, youtube or other sources
• Drawing/writing tools: straight lines, curved lines, lines with arrows, circles,
• rectangles, choice of colors, text/fonts, angles (with degrees).
• Advanced tools may include timer, dotted lines, curves using paths, etc.
• Wheel or timeline for moving a video forward and backwards in time.
• Split-screen for side-by-side comparison and synching of two vidoes.
• Audio recording for voiceovers

Hudl Technique tools

• Multiple speeds sometimes listed as 1/8, ¼, ½ and 100% speed
• Choice of uploading to smartphone camera, email, youtube, etc
• Inexpensive storage or locker space

SPLIT SCREENS

When comparing two videos, for best results, make sure the speeds are the same. You can still use different speeds but it’s a bit harder to compare since you may need to manually move one video around. You can use the app or other video apps to speed or slow down videos before adding them into split-screen usage. There are four ways of using split-screens: Before and After lesson: Is a common usage of filming. Keep in mind, your student may or may not have a change in technique. So usually do with dead ball feeds after the technical change. If you film during live points afterwards, you may not see a change. The purpose is the create a good image of what the student can do and is trying to achieve. Film a stroke at the start of the lesson before giving any corrective instruction and film midway or near the end of the lesson. In between, work on the stroke for 10-20 minutes. To save time, rather than analyze on site, you can send results to your student after the lesson. But during the lesson, it’s best to have your student quickly view the videos and after the lesson, spend 15 minutes creating the split screen analysis.

Comparison with a model/pro

NTF side-by-side comparison with student vs pro (note the bas as the “wheel”)

is perhaps the most common usage. Upload pro videos on the app or at least your camera. When filming, pick student filming angle views that are the same as you have stored for touring pros. It’s helpful to show briefly the split-screen of the pro and student during the lesson before you proceed with the bulk of the lesson. You can film again at the end and make the final split screen with the after-the-lesson video.

Different angle views 

Same serve, different angles using two cameras with Hudl Technique.

You should have two smartphones or cameras for this purpose. Film from two angles at the same time and then upload the second camera video on the first. It’s helpful to have two tripods. If you ask your student to use their smartphone, you have two recording devices (with yours). Best angles are for the serve: behind and from the chest side. For the groundstrokes: from the chest side (or unit turn side) and slightly in front from between the service line or to the net

post. For volleys and overheads: from the side and from the other sideline (around
service to baseline).     

Over time

Coach’s Eye: comparison of student 6 months later

This is a less used technique and very useful with juniors to show long- term improvement. Film regularly every 3-6 months. You can take a video from 9-12 months ago to compare with the current video. It gives a student a very clear pathway for improvement as students can see their real progress. Sometimes filming\ over the same lesson or within a 2-3 week period doesn’t really amount to too much noticeable improvement. So here’s a rundown of the best apps. All are available from Apple or Google Stores:

PTR Coach/NTF Technique
These two apps are basically the same and still relatively new and unknown. Developed by Oivind Sorvald of NTF with Brian Parkkonen at PTR. The Norwegian (NTF) app came out last year and is a bit cooler to look at. Not all the time you get an app logo and home page in another language. NTF Technique is mostly in English and quite simple, since they wanted to sell the app to others outside Norway. Sorvald also works closely with PTR (on the board of directors) so it wasn’t a major issue for Parkkonen to create a PTR version. The main difference besides language is the in-app videos for coaching red, orange, and green ball youth athletes.

PTR videos are on hard courts as opposed to NTF videos on clay courts.

PTR Coach app showing in-app videos of junior players For moving a video on a timeline, other apps which have a “wheel” with hash or tick marks like a ruler which you slide around. You only see a part of the video timeline so if the video is long, you have to do some extra sliding with the timeline. But in PTR/NTF, there is a simple bar. The bar (with arrows) is an advantage for moving the video from one sport to another very quickly but it’s not easy to precisely line up the videos especially if your video is a bit long. That makes synching two 30 second videos a bit difficult. If you use short videos, like 8 seconds, it’s quite easier with PTR or NTF than other apps. The unique part of PTR/NTF analysis is the comparison for youth tennis athletes. Competency parameters are set for strokes so if you want to compare your student with an ideal orange ball stroke, those images are ready. Given sometimes youth strokes are unrealistically compared with pros, this approach with junior players can be more productive. PTR/NTF apps also allow pdf reports to be generated with frame by frame analysis. You can create player reports with the pdfs. You do not need to be a PTR member to purchase the app. PTR Coach app with player report.

Hudl Technique is free in a basic edition. However, in-app purchases for Hudl Technique can run prices fairly high, the Elite version runs $7.99/month or $49.99 annually. That allows advanced features and locker storage for videos. If you want touring pro videos (including Christina McHale, Tim Smyczek and Denis Kudla) it is a one-time fee of $9.99. But there are easy free ways of importing pro videos into your app or
any app. So if you go with Hudl, I don’t recommend getting the in-app purchases unless you are related to one of the touring pros. Or a fan. Hudl isn’t much different from other apps but it does have a very smooth feature for changing speeds (1/8, ¼, ½ or full speed) of the video. The final video product does seem quite good in quality.

Hudl Technique: before and after lesson

Coach’s Eye is the most popular for ease of use. It can be purchased inexpensively as a complete package. It allows easy access to youtube uploading and GoPro cameras. Because of its simplicity, Coach’s Eye remains the most popular option. Like Hudl and PTR Coach, Coach’s Eye does audio commentary during the video play. One disadvantage of Coach’s Eye seems to be the quality of video when exported. You may lose a fair amount of resolution. In addition, it takes a relatively long time to render a video after editing. The final video product can be mediocre in quality so make sure the original video quality is excellent and also don’t make the video long since that lengthens rendering and loss of video quality. On a personal note, I do use Coach’s Eye the most simply because I have most of my touring pro videos uploaded on the app. So it’s easy for instant side-by-side comparison.

Dartfish Express is the scaled-down version of its more complete laptop version. It differs from the other apps in that you have to take a still photo which is a key position (e.g, unit turn) and do the audio commentary over the still. Other apps do the commentary during the video. Typically, you can move the video forward or backwards and make notes. Dartfish Express doesn’t have that option but counts on creating a series of stills or key positions as points of commentary. It’s more a matter of getting used to Dartfish Express. Dartfish Express is less intuitive than the other apps which probably accounts for its lower popularity. Therefore, there is a learning curve that may take some practice but within a few attempts, you should be good to go. Still it scores with high quality final videos for viewing. The final product often looks sharper than Coach’s Eye.

As a final word, save your videos by uploading to youtube. You may want to protect the privacy of your student by listing videos private or as unlisted. (I covered recognizable faces in this article). But storing them on youtube privately is helpful since never know when you might need to look at the video again in case you misplace your phone or need more space. Have fun filiming!

By Doug Eng

EdD PhD, USPTA Master Professional, PTR International Master
Professional

A big thank you to Doug Eng for contributing to the Tennis Techie blog for the benefit of all forward thinking tennis coaches out there!

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AIM-X Individualized Tennis Strength & Conditioning

AIM-X is physical testing and training for ambitious tennis players.  A technology based tennis performance enhancing program developed from over 30 years of knowledge and experience gathered in a unique way of enhancing tennis performance.  

The Team

Martin and Ali both working with top athletes are now moving in to the "Good To Great Tennis Academy – Catella Arena" to be an asset to the team with Magnus Norman, Nicklas Kulti, and Mikael Tillström. Their system is based on the athlete health and physical training history and tennis specific physical testing, in comparison to the Athletes goal and top 100 on ATP and WTA.

" It's about finding the actual areas needing work in order to produce better tennis players. It's about working smarter and being specific to an athlete's weaknesses as they apply to actual performance", says Martin

 

How it works 

First there is a general consultation based on the players health background to establish a starting point for which of the testing batteries to apply depending on goals and history. 

Based on the consultation session, the testing phase is scheduled specifically to establish current performance level but also setting future goals. AIM-X provides a battery of tests within Movement, Endurance, Power and Recovery. Specifically for tennis players, to pinpoint current level. Once the test results are set each program is designed individually.

The length and intensity of the programs is based on history, ambition and commitment. It also involved habits, ability to recovery and sleep quality.

They always re-test to make sure the selected choice of course is improving performance and making the player better. With the test data, they can now also head on to the next goal directly, continuing the tennis improvement even further.

Specific tennis testing

The Baseline Profile was created to give a fast recognition of where the player needs physical attention. Instead of testing Qualities like Endurance or power, AIM-X is looking more into movement patterns and their individual qualities. Court coverage or Serve for example. In these movements, they look for specific qualities of Power, endurance and mobility.

The profiles are compared to top 100 from ATP and WTA. Where the most powerful, mobile and endurable players have set the standardizations for the tests results.

ACE Profile

Here is the focus on analyzing deeper into mobility and power specifically for the serve movement. Even Endurance will be tested (how you serve when fatigue is an issue.)

DEFENSE Profile

On court running power, mobility and endurance are factors determining where your work lies.

