Smart court technology

[gzhpcu]

Any thoughts?

[bottle]

Looks great but often, as I age, I find myself wishing for less information rather than more.

One way of playing my best is to get on a rowing machine since rowing is another sport I have done.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the intricacies of either game but makes me feel like an Olympic Trials jock.

Usually then I perform better.

[johnyandell]

Phil,
It's a work in progress. The stroke video isn't shuttered or high speed. Trajectories and ball speeds are probably accurate--enough. Spin is shakier. Tests we did showed it hit some on the mark but others were off 100%. Match stats I know less about. I know Gordon who developed it and they are constantly upgrading--they probably will get all the way there. Probably the best part are the target zones so you can drill and see your accuracy across your whole game. I want to get one eventually but they are not cheap--$20K ish. And there is a monthly fee. That's a lot cheaper than a hawkeye system though which is at least 10 times as much.

[hockeyscout]

I wonder how good Roger Federer could have been if he had it as a young child?

[johnyandell]

As good as he is.

[hockeyscout]

I used to be really into this stuff when my kid was 6-7-8 - 9 -- but, last three years its something we dont pay attention to! I sent some video to Steve Navarro to get some feedback today and we discussed this a bit. He was a bit shocked my daughter has had the same kids 26 inch 234-gram racket for the past three years. I did not mention to him she does not even have a tennis bag, uses leather grips (which are six months old and ready to walk away LOL) we've used the same shoes for six months, she hits in MMA shorts and she is up training before the swimmers start. The big thing I learned is not to care - go to the court, play, no drama, don't complicate life with these tools. You can learn a lot from everest sherpas -- they got nothing except respect for the mountain (the game) and skill thats been earned the hard way. Us foreigners show up at everest with gps, oxygen, so called world class training and these guys put us to shame. Never seen more disiplined, high IQ or more athletic people than these sherpas. And, we invest $20,000 in this technology and we are light years behind these guys. Go watch how Feder the MMA fighter trains. You gotta make some decisions ... train with these great tools which these kids havent earned the right to use or do like the sherpa's?

[doctorhl]

The trick is finding the correct instances to introduce and then withdraw the use of technology as a tool for assistance, not as a replacement of other factors necessary for development. Timing for introduction and withdrawal will vary significantly from player to player and the astute coach must learn the art form of using it.

[don_budge]

I used to be really into this stuff when my kid was 6-7-8 - 9 -- but, last three years its something we dont pay attention to! I sent some video to Steve Navarro to get some feedback today and we discussed this a bit. He was a bit shocked my daughter has had the same kids 26 inch 234-gram racket for the past three years. I did not mention to him she does not even have a tennis bag, uses leather grips (which are six months old and ready to walk away LOL) we've used the same shoes for six months, she hits in MMA shorts and she is up training before the swimmers start. The big thing I learned is not to care - go to the court, play, no drama, don't complicate life with these tools. You can learn a lot from everest sherpas -- they got nothing except respect for the mountain (the game) and skill thats been earned the hard way. Us foreigners show up at everest with gps, oxygen, so called world class training and these guys put us to shame. Never seen more disiplined, high IQ or more athletic people than these sherpas. And, we invest $20,000 in this technology and we are light years behind these guys. Go watch how Feder the MMA fighter trains. You gotta make some decisions ... train with these great tools which these kids havent earned the right to use or do like the sherpa's?

Smart court technology...more junk in the closet five years down the road. Stick with the sherpa.