Nothing beats good coaches when it comes to developing your tennis skills. If you don’t have access to those, however, you should be able to get plenty of training mileage from good instructional videos and Sony’s Smart Tennis Sensor.
Designed to attach to the grip end of a tennis racket, it’s compatible with products from Wilson, Prince, and Yonex, among others. There’s probably a good chance it will work with most rackets you have stashed away at home, too, so you don’t have to buy new equipment to get your stats tracked and recorded.
The Sony Smart Tennis Sensor can keep tabs on all of a player’s shot data, recording the swing type, ball speed, swing speed, ball spin, impact sport, and other vital information. It will automatically create reports for every game you play, too, allowing you to quickly analyze every set without having to wade through a large amount of data. If you’re working with a buddy, you can have them record each session on video using the accompanying mobile app (iOS and Android), which will then synchronize the footage with the play data for even more ways to analyze your game. Unlike many connected gadgets, the sensor can work without being paired with a smartphone, so you can leave the phone safely padlocked in the locker if you prefer. All information will be recorded onto the onboard storage (up to 12,000 shots) instead, which you can then sync with the phone later.
It’s waterproof and dust-proof so there’s no weather restrictions to its use, although it isn’t shockproof (so, no slamming the butt of your racket to the ground when you get frustrated). The onboard battery is rated to last up to 90 minutes with Bluetooth switched on and double that when recording directly to the onboard memory.
Slated for availability in January 2015, the Sony Smart Tennis Sensor will retail for $200.