WINNER Profile

Ground stroke performance is about rotational mobility and a few other physical factors. How to get more racket head speed is the goal. Racket head speed will also be tested to determine progress after training program.

If the racket head speed is high but the body has issues with creating that power, usually means that the player has well developed technical skills to get that speed from his/her hands. This is also useful information for the tennis coach to have, to help the player staying injury free even if the arm is doing more work than the body.

 

Tools

Apart from regular equipment and technology, the team has developed their own interfaces and processes. AIM-X also uses tools specific to the team and program in the 1080 products the team has been part of developing. The 1080 products is the foundation of their creation. 

See more here: https://1080motion.com/products/

Respect the Past to Optimize the Future

All the work of the past provides us in tennis with a foundation for implementing new technology and tools. Ignoring this past work encourages empty usage of technology to simply appear on the forefront of the industry. By considering and learning from the innovations of the past, those in tennis can create the optimal technological future. Today four main types of innovators seemingly exist in the space of tennis technology.

The first group are tech companies that make sweeping decisions in boardrooms. Overall tennis is a tiny market for these companies, and as such tennis receives little consideration. Without an on-court connection to tennis and understanding of practical processes, these companies struggle to effectively create technology tools for tennis players.

Another group consists of great individual business people who have identified the demand for cutting edge technology in the tennis market. Despite the demand for innovation from clients, the specific uses of this technology are difficult to determine due to tennis’ complicated nature. Without clear applications for new technology, these business-driven people tend to create and use technology only as a means for making a coach or program appear cutting edge.

Next are the older group of coaches skeptical of new technology. Twenty years ago, many of them invested in Dartfish, considered the first big tech advancement in tennis. The substantial time and monetary investments necessary for learning and purchasing the video analysis software, were never recovered by most of these coaches. Feeling misled, these coaches now hesitate to return to video analysis and tennis technology even though it is free in many cases. This group is currently sitting on so much untapped knowledge pertaining to creation of new technology tools for tennis.  

Another group of coaches were already developing new tools and technologies before Dartfish, and now continue to keep up with new trends. These coaches recognized advancements in technology, and started rethinking what is possible. For many of these coaches the introduction of the iPhone was a turning point that created an opportunity to do more. With its release, the iPhone allowed for easy video analysis using a tool already found in most people’s pocket. Compared to the original Dartfish setup, the iPhone’s video capturing and editing were not only more convenient but also more cost effective. Armed with this new tool these coaches continued to innovate in the space of tennis technology.

Often the introduction of a new technological tool like the iPhone leads to gimmicky and inefficient usage, and many of these innovating coaches fell into that trap. However, overtime these coaches matured in their use of the iPhone, and now use it more efficiently. These coaches are now in what I call "the second phase of productive use of tennis technology". In this second phase, they are focused on applying tech to the specific problems faced by tennis players and coaches. Positioned between the older generation of coaches hesitant to embrace technology and the newer generation of coaches that lack years of experience, these coaches possess the right balance of specific on-court knowledge and interest in technology to successfully shape the future of tennis technology by creating new tools and processes.

Looking at the response I’ve gotten talking on this topic, it is evident that there are many coaches that want to get with the times and make sure that new technology is implemented for the right reasons in a productive manner. There is so much in proven processes, best practices, methodologies, etc we can learn from and should be extremely sensitive to as we “fuel” tennis training with technology. I am very excited that coaches are starting to seek information on productive use of technology in tennis and I know together we can make the future of tennis incredible.

By Alex Johansson

Tennibot picks up the balls for you.

Every tennis player has probably at some point wished there was an automatic way to get the balls up...and now there finally will be. Tennibot is a patent-pending robot that picks up tennis balls for you, so you can enjoy your time on the court. 

" I had the idea two years ago" says Haitham Eletrabi CEO and Founder of Tennibot.  "After winning a CES innovation award in 2016 our team has been hard at work improving the robot and bringing it to market. Initially Tennibot only picked up 30 balls and and did not do great in corners. Today it will pick up 90 balls and with it's arms does a pretty good job everywhere." 

The automatic assistant is meant to help when hitting with a ball machine, in a lesson, or during feeding of a group lesson. In any feeding situation it should be of great benefit.

Only people signing up (here) will have a chance to get their Robot in March when it ships. Signing up with no obligation will ensure your chance to preorder. Exact price will also be announced at that time.

Tennibot is the world's first autonomous tennis ball collector. on the TechCrunch Disruptshow from TechCrunch TV

Video Credit: https://techcrunch.com/video/tennibot-autonomous-tennis-ball-collector/5a268ce08c08e03048bfbde5/

For more information see

By Alex Johansson