Have you seen the new caps on a number of Wilson, Head, Prince and Yonex rackets? These new rackets are Smart Sensor Ready, which means that by opening the 'step' of the buttcap (the cap at the bottom of your tennis racket) space is made for the Sony Smart Sensor.
Babolat was the trendsetter in 2014 with the Pure Drive Play , the very first 'connected' tennis racket. For 2015, Babolat has also released an Aeropro Drive Play, which Nadal and Wozniacki now play with. Very nice stuff, but rather expensive €299,- to €349,- and the technology is in the racket, which means it can only be used with this racket. So it has to be your type of racket. The Sony Smart Sensor, on the other hand, is not brand-specific and can be used in the latest models from Wilson, Head, Prince and Yonex from the current 2015 racket collections. What does the Sony Smart Sensor do? With a weight of only 8 grams in the cap of the racket, the Smart Sensor measures all your shot data, which can be read directly (handy for teachers) via Bluetooth on your smartphone or tablet. The Smart Sensor measures:
- Total number of strokes: forehand, backhand, volley, service and smash
- Swing speed
- Ball speed
- Spin or slice
- Ball impact zone on the blade: how to determine your ideal sweet spot
- Slow motion replay with all the data of that stroke, useful if you want to improve your technique
- Motion Shot: for example your service unraveled into photos, so that it can be analyzed per phase (preparation, toss, moment of contact, follow-through)
This piece of technology is also not cheap (the recommended retail price will be around €150,-), but has the advantage that you can use it in a whole range of tennis rackets. An ideal tool for tennis teachers! See here for a nice video about the Sony Smart Sensor: