LOCAL TENNIS CENTRE EMBRACES GROUNDBREAKING TECHNOLOGY
It’s the hottest thing to hit tennis since Novak Djokovic.
No wonder he’s one of the men behind it.
A development so advanced it makes the move from wooden to oversized graphite rackets look pedestrian.
It’s called PlaySight SmartCourt technology. And it’s now in Calgary. Only seven courts in Canada are outfitted with the technology and Calgary’s Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre in Acadia now has two of them.
There are only 600 in the world, but it’s now on the radar of every tennis facility on the planet. It’s that groundbreaking. Using HD cameras installed around the court, the technology provides players with real time match statistics, analytics, line calling and video.
Yes, line calling, putting an end to the age-old problem in tennis that has long created rifts between high-level opponents and casual club players for decades.
Now armed with a way of responding to a questionable line call other than scowling, players can simply challenge and meet up at the courtside touchscreen to take a definitive look-see.
“It’s revolutionary, it’s one of the greatest advancements in tennis in the last number of years,” said the facility’s general manager, Danny Da Costa.
“It’s sort of the way sport is moving now. Everyone is trying to gain an advantage and this has the capacity to really help everyone. Families with kids, coaches and recreational players who are curious about it all use it and once they do that’s the court they want every time.”
Ever wondered how fast you or your partner serves, how it stacks up in the club or against the world’s best?
Want to know how much distance you covered in a match or how high over the net your average shot goes?
Or maybe you’ve always been curious about the spin rate on your forehand, the speed of your backhand or your first serve percentage?
Answers to all those simply scratch the surface of what PlaySight provides every time a user logs in on their free phone app and employs the technology that cost the club $25,000 to install per court.
“Essentially, it tracks everything you’re doing,” explained Da Costa.
“As soon as you start hitting, it tracks how many calories you are burning, how fast you’re moving on the court, a spray chart of all your shots, speed of your shots, revolution on the ball and can give you instant replay.
“You can set up drills and it will count how many times you hit it into the designated zone or down the line or cross-court. Anything you want.”
It does so with cameras mounted around the court, able to provide nine angles of every shot as well as live streaming to be broadcast worldwide.
“It’s a great recruiting tool for university for our kids because they can turn on the cameras and show a college coach how they play without them having to travel,” said Da Costa, whose facility also houses a national training centre for the top juniors in Western Canada who will use the technology regularly.
“After your match, it all downloads to your phone or computer. You can also get a highlight package, a la Sportsnet, so you can see your best shot, best forehand, best serve or you can ask it to send nothing but your backhand winners or unforced errors on a loop. It’s pretty amazing.”
Based on concepts originally designed to train fighter pilots, the technology is now also being used to help some pro basketball and hockey teams train.
The courtside monitor also has a microphone, so teaching pros can record comments on positioning or mechanics of their stroke while zooming in, slowing down the video or adding telestrations that will also be reproduced by the video when seen at home.
Djokovic is a financial backer of the technology and it’s now used by most pros, including Canadian stars Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic.
“Our plan is to hopefully put more in the future and live stream every court,” said Da Costa. “Part of our mandate is to be the most technologically advanced centre in the world. We’ve had some strong feedback on our facility — some say it’s the best in Canada and some say North America.”
A huge success story since it opened one year ago, the $10 million public facility borne largely out of $7.5 million in donations has had all eight indoor courts running at high capacity ever since. The five outdoor courts are bustling too.
“It has been amazing, we’ve exceeded all expectations and are at full capacity,” said Da Costa whose club has 400 members, a junior program with a wait list of 150 and is open to the public. “We never thought we’d have this many members and this many playing tennis. This is exactly what we set out to do. Our mandate is to grow the sport of tennis in Alberta and Western Canada.
“This facility sells itself.”
We’ve had some strong feedback on our facility — some say it’s the best in Canada and some say North America.