The ‘smart sport’ industry is going through remarkable growth, with running and cycling two areas already awash with gadgets, and now tennis may have been served up a treat from Sony.
By attaching the company’s Smart Tennis Sensor to the base of your grip, and linking it up with a dedicated app, Sony can now report back on your swing effectiveness, spin, power, consistency etc…
Available on iOS and Android, Sony worked with tennis brands Wilson, Head, Prince and Yonex to make sure the sensor fits on most racquets.
The way it’s installed is by removing the logo from the base of your grip, and screwing the sensor in there.
A clever element is that it can apparently determine if you are smashing the ball, playing a backhand slice or powering a forehand, all by monitoring how you play.
Using Bluetooth, your swing data is logged in real time, and if you have someone willing to help, they can record you with the app while the readings are being made to give you better understanding on why you’re not as good as Roger Federer.
The app element seems fairly comprehensive, with an additional video element too. Via Sony
The data is stored on your smartphone and sorted by shot type. Play reports are automatically created so that you can look back and analyse your efforts. From the more detailed screen, you can view your playing data over time.
However, the coolest facet to this is it can work in isolation from your smartphone, storing up to 12,000 shots on its internal memory, which can then be logged onto your smartphone at a later date, in case you forgot it.
It’s actually a nifty piece of kit, although at US$200 it seems a fair bit expensive.
What I’m personally curious about is if Sony will do the same for us squash players dotted around the world.
