Visualize and Repetition

As is most sports, athletes need to make quick decisions in competition to succeed. Either that being reading what receiver is open in Football, which way the goalie is leaning in Hockey or in Tennis, where the next ball needs to go to put yourself in a good position to win the point. In Tennis, players need to make a series of quick decisions during the course of the point, which consist of placing the player in a winning position in the point – or constructing the point. In order to train these quick decisions, players train patterns or a sequence of shots that help put the player in a good winning position on the court. Patterns can be complex or relatively simple, depending on the opponent and skill level. Players develop patterns through their junior career and start to understand how to open up the court, place them in good court position, understand what shots place them in a poor position, how to reset / get neutral in the point if behind in the rally etc. This is typically learned through repetition and coaching. At AR Tennis, our goal is to develop Augmented Reality Tennis training systems that assist coaches, Juniors and college players and beyond in improving the learning curve of Tennis training by providing better tools that allow the players to visualize patterns easier. In addition, help players understand areas of weakness by tracking and analyzing data and reducing the repetition volume – thus improving the learning curve.

Finding your Spot over the Net:

In order for the ball to hit a spot on the court, it needs to pass over the net at a certain spot/location above the net. This spot is based on 4 factors (height, spin, speed and direction). Based on the player style (players hit flatter or more spin) a couple of these factors would be different from some players. Example: If a player hits flatter, their ball would pass over the net lower than a player that hits with heavy topspin. Currently, players focus on a spot on the court as a target and through repetition – they hit numerous balls until they feel where they need to hit over the net to hit their target. This process is trained throughout their tennis career. AR Tennis provides a training system that allows the player to set virtual targets over the net and adjust them to find their location (based on player style). Targets can be placed anywhere over the net or anywhere on the court and created to represent patterns. Once players have found their locations (multiple targets) over the net to hit the desired target on the court, they can name and save those locations to quickly get back to training next time. The premise of placing virtual targets over the net is to provide a visualization for players to ‘ where’ the ball needs to pass over the net to reach their target on the other side of the court. Providing a visualization for players when training, thus providing a better understanding and ultimately improves the learning curve. When players are competing in tournaments, they can not see the virtual targets, but can visualize them and through muscle memory – understand where the ball needs to pass over the net. Targets can be placed from simple to complex patterns, allowing players to train specific patterns they need to improve, patterns that they had trouble with in the last tournament and visualize where their ‘spot over the net’ is.